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The Shadow Above The Flames

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"An awesome premise combining old and new. Tons of fun."
- Dan Wells, New York Times bestselling author of "I Am Not A Serial Killer"

Fossil fuels are gone.

Five years ago, hungry for energy and profits, the Union Forest Corporation embarked on an aggressive search for alternative power sources. In their quest they drilled too deeply, releasing a long-forgotten evil that’s been terrorizing the planet. As frightening as the dragon is, the executives at Union Forest are more terrified of losing corporate secrets than losing human lives. Somewhere in that drilling site, there’s a data core that they desperately want back.

After giving years of service to the military, Henry Morgan just wants a normal life. But between nagging feelings from his past and a strained relationship with his brother Rick, “normality” always feels just out of reach. When Henry learns that Rick is among the force of elite commandos sent by Union Forest to battle against the demon at the drilling site, he’s forced back into the roles of soldier and protective older sibling. He’ll do everything he can to save his brother . . . including risking his own life at the hands of a ruthless corporation.

437 pages, ebook

Published June 6, 2017

1 person is currently reading
31 people want to read

About the author

Daniel Swenson

8 books8 followers
Daniel Swenson lives with his wife and children in Utah nestled between the foothills of the mountains and the shore of Utah Lake. He and his family enjoy hiking, riding bikes, playing outdoors and game nights where they play different board and card games.

Daniel has been a fan of science fiction and fantasy since he first sat down and watched Star Wars, Voltron, Masters of the Universe and the Transformers. Since witnessing the spectacle of Star Wars Daniel has been an avid movie goer and found his love of reading at a young age when he journeyed in the lands of Krynn and Toril alongside the creations of R.A. Salvatore, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

Daniel is the creator and host of the Hugo-nominated podcast Dungeon Crawlers Radio. A successful podcast that covers all things geek including interviews with upcoming and best-selling authors. Because of the show Daniel has had the unique opportunity to learn the craft of writing from influential writers such as; David Farland, R.A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, Brandon Sanderson, Dan wells, Larry Correia, Michaelbrent Collings, C.J. Henderson, L.E. Modesitt Jr., Timothy Zahn, Richard Baker, D.J. Butler and many more.

For the past twenty years Daniel has been refining his craft of storytelling by creating profound and unique adventures for various gaming groups. Now he spreads his love of gaming with his kids and their friends.

Daniel’s debut novel, "The Shadow Above the Flames," released in June of 2017 and the sequel to “A Dragon’s Fate” is scheduled to be release in June of 2019 by Immortal Works. You can also find two of Daniel’s short stories, "Tremors Within the Storm," in Jason King's Valcoria Awakenings anthology and “Dark Wings from Above” in the Choose Your Own Apocalypse Anthology.

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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
2,361 reviews
January 7, 2018
Disclaimer:  I received this book for free, and asked to give an honest review. Initially, I felt that the kindest thing I could do would be to not leave a review at all, but that felt like kind of a cheat, so here comes my two cents...

I really wanted to love this story, we have a crack military team and cyber experts facing off against an Apocalypse Dragon... A Dragon!  And, seriously I laughed out loud when this group of grown, Macho-men-soldiers squealed like girls and ran away from Mutant Squirrels... But this story really needed was an editor who wasn't nodding-off asleep over an empty coffee cup... an editor that would've pointed out that changing POV's is fine as long as that new POV isn't almost word for word, the same as the previous POV...  an editor that would've pointed out that incessant repetition of keywords will drive a reader CrAzY !!! 
A good editor would have dug this gem of a story out of rough matrix, but alas, such was just Not the case!   Sad face...
1 review
June 24, 2017
I'll start by adding the caveat that I personally know the author. There's a trend in the industry to write "gritty" novels with anti-hero's and dystopian today's as well as futures, channeling some kind of disaffected French existentialism into every young adult and adult fantasy/sci-fi novel, while in the end creating a rather depressing slog through some trite and predictable tale. This is a novel written by a first-time author that is actually FUN to read. It's an entertaining romp of action and excitement of dragons and the modern day. It doesn't get caught up in pretensions and does what any good novel should do, tell an engaging tale.

This is what I would generally describe as an action book in a modern-fantasy setting. Criticism may be laid at the story theme, arc, and plotting but frankly every plot is a rehash these days and it's not whether the plot is "fresh" but how it's told! We forget that a novel is to engage, excite, make us lose track of time or at least not feel we wasted our time. One might be tempted to think of the movie "Reign of Fire" with the modern theme and a dragon raiding the land, but it's much more imaginative and I feel realistic in approach. As I read I found myself getting caught up in the action, rooting for the hero's and looking forward to turning the next page. And that's what this book is, engaging action and the plot moves forward at a good clip without getting bogged down in extraneous details or existential whining by the main characters. When a brother's in trouble, there's no recrimination, doubt or moral agonizing on what to do next, despite the fact that there was a falling out. He's his brother and by Jove, he's going to help because that's what brothers do. That isn't cliche, that's how most people react and it keeps the plot moving forward and the doesn't slow the action. Making it "fun" to read and enjoy.

Daniel Swenson has on display real talent that will only improve with his next venture. I feel his prose is spot on. You're not reading Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling, who both write blockbusters but whose prose is often trite and confusing. Mr. Swneson has clear prose, you know what's going on and you aren't bothered by weird or pretentious phrase turns. Again, the writing for the action scenes is taught. It moves you along and gives a clear sense of action in the words, which in truth is difficult to convey convincingly. There's a lot of raw potential that I is on display, more than many first time author's who have written blockbusters.

I typically enjoy reading 19th century Russian authors and English classics. I'm familiar with good prose and writing. I'm familiar with the point of writing too. It either conveys a message or is there to entertain. Just prior to reading Shadow Above the Flames, I was reading the Mistborn trilogy because my kids had gotten into it. That series failed to entertain, it was a convoluted mess of plotting and characters and in the end strayed from the promise of the first book. Coming from Mr. Sanderson's series to The Shadow Above the Flames was a pleasing surprise. This book entertained. It kept to it's plotting's promise and delivered what the novel set out to do, provide an read of action and fantasy. It delivered and I left the book feeling that I had had FUN!
165 reviews5 followers
June 8, 2017
A dragon and a modern setting walked into a bar. Now Henry, ex-military and his brothers’ shadow, has to extract Rick from said bar. And by bar, I mean Ireland. That’s almost the same thing, right?

In some ways, Shadow Above the Flames felt like a retelling of the Hobbit. Except there was a small military group instead of dwarves. A data core instead of the Arkenstone. No kingly madness, but the brothers overcame differences that had them distanced.

I liked the fact that the author got creative with the modern setting. Mutated squirrels, lizards, and other animals caused problems for the intrepid heroes. Besides the dragon, that is. It managed to separate the novel from common fantasy stereotypes. They were still there, just presented in a way that they didn’t feel overused. The setting also served to offer some great solutions to the conflicts. Plot devices were well thought out. They allowed for unique situations. I liked how the story itself progressed. Things occurred in a logical manner, and at the right time. Not too fast or too slow. There was quite a bit of action, which served to make the story feel fast-paced. Everything served a distinct purpose to further the plot.

Dialogue and narration were a little awkward and clunky in some areas. That, in turn, made character interactions a bit forced and unnatural sometimes. Narration and dialogue also had the same tone on occasion. While it was universal, changing the tone could have enhanced reader experience. Description favored telling rather than showing. It doesn’t have the whimsical voice that a lot of fantasy novels have. Which, given the setting, worked out in its favor for the most part. The reader still gets a very good vision of what’s going on.

Henry and Rick, as characters, felt fleshed out. They’re noticeably different at the end than at the beginning. It felt like a little less attention got paid to the minor characters. That didn’t do a whole lot to detract from the story itself, though. As a whole, they were all good.

I did have one or two questions left at the end. There was a pretty awesome epilogue, so if we’re lucky, there might be future installments? It sets things up to get a whole lot more dangerous. I’d love to see where it manages to go, and what kind of world the author is creating.
Profile Image for Peter Coulthard.
3 reviews
December 16, 2017
Modern-day adventuring and dragon hunting.

Oil drilling wakes up a dragon and the world pays for it but it is not the end of the world and life goes on just with a new danger in the world. It is a quite refreshing take on this sort of event the fact that a single creature does not end the world as it can only be in one place at once. The world takes it seriously but in a way, it's just like a natural disaster, not the apocalypse.

The book is more action hero than realistic military but it is still grounded enough that none of the characters feels indestructible or that they are protected by plot armour which adds a real sense of threat in the action/combat sections.

Getting to see things from different characters including the dragon's point of view helps the listen learn more about the characters and in places keep the action moving.

Daniel Swenson has done a great job here the writing is good and the characters are believable, I get the feeling there is more to this world that we find out about in this one book. The book has great pacing and I never had a chance to get bored, If I had the time I could have quite happily listen to this book from start to finish in one sitting. The story focuses very much on the characters which help make it engaging and keeps you listening.

The narration is easy to listen to and clear, the narrator does a good job giving each character their own unique voice. I like the sense of menace and arrogance the voice of the dragon adds. I would happily listen to other books narrated by Steve Campbell

After listening to this I am interested in finding out what happens next so I hope there is a book two. This setting has a lot of potentials I would love to find out more about some of the side characters.

All in all, this is a great listen. I am happy with the time I spent listening to this.


I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Profile Image for Elena Alvarez Dosil.
872 reviews14 followers
January 25, 2019
My original The Shadow Above The Flames audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

The Union Forest Corporation has been digging for some time in order to find more available power sources. But five years ago they went too far, and awakened a dangerous and terrible monster, and now the corporation wants to silence this terrible truth and slay the dragon This is the story of two brothers who risk their lives to get rid of a powerful menace.

The premises of this book were so interesting, but it failed to deliver. This is your typical classic dragon book but in a modern setting. The plot was well built, but I the character development was poor. There were constant POV changes, being the story told by both brothers alternatively. The problem here is that both characters sound exactly the same, talking and thinking, so I found it difficult and tiresome to follow the story and identify POV.

As in other military fiction books, there are many secondary characters, and if the main characters were not very developed, the secondary ones were just mere drafts, and I was not very moved when there were casualties.

I struggled to finish this book, since I wasn't able to connect with the characters and I didn't become very invested in the story. Another issue is the constant repetitions and reiterations. The book could have benefited from an editor and transformed in a more polished product.

Steve Campbell's narration was correct. He did a wonderful job regarding character's interpretations, but I would have preferred their different voice tones to be a bit more subtle. It felt a bit overdone, in my opinion.

 
Profile Image for Colin Rowlands.
240 reviews2 followers
December 16, 2017
This book had an interesting mix of ideas and a decent overall story, but for some reason it did not quite click with me quite as much as it should have done.

I enjoyed the idea of a modern company waking a dragon by their drilling, but some of the other stuff they did was just a little too stereotypical evil corp for them to be a compelling enough baddie. Besides them you are obviously left the dragon itself along with the various animals on the destroyed remains of Ireland that had been somehow mutated by its presence and these worked fairly well as an obstacle for our collection of heroes, but weren't quite compelling enough.

Facing these obstacles you mainly had two brothers who were both special forces at one time (younger brother still was) along with some other members of Rick's (younger brother) who had been sent to Ireland to retrieve some sensitive data that somehow got trapped there when the dragon first appeared a number of years ago and finally, a hacker-type friend of their from back when they were kids. On the whole this cast worked out pretty well, but the brothers both showing some signs of near-psychic ability seemed a little unnecessary.

The narrator of this book gave a good performance with a clear and distinctive style with all significant characters having enough individuality in the performance so that they all stood out enough from one another.

Overall, there were some flaws with this book, but it was an interesting story that I enjoyed listening to with none of them being big enough to disrupt that.

[I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
Profile Image for Carl Hackman.
Author 4 books13 followers
June 16, 2017
When Union Forest decided to drill for oil in Ireland, they release a beast so powerful I could potentially destroy everything and everyone on the planet.

Henry Morgan, ex special forces, working for Union Forest finds out that they have sent a crack team back to the scene to retrieve their data core. The team includes Henry's younger brother, Rick. Union Forest have shut down the team's only way of communicating with the outside world, effectively damning them.

Henry with his geeky, but very important friend, heads out to try and save his brother from almost certain death. What follows is a roller coaster action packed novel that will keep you turning the pages until the very end.

A great debut novel from Daniel; he is one author I'll be keeping on my radar for future reads.
Profile Image for Melissa Levine.
1,028 reviews42 followers
November 26, 2017
I was given this story for an honest review. On that note, while the story, thankfully, didn't have any real issues and it flowed nicely, it just didn't hold my attention. I love stories involving out of the ordinary type situations, like this story; I just had a hard time getting through it.

The narrator did a pretty good job. My only issue with him was the way he pronounced certain words. I have no clue why it bothered me so much but whenever he'd say words like "been" or "against" he pronounced them exactly how they were spelled, for example, "been" was pronounced as "bean." He sounded like he had an English accent so I don't know. Otherwise, he did a good job with the variety of voices/accents. I'd listen to him again.
Profile Image for Curly's  Ramblings.
2,036 reviews6 followers
November 17, 2017
From the time the dragon breaks free I was hooked. Interesting intelligent mutant everyday creatures...the attacking squirrels was a genius idea. Strong men having ordinary reactions and flashbacks make the characters real. Solid action scenes. I even found myself liking the Beast and his perspective. I also liked the ending! The narrator did a nice job!

I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Profile Image for James Wymore.
Author 33 books54 followers
October 9, 2017
Swenson's debut novel is a braid of interesting characters assigned or coerced into fighting a gigantic fire-breathing dragon, every bit as potent in the modern day. The juxtaposition of fantasy with a post-apocalyptic setting is fresh and exciting. Definitely a fun read!
Profile Image for Matthew Parks.
214 reviews8 followers
March 15, 2018
The story itself deserves four stars. It's a page turner that was hard to put down! Really engaging!

That said, there was a *LOT* of swearing in this book. The main characters are military personnel and, well, they swear like 'em. Not my cup of tea, that.
Profile Image for Deedra.
3,932 reviews40 followers
March 16, 2018
I enjoyed this one.There was a lot of suspense and action.A well written book.Steve Campbell was a fine narrator.“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”
Profile Image for Michael Haspil.
Author 7 books47 followers
November 24, 2017
A fun book that reminded me of Reign of Fire, at least in concept. I can't wait for the sequel, which sounds completely insane, but fantastic.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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