Aranya

Shapeshifter Dragons, Book 1

By: Marc Secchia

Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio

Chained to a rock and tossed off a cliff by her boyfriend, Aranya is executed for high treason against the Sylakian Empire. Falling a league into the deadly Cloudlands is not a fate she ever envisaged. But what if she did not die? What if she could spread her wings and fly?

Long ago Dragons ruled the Island-World above the Cloudlands. But their Human slaves cast off the chains of Dragonish tyranny. Humans spread across the Islands in their flying Dragonships, colonizing, building, and warring. Now the all-conquering Sylakians have defeated the last bastion of freedom - the Island-Kingdom of Immadia.

Evil has a new enemy. Aranya, Princess of Immadia. Dragon Shapeshifter.

Series Note

There is a companion series to Aranya, set in the same unique Island-World above the Cloudlands. Aranya is the last of the Dragons - or is she? Find out why the Dragons disappeared in The Pygmy Dragon, now available on Kindle.

©2014 Marc Secchia (P)2015 Marc Secchia

The Return of the Dragon Shifter

The beginning of Aranya is slow but the story does pick up. The beginning of the story starts with Aranya being sacrificed to protect her father, the King of Immadia and her people from the Sylakian invasion. The story picks up when Aranya discovered that she can changed into a dragon. From this point, Aranya defied the Sylakian Empire for Immadia's freedom with the help of her friends.

What the story did cover is 1) the Island World and the inhabitants that live on each of the islands that Aranya has visited or seek refuge with her friend Izz (who is also a princess), 2) The Sylakian Empire, 3) The mystery of the disappearance of the dragons, 3) the story raises the question if there are dragon-shifters hiding.

In some way, the Sylakian Empire resembles the Roman Empire at its height and remains unchallenged until Aranya fought back and to protect her beloved island of Immadia. I was thinking Roman Empire and Return of the Jedi. Yes, this story does have it all.

Readers/Listeners are going to have to bear the first chapter of the book until they reach where Aranya is throw off the cliff into the Cloudlands. Aranya could have remained in hiding twice in the story but her courage and bravery to her friend Izz and to save Immadia keep her on Sylakian's radar.

If I was reading the book, I would have took forever to get through the first chapter. I was already having problem listening to the audiobook. After the first chapter, the story starts to get interesting with, as Aranya started to learn and develop her dragon powers. The best part was toward the end of the book when the Sylakian Empire decided to lay seige of Immadia and sparing no survivors.

The narrator, Shiromi Arserio did a very good narration for Aranya. The story is quite long but the narrator was able to keep the voices for each of the characters unique so that the listeners will recognize who is who. She has a voice that listeners can really get into the story.

It does have a surprise element during the siege which makes me want to see what next. The Sylakian may have sent their fleet of dragonships to attack Immadia but I don't think they will give up that easily despite Aranya is a dragon.

I was given this audiobook by the author in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated or influence in any way for writing the review.

Her voice gave life and complete immersion within

Could the day get any worse than being tied to a rock and thrown of a great height? Maybe not worse but most certainly more interesting. Aranya finds that life for her had just gotten a lot more interesting. She gains so much more than internal freedom and self-awareness and insight. The sacrifice that were made by her people will fall on her hands to atone for and make all the wrongs right at the least better.

There were rich, intriguing, involving, well-developed characters. The content and dialogue truly carried the story on to a realm that wheeled you in and kept you on the edge of the clouds. This was one epic fantasy that had me hooked and wanting more before I even finished. There are friends, enemies, allies, family and so much more. There were so many things to get lost in and just draw vivid imagery.

Shapeshifter Dragons series:
Aranya – Shapeshifter Dragons, #1
Shadow Dragon – Shapeshifter Dragons, #2
Song of the Storm Dragon – Shapeshifter Dragons, #3

Narrator Review of . . . ARANYA (Shapeshifter Dragons, #1) . . . Shiromi does a beautiful job drawing me in with her intonations and dictions and all place perfectly. The story in itself was captivating. Her voice gave life and complete immersion within in this fantasy. The audio was smooth and complete. The quality of the sound was pleasing. The melody of Shiromi's voice carried over very well through the various speed changes. The was a beauty to her voice that gave me trust and assurance in her ability. Her voice smoothed the way for me to completely get lost in the visions her voice and Marc's words were creating.

Excellent Dragon Tale

Summary: Aranya goes from exiled princess to shapeshifter dragon.

Additional Comments:
- Content warnings: It’s a very enjoyable story with stellar narration, but this is not for children. I’d place it in the 14+ range. I’ve never seen so many references to nudity w/o there being a sexual connotation. (It’s mixed in with the rules of being a shapeshifter.) There’s mention of harsh torture. There are also a few curses.
- I love the narrator’s voice. The performance itself wasn’t flawless, but it was very, very good. (Some spots had the sound drop off oddly. Others, I think the character accents shifted about a bit.)
- It’s long 14 hr 22 minutes as an audiobook. I get it, most fantasy books are long, but this one definitely could have been even stronger if it weren’t prone to quite so many meandering plot pts. For example, the big, long journey at the end didn’t add much. I think it went on for about 45 minutes or more and the basic gist was “it was a long, hard journey.”
- Character development is good, though I’m guessing some may think it clichéd.
- What’s not to love: must every fantasy book use the word incorrigible? (It’s bothersome.) Did I mention it’s long?
- What’s to love: shapeshifter dragons! (awesome concept); great world-building; evil empire/outnumbered good guys; Zip (some of her sass is hilarious); end battle was sweet

Conclusion: Overall – excellent dragon tale that will delight fantasy fans.

A wonderful new fantasy realm

I had read and enjoyed the Pygmy Dragon so much that the author very kindly gifted me a copy of this book. I enjoyed it just as much, and for many of the same reasons. First of all, the world building in both books is superb. The author creates his own world, complete with geographic features, civilizations, and history. it all works together to enmesh and then captivate the reader. Yes, one can trace certain inspirations back to the Earth we know, but those inspirations are merely jumping off points, and by the time the author is finished with them, they are creative and entirely his own, fitting perfectly into his world.

Next, there is the writing, which is vivid and engaging. The author’s use of language is admirable, and he weaves his tale with a light but firm hand.

I had noticed, before, the deft way the author has with portraying young people, and that definitely carries on in this book as well. His teens are just that, whatever world they live in. they laugh and play (not always at appropriate times), tease one another, and have the same doubts and fears anyone approaching adulthood have, and they deal with them, with a minimum of angst, which I, frankly, appreciate. These young people are far too busy living to dither and agonize, let alone be self indulgent or self absorbed.

The story is exciting, complicated, filled with lots of action, including some incredible aerael battles, the politics of diplomacy, and yes, romance. This is a marvelous fantasy series, and a delight to revisit through the pages of this book.

Amazing Aranya

What did you love best about Aranya?

The friendship between Aranya and Nak.

What other book might you compare Aranya to and why?

This is a unique book. I really enjoyed listening to something new and different.

What does Shiromi Arserio bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I thought she had a nice voice for the girls. You can also hear the emotions of the storyline in her voice.

Any additional comments?

Aranya was very entertaining. I started out feeling so sorry for the poor little princess that had been traded to save her kingdom. Than as the storyline progress's. She gets to be a stronger and stronger character in the book. Until you can't recognize the poor little traded princess anymore. She becomes a larger than life heroine.
The author takes us to a land that has been at war. I keep thinking it was something like the middle ages type land. She has been taken to the king that has conquered most of the lands and taken wards in to keep the other kings in line.
I do have to say this I really felt I had listened to book 1 and 2 as the complete storyline developed. I really liked that young adults would be able to enjoy the book also.
I did think it was funny Aranya was having a knock down drag out fight with a girl that became as important to her as the air she flew through.
The two girls go to war as a team with the bad Sylakians. The storyline becomes a nail bitter at this point. Because they are the only dragon and dragon rider team still alive in all the lands that we know of so far. I liked this part of the book because they become so close almost like sisters.
I look forward to the next book in the series.
Shiromi Arserio the narrator really helped bring out the emotions of the books. I found her voice pleasant to listen too.
I received the audio book in exchange for a review.