Summon the Keeper

Keeper's Chronicles, Book 1

By: Tanya Huff

Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Austin was a black-and-white, far-from-young cat. Not just any cat, mind you, he was the Keeper's cat, a very outspoken feline with extremely strong opinions he was always willing to voice. After all, who knew better than Austin what was best for the well-being of Claire - and for the not-quite-as-important rest of the universe?

Claire Hansen was a Keeper, a member of that select group that kept the universe in one piece. And now she'd been Summoned to the Elysian Fields Guesthouse, a rundown bed-and-breakfast that seemed to attract the most unusual clientele. And Claire was not happy about this latest assignment, not happy at all. Not when she'd been tricked into taking over here by a horrible little gnome of a man who'd abandoned his post before she'd even figured out who he really was. Not when room six held a resident who'd been sleeping there for so many years that she really needed a good dusting - except that it was far too dangerous for anyone to get that close to her.

Not when she found herself surrounded by "helpers" as distracting as Dean, the hunky-yet-innocent handyman, and Jacques, a ghost with a real lust for life. And especially not when it looked like this might be the not only her most challenging mission, but one she'd be stuck handling for life....

©1998 Tanya Huff (P)2018 Tantor

Boring

I found this to be very dry and boring. Didn’t like any of the characters, couldn’t finish. The fake accents were annoying as heck.

Great fun

Excellent narration of a story that I read with much enjoyment. The retired Olympians had me laughing out loud.

revisiting an old favorite

The first time I read this story was back in high school, over 20 years ago. In high school, I thought this was the best story ever! I enjoyed the humor and all the silliness of it all. As an adult listening to it many many years after the last time I've read it, I feel like it hasn't aged as well. I still love the story, and I adore Tanya Huff's writing style. I also know from past experience, the sequels were even better than the first one. So even if this one is a little bit slow for you, I do recommend giving the next two a try.

Characters aren't super-likable, a bit boring

Enjoyed the Enchantment Emporium series a lot, so gave this a try. 2/3 of the way through and still just not finding it much fun. Characters are developed, but not all that likable. Plot is really dragging. I will finish this one, but I don't think I'll continue the series.

could not finish

It sounded like fun and had some interesting world building creations but the plot dragged and I'm giving up after the first quarter of the book.

Disappointed

The first time she's ever seriously disappointed me but I really didn't like that book.

Terrible reader

The book isn't one of Huff's best but it's fun. However, the narrator ruined it for me. Her French accent for the ghost was pretty horrible and all the characters sounded exactly alike. I got halfway through and returned it.

Fix the audio.

I loved the story. I love this author. The audio is not as noticeably screwed up at 90% speed. I had been excited to see this series on audible, but I am frustrated that more care was not taken. This is not the performer's fault. When the speed works properly her narration is fine.

The Narrator does not fit the writing style

This is a fun read and I have returned to this story several times over the years so when I found it in Audible, I was excited to check it out in the new format. This narrator, however speaks slowly, enunciating each syllable so precisely that she almost pauses awkwardly between certain syllables. This style would be great for dense texts and she is great with accents but this book relies on comedic timing, particularly with the dialogue, or the jokes fall flat. The cadence and flow is consistently interrupted by her delivery and it is difficult to plow through this with this particular style of narration. I would not recommend this format for this book. Pick it up and read it instead.

Doesn't Meet Expectastions

I absolutely love this story and the characters, so I Really really wanted to like this story. However the voices do no meet expectations, and i find the narrator very much lacking. This story did not meet my expectations. The narrator did not do a good job with this story, though i might like her on another book. I gave the book until the section on halloween but then I just couldn't take it anymore. There wasn't enough depth and emotion in the reading, and I won't be finishing this audio book or listening to it again. I'll pull out my paperback when I want to read it again.