Royal Airs

Elemental Blessings, Book 2

By: Sharon Shinn

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

Master storyteller Sharon Shinn created the thrilling and enchanting world of Welce in her acclaimed novel Troubled Waters. Return with her to that elemental universe in this tale of secrecy, romance, and a battle for power...

Josetta is a princess of one of the Five Families. But she is far from the throne, so she is free to spend her days working in the poorest sections of the city.

Rafe Adova, an outcast since he was born, lives the life of a career gambler in those slums. He has no ambition other than cheating at the card tables - until the night he decides to help a girl named Corene, who looks like she's stumbled into the wrong bar.

She, too, is a princess - sister to Josetta, who finds her with Rafe. He fascinates her. Josetta has never encountered anyone like him - someone seemingly devoid of elemental blessings.

He is drawn to her, though he thinks they are unlikely to ever meet again - but their connection grows strong when she nurses him back to health after he is assaulted by foreign mercenaries. And when they learn the reason he's being hunted, they know that the truth about his history could endanger not only their love but also their very lives...

©2013 Sharon Shinn (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Good story, but read the book instead of the Audib

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Absolutely NOT time well spent. I was so annoyed by the over-enunciation and over-emphasis of the narrator's reading voice that I gave up by the end of the first chapter and bought the Kindle book at Amazon. This same reader has been used for all of Sharon Shinn's books at Audible, and at first she was just an annoyance, but the irritation factor seems to multiply the way additional exposure to a food allergen does. Now I just find her performance intolerable. Sentences that should have sounded completely natural become overplayed and purple-prose-like from her mouth. I've read nearly all of Shinn's books--she has a very natural and easy style of writing that isn't the least bit purple--it takes a real talent to be able to amke good writing *sound* awful just by the style of reading.

What other book might you compare Royal Airs to and why?

I feel like I'm writing a book report now. Ugh. this isn't grade school and i'm not here to help Audible make suggestions based on reviews. However, I would probably compare Ms Shinn's writing style somewhat to Robin McKinley's mixture of fantasy and romance--both combine them well, with good characters that are immediately relateable. So maybe a bit like her Beauty or Deerskin.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

As mentioned above, her reading style is over-the-top, overly-enunciated, and unnatural, emphasizing too many of the words in each sentence and doing execrable "voices" for the characters that were completely unnecessary and might better have been eschewed. This reader needs to read the way that people speak in real life, not like every word is playing to the back row of an ampitheatre--over-emphasized with the audio equivalent of expansive gestures and heavy stage makeup.

Did Royal Airs inspire you to do anything?

Read more Sharon Shinn books? Get back to writing my magnum opus?

Any additional comments?

Shinn's writing is very natural and instantly likeable. She writes good characters and intriguing worlds. Until Audible finds a better reader for Ms Shinn's books, read them rather than listen to them. And don't judge the writer by the limitations and excessive drama of the performer.

I love this series..

I hope more will be made past book 4 ..
Outstanding performance by the narrator...

Wonderful Sequel

Where does Royal Airs rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I was so excited to see this book. I love 'Troubled Waters'. It's one of my go to books when I'm looking for something good to listen to, and I always wanted to know what happened afterwards. This was definitely a worthy sequel.

Have you listened to any of Jennifer Van Dyck’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The only downside was that Ms. Van Dyke didn't pronounce certain words and names the same way as she did in the first book and I found that a bit jarring.

I like this series

I can't wait for the next one this is a very engaging book that is light hearted but slightly cliche but that in no way detracts from the sweetness

So good

I really love try this series. The world building is very tight. The characters grow and develop. It's fun to watch. Now I'm off to listen to the next. I bought them at the same time knowing how much I enjoyed Zoe's story. If you like your fantasy with an edge of steampunk, this is for you.