Dawn

Keep in mind that I read most of the series before coming back to listen to the prequel. I don't feel that this book had much to do with the WOT series other than the fact that the characters are the same. It speaks mainly of Morraine and Suan as accepted and being raised to sisters. It gives some background on Lan, but not enough to make it worth listening to. (He reminds me a lot of Matt in this book; doing things that need to be done, not because he wants to do them.) The only valuable thing I got from this book is the insinuation that Cadsuane may be a dark friend. (She is in about 3 minutes of the book)There is not much adventure or sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the next move. With the rest of the series I found it hard to take off my headphones and go to sleep, but I was sorely disappointed with New Spring.

The first 8 hours of this book annoyed me. I was really ticked about wasting a credit n this book that supposedly would "blow my mind, for more than 8 hours". The first 8 hours is nothing but the guy snorting his fortune up his nose, drinking too much, and screwing up any chance of making his family happy.
The last three and a half hours were great. Absolutely phenominal. I even learned to ignore all of the cocaine and heroin he was doing. It was an intense thriller that I didn't want to stop listening to. The problem was that I had to wait so long for the story to pick up, that it killed the whole experience. This book would make a great movie, but don't waste your download. It is a tedious listen and the good parts don't make up for the bad.

When listening to this book one must keep in mind that George Martin did not finish the book. He had to split this book up and make it into two volumes because it was getting so long. There are spots that are tedious but more that are riveting.
The narrator isn't the best, and he takes a little getting used to, but he is not the worst I have ever heard. Hopefully the original narrator will be available for A Dance With Dragons, but this guy is tolerable.

I was extremely excited when this book was released because I loved Eragon so much. I was absolutely entranced with the first book that I got through it in one day. I was sorely disappointed with this one. He is overly descriptive in the wrong areas, kills off some great characters in the beginning and ignores others that were so profound in the last book. I am not going to bother finishing it. If Jane Austen wrote science fiction, I would swear it was her work.

This series was my favorite when I was twelve. As an adult listening to it, I am not quite so entranced anymore. I found it slow this time around, but remember how much I loved it when I was little. This book gives a lot of information that is needed to understand the rest of the series, so it is worth downloading. The entire series was wonderful (my favorite was The Grey King), so I started buying it for my little brother. He is thirteen and seems to like it as much as I once did.

Maximum Ride is the typical story of an older girl that takes care of the younger "siblings". (A lot like "The Boxcar Children") I downloaded this book because I saw a lot of positive reviews, and I was sorely disappointed. It is very possible that I would have enjoyed an unabridged version, because the story seemed a little choppy. The jokes about bodily functions will keep the kids entertained, but from an adult perspective, they get old fast. (My husband only got through 20 minutes) The ending was abrupt and unsatisfying. It seemed as if the author had a deadline to meet and released the book before he was finished.