The Great Hearts

The Great Hearts is the first book in a new series by David Oliver that blends grimdark, a magic school, and a touch of sci-fi into an epic coming-of-age story.

When he was just eleven years old, Calidan's village was massacred during the summoning of a demon. He and his friend Cassius were the only ones to escape, fleeing into the woods. Soon after, they befriend a lone tracker who helps them learn to survive on their own, and Cassius bonds with an enormous black panther named Seya.

Seya is one of the Great Hearts, giant beasts who can live for hundreds of years and passed into legend so long ago that most don't even know they exist. As he grows to learn more about Seya, Calidan finds himself on the path to becoming a great warrior.

All of this is told as a memory from the perspective of a Calidan who is much older. Together, present-day Calidan and Cassius are on a dangerous mission to track down and kill the demon that was raised in their village.

Oliver's writing flows smoothly and is easy to digest, featuring the occasional poetic turn of phrase. The book moves fairly quickly, with a bit of a slowdown in pacing from about the 50% - 80% mark.

The author narrates the audio version of the book himself. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he did an excellent job. While not the most technically perfect of audio narrations, each character had a distinct voice, the pacing fit the book, and the narration managed to convey emotional subtleties.

In general, I found this book to be excellent, with a few stumbles along the way. There are a four or five great ideas combined into one book, where two or three might help it to find its target audience.