Buy new:

$30.54

FREE delivery May 25 - June 2. Details

In Stock.

As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

[{"displayPrice":"$30.54","priceAmount":30.54,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"30","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"54","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ab1h4vdrKk4v1yFdoJvJF7bp2aYWd%2FqSD7nYlGgK%2B4GmNjvyms81SEk3PKTzGszCUgqcNgkkuJBIJ4yVDu%2BQ2Du05NfNcoCHAopu%2FcTfkfo8TZsgTroKtoh3tJzNGpapPtNIrUOkp%2FFM6AJf4DB4YRO0OmPD%2FT3HxjnqHJmCCc6LJCzTzhikbw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"}]

$$30.54 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Blackstone_Publishing

Sold by

Blackstone_Publishing

Details

Ships from

Blackstone_Publishing

Sold by

Blackstone_Publishing

Return policy: Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Share <Embed>

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

R.K. Lander

Path of a Novice (Silvan) Audio CD – Unabridged, March 1, 2021

by R K Lander (Author), Daniel Thomas May (Reader), Daniel May (Reader)

754 ratings

Book 1 of 5: The Silvan

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$2.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$17.99

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$14.99

$11.45

Audio CD, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$27.29

—

Audio CD, CD, Unabridged

$30.54

—

Kindle
$0.00 Read with Kindle Unlimited to also enjoy access to over 1 million more titles $2.99 to buy
Audiobook
$0.00 Free with your Audible trial
Hardcover
$17.99

2 New from $17.99
Paperback
$14.99

3 Used from $11.45 7 New from $14.99
Audio CD
$30.54

1 New from $30.54

Enhance your purchase

A fearless warrior. An implacable traitor. The path towards a destiny only a god foresaw. Fel'annár is a gifted immortal warrior embarking on his first patrol into the Deep Forest. Half-Silvan, half-Alpine, he battles the enemy from without, and the prejudice from within. But he learns more than just warfare when an arcane power begins to emerge, one he cannot control. While friendships are forged, a destiny unfolds, one that is tied to a past he knows nothing about. For others though, it is only a matter of time before the truth is revealed and the danger becomes real. If you love high fantasy worlds with compelling characters on a dangerous mission, you can't miss Path of a Novice, Book 1 in the epic fantasy series, The Silvan Saga.

Language

English
Publisher

Tantor Audio
Publication date

March 1, 2021
Dimensions

5.2 x 5.7 inches
ISBN-13

979-8200369669
See all details

Kevin Miller
1,481
Paperback
20 offers from $6.71
P. F. Ford
1,338
Paperback
4 offers from $5.42
Jack Conner
427
Paperback
8 offers from $7.99
Gregory Faccone
35
Paperback
2 offers from $7.05
Willow Rose
4,776
Paperback
8 offers from $8.51
Elizabeth Pantley
375
Paperback
2 offers from $10.99

R.K. Lander
630
Hardcover
2 offers from $18.99
Robert Jordan
3,904
Mass Market Paperback
63 offers from $13.16
R.K. Lander
590
Paperback
2 offers from $13.60
Robert Jordan
21,272
Paperback
72 offers from $3.84
R.K. Lander
1,057
Paperback
8 offers from $13.19
R.K. LANDER
638
Paperback
7 offers from $11.20

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

R. K. Lander is an epic fantasy writer, currently writing the Silvan Saga.

Twenty-plus years of experience acting on stage and screen has given Daniel Thomas May a keen ear for all the ticklish details of storytelling and distinctive characterizations. With more than 100 highly rated titles on Audible, Daniel's energetic, confident, deft, commanding narration makes him particularly adept in portraying adventurers of all sorts, whether in fantasy (Elidor Trilogy), sci-fi (nineteen-part Foreigner series, Audie Award Finalist), horror (Alaskan Undead Apocalypse series), romance (True Heroes series), or nonfiction dramatizations (Hatching Twitter, Run!).

Start reading Path of a Novice: The Silvan Book I on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08Z5G15V1
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tantor Audio; Unabridged edition (March 1, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8200369669
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 5.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #8,648,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #41,527 in Fantasy Action & Adventure
- #75,062 in Epic Fantasy (Books)
- #118,107 in Books on CD

Customer Reviews:
754 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

R.K. Lander

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I'm R.K. Lander and I have always loved fantasy.

I read Tolkien and Hobb. I read Robert Jordan and Will Wight. I read all those classic fantasy books and when there was nothing left to read, I wrote my own stories, the ones I wanted to read but couldn't find.

I love epic fantasy. The battles, the creatures, the riveting stories and sweeping worlds. But I love the characters just as much. I love the intrigue, the politics, the strategy and the philosophy behind the magic systems. I love imaginary worlds that make sense, and I love characters that think logically.

I love exploring the depths of the warrior mindset. I love the emotions that life-changing events bring about, and if I can make my readers feel all those things, then that is what I most love about writing.

I hope you will read my stories and enjoy them, and if you do, I would love to hear from you.

www.rklander.com

https://www.facebook.com/rklwrites/

@rklwrites

Customer reviews

5 star		70%
4 star		22%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

LadyMcBeath

Elves like you’ve never known before

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

I haven’t enjoyed elves this much since I met Drizzt back in the day. I couldn’t give it five stars, even though I loved it, because it’s a story about warriors that lacks good battle scenes. But it’s exciting, with great characters and decent world building. It’s just too obviously written by a woman. These are the most emotional elves I’ve ever encountered. They spend a little too much time braiding each other’s hair. The magic system is largely undefined so it’s use comes without context. The military situation feels unexplained. They are raided regularly, but not by an army seeking to conquer. The enemy seems to have no purpose other than destruction. Also, there is a large back story of how a minority of Alpine elves came to conquer the Silvan nation which could have been explored but is largely ignored. Perhaps it will be explored in future volumes. Which I look forward to, in spite of my rating.

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

The Baker Family

Not Bad. Kept Wondering If I Was Reading Book 2

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

So it is a fun read. Let's state that right off. I did read it all the way through, but there were elements that I found annoying.

The author is a decent writer, though I found quite a few terms that did not seem to match the time period and would throw me when used--made me wonder if the author had really done her homework. The imagery is good, not too heavy to the point where we can't get to the story itself. But where the author jumps into the story kept making me wonder if I was reading book 2 instead of book 1.

Characters and backstory that seemed to be significant weren't fully explained, but the author wrote as if the reader should already understand or know their significance. For example, at the end of the story, there were a variety of characters that were introduced but the author treated them as if the reader already knew all about them. I actually went and looked to make sure I was really, indeed reading book 1.

The characters themselves are diverse and multi-dimensional. They have differing personalities and for the most part they stayed true to character. The main annoying thing for me was the omniscient perspective the author took for the characters. The reader knows what everyone is thinking at any given time. The problem for me with such a view is that I found it hard to invest in the main character. In fact, it took some time to determine who the main character was supposed to be. I like experiencing a story through the eyes of a single character, and I didn't like knowing more than the main character did. I would have preferred to discover his hidden history as he did--or at least reasoned it out on my own--but instead I found out through secondary characters. That is a personal preference, but it did make it harder to feel invested in the main character.

The action scenes were good, though slightly unbelievable at times. The magic system is still a mystery--something that might be explained better in the next books...dunno. The plot was interesting, though vague as to who the enemy was, why they were the enemy, and what their goals were. I enjoyed the mystery around the main character, but was baffled as to what the main goal of the story was. In fact, it was not made clear as to the main character's motivations--his personal goals were made clear enough, but why he had those goals and why such an ambition existed was all rather vague.

But overall, it is a good story and a fun read.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

First book in an intriguing Epic Fantasy series

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

And Ladies, even though the cover shows a handsome Elf, this is not a romance book. It has wonderful characters, a fantastic World, and great action scenes. I only wish it had been longer, because then it would have allowed even more depth and world building. It was, though, very nicely written and did not end with a cliffhanger (although the story has just begun).

First--the writing style. It was (as in most epic fantasies) very descriptive. Third person. Sentences were a bit too long, as many lasted for an entire paragraph. British spelling on some words. Easy and smooth flow.

Second--the World. This world had varied types of Elfs, not just 'Dark' or 'Light'. It had enemies not just within the caste system and the different Elven species, but with violent creatures who used to be human. It highlighted one Elven race's love of nature and forests.

Third--the characters. Nicely developed and interesting with (again, as usual) nearly unpronounceable names. The main character is 51-year old Elf. It took me a while to get my head around the fact that he was considered too young to be a Warrior. His origins are unknown to himself (although the reader and some of the other characters eventually find out). He has a few good friends, and his superiors respect him. All he has ever wanted was to be a warrior Captain and to serve his King and his people.

The ending was a little anti-climatic, because I was expecting that the MC would know who he was by that point. But it wasn't a cliffhanger, which is a plus.

I liked it. In fact, I've done something that I almost never do (mostly because my 'To Read' pile is so large). I've actually pre-ordered the second book.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sue C. Dees

A MUST READ

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is the beginning of a wonderful story. The Silvan, is such an unassuming title but it so completely describes Fel'annar, Hwind'ator, our blossoming hero. Little does the reader know as they read the first few pages, that their mind will be consumed with the life of this young Elf. It has been awhile since I have enjoyed a story so much. Our author has woven his life masterfully on the pages of her book and by the end of the first book, we have rejoiced with him and cried for him, we have feared for him even though he is only a character in a book. He has come to life and touched our hearts and minds. I often wonder what it must be like to be a writer with stories to share. What is different in their minds than the minds of other people. I'll never know, but I will be able to enjoy their gifts as they share them with the rest of us.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Tiree

shallow book extremely badly written with poor language skills

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

I found this book to be exceedingly shallow in its scope and plot. I found the politics to be simplistic. The descriptions were cursory at best (eg: the courtyard below the royal chambers) and did not work to provide an holistic evocation of a large world. The constantly highly-charged emotional state of the characters seemed odd to me, unrealistic. The language was bombastic and the lexical choices were bizarre to say the least. It seemed to me that someone had chosen to use the longest words they could, after checking them in a dictionary, however their usage was not correct within context. I found out after I had finished reading the book that it was not written by a native English-language speaker so that may go some way towards explaining the weird grammatical constructions and inappropriate lexical choices.

The author also slipped from narrating through the eyes of the characters, to narrating from a ‘God-stance’. One example is: they were walking through a courtyard looking at ‘studies’ and ‘healing halls’ off to the sides. They could not know this at this point as they had just arrived. You would have to insert ‘what looked like’ ground-floor studies.

On a positive note, I thought the dialogue was generally not too bad and some of the characters reasonably well-drawn.

It was simply not believable that the main character had never heard of the King's indiscretion, since this appeared to be a well-known historical fact to everyone else.

I add some notes below to highlight some of the language issues. Many passages needed to be re-worked but there were too many to list here. I had 140 pages of ‘notes and marks’ on my kindle, where the text needed to be amended.

This is a poorly-written book which needed much proof-reading and editing prior to publication, which obviously did not happen. The Epilogue was particularly dreadful.

Vocabulary

Everywhere the author has used ‘thusly’ should be either removed entirely or replaced by more appropriate vocabulary. ‘Thusly’ should not be used at all.

‘to be banished thusly by the Silvans’ should be ‘to be banished by the Silvans’

The author should also remove every ‘utter’ which is included in the text – ‘utter’ is simply not required and where it is included is inappropriate.

‘his antagonist’s comment somehow ameliorating his aggressive emotions rather than exacerbating them’ should be ‘somehow modifying his aggressive emotions rather than fuelling them’

‘gesticulating wildly’ should be ‘gesturing wildly’ (‘to gesticulate’ has the sense of ‘to point’)

‘adverse to the idea of’ should be ‘averse to the idea of’

‘an onerous weight settled in his chest’ should be ‘a heavy weight settled in his chest’

‘simply burned carelessly’ should be ‘simply burned indiscriminately’

‘prompted the king monotonously’ should be ‘prompted the king dully’ (indeed on every occasion ‘monotonous’ is used, it should be replaced with more appropriate vocab)

‘with time came a purge of what worked, what didn’t, what might’ should be ‘with time came a synthesis of what worked’

Grammar

In general, the commas are placed incorrectly within sentences throughout the entire book. Commas are also used too liberally by the author and are often not required.

‘one he had craved for’ should be ‘one he had craved’ (the ‘for’ is included in ‘craved’)

‘to earlier promotion’ should be ‘to early promotion’ (if you use the word ‘earlier’ here it means promotion that happened earlier in the day, for example)

‘the noble onus of protecting Valley’ should be ‘the noble responsibility for’, or ‘the noble charge of’ (‘onus’ means ‘putting emphasis on’ eg: the onus was on him to do the deed)

‘since for as long as he could remember’ should be ‘for as long as he could remember’ (the ‘since’ is not required)

‘fields sprawled endlessly into the horizon’ should be ‘fields sprawled endlessly to the horizon’

‘gesturing for them to dismount somewhat rudely’ should be ‘gesturing rudely for them to dismount’ (they are not dismounting rudely, it is the gesture that is rude)

‘Far be it from he to distrust the word’ should be ‘Far be it from him to distrust the word’

Tenses

‘being lain to waste by the Sand Lords’ should be ‘being laid to waste’

‘it was the Silvans that lead the festivities’ should be ‘it was the Silvans that led the festivities’

‘as they danced and they drunk’ should be ‘as they danced and drank’

Constructions of sentences and paragraphs

Too many problems to list.

19 people found this helpful

CasT

Couldn't put down

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

I'd had this book on my kindle for a while before finally getting round to it. The blurb and synopsis intrigued me, but didn't truly grab me. I was on holiday, bored and decided what's to lose, I'd already bought it for less than a loaf of bread. What I discovered with each page was a world I became enthralled by. The depths to each character, the vivid beauty of both lush forest and stone architecture, the detailed fights both physical and verbal with all their horror, pain, fear, relief, joy, sadness, pride and shame. This author writes of a world I found myself wanting to literally jump into and join. Share the camaraderie, the laughter and even the pain. Watch our main protagonist grow, slowly learning what others already see.
PS) FYI, I ended up buying the other two in the series and had to read them before I could take the time for this review!

4 people found this helpful

Spiced Wine

A rich, absorbing new fantasy world

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

I so thoroughly enjoyed this. R.K. Lander leads us into a world where, instead of being on the sidelines, the Elves are the main actors. They are passionate and proud, skilled and flawed. The Alpine Race, having advanced into the Silvan lands, seem benign enough rulers, but there is a dark underbelly of racism and superiority. The Silvans cling to their forests and trees with which they have an almost symbiotic relationship.

Emerging to straddle the two races comes Fel’annár, offspring of both Alpine and Silvan, with all that will entail.

There are rich characters, underlying conflict, as the path of this young novice warrior, who cannot be hidden, much though some would wish him to be, steps forward...

2 people found this helpful

Me Richard E. Jervis

Best read of the year so far !

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

Classic, in the mould of Eddings and Fiest,.
This is only the first book and the reference to Eddings and Fiest might be a bit over the top, but it was a great book, the story well told and the cast of players well developed.
A must read for fans of fantasy!
Obviously books are all about personal taste but this really is worth a read !

4 people found this helpful

Kingshussar

I think this story has lots of relevance today with race playing a major part.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2020

Verified Purchase

I am now on book three, I can honestly say this series of books is the best I have read in the last 10 years at least and I have been reading epic fantasy for over 40 years, this lady is right up there with the very best and I include George Martin, Steven Erickson Tad Williams etc, I just can’t put it down the world building is awesome the story has everything a fantasy nut craves, it also has ( Uniquely I think) very moving dialogue involving main characters. Brilliant

One person found this helpful

See all reviews

Buy new:

$30.54

Follow the Author

Path of a Novice (Silvan) Audio CD – Unabridged, March 1, 2021

Enhance your purchase

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

About the author

R.K. Lander

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new: $30.54

Follow the Author

Path of a Novice (Silvan) Audio CD – Unabridged, March 1, 2021

Enhance your purchase

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

About the author

R.K. Lander

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$30.54