Dawn of Wonder - Jonathan Renshaw

Dawn of Wonder (The Wakening #1) – Jonathan Renshaw

(5 / 5)

WOW!!! THIS is why I love reading! What an absolutely fantastic and powerful story. With one novel, Renshaw has surely joined an elite group of fantasy authors, along side names such as Tolkin, Sanderson and Rothfuss. This book has been nominated and won numerous awards and I can certainly say beyond a doubt that I am not surprised. From the beginning of the book you could just tell there was something very special about it. And the audio version was superb! Absolutely 30 hours of my life that I would gladly give again for the pleasure of listening to this fabulous tale for a second time.

The story is a coming of age fantasy centring around the young Aedan. Aedan and his friends live in a small farming town when their lives are turned around when slave traders enter the town. What follows next ultimately leads Aedan to start training at an academy for mercenaries, with revenge on an entire nation in his sights.

Now, my description is obviously extremely short and vague. But don’t let it fool you, this story is rich with character and adventure. It is witty and moving. I was floored by the writing of this somewhat unknown author and even more blown away by the amazing performance of the narrator Tim Gerard Reynolds.

Like most good long fantasy tales, there are periods that are slower than the rest of the book – Setting the scene with characterisations, more than adventure and action. However when you take into account the importance of developing the characters and relationships between them, these slower periods are essential to the development of the story and I imagine the series as a whole. They are barely memorable.

The characters were all wonderfully developed, and entertaining. There were people that you loved, and people that you loved to hate. Poor Aeden did have his fair share of bad blood when it came to other characters and at times I was so frustrated at the way people treated him. Yes, at times some things seem far fetched, Aeden seems to have too much luck, or not enough… Being at the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time. Overhearing conversations that ultimately helped his cause. But this didn’t bother me at all. I still enjoyed every moment of this fantastic story.

Would I recommend Dawn of Wonder?

If you are a fan of high fantasy, especially Patrick Rothfuss, I would highly recommend this novel. I actually enjoyed it more than The Name of the Wind. Do yourself a favour and check this book out. Espeically the audio version! Fantastic!