Audiobook Review: First Truth by Dawn Cook

First Truth
Author: Dawn Cook
Narrator: Marguerite Gavin
Series: Truth (Book 1)
Publication: Ace; Reissue edition (May 28, 2002); Blackstone Audio (April 23, 2010)
Length: 356 p.; 13 hours and 21 minutes

Description: Alissa doesn't believe in magic. Her father's stories about the Hold, a legendary fortress where human Keepers learn magic from the enigmatic Masters, are just that stories. But her mother insists Alissa has inherited her father's magical ability, so she must go to the Hold to be trained. On her way, she crosses paths with Strell, a wandering musician from the plains. Though Alissa is not sure she can trust a plainsman, Strell has something Alissa needs one of her father's old maps. Traveling together, they can reach the Hold before the snow sets in. But they don't know that the Hold is nearly empty. The Keeper Bailic has sent the Masters on a fool's errand and systematically killed the other Keepers in his search for the First Truth, a book of magic that will give him ultimate power. And he believes that Alissa and Strell hold the secret of the book's hiding place.

My Thoughts: This epic fantasy/coming of age novel follows the adventure of Alissa and Strell. Alissa is the daughter of a Keeper but her father has been missing for years. She is also a half-breed. She's not accepted by the local villagers. When her mother determines that she has inherited her father's magic, she insists that Alissa travel to the Hold for training. 

Along the way she meets Strell who is a Plainsman who has been sent away from his family to work as a bard. He has just learned that his whole family was lost in a flood and is wondering what to do with the rest of his life. He was given a map by Alissa's mother in a trade. Alissa wants that map since she knows it was made by her father and she is able to read it. 

The two team up to find their way to the Hold before winter overtakes them. There they learn that the sole inhabitant is Bailic who has killed or imprisoned the rest of the Keepers and has been searching for a magical book for many years. Alissa's father had the book but hid it before entering the Hold and being murdered by Bailic. Now Alissa wants to find his book at least as much a Bailic wants it.

This was an entertaining story with lots of magic and adventure. I liked the growing relationship between Strell and Alissa. I liked the worldbuilding. My only complaint is that this is the first of four books and thus leaves all sorts of plot threads hanging. 

I bought this one as a paperback July 5, 2009. The Audible copy was available to me as a part of my subscription. You can buy your copy here.