Smilodon: A Shifter Fantasy Adventure (The Primogenitor Saga Book 1)

The story is fairly entertaining and well written style wise, but, while not exactly a surprise, it still was a bit of a disappointment.The fact that it was fairly standard for an urban fantasy novel about a hidden magical society in modern day Earth - a society of mages, shifters, vampires and what not - is clear from the blurb. It is also a bit of a male power fantasy with relatively shallow (although likeable) characters, again not unexpected. The lack of a fated partner (a common trope in the genre) is a good thing even if it comes with a harem.My issue is that the author does not appear to think about how such a society and abilities would impact RL, just keeping the world and story fairly simple. Questions like how would things be kept secret if so many people are supernatural? Why don't the supernatural dominate the world? How do you keep a story entertaining and challenging if people can teleport all over the world or cause volcano's to erupt? How can a criminal organization this big remain undetected without knowing about the supernatural world? If objecting to an alpha means death, why does it take three very public challenges before people realize you don't mess with a smilodon shifter?If you can ignore these questions and don't mind a bit of a power fantasy, it is an entertaining story. My score might be a bit unfair, since I can enjoy fantasy books with similar issues without a problem, but in case of urban fantasy it keeps me from fully enjoying the story. Hence 3 stars. It is very clearly not a book for me, but I did finish it.

I'll start with the biggest problem here. The book doesn't stick to a narration style throughout. It repeatedly changes from first to third person. While transitions aren't to difficult to figure out it's still really jarring. Plus it really short changes Wyatt as our window into this world. I think there were a couple interesting ideas here that would have worked better if we got to learn through has perspective. But mostly this felt like mediocre fan fiction. Everything moves too fast and all the characters are just too shallow. If it was an Unlimited title I wouldn't discourage someone giving it a go but even for just a dollar I say skip it. There are a lot better Unlimited authors out there.

I'll admit that I bought "Smilodon" solely because I enjoy Chandler's other series: "April" and "Family Law". I was pleased by a well constructed, fun story of a young man, who has no magic despite being from the world's foremost magical family, being bitten by a were-cougar while hiking and turning into a species of saber-toothed cat that went extinct tens of thousands of years before. He gets pulled into a leadership position in the were-cat community, and teams us with his sister, a rising leader in the magic community, to track down child traffickers.The plot is straightforward and linear, the characters aren't very complex, there's no angst, heavy introspection, or deep philosophical ramblings--all good things, if you're looking for a fun read with just a bit of tension. The author sets a number of threads up that I expect will continue through the series, so there are some unresolved questions, but nothing that detracts from a satisfactory conclusion. The editing is excellent.I'm looking forward to more in the series (always the prime criterion), though I want to point out that this in no way subtracts from Mr. Chandler's obligation to write many more April and Family Law books for us.

Robert is on my list of fave authors. This series is a great start. Personally i wish he'd finish other series first but he seems to have caught the multiple ongoing series bug. I reckon some authors do this to avoid boredom or keep the literary juices flowing. Whatever works i suppose. Still none of his genres repeat. The worlds he creates are also great. He doesnt write a 'bad' story, so whatever you get will be pretty cool. Read it! I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it

I can't wait to read more of this series. I read it in one sitting because it wouldn't let me go. I loved all the characters he introduced and I am eager to read more about them: their adventures, their development as people and leaders, and how they will track down and triumph over an evil organization that kidnaps and sells children to order. Awesome! Thank you for so engaging my imagination that I was happily out of lockdown for hours. Please write more quickly and well, Mr. Kerns.

Let me be clear- I am a big fan of Robert Kerns. I started with the Cole & Srexx books, enjoyed them quite a bit, but didn't really consider them any more than I do the hundreds of other, similar series I had read. Then I read the Vushaar books. Instantly, I was a FAN. I am a long-time sci-fi AND fantasy buff (just because you're a fan of one doesn't always mean you're a fan of the other, despite what the literature classification moguls would have you believe...) and this was some classic old-school style fantasy, which was a nice break from the litrpg trend. (I like litrpg too, depending on quality, but the recent glut is getting old)Now he's stepping into the "Urban Fantasy" realm, and it's off to a good start. The pacing is almost too fast in the first book, and I think he could have slowed down for some world-building and exposition, in a few spots, but my impression is the pacing is supposed to be non-stop for the main character, as well, with us as readers being taken for the ride. So I can live with it, but I hope he fleshes things out a bit in the next book, which I am eagerly awaiting.Overall an excellent first book in a new series. Write faster, Rob!

I really enjoyed this book. It is a great start for a new series. My only complaint is the lack of a more detailed romance. I wish there was more detail into the romance and possible leading to them consummating their relationship. Otherwise things moved along quick and the world is fleshed out with various degrees of conflicts to deal with. I'm curious how this will continue in the next book.

I had high hopes for this based on the reviews left, I am now left to wonder if we were reading the same book.The book started out well but left me wanting. There was little to no character development and the female characters were stereotypical women that needed a man to be complete types whitewashed as strong females. The idea of an animal inner beast being okay with sharing a mate was laughable and ridiculous, it felt like a mans wet dream wish.I also took issue with the idea that the main character just skipped his way into being a mythical beast with little to no problems in comparison to all of the other characters, he was also ALWAYS the biggest and baddest in the room without any consequences whatsoever. It was so trite and underwhelming.I don't know what reader this is aimed at, the writing comes across as rushed, formulaic and one dimensional. Its a shame because if there had been a bit more substance I probably would have bought the next book because the world was interesting. I think that this author saw a money making opportunity in an already saturated but open market and jumped before this book was fully fleshed out because this could have been great.

The fantasy genre is booming and there are excellent novels out there featuring shapeshifters and other magical creatures in a modern setting. This is not one of them, but that's not to say you shouldn't read it.The positives - it's fun, it has a feel good factor, the protagonist is someone you can cheer on. I genuinely enjoyed the book.The negatives - it's extremely simplistic and there's no character development or consequences for actions. The protagonist falls into a life changing situation and seemingly has no issues adapting at all, bar having to take a walk at times after something truly horrific occurs (usually by his own actions).A personal gripe (and minor spoiler I suppose?) is that the protagonist makes several pointed statements about hating bullies, and then at each confrontation with a bully proceeds to maim, cripple or kill said antagonist, but it was ok because they either deserved it or it was an appropriate response.I liked the book and for 99p was happy to pay for it, but had I paid full price (say £6 or more), I would have been very annoyed at all the 5 star ratings. I would definitely read the next one in the series, but again, only if I saw it on offer.

Smilodon is one of the best "Shifter' books I have read in a long time. Whilst on a hike Wyatt a member of the Magi's premier family albeit without powers is attacked and nearly killed by a Rouge shifter in the form of a Cougar, with the aid of an knife passed to him by his grandfather he is able to kill his attacker before succumbing to his wounds. He wakes to find himself in the care of the Shifter community and is told that he is now a shifter, how that will track with his Magi history nobody knows. When the change does come it is startling as Wyatt is an extremely rare primogenitor in fact the only feline Primogenitor ever.... A Smilodon! Before he has a moment to adjust he is thrown in to a case of kidnapped children from Shifter, Magi and human world's ..The author has done a wonderful job of carving out a space in this already full genre, taking some of the Shifter tropes and running with them while turning others on their head. The story is fast paced leaving the reader to keep up, just as Wyatt is left to adjust quickly to his new brutal world, the action sequences are incredibly savage and brutal, fast and bone crunching. The character development considering the multiple cast is really well handled and the world building especially in the latter half of the book is well realised. All in all this is a fantastic read and I am very much looking forward to book two.

I read the the brief when you buy books on Amazon and have passed this one numerous times. An author recommend it.I bought the book and it turned out nothing like what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised. The characters were better than I thought and the building of them was easy to follow. The MC was believable and the supporting characters were well done. The storyline was well laid out and actually went all the way to the last page.Well worth a read!

The main character doesn't really struggle. He is quickly the strongest shifter and all his problems are solved with violence or family connections. It's very clear he's going to have a harem. There isn't really any character development. He just goes from being ordinary to being a super strong alpha all the women want very quickly at the start of the book.It seems like a good book if you're looking for a power fantasy, he's enough of a blank slate you could project yourself onto him. There's nothing inherently wrong with that but it wasn't what I was looking for.I don't know why the supernatural is a secret in this world. It doesn't seem like a very well kept secret. Maybe the supernatural gets revealed later in the series.I was surprised by how easily he took to killing. I thought becoming a shifter may have influenced him in that way but there's no point he expresses any surprise by how easy he finds it. He is presented as being a good person. Late in the book he gets upset about killing someone but he's been killing without any internal conflict for a while so it doesn't feel genuine.If you like isekai manga where the mc is ordinary then ends up in a fantasy world with an op ability, becoming the strongest and getting a harem, I would recommend this.