William

I have listened to both the Serrano Legacy and the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon which are among my most favorite. This series definitely goes in a different direction, but is just as entertaining. Moon is such a great storyteller. I have been thoroughly entertained with the first book in the trilogy. I am already starting on the middle book. I find the narrator superb. This is the first book I have listened to by Jennifer Van Dyck, but will look for other titles by her once I have finished the trilogy.

You would think somebody would check with somebody. After 4 books with Jennifer Van Dyck, the change in narrator was very distracting. None of the diverse character voices I was used to with JVD, names and places pronounced differently. It took awhile to figure out who and what the narrator was talking about. This made following the story very difficult. I loved the first 4 books in this series, absolute classics. But this new offering is far below the others in quality and enjoyment. So sorry they didn't stay with JVD. Story was 5 Stars, but the change in narrator brings it down to 3 Stars.

I was blown away at how good the first book in this series was. I found the second was just as good. Understand the comment about all the parties, but that's central to their mission in this story. The characters are so enjoyable. The narrator makes them so real that again I was sorry to see this story end. If you liked the first book, I think you'll like this one too.

After finishing Elizabeth Moon's DOP series and Oath of Fealty, narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck, I looked for other works narrated by Van Dyck. She is the most amazing narrator I have ever listened to. Saw this and decided to try it. WOW. The story was very original. Shape shifters, sensitives, healers, etc. The characters were so much fun to get to know. Like Moon, Sharon Shinn is expert at creating interesting characters that seem so real. Jennifer Van Dyck as always delivers a 5-star performance. I am amazed at how she is able to create such a variety of character voices that make it so easy to differentiate each character. I absolutely loved this book and jumped right on the second in this series. Recommend highly!

Found this follow up to DOP to be thoroughly enjoyable. It DOES help to have read the original Paksenarrion trilogy since this story is about several of the characters that were in the first series. While this is not about Paks, I found it just as engaging. Elizabeth Moon is an incredible story teller. Also Jennifer Van Dyck knocks it out of the park again. Very soothing to listen to for a long time. She is easy to understand and has a comfortable pacing, with a variety of character voices that at times sounds like a full cast audio production. If you loved DOP, I think you will be well pleased with this one!! Hope there is more to come.

Book One was fabulous! Book Two slacked off a little, but was necessary in context to the trials Paksenarrion had to go through to blossom into the Paladin she was meant to be in Book Three. The last installment was the best of the three. I was so glad I took the leap on this Audible series. I loved it so much I bought a NEW COPY of the book to add to my permanent library. This trilogy has become my all time favorite!! Jennifer Van Dyck was a pleasure to listen to the whole way through. She definitely was able to differentiate between different charactors and had a pace and timbre that made it easy to follow along and enjoy. GET ALL THREE BOOKS! This series is a keeper .....

I really tried to be open minded on this book. It certainly had a lot of great reviews, but the series of short stories format tends to wander without driving the overall plot line. One of the characters has a sailor's mouth...some heavy FOUL LANGUAGE. That pretty much did me iin. There are so many alternatives to stooping to high school F-bombs every other word. Oh well, I'm sure there was a compelling reason for using that language as profusely as the author did in this book. Gave up about 2./3 of the way through. i will definitely read EVERY review of a book before wasting my money in the future.