Rise of the Ranger: The Echoes Saga, Book 1

This story is told in several third-person limited povs. It is also a pg-15 story with plenty of violence and some sexual content though not graphic or explicit in a few occasions that it is raised it does make the story I believe not appropriate for for preteens and early teenagers. It is a smorgasbord of fantasy books combining JRR Tolkien, Harry potter, and dragon Rider genres to a certain extent.The story is entertaining in the end it did intigue me enough to decide to read the next book but I'm glad I got it on Kindle unlimited and did not purchase it. This book does have all the hallmarks of a non-standalone first book that is really just to establish the beginning of a seriesSome honey before the vinegar. I have read plenty of three-star books that I will be willing to reread a half a dozen times because they're just that good. Regardless of small things that would pull me out or that I would see as a plot hole or anything in general that just didn' sit right with me about the story. I'm not sure where this book series is at the moment on that scale but I could see myself rereading the story perhaps once or twice depending on how good it gets.I will say that the author does take a lot of familiar elements from across different fantasy genres and throws them in here. It does feel a tad bit awkward but it's also familiar enough for the reader to easily understand and get an idea of what is going on. What keeps this book from being appropriate for children preteens and younger young adults also makes this book a little bit more engaging or at least impactful for older readers. That is to say that there are consequences and that if you're not a main point of view character you're fair game to certain extent. When you're not sure exactly how far the author is going to go it adds to the story in terms of the consequences and success of the protagonist or antagonist.One thing the author did really well I believe was set up a world that can sustain a series. There is a lot of world building for at least story structure set up here in the first book it does have a bit of maid in Butler dialogue at times and the antagonist sometimes monologues to get a point across to the reader but nevertheless the author does paint a fairly vivid picture of the world.Three things kept this book from being a four or five star book. The biggest strike I think the automatically took a star away was that the first several chapters introduced a new POV and plot or subplot to follow. It is not an exaggeration to say that it took more than a third of the book to really get into the story flow perhaps longer. I cannot stress enough how the rhythm was thrown off. Instead of feeling like I was reading one story it felt like I was reading the first chapters of a half a dozen stories. Slowly some of the characters came together but it took patience to get there. I have seen second or third books of a series start out like this but that is after the author has already established world building and characters to the point that the reader can comfortably join in the story. This makes this story have a high learning curve or at least a high tolerance threshold in order to stick with it to the decent middle and an okay end which really just an introduction to the series.The second thing that really took away from the story was the actual lack of POV from the main character. The ranger supposed to be the main protagonist but we get just as many povs it feels from the side character surrounding him and other characters. While it does come back to him during some of the important parts of the climax it is still disappointing not to really be able to follow along the character. Also there is some idiot plotting in some of the situations he finds himself in and also a convenient lack of explanation for his memory or lack thereof.Thirdly the plot is very blah. It is full of plot holes and does pull the reader out of the story at times. This is partially because the rhythm of the story is off enough where you never pulled in fully because you're constantly switching povs and are never able to really engage in-depth. By the glaring plot holes i mean for example that if elves are highly Superior to humans in all aspects physically mentally and magically. They're able to see, hear, smell and react better than humans supposedly. Yet somehow one of the subplots have a group of elves being ambushed by Savage humans. Not going further into that because of spoilers. But the last and most glaring plothole I feel is the fact that the big bad has been frozen in time due to a spell. He was vulnerable during this time for over a thousand years. Survivors of the spell were able to walk around within the city... why didn't they just kill him then. I say this because... well spoilers so I'm not getting into it.Regardless this is looking like a pretty decent one time read on Kindle series.

This was the best written fantasy book I have ever read. I finished the book in two days with the help of the Audible software. The story starts unlike the other books where this main character is advanced in years and past his prime. There is not a normal hero’s journey where they find hidden strengths and build muscles along the way, this is a different take of an old man battling through aches and pains of being old, while knowing he has reached his full physical potential. Masterfully written and I’d love to get my copies signed by the genius behind it!

I have not read a book since high school and I just finished the 3rd book in the series in less than a month. I never thought I would read a book as long as these again in my life. But I instantly was into the world and love it. I currently have the 4th book on the way

Started out a little slow, but as the characters came to life with each turn of the page the story grew to be a great adventure. Reminds me of Lord of the Rings epic saga! Can not wait to get into the next book to see the story continue.

After a thousand years, the Elves are set to march upon the world. They are determined to wipe out all mankind and restore the world to balance. Standing in their way are three groups. The Knights, the Arakasher, and the Dragons.Asher is an assassin turned ranger, and the last living survivor of Elethianah, the city that fell.Nathaniel is one of the Graycoats, Reyna is an Elven Princess that shows up as an ambassador from the Elves.What do they have in common, and why is another ancient Elf, Valanis trying to destroy the world?In what is set to be a tale as great as the Fellowship of the Ring, Phillip Quantrell set the premise of a good story. He creates great heros, and even more compelling Villains.

The cover alone made me purchase this book. Well, I mean, I also did check out some of the reviews it was getting, but that cover was what sold me. While the cover is awesome, it’s the contents within the book that is even better!Rise of the Ranger is the first book (in a series of nine) in The Echoes Saga by Philip C. Quaintrell. This is an indie and self-published author and frankly, I’m surprised no major publishing company has picked this up yet. This book is basically a love letter to the fantasy genre. It combines classic and modern fantasy and has a little of everything.The story follows a large cast and I can honestly say, there wasn’t one character or story that I didn’t like. In fact, I enjoyed all of the characters. It may seem a little bit of a stretch for some characters to instantly like each other but considering how I pretty much love everything about this book, I’m willing to forgive that.While reading this, I told myself that when I finished I was going to start reading something else. However, I enjoyed it so much, I decided to go ahead and immediately jump into the next one to finish the first trilogy.I can only hope that someday we will get nice leather-bound special editions of this series. I’d immediately snatch those up!

The author weaves several creative storylines that at times intersect, but remain strong on their own. The characters grow and change dramatically throughout the tale, in positive ways for the hero’s, the bad guys; not so much. Looking forward to see how what happens in the next book…

Assassin and Ranger, two of my favorite things in the world of any fantasy book...love it...thanks Philip well done, sir!!

Great epic fantasy series!

If you are looking for a well written adventure with action and an actor who isn’t scared of blood this book is for you. I gave it a score of 4 stars because i would like a bit more of romance (but I still have hope that we will something enfold in the next books).🚨 Spoilers 🚨Another reason why I give a score of 4 stars was because of the anticlimactic assassination of a side character that I liked in the last chapter. Don’t get me wrong the actor could still kill the character but when I like a character I usually feel sad with their death but in this case I didn’t even feel rage for the killer because it was such a “simple” death without salt.My final evaluation is positive and I will surely read the next book of this saga.

It was a pretty good read. I don't know if this book contains only one MC. I mean, Asher could die and I wouldn't care much (and wouldn't change much). His hate for the Arakesh doesn't seem too real for me. I mean, he got sad that the one who brought him in and told him to kill ended up the way he did. Gideon seems more real to me. His feelings as well.I liked the story and really like its mysteries. Will read the next one

The Rise of the Ranger is the first part of 9 Books. It introduces the reader to the World of Verda and some main Protagonists. The Namegiver to the title is Asher, a ranger with a secret. The story starts focused on him and slowly widens the arc to more Point of Views, even some evil ones. The writing is easy to get into, the story draws the reader into it and the POVs are very likable. Personally i only did not like the end fight of book 1. As other reviewers have written. Asher is overpowered a lot in the first book. The Book ends with i thought "Matrix-Style" Fighting. I had to lay it down after that. Gladly i took up book two sometimes later. There the reader learns a lot more about how some figures came to be so overly powerfull and Asher will become a lot less powerfull from the start. All in all a nice start to a long high fantasy adventure.

As a binge fantasy reader I chose this book out of curiosity. The first couple of chapters were difficult to cross. So much so that I had to make more than a couple of attempts before getting a grip on the storyline. But the repeated effort was well worth it. As the characters developed, each storyline felt important connected and yet interesting standalone. The book slowly sucks you into its pace faster and faster with well crafted familiarity of an unknown big villain, an independent ranger, a secret dark order and expansive realm. You will feel the familiar tugs of other fantasy works but the fierce independence in this story telling and plot. Read on , I say read on..