Cast in Peril

By: Michelle Sagara

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

It has been a busy few weeks for Private Kaylin Neva. In between angling for a promotion, sharing her room with the last living female Dragon, and dealing with more refugees than anyone knew what to do with, the unusual egg she'd been given began to hatch. Actually, that turned out to be lucky, because it absorbed the energy from the bomb that went off in her quarters.

So now might be the perfect time to leave Elantra and journey to the West March with the Barrani. If not for the disappearances of citizens in the fief of Tiamaris - disappearances traced to the very Barrani Kaylin is about to be traveling with....

©2012 Michelle Sagara (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Publishers Error

What made the experience of listening to Cast in Peril the most enjoyable?

This is only half a book... a very good half a book granted. The writing and the performer are still excellent. It could have been part one of a two part set, but they didn't warn the editor or the author it seems and it feels like the story just end at the end of act 2.

It looks to be a while before the next part of the story is published and knowing what i know now..i think i might have been able to wait. though i have to admit i was dying to hear the next book in the series and i did enjoy it.

[liontine phrases] .... publishers error

Who was your favorite character and why?

the heroine of course, but nightshade is offering tantalizing signs of development and i can't wait to hear more.

What does Khristine Hvam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

pacing.

Another great installment

As with the previous books in this series, this book was well written. I admit to a late night because I didn’t want to stop reading.

Great next book in the series!

Would you listen to Cast in Peril again? Why?

Cast In Peril is a great next step in the Chronicles of Elantra series by Michelle Sagara, and expanding from the familiar city to the West March. Familiar characters' histories are expanded, revealing and hinting at deeper strengths and weaknesses, and carrying the long story forward, leaving the listener anxiously awaiting the release of the next book.

What did you like best about this story?

The deepening development of many of the characters is a favorite part of each book in the series, and the revelations in this book are fascinating as they humanize non-human immortal characters, and illustrate the limitations of immortality and how the inflexibility of Names are both strength and weakness.

What does Khristine Hvam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator is very good, and her voice characterizations are interesting -- I still have to chuckle at the Jamaican/African Leontine voices, which startled me with the first book, but which I have grown to appreciate as a good fit. She only rarely mispronounces a word, or uses an alternate pronunciation to that most familiar to me. She tells the story very well!

Top Tier fantasy writing and performance

This book (Cast in Peril - Bk 8) is a good place to enter a well developed series. If you are looking for an excellent and absorbing fantasy adventure, it is worth a credit.

Sagara's story is well written within a complex and conflicted world that is populated with layered characters you enjoy discovering. The occasional magic seems credible, novel and consistent. But be warned, if this is your first book in the series, you may need to listen to the first 45 minutes a couple of times in order to get enough back story references to follow the tale in context.

Another quick way to get up to speed is to purchase Sagara's 4.5 hour $3.46 novella titled: Cast In Moonlight, which is labeled Bk # 6.5, but really could be called Bk. Zero. It introduces the world and brings most of the central characters together as they encounter the heroine as a tough unpolished teenager. (Bk 1 apparently is not the best of the 9 books to date, but sets the stage for book 2 which often gets 5s across the board.). Either approach will let you enjoy Cast in Peril and by the middle, you will be in complete sympathy with the adventurous heroine. At the conclusion of Cast in Peril, you will be agonizing over whether to just buy the whole lot and listen to 120+ hours, or to snag the complete set of books slowly over time via Audible promotions. But either way, you probably will be intrigued and want more time with these characters.

I wish we could give 4.5 scores to convey my feeling that the writing this time was very close to as good as fantasy stories can get. In addition, the stories in this series have been blessed with a narrator who seems perfectly tuned to the author's intent: she brings the characters to life with distinctive voices while infusing the entirety with a pace and mood that makes her invisible as the story advances. In this case, the combination comes together so well, the package deserves 5 stars.

Love this series

This series is great.Would love to see K mature more and take on a love interest, or even remember that she has powers when it's almost not to late. But where ever it goes I'll follow.

This story does not disappoint

I was eagerly waiting for this book to come out, and so I stopped all other books I was reading to start this one. I was definitely not disappointed. In fact, I would have loved to call in sick to work just to stay at home and listen to it. Christine Van does an excellent job with the different character voices, as usual. I was also very glad to get to know more about the Consort. I can't wait to see what adventure (or misadventure) happens in the next room, and eagerly anticipate the further growth of Kalen's relationship with Severn.

Cast in....

If you could sum up Cast in Peril in three words, what would they be?

Loved it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I've listened to all 8 books and loved them all. It seemed like book 8 had a rushed ending. As anxious as readers are to get their hands on the next book, I hope the author takes her time writing future books.

The egg

I was so upset that the audible edition did not come out with the print edition that I bought the book at Barnes and Noble. I wanted to know about the egg. I am not sure I want one because it would come with a life I do not need, but I sure do like reading about the complication. I got the audible version for company on the road and in the house. Sagara is good company as is the narrator.

This book is part one of a book Sagara had to cut in half so the story is complete but still hangs. Readers should follow the series to this book in order to understand what is going on. Sagara does not review constantly from one book to another and I am grateful. Her writing is fun and the stories are often both thought provoking and memorable. Several have a wonderful emotional impact.

I would like to mention that Sagara has the earmarks of a serious writer. She tackles tough subjects like unforgivable choices, eternal life and its certainties, sober understanding of the nature of immortality and its friction with mortality, and the nature and problems of healing and language. There is enough information about her on the web that readers can speculate how these driving forces enter her need to write. We generally find this interest in "serious" writers from "serious" genre. The friction of maturity and responsibility is rare in this genre. The stories do not suffer from the under current of more sophisticated direction. Story is paramount in her books, but the addition of a mind working through the difficulty of knowing and understanding is a small treasure.

Great Book - Love this series.

Read them all - start at the beginning. The heroine in this series is the most unlikely and unassuming of people, also maybe, not the sharpest tack in the box, but in her own unassuming way solves problems and rocks her world. This world she lives in is unique as are the characters which provides an opportunity for limitless stores and adventure. Keep writing Michelle. Khristine really brings the characters to life in her naration.

Loved this book. Can't wait for the next!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cast in Peril?

The hatching of the egg!

Which character – as performed by Khristine Hvam – was your favorite?

Kaylan of course.

Any additional comments?

I love this book and now can't wait for more. Please don't wait to long for the next as it is agony.