The Golden Dynasty

By: Kristen Ashley

Narrated by: Tillie Hooper

Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Circe Quinn, the office manager of a moving company, goes to sleep at home and wakes up in a corral filled with women wearing sacrificial virgin attire—and she’s one of them.

She figures this is not good and soon finds she’s not having a wild dream; she’s living a frightening nightmare. She’s been transported to a barren land populated by a primitive people, where she’s installed very unwillingly on her white throne of horns as their queen.

Dax Lahn is the king of Suh Tunak, the Horde of the nation of Korwahk. With one look at Circe, he knows she will be his bride and together they will start the Golden Dynasty of legend.

Circe and Lahn are separated by language, culture, and the small fact she’s from a parallel universe and has no idea how she got there. Or, more importantly, how to get home.

Facing challenge after challenge, Circe finds her footing as Queen of the brutal Korwahk Horde and wife to its King.

Then she finds herself falling in love with this primitive land, its people and especially their savage leader.

©2011, 2016 Kristen Ashley (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

So close to being perfect !

I'll start by saying that this particular book by Kristen Ashley is one of my all time favorites and I have read it countless times. Of course I was beyond excited when I heard that it was coming out in audio (I own the ebook and print versions), and even more so when I dropped at the same time as Wildest Dreams. That excitement was short lived.

My biggest issue is the narrator. She skips words, when the character whispers, the narrator does not. Don't even get me started on the way she does the male voice, that's quite possibly one of the worst I've heard. This story has a different language and sometimes at the end of the chapters we have translation - that does not get included in narration which is a real shame as I personally think it is quite necessary. If you haven't read the book, then you would absolutely be left in the dark of the conversation between the lead characters because the translation is not included. So yeah, big parts being left out.

Seeing as the narrator is the same for Wildest Dreams and The Golden Dynasty AND the narrator does the male voiced pretty much the same for both, I'm fairly certain I will be skipping the next 3 books in the series if the same narrator is used. I would highly recommend reading the books instead of listening to them in this case.

One of my favorite KA series (That’s saying something!)

Ignore the reviews of those who DONT even finish the book....... The entire series has strong, fabulous heroines accompanied by hawt alpha males. These women aren’t weak chicks who just “let things happen to them.” They are however wise enough to know when it is & is NOT worth fighting with the one you love.

The stories of these parallel universes make you want to be whisked away by a powerful witch ASAP!

This wont be the end of these unforgettable characters. KA always finds creative ways to bring them back, in other awesome series! Which is only one small reason that I adore her & all of her stories.

Have fun reading💞

Kristen did it again...,

I must say, I struggled at first with the culture that is the main focal point of this story. That being said Kristen delivered another wonderful heroine who made me laugh, cry, and root for continuously.
Please caution, I in no way condone any form of assult. This is a messy world, and while many have journey's that may resemble another's, how each persevere is their own, as is their choices. As long as self respect is present in an person on their journey, I believe their choice should be respected, regardless if I had made the same choice had it been me. If you truly understand what I mean to say here, and you enjoy fantasy romance, you WILL enjoy this.

The Golden Dynasty

I've listened to this book numerous times and even know a lot of the Korwahk words because of that. It's probably my favorite audiobook. Tillie Hooper does an awesome job of narrating. I love the story and the characters. Circe and Lahn have a wonderful love story and he is pretty hot in my mind. I wish Tillie did the narration on other series. Sometimes it's hard to enjoy an audio book because the narrator takes away from the story.

Fantastic Performance!

I loved this book before, but to hear it? Amazing. This narrator brings this world to life.

FANTASTIC!

Love,love,this book the author does an awesome story of time travel , can't wait to read more and the narrator brings every character to full life.
excellent!!

TILLIE HOOPER IS AMAZING!!!!!!!

Would you listen to The Golden Dynasty again? Why?

Tillie Hooper has taken a beloved story and made it even more amazing than it was to start with!

What did you like best about this story?

Everything Lahn....

Which character – as performed by Tillie Hooper – was your favorite?

Circe for sure

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The execution

Any additional comments?

Tillie Hooper needs to voice every audio book, because she is amazing!

Loved it!

This author always amazes me with her story telling skill and imagination! Great narrator too in the audible version.

Hard to take!

I really enjoyed the first book. I've listened to it twice already. This one was hard to take with some of the incidents that occurred at the beginning. I still don't know how I feel. Anyway, I would feel uneven if I missed a book in the series.

Great Story & Narrator!

I fell for this series with book #1, Wildest Dreams and continued to fall deeper into the world Kristen has created as well as the characters. Currently, you could read "The Golden Dynasty" without having read "Wildest Dream", as they do read as a standalone. HOWEVER, there is something to be said about reading it as a series. You have a better understanding of what's going on with regards to the "time traveling" and though we didn't meet Circe and Dax in book one, they were mentioned in passing but there was enough info in that short moment that it sparks the curiosity. I believe all the characters will be entwined some how, so while you may read them on their own, I think you'll fall for the entire series.

When I first learned that there would be a "language barrier" I immediately thought how this was going to be pulled off in a book (with written pages) vs. how we see it on shows or movies. I think there will always be times when we go "blaheehehs" when we're reading something and we have no clue how to pronounce or if its in a different language. Think "Klingon" (Star Trek) or the "Dothraki" from Game of Thrones.... hearing it on your tv is significantly different than reading it. On the page, I was concerned there would be a lag or duplication of conversations due to "interpreters". I LOVED the audio book because the narrator ROCKED not only the language but how the transition between characters and the languages took place!

The story had a great pace. The relationship was a bit of a slow burn and not at the same time. It totally worked. The secondary characters added volumes to the story and you ended up wanting to learn more about them. The blurb gives you an idea of what Circe is in stored for yet there is so much more than meets the eye. Kristen, the author, does a phenomenal job with showing you the world Circe is thrown into and that "different" from what you know or are accustom to, doesn't mean it's "bad". This story includes that underlining lesson of being "open minded" to a different way of being/living and that what you may deem as "savage" or "primitive" may be "normal" and "advance" or "that's the way it is" to someone else.

OH, it must be said.... IF you liked/loved the story line/relationship of Daenerys (Khaleesi) and Drogo from Game of Thrones, you like/love this book. There are some similar elements.

Narrator Review:
Tillie continues to rock! She provides the listener with a great performance that enhances the experience. She provides different tones and voices to each character and the narration. Tillie makes you believe she is fluent in the language of the Horde.

Over all, I highly recommend this book and the series! Its a great example of world building and character development.