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Title: The Shattered Land

Subtitle: Eberron: Dreaming Dark, Book 2

Author: Keith Baker

Narrator: Alex Hyde-White

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-02-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 40 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

Xendrik. The dark continent. A land of once-proud empires that now lie in ruin. A land shrouded in mystery where monsters and dark powers stalk the jungles, where only the bravest and most foolhardy will venture.

Now a band of war-weary soldiers must brave the depths of Xendrik in search of an artifact that is the last hope to save one of their own.

Members Reviews:

Better than the previous one, still a bit flawed

What did you love best about The Shattered Land?

The inventive about the fantasy world and the alien landscapes and situations.

What did you like best about this story?

It finally ditched the badly written mystery tropes from the previous book for better written ones.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

It's still as stilted as the previous one, but at least each voice is recognisable even without the speaker being called in the script.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

As i listen to stuff while driving (and i do a lot of driving) i would not be able to listen to the whole book. Yes i'm still one of those people that like better to actually read a book when available.

Any additional comments?

Far better than the previous one in this series and with interesting situations and characters, it has two main flaws:

1) characters whining that they do not want mystery. Yes, that's a thing readers probably said of the previous book. No. It should not come out of the mouths of the actual characters in the story every five minutes.

2) The plot twist at the end. It really, really, REALLY sucks. It's the kind of plot twist pulled out of thin air that does not work on multiple read-th- ... uhm ... listen-through searching for clues.

Combat heavy fantasy

A bit repetitive at times. Protagonists are always ready to fight but succumb to capture when convenient. Story is interesting and will bring me back for the third installment.

Falls Short of the First Book

The first book in this series was captivating with its setting and plot in a word that felt fresh and new. The second book unfortunately loses that sense of grandeur in lieu of telling a simple quest story. Disappointingly the whole book is a quest to heal one of the main characters of a mental illness he received in the first book.

A lot of this book is an endless series of the characters getting captured at various stages of their journey, then getting saved by some new character that pops up with some new agenda. The characters rarely think things through or prepare, rushing headlong into situations and trusting the wrong people. The main character wakes up over and over again in darkness, trapped in either some mental or physical prison, and trying to escape. It makes the novel very difficult to follow.

The other subplot of the book revolves around the question of whether the war forged are people or machines, similar to the plots of countless sci fi books about androids ever since Asimov. This book doesn't really add anything new.

Overall a frustrating book, as it falls far short of the standard set by the first volume.

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Title: Dragons in the Stars

Subtitle: Star Rigger, Book 2

Author: Jeffrey A. Carver

Narrator: Mirron Willis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-02-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

Dragons in space? A preposterous legend. But when star pilot Jael defies an abusive ship's master and rigs "the mountain route" through the hyperdimensional Flux, the dragons indeed appearand challenge her to duel. If she escapes, will she ever dare this route again? Fate has its ways, and when next the currents of space bring her near, she finds Highwing the dragon under sentence of death for the kindness he showed her. Only Jael can interveneand so she must, for the sake of the one who risked his life to save hers.

A genre-bending novel of the Star Rigger Universe, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternitys End and The Chaos Chronicles.

Critic Reviews:

"Carver writes powerfully and clearly and has produced a book that is likely to find an audience among hard SF readers." (Booklist)

"An interesting and entertaining blend of genres." (Science Fiction Chronicle)

"Carver's prose effectively lends a spare yet evocative resonance to the draconian realm. Like a good stage performer, this story should leave its audience wanting more." (John Bunnell, Amazing Stories)

Members Reviews:

great book

loved it I will be getting the rest of the series when I can

Christine

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Title: Final Gate

Subtitle: Forgotten Realms: The Last Mythal, Book 3

Author: Richard Baker

Narrator: Kevin Kraft

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-01-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 34 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

In the hands of an elf high-mage, the fabled mythals are Faern's most potent sources of magical power. But in the hands of a demon princess from a forgotten epoch, they're the most powerful weapons imaginable.

Members Reviews:

Neat addition for FR

I am sorta a fan boy for fey'ri so I'm rather bias towards enjoying books like these.

I really liked some of the political intrigue and the going back and forth from one groups' point of view to another. Some of the fighting was really cool, not drizzt detailed but the pale sibil was an awesome chapter.

I was a little sad at the end. Seems like things came to a close rather quickly. The villains maybe could have been a little better. Maybe I'm just a purist but to me they came across a little bit like drow than corrupted elves. Others might not think this but it is just my opinion.

But I really liked it, it is a great book. I hope there are more novels released that have fey'ri as a theme :)

Masterful tome

The pace was appropriate with just enough imagery to let my mind fill in the rest. A masterful tome and a very entertaining trilogy. I would place this in my top 3 forgotten realms series list.

Very Good Story = B+

This is a very good book, and the conclusion of one of the best of the forgotten realms series. The first two books are even better than this one, the series as a whole gets a solid "A". This Book seemed a bit rushed and lacked some of the color a vividness of the first two books.

The writing style is very readable, the author paints for the most part a rich and vivid story, the dialogue works well, and the plot is fast paced!

The only thing I did not care for in this series was the over powering use of super numbers of super villains, the elves have to not only fight the horde of magical half elf / half demons, but thousands of devils and real demons as well. Just too much, it took away from the believability for me, just too many "Oh come on's" for me.

OVERALL SCORE: (B+)

READABILITY: (A-), PLOT: (A-), CHARATERS: (A-), DIALOGUE: (A-), SETTING: (A), ACTION/COMBAT: (B-), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (B-), ROMANCE: (B-), SEX: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG13)

Fantastic Conclusion to this Trilogy

Final Gate by Richard Baker is the third and final book in the Last Mythal trilogy. The other two books are The Forsaken House and Farthest Reach. This book is the culmination of several plots coming together in a climatic conclusion, one that will have a profound impact on the realms, in particular the area of the Dales. If you have not read the first two books in this trilogy and are thinking about reading this one, I highly recommend reading the first two; otherwise you will be quickly lost in the story and miss the overall picture of some of the events that occur.

The plot of this book was very well written and Mr. Baker did a fantastic job of tying up loose ends as well as giving depth to the story. There are several plots going on at the same time in this book which almost forces the reader to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next. Mr. Baker also does a fantastic job of combining multiple elements, magic (and a great deal of magic there is), politics, intrigue, large scale battles, and personality.

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Title: Neversfall

Subtitle: Forgotten Realms: The Citadels, Book 1

Author: Ed Gentry

Narrator: Nicole Greevy

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-29-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

Monsters and mystery in a remote stronghold - explore the Citadels of the Forgotten Realms(R)!

Neversfall was supposed to be Estagund's stronghold in the wilds of monster-ridden Veldorn, an unassailable citadel to protect the southern lands. Then the regiment holding Neversfall disappeared, leaving no hint of what took them. The replacement forces find themselves attacked from both within and without the fortress's walls. Besieged by monsters and men, a mercenary captain and an elite warrior must work together to discover out who their enemy really is.

Members Reviews:

Terrible writing and confusing storytelling

I eventually gave up on reading this book due to my dislike for the writing and storytelling style. This book spends a lot of time on what characters are thinking or on awkward, almost childish dialogue. Very little time is spent describing the setting or what is going on. The characters thoughts and actions frequently did not make sense. The characters seemed a bit childish and were difficult to relate to. Another problem was that the details in the story frequently did not match the general description, especially with regard to one of the main groups of soldiers which are portrayed as elite, disciplined and organized and then shown to be none of those things while still being considered to be.

The story did have good pacing, action, and the beginnings of an interesting plot. These things were able to keep me reading for a while, but eventually it was not worth continuing.

Very strong

Neversfall is the first installment in The Citadels series, and if we can judge by the start, we have a verz fine four books coming our way. I read a short story by Gentry inRealms of the Dragons II: A Forgotten Realms Anthology, and it was one of the best short stories i have ever read. Turns out it wasnt a coincidence.

Simply put, Neversfall is a story about soldiers and chain of command.

Plot is what really carries this book. When you look at it, its not overly complicated, nothing to blow you off your feet, but it has been executed to perfection. There are certainly many realms novels that dealt with sodliers and war, but not a single one depicted the life and troubles of a standard foot soldier better then this one.

Characters are similar to plot. On the first glance, they are ordinary, maybe even too ordinary, but they are given so much introspection and thought that actually towards the end of the book you understand that they are better fleshed-out then most of today's fantasy book characters. Villains are also refreshing, in a sense that none of them are standard, boring i-want-to-rule-the-world-because-im-evil villains. Due to spoiler reasons i wont talk about "main" villain, but Formians are beautifully depicted, and really seem "alien" as you would expect them to be.

Book is pumped up with lore about Maquar and Duprari and "the Adama", the philosophy-turned-religion they all follow. Gentry certainly weaves it through the whole book, and that is something not many authors can do.

I havent got much more to say, except that i hope Gentry is given more space by the Wizards in the future.

A great fantasy read i recommend to everyone who is into the genre.

Not the usual Realm material

There are no epic characters, no swarms of monsters, and no magic battles.

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Title: Dragon Precinct

Subtitle: Cliff's End, Book 1

Author: Keith R. A. DeCandido

Narrator: Michael Page

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 28 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

Humans and elves, dwarves and gnomes, wizards and warriors all live and do business in the thriving, overcrowded port city of Cliff's End, to say nothing of the tourists and travelers who arrive by land and sea, passing through the metropolis on matters of business or pleasure - or on quests. The hard-working, under-appreciated officers of the Cliff's End Castle Guard work day and night to maintain law and order as best they can.

Gan Brightblade is one of the world's greatest heroes and a personal friend of the Lord and Lady of Cliff's End. So when he's brutally murdered in grubby lodgings in Dragon Precinct, on the eve of a great quest, the Captain of the Guard puts his two best investigators on the case.

Critic Reviews:

"All in all, this is a fascinating excursion in genre-bending; worth a try even for readers who usually take either their procedurals or their fantasies unadulterated." (Booklist)

"Dungeons and Dragnet... As a take-off of the standard crime drama, Dragon Precinct succeeds nicely. Dressed in sword-and-sorcery trappings, the cliches of the genre are given a fresh twist. I would like to see more stories in this same setting." (The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society)

Members Reviews:

If you like police procedurals

And I mean word for word police procedurals, in a world of wizards, gnomes, and elves. With all the same scenarios: overbearing wealthy, demanding captains, sniping coworkers, prostitutes, petty thieves and grifters. The crime has to be magic but everyone swears there is no magic. The victims are withholding important information. There are red herrings and prejudice and motivations straight out of Mickey Spillane.

So if you enjoy the same old same old set in a magical world, you probably will enjoy this. My opinion is colored by my personal annoyance with people in a completely different environment using the same old worn-out dialogue and tropes.

A perfect blending of cop drama and D&D

This is a fun little blending of Law & Order style cop drama with a fantasy universe. It's heavy enough to take seriously, and yet light enough to be thoroughly entertaining. Using the cop drama style really helps to build the city and people of Cliff's End in your imagination, and fools you into accepting magic and fantasy races as a given in that world.

As an observation (as opposed to a criticism), this book doesn't go too deeply into the past of the main characters (Torin ban Wyvald, and ex-soldier and Danthres Tresyllione a female half-elf), at least not at first. You do get enough for proper development, so no worries there, but you also don't get bogged down in exposition. In that way, the story moves along at a proper pace. I will say that after listening to this book, I feel more acquainted with Danthres than with Torin, but that may be because she is the wittiest of the two. She is easily my favorite character in the book. As I understand it, we get a bit more of Torin's nuances in the next book, Unicorn Precinct.

I must compliment the audio book narrators performance. He does an admirable job differentiating the characters. Though one or two character voices do seem to blend together in places, it doesn't happen enough to distract or confuse you. He also seems to capture the tone and spirit of the story perfectly.

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Title: The Fall of Highwatch

Subtitle: Forgotten Realms: Chosen of Nendawen, Book 1

Author: Mark Sehestedt

Narrator: Dara Rosenberg

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-08-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

An exciting new trilogy set in the far north of Faerun!

Hweilan is the last of the line of Highwatch and - as she discovers - one of the last of the Vil Adanrath, a bloodline of lycanthropes left on Faern. Guric, her uncle and the slayer of Hwelian's family, has released a terrible evil in order to resurrect his beloved wife and gain control of the northern countries. When Hweilan escapes Guric's schemes, she is taken in by Lendri, a Vil Adanrath who has stayed in Faern to help guide Hweilan to her fate.

Members Reviews:

Well paced story in a new Forgotten Realms setting

Sehestedt takes us to a little used region of the Forgotten Realms and does a great job of fleshing it out with a story that describes some of its history and peoples. Hweilan maintains my interest as a young woman forced to grow up as her world is suddenly shattered and she is chased relentlessly through forest and tundra. The supporting characters are also well drawn. Her companions are complex to the point where you aren't sure if their loyalties are to Hweilan or to someone else. Sehestedt also introduces new undead and fey creatures. So this thrilling story has a lot going for it.

My only disappointment was the poor sound studio quality that stole from Dara Rosenberg's narration. By itself her narration was good. She doesn't differentiate characters with accents and tones so much, but enough so that you can tell who is who in any given scene. What she does do is project some emotion into the characters, even if it sounds a little cliched at times. But I much prefer that to the dull, robotic performances I have had to endure from some other narrators. Sadly whenever I listened to the narration with ear buds I could hear sirens in the background! Frequently! At first I though it was background noise from my own neighborhood, but it was definitely coming from the audio. At other times I could hear the feint sounds of some musical track playing on the audio as if it was recorded over used magnetic tape. How is someone supposed to escape into a book with all that going on.

Lastly I have to say I love how Sehestedt ended the book. It was a gripping climax and a powerful ending that makes me want to dig into the next book of the trilogy immediately. But this time I will read it instead of listening to it. I live in a place where I hear enough sirens and other people's music all day as it is. I don't need it on my audiobooks.

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Title: City Under the Sand

Subtitle: Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun, Book 1

Author: Jeff Mariotte

Narrator: Nicholas Tecosky

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-08-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 30 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

Aric, a half-elf with a rare natural ability with the psionic discipline known as "the Way", must find his place in a world ruled by the tyranny of evil sorcerer kings, and dominated by the savage wilds of the Athasian desert, a world presided over by the unrelenting crimson eye of Dark Sun.

When Aric is brought into a quest to search for a priceless trove of weapons, he would rather keep his head down and live a simple life. But nothing is simple in the city of Nibenay with its reclusive ruler known as the Shadow King. And in a world where metal is the rarest of commodities, Arics "way" with metal is an even rarer talent.

Enlisted by the Shadow King himself to seek out this cache of metal weaponry, Aric heads into the desert with a treacherous band of adventurers. Allegiances are tested and secrets are uncovered. But sometimes the secrets hidden by the sands of time should remain undiscovered. When Aric and his band uncover an evil perhaps greater than the Shadow King himself, it is a race against time to see who will harness its power.

Members Reviews:

Fun, but could be so much better

I'm moderately familiar with the Dark Sun setting. I've read the other Dark Sun novels, ages ago and I recently started running a D&D 4.0 campaign in the Dark Sun world, so I picked up this book to help re-familiarize myself with the setting.

Overall, it did accomplish that, in a limited way. The book takes place in Nibenay and a neighboring expanse of desert that includes a formerly buried city, a small town and a bandit outpost. The book does a more interesting job of describing Nibenese politics and the court of the ruling Sorcerer King, his templars and the expected jockeying for position that occurs between the Templar Wives.

There is a fair amount of combat, which was interesting and fairly well detailed. The ensemble cast is introduced and eventually brought together over the first few chapters. Not a lot of backstory on most of the characters, but you get a feel for them fairly quickly.

The storyline was somewhat predictable after the first third of the book. Some of the other Amazon reviews complained about the 2-dimensional characterizations, and yes there were some... but it's easy to ignore because there is a lot going on in the book... multiple interwoven plotlines.

Where the book falls short is in a couple places...

First, it appears to have been edited by a 4th grader who knows how to use spellcheck but lacks the attention to detail to notice the frequent occurence of wrong words that sometimes don't make sense or often change the context of the entire sentence.

Second, there is a lot of buildup to the end of the story... the big fight, the confrontation between good and evil, etc... which is handled in just a few pages and then the story basically just ends. Kind of a letdown, honestly. It wasn't a cliffhanger, it just wraps up neatly and ends. It felt pretty rushed.

Overall, aside from the very end, I enjoyed it. I really liked the insight into that region of Athas and it gave me some good ideas for fleshing out my own campaign.

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Title: The Tyranny of Ghosts

Subtitle: Eberron: Legacy of Dhakaan, Book 3

Author: Don Bassingthwaite

Narrator: Robin Sachs

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-08-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

The battle for the kingdom of goblins reaches its peak!

Geth and his allies have fled the city of Rhukaan Draal, after failing to dethrone Lhesh Tariic, and reach out to the Kech Volaar for help. There they seek information on how to destroy the enigmatic Rod of Kings by searching for the secret doom of a third goblin artifact, the Shield of Nobles. Meanwhile, imprisoned, Ashi dDeneith seeks a chink in Tariics armor. The exciting conclusion to the Legacy of Dhakaan!

Members Reviews:

A Sad Ending to a Great Series

I am truly sad that I finished this series. I wanted much more but am happy to have a complete series and not just some run on work. This particular book the series is the best IMHO. I felt true wrath with the Dragonmarked Houses, and with the goblin king. It is rare that I burst out vocally when reading, but in this one I actually burst out and had to describe a scene to one of my daughters. The helplessness described got my blood boiling and I was out of breath from one of the parallel stories running. I could not put the novel down. I was pulling for Ashi and disgusted by what happened to Senen. When you have true feelings for the characters in the story, the author has done his job.

Thumbs up! I am off to read George RR Martin's series now, and plan to work on the Dragon Below trilogy after that. I am a bit afraid to read earlier works by Don Bassingthwaite, as they may not hold up the standard I have after these books. Tyranny of Ghosts is a great closure to the series and well worth the read.

Great book

Must buy. This is one of the greatest series of books I've read in a long time.

Another Classic ...

Awesome literature ...

Tyranny of Ghosts

A great book, many times I was doubting with the characters whom they could trust. It had me aching more and more with each page how they would solve all these seemingly impossible problems of theirs. A great ending I loved it!

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Title: The Killing Song

Subtitle: Eberron: The Dragon Below, Book 3

Author: Don Bassingthwaite

Narrator: Adam Epstein

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-08-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

Sealed away for ages, a forgotten horror reaches out for new power.

Three heroes know the danger. In the City of Towers, a tormented mystic and a soldier-wizard try to thwart a monstrous scheme. In the Shadow Marches, a disgraced warrior summons an ancient sect to battle.

As a dragon rises, can their struggle succeed? Or will they fall to madness and the music of the Killing Song?

The thrilling conclusion to The Dragon Below trilogy!

Don Bassingthwaite is the author of numerous fantasy and dark fantasy novels. His latest books are The Yellow Silk, Mistress of the Night (co-authored with Dave Gross), The Binding Stone, and The Grieving Tree. Don lives in Toronto, surrounded by gadgets, spice jars, and too many books.

Members Reviews:

just read

narrator needs to read instead of trying to perform. story was okay struggled to finish

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Title: The Oath and the Measure

Subtitle: Dragonlance: Meetings Sextet, Book 4

Author: Michael Williams

Narrator: Kevin Stillwell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-08-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 34 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Epic

Publisher's Summary:

Secrets of the past...

Although Raistlin and Caramon urge him not to go, Sturm Brightblade attends an annual Solamnic ceremony that is interrupted by...a stranger, taunting challenge. Clues from the past. Death.

Once he accepts a mysterious gauntlet, young Sturm must make a dangerous journey with some curious friends, rescue a fair if querulous maid, defeat a traitor knight, and learn the secret fate of his long-lost father. He must also learn the meaning of honor.

The fourth installment in the popular Meetings Sextet tells the story of Sturm Brightblade, the noble Solamnic Knight, in the years before Sturm joined up with the other companions of the best-selling Dragonlance series.

Members Reviews:

Was an OK story

Never really connected with the character in the Dragonlance Wars trilogy and still felt that way with this. Interesting story but not as captivating as others I've gone through.

Too wierd

I've read 100+ Dragonlance books, and the vast majority of them are great, but this one seems a bit off story-wise. As a stand alone book it might have been okay, but ad it is book 4 in "meeting of the sextet" it seems out of place compared to the other books.

Just my opinion!