Ascendant gives off strong YA vibes right from the start, as it focuses on two young characters destined to change the world around them. Koren, a young peasant boy that could be the most powerful wizard the kingdom of Tarador has ever seen, and Crown Princess Ariana, who will become queen of Tarador on her 16th birthday. Unless, of course, the acting Regent allows the kingdom to be conquered before then. So when Ariana is ambushed by the enemy, it just happens to be Koren who saves her, thus setting up the inevitable desire for a romantic relationship that can never be. This also allows Koren's unknown wizard powers to be discovered by the court wizard and he is instantly pegged to be the savior the kingdom needs. But before that can happen, the adults in power need to screw everything up so the kids can save the day, and that can take a while.

I really enjoyed the humor in Craig Alanson's Expeditionary Force series, especially at the start, so I was intrigued to try his fantasy series. I actually wasn't even turned off by the layers upon layers of YA tropes at play here because the world building was interesting enough and the magic system showed some promise as well. Koren is likeable enough and I didn't mind rooting for him to succeed as the world around him worked against him, but the cracks in the writing began to show early. Coincidences piled upon coincidences causing misunderstandings was getting old, but I was still on board until Koren took a fireball to the face during a battle and nothing happened to him. It was then explained that Koren must be "Ascendant" (aka indestructible) and I started to lose interest. I did complete the book, giving the author a chance to reel me back in, but there was no attempt to do so. There is enough to like here that I don't feel that all the positive reviews I see for it are in any way fake, but this YA trope fest is just not for me.

The audiobook is narrated by one of the best, Tim Gerard Reynolds, and he is a great fit for the content. His performance is excellent and it only makes me sadder that I chose not to continue.