"Mortalis" Part 1 Book 4 of the "Demon Wars Saga" by R. A. Salvatore

"Mortalis" Part 1
book 4 of the "Demon Wars Saga"
by R. A. Salvatore
Multicast performance
Produced by GraphicAudio
Approx. 6 hours.

The "Demon Wars Saga" by R.A. Salvatore consists of two trilogies and this book, "Mortalis," to bridge between the two trilogies. The first trilogy tells of Elbryan the Ranger, Pony the warrior, Bradwarden the Centaur, Avelyn the monk, and Juraviel the elf as they battle the demon dactyl, Bestesbulzibar and protect the land of Corona from his evils. "Mortalis" covers mainly the life of Pony after the war, and develops some new characters.

Once again GraphicAudio continue to produce this saga in audio book form with their "Movie in your Mind" concept. R.A. Salvatore provided the great story but GraphicAudio brings it to life with outstanding acting, super sound effects and subtle, yet effective incidental music.

In part one of Mortalis we learn the Touel'alfar, the elves in the land of Corona, have taken Elbryan and Pony's son and have begun his training as a ranger to replace Nightbird (Elbryan). TheTouel'alfar have also begun the training of another ranger, Brynn Dharielle, a To-Gai girl whose family was killed during the war. The To-Gai are proficient horsemen, and Juraviel returns to find Bradwarden and have him find her a strong horse for her training.

During this time after the defeat of the demon dactyl the Abellican church and the King of Honce-the-bear are at odds. With the fall of Father Abbot Marquart and the evils he brought on the King wants to take away the church's powers. Many monks within the church seek a restructuring and look to rebuilding the church on the premises taught by Avelyn Desbris, in that the church should help the population not rule over them.

It is also discovered that the plague has been brought to the lands of Honce-the-bear. Rose colored circles with a white ring appear on the skin of those afflicted and the church has no power against the plague and wants to cover up the affect of the disease upon the land. While one monk believes more should be done.

In the meantime King Ursul is looking for an heir to the throne and if Pony turns down the church to become Mother Abbess, he may seek her out to be queen. However the Kings concubine has other plans and starts to show jealousy toward the way the King "eyes" Jilesponie (Pony). Pony in the meantime is still grieving over the death of her husband Elbryan and returns to Dundalis, their hometown.

With the excellent production quality from GraphicAudio and the attention grabbing story by R. A. Salvatore the separation of the book into 3 parts feels like one of the old movie serials, I can't wait for the next episode.