Dark One: Forgotten

By: Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells

Narrated by: Rachel Jacobs, Sophie Oda, Keith Szarabajka, Kaleo Griffith, Avery Waddell, Kelli Tager, John H Mayer, Mia Barron, Luis Bermudez, William Elsman, Nan McNamara, Jim Meskimen, Roxanne Hernandez

Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

From #1 New York Times Bestselling, Hugo Award-winning author, Brandon Sanderson, and co-author Dan Wells, comes DARK ONE: FORGOTTEN, a true-crime fantasy audio series and the first entry in Brandon Sanderson’s new DARK ONE fantasy saga.

Every year in the United States there are fifteen thousand murders, give or take a few hundred. Of those, nearly forty percent go unsolved.

In this six-part audio series, Christina Walsh is determined to change that. After struggling with the loss of her father, she sets out on a journey to bring the justice that has eluded her to the families of other victims. And she starts with a particularly strange case. The murder of world-renowned violinist Leona McPherson who mysteriously disappeared years ago after a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As Christina digs deeper, the story gets stranger. Leona was a prodigy, someone too good to be forgotten, but that’s exactly what has happened. She’s been forgotten. Entirely. By everyone who knew her. From the gushing music critic in her hometown to the detectives investigating her murder, even her own mother.

So Christina embarks on a cross-country mission, with her roommate Sophie, to figure out what happened to Leona. In the process, she uncovers a trail of similar victims who have suffered the same fate. But if no one can remember the victims, how can the killer possibly be caught? Christina’s only leads come from a crazed homeless man’s ramblings, a mysterious glass eye, and an otherworldly totem. Is Christina crazy or has she stumbled upon something so implausible it must be true?

©2021 Brandon Sanderson (P)2021 Recorded Books

I don't really care for this book

I normally get every Brandon Sanderson book, but this one with Dan Wells I don't like. I like some of Dan Well's books, but not the murder types of books. As far as the performance goes, I find it distracting although I recognize that it is a in a style that I am sure some will like. I don't plan on getting any more if this series continues.

Wow, what a surprise

To be fair, my expectations weren’t that high, but this is one of those stories that continuously gets better as it goes on. The last half is pretty much plot twist after plot twist in a satisfying way. My main quibble is that some of the banter between two of the characters is a little corny and took me out of the otherwise compelling narrative.

Didn't hit like a typical Sanderson story.

The mystery was interesting and it did have some cool scenes. However the reveal and ending just felt contrived.

it reminded me of a Dean Koontz novel.

Ehh

Idk the ending felt rushed. This isn’t what I expected but the podcast style and actors were good.

I love the world Dark One

I really enjoyed the Dark One graphic novel. I’m really interested in this world and the world of Mirandus. I want more lore. It could be a wonderful portal grimdark fantasy depending on how Sanderson leans into it.
I enjoyed this story. But the main characters made it hard to listen at times. The constant emotion shown by yelling and freaking out. The constant jokes when your knee deep on a serial killer’s trail just took me out of the story.

Finally a dramatized performance done well!

Finally a team has figured out how to do a dramatized performance of an audiobook. The music isn't overpowering and the sound effects aren't distracting. Both are used sparingly. The acting is a bit overtop, but it works with this book. I hope this becomes a series and that other creators learn from this production.

Wonderful!

Loved the story and style it’s done in. Ready for the next one in the series!

Interesting Story, difficult characters and acting

The story is interesting but had to stop 50% though because the main characters and voice actors were hard for me to handle. I get that they're young immature girls but I've read YA with much more likable and relatable characters.

Very well-done - great story and audio performance

I'm a die-hard Sanderson fan, and although very different from his usual work, I really enjoyed this.

Great story annoying main characters.

This is a fantastic story! I like the dark mystery that Sanderson and Wells have crafted here. It’s a nice departure. Refreshing departure from Sanderson’s, regular fantasy fair. The overall mystery is extremely engaging which is why I put up with my frustration with the main characters. They are supposed to be college students at NYU but their behavior is more in line with that of a 12 or 13-year-old. They don’t present themselves as mature adults. I understand that a college student is still young, but they are supposed to be over 18. At that age, I would often interview older working professionals for projects and things and I can tell you, I never used profanity during those interviews and I didn’t ask silly. College students should speak with much more maturity and deference to their elders than these characters do. They come off very immature and disrespectful. This is very disappointing coming from Sanderson, especially considering I just finished his book Tres of the Emerald Sea, and that young character is very well depicted.