Stormborn

Stormborn Saga #1

by J.T. Williams

Valrin was born of the sea, or so he was always told. Orphaned on a desolate island, he knows nothing of his true past and wonders of his future. . . until the unexpected arrival of a mysterious ship changes everything.

For a fleeting moment, he feels like he might have an answer to everything and then his life is suddenly ripped apart. The one person that loved him is killed protecting him and a wanted sea-captain and his misfit crew become the only hope Valrin has. If he is to survive the coming darkness, he must learn who he truly is.

But there is someone that will hunt him. Someone that will want him dead to the prevent the mere chance of what he could become. He has a destiny to unlock but will he get there before he is destroyed?

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook

62 pages, ebook

Published February 19, 2017

About the author

USA TODAY Bestselling author J.T. Williams writes fast-paced sword and sorcery along with dark epic fantasy.

Reviews

[ShannaBanana✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely short but shows you just how young Valrin became Stromborn. I started with the Half-Elf series before this and Val was in it at the beginning and then no more. I was bummed cause I really enjoyed his character. So, I’m glad to know there is a Storm one series about how he came to be.

[Alyssa (HeartwyldsLibrary) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was something, this is more of 2.5 star for me but I'm rounding it up.

My biggest issue with this story is the length, because its so short it heavily suffers from not having enough time to really expand and build upon what is being created. I came into this series after having read Rangers's Folly I really liked Fadis in that novella. Fadis in this particular story was not a stand out character, nor was anyone really. There was a decent amount of characters but not enough time was put into having the chance to really get to know them. I honestly don't understand the hatred Edanos has towards Fadis, they really only interacted with one another like 3 times, and instantly Edanos hated him, but it felt flat and unconvincing.

The story also lacks a lot of depth in the world building, there is a lot of it, but its all crammed in as quickly as possible and some could have been left out as it did nothing but try to help build this world. It would have been better to pick one or two things and just build on those then trying to throw as many pieces of the world into the story.

Its an extremely fast paced story that doesn't spend enough time building characters, character relations or the world. This resulted in moments when characters were injured or on the verge of death and I had zero feelings about it, or when something new was discovered, it felt empty. All the conversations felt flat, forced and unconvincing, I just wasn't getting the vibes from anyone that they were long time friends or close like family.

When I read Ranger's Folly I was invested in Fadis and his story, I felt for him, I felt something while reading it, Stormborn left me feeling empty and unsatisfied.

The Ideas though in the story are intriguing (and I can only hope it gets better as it goes on since it is such a long series, Plus I hear Fadis is like an important character so I want to see where that goes) but those ideas are what are going to keep me coming back and seeing what happens. I like the Idea of these people who are born in the storms on the ocean, I love the sea god, and even this weird "I am now one with the boat" thing that's going on with Vals. The ideas and the lore are interesting and I want to see how they unfold, I just wish this first installment had been a bit more fleshed out.

Also the Fairy at the end who just "magically" comes by right when they need it, really?!?! That made me yell out "Are you freaking serious?" and major eye roll, I absolutely hated that.

[Patrick Birkholtz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little short for my tastes, but this is why I bought the boxset with the other books in the series. I am glad that I read the Rogues of Magic before venturing into this series as it was a nice primer to the world and the workings on in that world. Very excited to venture into more of Williams' works as I have plenty to read to get caught up on.

[Ashley Martinez (ilovebooksandstuffblog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stormborn

An interesting concept and fun adventure all wrapped into one. I enjoyed the coming of age tale and the various creatures and magic presented along this magical journey.

[Violet Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, yeah, that was neat. Seemed like an interesting start. I bought the full boxset so I'll be seeing this story to the end no matter what.

[Sedna Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good which read that seems to be an interesting teaser of what is yet to come.

[Lidia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my review of the audio version as posted on Audible:

It's a short book - only about 2 hours of listening - and this is the main source of the problems I have with it... It feels both rushed and shallow at the same time... I had a feeling I was listening to a story for 19th century teenage boys: there is one big, momentous adventure after another with nothing going on in between. It felt like reading a historic map with say Magellan's or Columbus's journey marked down: points A, B, C (these are the stops they made in different ports) joined by arrows representing months of idle sea travel - only this book gives you points A, B, C without the arrows in between (if you get my meaning...). OK, I have nothing against the hero meeting deities or god's messengers and receiving quests from them in order to fulfil his destiny BUT I'd like to see more of how it all changes the hero, what his reactions to those unusual circumstances are, I need to see how the hero grows and becomes the hero... And I'm sorry but I didn't see it here... There's no awe, no fear, no surprise even from Valrin, not even once; he just accepts everything that happens to him without any questions, any doubts, any vehemances... Not very believable - unless you're 13 or 14 and the only thing you're interested in a book/movie is the fist fights..:)
But, with all the above said, it's not that I disliked the book - not at all; it was a quick, pleasant listen and when I allowed myself to forget I'm a grown up woman and started to pretend to be a teenage boy interested in something more than his cell phone and Facebook account, the tale of the Stormborn boy, with all the mysteries surrounding him and the dwarves trying to put their hands on him and his ship really started to be enjoyable...:)

Narration by Mr Denton is quite good, although I must admit that some of the accents he uses were a bit difficult for me to follow as I'm not a native speaker of English. But they matched the races, dwarves especially, so that's ok - it gave the book a kind of "fantasy authenticity", we might say:)

So generally, if you like stories full of adventures and without much character development, and at that, quick to read/listen to, that's exactly a book for you :)

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

[Al Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like JT Williams' books in general, particularly his Corin series. Also, if you like history, his Facebook page is worth following as he posts some interesting stuff on there. However, Stormborn, weighing in at a whopping 62 pages, felt somewhat rushed, more of a prequel than book one in the series. Don't get me wrong, it sounds like it will be another great story, but I'm not sure this will catch the eye of other readers, especially those unfamiliar with his work. Solid narration though.

[Nancy Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is definitely a good seafaring story here. It felt a bit reminiscent of that movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World starring Russel Crowe where a vessel and its crew are constantly being hunted by an enemy ship that obeys a rival king and the constant battles of wits between the two factions.

There are some nifty sea creature scenes that were ultimately the best parts of the novella. The plot for the most part is entertaining and I personally liked Faris and wondered if he is a good guy or a bad guy.

The problem lies in other parts of the book. The fantasy trope of orphan kid that is dragged to a huge adventure and discovers he was the big enchilada the whole time without ever realizing it and now faces a bunch of bad guys is omnipresent in this tale. I don't mind that too much, but some things of the book seemed like there is something missing here.

Valrin is just some ordinary Joe with no real talent. He catches eels to resell for a living and everyone in the island where he grew up believes he sort of sucks at that but apparently he sells enough to maintain himself. He doesn't seem overly bright, but he isn't a moron either. He seems like a good chap that doesn't know what he wants. Curious about the sea, but he's never verbally admitted he has ever wanted to join a vessel. He was raised by a mysterious woman with elf blood named Tua and while the plot hints of her elven heritage, we don't know her perceived age or how elf llike she really was. In fact, the book never offers a physical description of anyone. She seems to harbor some magic but I feel like her character was left in the blue. We could have a Luke Skywalker tension scene going on here. Heck, the initial episode of that anime Hunter x Hunter has a similar orphan named Gon Freecks that was raised by an aunt in a quiet island and Gon's aunt tries to convince the kid to live a quiet life and he rejects the offer. Gon decides to attempt to pass the difficult Hunter exam in the hopes he might discover if his father is still alive somewhere.

Stormborn doesn't have the tugging initial premise. It's very much a generic fare. A bad guy shows up, offers a reward for the islanders to capture a rogue vessel that just happens to dock at the island the following day and we discover the crew are the good guys. Valrin ends up joining the crew out of plot convenience and the expected adventure begins.

Again, I don't mind predictable plots as long as the pace is good and the characters memorable. Some characters stand out but without a physical description and character interaction tension, it was hard to fully connect with the story. The second-in-command of the vessel is a dwarf just like the bad guys and yet he isn't distrustful of the new member of the crew. Nobody seems to have a quip that their looney captain wants to bring this kid to a mysterious part of the ocean for a secret mission. The book could have been a lot better if we had some more tension and much more character development. The writing especially in the first portion of the book wasn't all that great. I skimmed through parts of the story.

At the end it's still an okay 1 hour read, but nothing that blew me away.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

The orphaned Valrin had always been told he belonged to the sea but until he finds himself onboard a ship with a somewhat sketchy captain and crew, he'd never had much of a chance to become acquainted with deep water. All that's about to change in this first story of a new series.
A lot of the book's dedicated to establishing the characters, providing a back story and getting Valrin the trappings for his future life so it feels a bit short, but there are some great battles, lots of drama and enough character development to leave you comfortable with and attached to the characters. As an added bonus, the author deals well with the usual struggle between leaving the reader with enough loose ends to attract them back to read the next volume while avoiding the everything in the air cliffhangers that so often make first books feel like a brazen effort to coerce the price of another book out of the audience by intentionally splitting a story at the most inconvenient spot.
Kudos to J.T. Williams. This one left me well satisfied and definitely wanting more.

[Amy Braun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5. A super short adventure for fans of swords and sorcery books, this is the opening act of a story about a young man with an incredible destiny ahead of him.

The plot moves very fast, barely letting readers dip a toe into the world before whisking the Chosen One Valrin on a wild sea voyage. He runs from dwarvish pirates, meets a crew of misfits, and encounters all sort of strange creatures.

In theory, this has everything I want. There are fantasy tropes, magic, monsters, gods, all kinds of great stuff. But the pacing moved way too fast. We never stayed in one place long enough to get to know the characters. I also wasn't keen on how some of the fantasy tropes were used either. They could have been explored and transformed rather than just... being there.

I think that this is a good read for an afternoon at the pool where you just want to turn your brain off and have a quick adventure. I think the saga as a whole will be strong with adventure, but I needed more from this.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable fantasy novella sadly let down by some really obvious proofing goofs (let are hands / the wars have come to close / the had escaped, etc.) that were frequent enough to yank me out of the story. Equally, not everyone is like me and wails at dolphin frequencies when they come up!

That aside, this was a quick fun read and the Glacial Seas is certainly a very interesting place. Great array of fantasy people and critters, I particularly have a soft spot for seafaring and aquatic beasties, so there was a LOT for me here and I loved that aspect of it.

Eager, if a little nervous of further dolphin squeaks, to get my teeth into the next instalment and to check out his further works. Really great fantasy world and genuinely funny (two characters are chatting through a door, one of whom is insisting they aren’t there!)

[Jaime K · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a really short book and a lot happens in it, but it feels like it's all crammed into one hodgpodge of a story without giving the information time to breathe.

Valrin is a 12 year old boy who feels older. He's randomly told he's a Stormborn, born of the storms, and he just accepts it. He also thinks that his life finally has purpose now. One of the new people he meets gives him the nickname of Vals for no reason, and Valrin's like "okay, that's cool."
What?
He also just blindly accepts the path of being the servant of the god of the sea, Meredaas.

There are visions that people have, dwarfs are after the humans, and there are other species that aren't really developed.

I was bored at the start but figured since it was so short I'd go to the end. It didn't really get better.

[Shannan Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book by author J.T. Williams that I have read. The first was from his Half-Elf Chronicles. I absolutely loved that book and just devoured this one as well. The style of writing in these books is so intense. Love the fantasy, adventure and all of the action. Fantasy is my favorite genre and this book portrays it very well. I really enjoyed reading and learning about Valrin. And I really love how this character is woven into the other series. He was young but ready to take his place at sea. I literally cannot read these books fast enough! I'm trying to figure out if I read the next one in this series or go back to the Half-Elf Chronicles. Either way I know they'll be awesome. I hope that you will pick up these books too.

[Ignacio Muñoz Lanza · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know what this was, but it certainly was not my cup of tea.

Though it picked up on the final chapter, the beginning was so rushed it made me lose interest. It was as if the author wanted to begin the Hero’s Journey but skimmed over the first stages and straight to the action.

I knew going in that Sword and Sorcery books are quick and don’t mull on details, but there’s a difference between prioritising action scenes and ignoring any kind of plot cohesion. The characters are 1-dimensional and fail to react to what happens around them. The protagonist has as much flare as a cup of water.

I’m going back to The Lord of The Rings for my high-fantasy adventures, thank you very much.

[Elda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great premise but wanted more.

This book had a great premise and imaginative plot. I only wish there had been more background on the characters. I needed to be more engaged in their motivations and had more involvement in their actions. I loved the magical city they discovered but I wanted more explanation of what it was all about. I wanted to be awed by more in depth descriptions but only got more linear words. This book has the potential for a great epic fantasy but falls short as it stands. However, I will be reading the next book to see how everything turns out.

[David Woodall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crack the oyster, receive the pearl.

I have been reading sci-fi, fantasy, and horror since 1964. I have been blessed to see so many books, magazine stories, and epubs, rise from my imagination to become movies, tv shows and series in my lifetime. This tale could easily fit into that group. I love to read. I have high hopes for this tale and the world it presents to us, it's readers. I would like to thank Mr. Williams for his time and dedication that led to the publication of his imaginary world, it's characters and their stories. Read on!

[Perry St.Laurent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the story behind this and was excited about a new world and a new adventure. The main characters provided are interesting with a past with more to tell. What I am not used to was the shortness of the book. Most books I read are well over 300+ pages. The books are priced very modestly so that was not an issue, it is only that once you're in you want to take that journey with few interruptions. I think this is an excellent introduction to a great story and journey. I look forward to continuing the series.

[Alan Behan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sea Born.

An absolute cracking sea adventure story from A Stormborn series, an epic read will have you hooked from start to finish, Valrin has been chosen to be the Stormborn, Protectorate of the seas, being chased by pirate dwarfs are chasing him and his crew, they will stop at nothing to get the chosen one, lots and lots of action, talking sea creatures, vampires, Elves and sea battles, highly entertaining, the narration by Nick Denton is just class, check it out you won't be disappointed..😁

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stormborn: A Tale of the Dwemhar (Stormborn Saga Book 1), my sixth read from author J.T. Williams. A 2-hour 6 minute/103-page fantasy read, well-written, entertaining & enjoyable fantasy read. I'll read more from this author. I own 49 other books by this author & after reading this one they've just moved higher on my TBR list. “I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading Mage Soul: A Tale of the Dwemhar (Stormborn Saga Book 2). (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

[Joshua Chadd · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Humble Beginnings...

I've had the privilege of riding along on the journey of the Half-Elf Chronicles since the beginning and as such grew to love the kind seafaring Vals from the first book. I was also there when JT asked us what he should write. So what I thought was going to be a short story about a secondary character turned into a full fledged story! And man was it good! If you are a fan of pirates, ships, magic, and awesome characters, then this is for you!

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well Crafted Origin Story

This is a nicely written story with a good mixture of action and character development. The story follows Val on an adventure to learn his destiny or at least the start of it.

The book also introduces us to a world that is harsh and filled with ancient mysteries. It is a fantasy with humans, elves, dwarves, and merpeople. There many not so subtle references to the issues that plague our world.

[paul a todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m quite glad that I read the later series before this as it contains spoilers that might not endear the reader to the rest of the series! Otherwise it was well written and, for the most part, spelling, syntax and punctuation was fairly good but there were quite a few errors that should have been picked up by either the editors or the first sample readers!
Apart from that, I found the book and the whole series/saga to be both entertaining and engrossing!

[Robb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the characters and their adventure in this tale. The idea of a Stormborn was new to me which really made for an original story. The characters were well developed and there was not an over abundance of them. I found that refreshing because too many characters does not allow for their development, or it just muddles the story trying to keep track of everyone. The amount of detail was complete making it easy to envision all the action. I’m glad to find another series to devour!

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast-paced high fantasy of the seas. A little bit break-neck paced actually. The whole book feels like an introduction to series rather than a book of its own.

Overall, while being well written, it was written without enough general information and too much detail. Normally I find things reverse to that. I do look forward to reading a few more books into the series to see what happens to Valrin.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed the book it reminds me of Lord of The Rings but at sea. Its great for a quick fantasy read but at the same time I felt the story was rushed a bit. I wanted to know more about the characters there wasn't enough background story. I'm hoping for more background in the rest of the series.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

It was ok. I was expecting something a little more in depth I suppose. It was very short, though. I didn’t realize it was a novella. I wish it had stated that. I believe the story needs to go a little more in depth as to where they come from, what happened to their people, etc. I’m a little lost. May ewe’ll get that in the next book.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall rating: 4.8

A novella, these characters jumped to life and kept me glued, wanting to know how Valrin fares on this coming into himself tale. Very epic and engaging a rollercoaster of emotions. I felt as though he truly exists and I needed him to be okay. Definitely the perfect start to Valrins tale! All my reviews are always voluntarily written.

[emeraldragonlady (Maddie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I enjoyed listening to the book. It really wrapped me up in the story. The story was interesting and captivating and Nick Denton really made it come to life. A great fantasy read! I can’t wait to hear the rest.

[Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read.

The story gets right to the plot of the young main character. His destiny is is known and quickly directed on the right direction. The pursuers seem too prepared for their fight of the main character. With the fog and ambushes.