audiobookreport

[audiobookreport]

Oh, hey, it's one of the TSR books on my wish list! I still have a weakness for stories focused on the Forgotten Realms deities.

Tantras by Clyde Caldwell

#Forgotten Realms #Dungeons and Dragons

[audiobookreport]

The Young Elites

Author: Marie Lu

Narrator: Carla Corvo & Lannon Kilea

Length: 10 hours, 3 minutes

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I found it compelling at the beginning as we got to know Adelina's history but once we met the Dagger Society, it pushed the wrong buttons. Something about the relationships and the intrigues among the Daggers just touched on tropes I felt like I encountered too many times before. And, if I'm looking for a YA fantasy title where the leads have super powers, I've still got to get to Adam Silvera's Infinity Cycle books.

#DNF

[audiobookreport]

Dance of the Dead

Author: Christie Golden

Length: 10 hours 21 minutes

I was pretty excited to find this as an audiobook. I enjoyed TSR novels, back in the day and, as a horror fan, I had a fondness for the Ravenloft setting. Dance of the Dead was one of those books that was on my TBR list, but I never actually got around to reading.

I was a little disappointed at first because I got it in my head that the Vistani were a part of the story and it took place in Invidia, both aspects of Ravenloft I wanted to see in a story. (Considering how problematic the descriptions for the Vistani are, perhaps that for the best. Still, I would like to see them star in a story and get fleshed out a bit more.)

Still, I enjoyed this tale of a dancer in a riverboat show and the story's realm, Souragne one of the Isles of Terror, came to life nicely in Golden's telling with a compelling Darklord. It's a story very nicely assembled as the characters' and the realm's histories intersect in ways that made the series of revelations a page-turner.

Unfortunately, I did not like Vitali's narration. Sometimes it works okay but often she sounds like she finds the prose boring and when she voices characters, they don't often match up with what we're told about the character's state of mind. For example, when the text tells us that a character's voice has grown agitated, Vitali gives it the same inflection as when the character was greeting someone. So, unfortunately, this turned out to be a great book and mediocre audiobook.

#Ravenloft #Dungeons and Dragons #Christie Golden

[audiobookreport]

Fairy Tale

Author: Stephen King

Narrator: Seth Numrich with additional voice work from Stephen King

Length: 24 hours, 4 minutes

A novel that almost feels like a YA fantasy novel, Fairy Tale is Charlie's tale as he remembers the time he ventured into another world where giants, magic timepieces and undead soldiers are common enough that people don't raise an eyebrow.

One thing I really liked about King's writing is how the tone changes, it's adolescent in the early parts but as it gets darker Charlie's reflections change and the tone gets more mature, reflecting Charlie's character journey.

At three hours in, I realized we hadn't gotten to the part on the novel that's in the book jacket summary. By then, as much as I was enjoying Charlie's life on our world, I was feeling impatient for the story to start. Your mileage may vary, here, depending on how used to the way King likes to make his settings feel lived in.

Seth Numrich's narration strikes just the right tone, and his performance really helps to see how Charlie is maturing as the weight of his quest. The variety of voices he uses for the other characters is top notch, so much so it took a bit of thinking to figure out where King's voice acting came in.

Overall, a fun take on the 'teen goes through an adventure and comes out a much more mature person' story.

#Fairy Tale #Stephen King #Seth Numrich #audiobooks