Welcome to one of the May 20th stops on the blog tour for the Little Men, Big Treasures trilogy by J. Edwards Holt, organized by Audiobookworm Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, audio excerpts, reviews, author interviews, narrator interviews, and more!
This is my review stop for book two, The Summoner’s Gem. Look back at my review of book one, Little Men, Big Treasures, and ahead at my review of book three, The Battle of Danamor.
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About the Book
The Summoner’s Gem
Little Men, Big Treasures Book Two
by J. Edwards Holt
Print/eBook
Published 6 October 2018
Page Count: 198
Audiobook
Published 22 September 2020
Narrator: James R. Willoughby III
Length: 4 Hours
Genre: Fantasy
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Three decades after returning home from the adventure that made him famous, the legendary dwarf treasure hunter O’balin Undur has gone missing. Many have presumed O’balin to be dead, including his old friend Bindle, the aged and worn mayor of Mountainside Village. After receiving an urgent letter addressed specifically to him, Bindle sneaks out of town to visit the home of an old friend; There he is greeted by a surprising guest who claims to have seen O’balin alive, searching for a mysterious stone called the Summoner’s Gem. Middle-aged and tired, but still craving adventure, Bindle leaves behind his home and family and embarks on a quest to find his long-lost friend.
Along the way Bindle forms lasting friendships, travels to new and strange places, and finds himself face to face with a wizard in an encounter that will forever change his life. Experience adventure, suspense, and even laughs in the epic follow-up to J. Edwards Holt’s “Little Men, Big Treasures”.
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My Review
My Rating: 5 Stars
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I was granted complimentary audiobook access to The Summoner’s Gem on Audible as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Audiobookworm Promotions. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
This book takes place about 30 years after the previous, after our surviving heroes have had time to raise a family (or not), when adventure comes calling once again. The key points of the previous book are neatly summarized in the early pages of this book in an unobtrusive way, so I do think anyone reading only this book or reading them out of order would do fine understanding what’s going on. That said, it was definitely more enjoyable already being quite familiar with these characters, and I do recommend reading in order.
I really enjoyed the continued world-building and the opportunity to reunite with Bindle and friends. It’s refreshing to get this sort of high fantasy quest adventure featuring dwarves as the good guys, highly intelligent, and leading the adventure. You generally don’t see all three of those things at once when faced with dwarves in this flavour of fantasy. If you wished the adventurous individuals among the hobbits of Tolkein’s world were more like Gimli and the dwarves, you’ll love these books!
The narrator, James R. Willoughby III, was pleasant to listen to and did an excellent job of bringing each character to life, making them distinct and easy to decipher, without adopting any annoying extremes in pitch or accent. Overall this audiobook was a very fun experience, and I look forward to continuing the adventure in book 3 shortly!
About the Author
Born in North Carolina, United States, J. Edwards Holt always knew that he wanted to be a writer. After graduating high school, he attended college and pursued a degree in education, but later decided to change course and follow his dream to become a novelist and children’s author.
Now a full-time writer, editor, and blogger, Holt spends his free time dreaming up stories and reading. He is passionate about spreading Christian messages through his writing, watching science fiction and super hero movies, and collecting comic books.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Amazon
About the Narrator
When James R. Willoughby, III was in college, he created copy and did production work at the campus radio station. There he learned from a communication student whom, in the 90s, went on to be a program manager of a radio station that was voted the number one classic rock station in the country for three consecutive years. Years later when he was a project manager of an electrical contractor, he made some radio ads for them. Later he did the same for my own electrical contracting business.
He has recently built a sound booth for recording. It is lined on the inside with 2 ½” acoustical foam and lined on the outside with mass loaded vinyl. He currently owns a Rode NT1 mic and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 preamp.
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