Limits of Power

Paladin's Legacy, Book 4

By: Elizabeth Moon

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Length: 20 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Elizabeth Moon is back with the fourth adventure in her best-selling fantasy epic. Moon brilliantly weaves a colorful tapestry of action, betrayal, love, and magic set in a richly imagined world that stands alongside those of such fantasy masters as George R. R. Martin and Robin Hobb.

The unthinkable has occurred in the kingdom of Lyonya. The queen of the Elves - known as the Lady - is dead, murdered by former elves twisted by dark powers. Now the Lady’s half-elven grandson must heal the mistrust between elf and human before their enemies strike again. Yet as he struggles to make ready for an attack, an even greater threat looms across the Eight Kingdoms.Throughout the north, magic is reappearing after centuries of absence, emerging without warning in family after family - rich and poor alike. In some areas, the religious strictures against magery remain in place, and fanatical followers are stamping out magery by killing whoever displays the merest sign of it - even children. And as unrest spreads, one very determined traitor works to undo any effort at peace - no matter how many lives it costs. With the future hanging in the balance, it is only the dedication of a few resolute heroes who can turn the tides...if they can survive.

©2013 Elizabeth Moon (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Great with a complaint regarding audio editor- not narrator

I only recently discovered the writing of Elizabeth Moon and have become a huge fan. Marvelous writing, characters, story…everything! As this is now the 7th or 8th book I’ve ripped through so far, I have an idea that now I will listen to everything Ms Moon has written, with joy.

My only complaint has nothing to do with Ms Moon, nor Angela Dawe. I hate it when narrators get changed in the midst of a series. If the recording or publishing company decides to make that change anyway, the very least they should do is prep the new narrator by listening to the previous book first.

Ms Dawe is excellent at her profession & I’ve encountered her work before, happily. In this case, however, through no fault of hers, there’s a problem.

There are several key terms or names of things or people that are mentioned repeatedly throughout each book, and suddenly, at book four or five, the pronunciation of these several names of things has changed. It just seems like something a good editor should have caught early for the sake of continuity, and keeping the listener “in” the story. It’s an audio speed bump each time I hear that different phrasing or pronunciation.

Again, as far as I’m concerned, both Elizabeth Moon & Angela Dawes are fantastic! I highly recommend.

a great story, deserving a better performance

I love the book. and have listened multiple times,but I have difficulty continuing the story as I reach this book in the series.

the narrator is simply too different from other narrators in the series. the boice used for background narration is too tense, yet also flat.

terrible performance

This series is great, but this performer doesn't know how to speak properly nor pronunciate anything.

The narrator

I have enjoyed this series even with the change of narrator in a couple of the books until this one!!! Ugh I had a hard time listening to her alter words that had been consistent by others. Hopefully the next narrator does not do the same. Maybe have a new narrator listen to a book or two if they are picking up in the middle of a series.
Not the first series that this has been an issue for me but it was a Huge issue this time for me.

Narrator kills good book

I read this before listening - and am SO glad. I've like the series from Sheepfarmer's Daughter. That said, this is a HARD listen. Words like "taig", "Arrenis" and others are pronounced completely differently than in the previous six books, making it difficult to follow the story. I can understand bringing in a new narrator, but she should have at least listened to the previous books!

In addition, most of the time, this narrator seems to adopt a whiny, childlike voice. Perhaps it is my age, but it is very grating, especially for several hours at a time.

I eagerly look forward to the next book in the series, and will buy it - in print. If not narrated by the same person, will also purchase the audio book!

Wonderful story. Uneven narration

Would you consider the audio edition of Limits of Power to be better than the print version?

No

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dorian

Would you be willing to try another one of Angela Dawe’s performances?

No

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

The story is excellent but the narration is uneven. Some of the variations in voice sound forced and strained. This distracts from the story and lessens the impact. This is the only time I have been disappointed in an Audible book.

Reader was clueless, Elizabeth Moon was brilliant

Where does Limits of Power rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I will have trouble ever listening to this books again. I've un-recommended the series just because of this one reader.

What other book might you compare Limits of Power to and why?

Elizabeth Moon's imagination and story telling is as enjoyable as any Anne McCaffrey or David Weber stories

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Angela Dawe?

For an 8-book series, it would've been nice to have Jennifer Van Dyke read the entire series, even though there was decades between the start & finish.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Stammel's heroics brought tears to my eyes

Any additional comments?

When listening to any performance, there is a rhythm and flow to the story -whether book, opera, song, play. Every time Angela Dawe pronounced a town, country, character wrong it jarred the story. And she seemed to pronounce about 75% of the words wrong. Angela Dawe was very good in "Maybe This Time" by Jennifer Cruisie, but 3 years between books should've left her enough time to at least listen to ONE book if you're going to take on the 7th of 8 books, and she didn't. I kept thinking she was going to call one of the characters "Southy" since this performance had all the same "voices".
Listening to Angela tell this story was as difficult as listening to a 7 yr old take on the reading of Macbeth. Same level of pronunciation and story understanding. She almost ruined this book, it's only Elizabeth Moon's amazing storytelling skill that saved it at all.

I guess I should have read this one...

Had I read the book myself then perhaps I would know if this narrator or the other narrators mispronounced so many names and titles...

Still it is a good story, even if it jumps around in what I can only guess is time and space to try to get things to line up chronologically.

Great book, poor reader

Would you be willing to try another one of Angela Dawe’s performances?

Dawe's pronunciations of names and words in this book differ from the prior books, which is annoying. It's more her break from cannon, than anything else that left me displeased with the narration.

First book I’ve ever wanted to return

I enjoyed reading this book, and was very disappointed by how much the narration detracted from the story. The narrator mispronounced many place and character names that could have been learned by listening to any of the previous books in the series. The way she inflected sentences was also distracting. Made it difficult to enjoy the book.