The Gates of Sleep

Elemental Masters

By: Mercedes Lackey

Narrated by: Kayla Fell

Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

In the tradition of her acclaimed fairy-tale-inspired novel, The Serpent's Shadow, best-selling author Mercedes Lackey re-imagines Sleeping Beauty-as a dark and enchanting Edwardian fantasy. Marina is the cherished daughter of the wealthy Roeswood family, practioners of Elemental Magic. But evil portents have warned her parents that Marina will be killed before her 18th birthday-by the hand of her own aunt.

©2003 Mercedes Lackey (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

another elemental masters story from our queen!

I adore this series, even more than most from Mercedes Lackey, as it combines historical fiction with magical world building and human heart wonderfully.

Great fairytale story!

Great fairytale story, beautifully read! Good vs evil, love vs hate, strong heroine, likable hero. All the elements of a great story.

Good Book

Any additional comments?

Good story. Not as great as Serpent's Shadow, but still worthwhile. Some of the historical details were very thorough, which I loved. I wished a few parts of the plot had been more detailed. Overall, I'd recommend it and am happy to have it in my audio library.

Good story, *but*

I love this series, and won't let a slightly dissappointing read of this one keep me from buying the rest, since each seems to have a different person reading them. And I can't say this reader was terrible. Just inexperienced, perhaps? Or not well directed? Her voice is quite lovely. But her pacing and pronunciation need work, both of which can throw you out of the story. (hearing the name 'Dickon' pronounced 'die conn' made me cringe)

loved it

excellent!! Mercedes Lackey never disappoints! Her words transform you into a time and place like no other! I having been reading her works for years and not once have i regretted the time spent! Amazed more than a few times but never any regrets!

mediocre

This is the only title in the series I really didn't enjoy. The others kept me interested. Yes, they are all a bit formulaic, but they are fun and lighthearted reads. I can't pinpoint why this one seemed to be lacking, but it just didn't keep my interest, which is rare for me because I love to get lost in these stories.

love it!

I love the elemental masters series and how they have elements of fairy tales. I love to listen to them as I drive, clean, and they help me relax to sleep when I lay down. they are wonderful stories.

Good story, mildly annoying narrator

A few mispronounced words (tears/tears, rimmed/rimed, and scalpel as “scay-ple”). But mostly it was making the main character sound like she was a backwoods bumpkin.

Yes, she was raised in the country, but she was widely read, well educated and conversant in 4+ foreign languages.

But she was voiced as if she was a villager who couldn’t write her own name. All g’s were dropped from words ending in “ing”, and her vowels were exaggeratedly flat, completely unlike what a highborn, educated lady should sound like.

Whenever she’d say livin’, forgettin’ or whatever, it pulled me out of the story.Everyone else was voiced fine. No idea why the MC needed to sound like she dropped out of school after kindergarten.

Enjoyable Read/Listen

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

It was easy to listen to while driving or doing other things. A break in the listening did not dampen the books story.

Any additional comments?

Enjoyable.

Delightful and impossible to put down

This was the audio equivalent of the book you keeping reading until 2 in the morning. I would sit, continuing to listen long after I usually would stop. The story had interesting characters, who were smart and didn't do the dumb acts that more formulaic stories would use. The Victorian setting provided a historical example of industrial poisoning to contrast with the Elemental Masters' care of the natural world. This audio book was a delight.