Masques

Aralorn, Book 1

By: Patricia Briggs

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren, Patricia Briggs (introduction)

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Before #1 New York Times best-selling author Patricia Briggs created her two hugely successful urban fantasy series, Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega, she wrote her debut fantasy epic, Masques. Newly revised and expanded, and available in audio for the first time, Masques arrives in our store just in time, with the fourth book in this series, Wolfsbane, coming soon.

After an upbringing of proper behavior and oppressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. Her latest mission involves spying on the increasingly powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi. But in a war against an enemy armed with the powers of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is – or where he will strike next?

Katherine Kellgren (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), one of Audible's favorite narrators and one of the premier voices of science fiction and fantasy, sweeps listeners away on this engrossing adventure.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an introduction written and read by author Patricia Briggs.

©2010 Hurog, Inc, (c) 1993 Patricia Briggs; (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

This book is okay!!!!

The book is not complete and it just sounds like the book is a intro to a book but has not been completed. I was drawn in by wolf and masques but it seem as if it is a love story just starting, and parts are missing.
Patricia Briggs is a good writer and her books first strong, but end lacking something.

Must listen for Patricia Briggs Fans

I’m a huge Patricia Briggs fan. I’ve been reading her Mercy Thompson series going back to when there was only three Mercy books and one Alpha & Omega book. But up until this point, I’ve only read Briggs’s stories set in the Mercyverse. I’ll be honest when I say that I grabbed up this audiobook not knowing much about this story other than it was written by Patricia Briggs and that it is more fantasy than Mercy.

This story starts off with an intro from Briggs talking about her history writing and this book. This was actually her first story. It did go out of print, but once she became the success that she is, there was talk about printing it again. She did some clean up, but she talks about her fears of changing too much where it wasn’t the same story she originally released. While I could see this isn’t as polished as Storm Cursed (which I listened to just three books prior to this one), I can’t fault it.

Aralorn is the main character. While she is from a noble family, she isn’t what would be considered a “lady”. She’s much happier being a mercenary than she is going to balls in pretty dresses. She has a unique talent as a mercenary in that she is a shape changer. While she is not able to change her gender, she is able to take the shape of different females. She’s also able to take the shape of some animals.

She also meets Wolf, a very powerful human magician. He is able to take the shape of a wolf, hence the name. She doesn’t know much about about him, but they have each other’s back and trust each other. There isn’t a physical relationship between the two, he pulls away everytime it starts to even inch in that direction.

There is also the villain, the ae’Magi. He is the ruling sorcerer. He is also using a lot energy and power to keep his political power. He is even killing people to stoak his power. Aralorn and Wolf want to work to kill him. That is where the majority of the plot lies.

I had a great time with this story. You can see where Briggs was still a novice when writing this, but you can also see what a creative mind she has. The characters were a lot of fun and the plot was entertaining. Is there anything else you can ask from a rookie writer? I can’t wait to try the second book and see where Aralorn and Wolf go from here.

Narration
This was my first time listening to Katherine Kellgren. I first learned of her not that long ago when I saw a ton of narrators posting about her death and also about her induction to Audible’s Narrator Hall of Fame. I can completely see why she was inducted. She did a great job with the narration of this story. I love her voices for both male and female characters. Her pace and tone were great and perfect for this story. I highly recommend her work.

**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

Good story, shouting narrator.

I like the story, good and entertaining. it is rather annoying though, that the narrator likes to raise her voice such everytime some drama happens.

Great first book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it is fun and kept me listening when I should have been sleeping. Read her other series and was glad to find this one.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Masques?

Saving the wolf from the pit!

Which character – as performed by Katherine Kellgren and Patricia Briggs (introduction) – was your favorite?

King Mear

Any additional comments?

Not a "serious" read, but more a fun one. Quirky characters and sly humor!

Don't give up on it

Would you listen to Masques again? Why?

I was ready to give up on it about 30 minutes in but I stuck it out. It is well worth it to wait to then end.

Loved this book

So I have to admit, I'm not sure if it was me or the book but I had a little bit of a hard time getting into it. I'm not sure what it was but I am so glad I stuck it out. I just finished and I'm starting the next in the series immediately. Love Patricia Briggs!

Entertaining story, interesting characters

I love Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series and though this book isn't quite as good, it did not disappoint!

The characters were fun and the storyline was inventive. I'm looking forward to book 2!

The narrator did a great job portraying emotions, but I had to get used to her slightly dramatic narrating style. I still really enjoyed the book though, and wouldn't pass it up over that.

Narrated Like a 1940's Radio Drama

I love the story and characters, but I had a hard time enjoying the book because the narrator read it in an overly dramatic fashion. Her pronunciation and inflection is that of early 20th century upper crust American: round r's, open mouth on the vowels, speaking from the chest. This, coupled with her habit of randomly increasing her volume, had me very distracted. I couldn't understand why the character would speak that way, and just as I would dismiss that and start getting into the book, it would intrude again. I liked the book, and might have loved it if I had read it instead of listened to it.

great gravelly voice too soft.

loved the voices. only issue was one of them was sometimes a little too soft spoken compared to the rest because of its raspy gravelly nature.

Awesome first book

I loved the characters, world, and fantasy. I also used it as an escape as the author did when writing it.