William Finch

I am one hour into it and and not enjoying anything about the monotone reading with words and names pronounced completely opposite previous narrations...

Can we PLEASE bring back Oliver Wyman now?!

Not unless he is the only reader in a series. He obviously didn't bother to listen to previous books to pick up consistent pronunciation and accents.

This work is filled with trite, stereotyped characters and sex scenes, lightweight, cliche-ridden treatment of Hindu philosophy, and egregious use of the word WOW! That being said, no one can accuse the author of having an unimaginative fantasy life. This book is a hardcore, formulaic melange of the erotic components of innumerable Harlequin romances underpinned by Eastern Mysticism. It will appeal to bored housewives (Cliche intended) and horny teenage boys...

Don't waste your money or book credits!

Once Again, Terry Brooks has drawn us into the Four Lands, and now The Forbidding, with powerful images and intricate plottings. The relationships between enemies and comrades, men and nature, are well thought out and tightly constructed. I wish I could say the same for the narrator. The reading is adequate to convey the basic feelings Mr. Brooks is trying to evoke, but just barely. I found that the dramatic range of Mr. Boehmer was lacking, and he resorted to awkward voicings for inhuman charcters that were more distracting than menacing.

Scott Brick has done an outstanding job of bringing power and finesse to the world of Shannara and it's denizens thus far, and it is disappointing to lose the mental pictures of the characters that we, the listeners, have built in our minds in previous books in the series.

It is especially galling that the change in narrators has been made right in the middle of the High Druid story arc. It has taken away from the experience of this newest volume. You find yourself constantly comparing the readers instead of being drawn into the story.

If the final volume of the series, Straken, continues with the current reader, I don't see myself listening to it. I'll read the book and let my imagination do the rest.