Sheepfarmer's Daughter

The Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Moon

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Refusing to marry a pig farmer and joining the army, even if it means never seeing her family again, Paksenarrion begins an adventure that enables her to restore an overthrown ruler.

©1988 Elizabeth Moon (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Great listen

This is one of my favourite books. I've read it many times, but this was the first time as audiobook. I must say that Jennifer Van Eyck did an excellent work, almost a perfect reading! Well worth a listen!

Excellent

Thank you for the excellent reading of Elizabeth Moon’s book. I look forward to the next in the series.

Grand high fantasy

This is the style that brought me to the high fantasy genre. A fantasy world with depth and nuance, making subtle moral comments on the real world. I had previously not read any of Moon's work, though I have long intended to read the Planet Pirates series she co-authored with Anne McCaffrey. I was reminded of some of my favourite Mercedes Lackey novels while listening to this. Not in detail, but in overall feel. A great book, and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

Jennifer Van Dyck's narration is excellent, well paced and lively, with distinct character voices and emotion where needed. Really brings the book to life.

Nothing special here

I took on this book based on such great reviews, but I am not impressed that I didn???t find this book to be all that original. Book has words like 'damage' instead of 'wounds', 'fighter' instead of 'soldier' that would remind you that it is straight out of some D&D campaign. It was good enough that I was able to complete the book; therefore, I am giving 3 stars.

Here is the summary of the whole book. A girl joins the army after running away from family and then fought evil.

Narrator did a good job; however, she completes her sentences sometime abruptly which can be annoying at times.

I will not be reading the next book in this series.

Slow start, strong finish.

The story started really slow, but was interesting enough to keep continuing. It just builds and builds all the way to the end. This first book covers Paks' training and first couple of campaigns, with a hint of a mystery of what will Paks will likely become. It has a kind of dungeons and dragons feel to it. Was surprised about the fighting/action scenes, never found anything quite like it, yet. It follows more a tactical pov than a one on one type of setup most authors favor. Instead of listing blow by blow action, it goes more by armies moving lines or tower sieges as a group, but from Paks' pov. Magic is a mystery and you feel like an outsider, just like Paks, when encountered. I liked narrator, but it was hard for me to tell the difference between some male voices. She does accents well and she does not try to lower her voice as much as some female narrators do to get a male voice, which can sound gravely and fake. Was disappointing to find out that they change narrators in Kings of the North(wish I knew who to complained to about this when it happens and not just this series).

The first three books are:
Sheepfarmer's Daughter
Divided Allegiance
Oath of Gold.

The second set:
Oath of Fealty
Kings of the North
Crisis of Vision(due in mar '12)

There is also another set containing a prequel and sequel(not found on audible):
Surrender None
Liar's Oath

Marry a Pig Farmer or Adventures.... no brainer

I enjoyed the story of Paks and the narration but I agree with other reviewers that the writing focused on some of the wrong things.

I would have liked to see more character development for some of the secondary characters; then when it comes time for the 'big' scene where they are in the for front of the story, the reader would have more of an idea who these characters are/were and possibly have more emotions invested.

The majority of the story is told from the viewpoint of the lead character, Paks, but it threw me when all of a sudden the story jumps slightly back in history and is told through the eyes of a previously barely known character for a chapter.

I am currently undecided as to whether I will download Book 2 and 3.

One of My Favourite Books, Well Read

Would you consider the audio edition of Sheepfarmer’s Daughter to be better than the print version?

The audio book is not better than the print book, but you all know why I buy audio books, because you do too. It is lovely to be 'read to', and Jennifer is a very good reader.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Paks and Stammel are equally endearing to me, but this is very much Paks's story. Stammel is her mentor and 'big brother', and both are great. Paks is a bit of an idiot in this book, and a bit prissy, but she is a heroine and grows up incredibly fast.

What does Jennifer Van Dyck bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She reads the temperament and mood of the characters. While Moon is a great writer of atmosphere and mood, Jennifer lights it all up and brings it to the top.

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

I don't want to spoil anything, but Paks's big drama at the Duke's stronghold was a little heartwrenching. Very little in these books makes one laugh, but there are plenty of warm fuzzy moments too :)

Any additional comments?

Read this after The Legacy of Gird for maximum understanding of the main religion of the stories.

I've read and reread all of these books a number of times, and just keep coming back. I highly recommend them to anyone who likes strong female characters, fantasy, and warm fuzzies. It's idealistic and uplifting, but it has its darkness as well, which keeps it from being silly....well, too silly.

Paladin

By far, this is the best Paladin series written to date.
You can search for books about Paladins but, you will find none better.

slow to develop

I had high hopes for this story. The narration was great but the story was slow to develop. The main character showed promise but it took the entire novel for her abilities to appear but i think it was intentional in order for the reader to get the next novel in the series.

Good story, adequate narrator

I have read and re-read this series many times, and was looking forward to hearing the audiobook. I was disappointed by the narration, though. While her reading of the non-speech parts was all right, if a little flat at times, I found her expression, odd pronunciations, and inconsistent accents difficult. Duke Phelan, for example, has a standard North American accent except for a couple of inconsistent British vowel sounds. Why? Other oddities: surely Aliam Halveric would have the stresses on the first syllables, rather than the second? (again, inconsistent. Occasionally HALveric, but more often "HalVERic". "SEliam, but "aLIam". I don't know how "Sier" should be pronounced, but "sire" sounds odd. I wonder if Ms. Moon was consulted. These are small things, but they tended to throw me out of the story and back into myself.

I don't think I'll be buying the rest of the series.