The Queen's Series

A Young Adult Epic Fantasy Adventure, Books 1-5 (Stone Bearers)

By: Jacque Stevens

Narrated by: John Pirhalla

Length: 53 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

He’d rather pick up a book than wield a sword. But, fate needs a new hero….

Young elf prince Drynn has always lived in the shadow of his athletic and popular elder brother. But, when the bookish boy’s mother dies from a mystery illness and he receives the Queen’s Opal, he’s plagued by visions of the past and a growing power. And, with the gem supposedly cursing those who possess it, he must enter the human realm to hunt down the cure…or become the next to die.

Outside the forest, Drynn finds much has changed with the world now ruled by greedy wizards coveting more magic. And, to the meek elf’s horror, the only way to end his curse is to use his swelling abilities to restore peace before everyone is doomed.

Can Drynn rise above his shy nature and fight to save his people from extinction?

The Queen's Opal is the first book in the a YA high fantasy series set in the same magical and exotic world as The Stone Bearers (2016). If you like unique magical worlds, mythical creatures, and destined heroes, then you’ll love this coming-of-age adventure. Get The Queen’s Opal to stop a tragic destiny today!

The completed boxset includes all five books in the Stone Bearers: Queen's series, plus some bonus content.

• The Queen's Opal
• The Queen's Gift
• The Queen's Heir
• The Queen's Bane
• The Queen's Rite

©2021 Jacque Stevens (P)2021 Jacque Stevens

one of my very favorite books

I listen to the whole set in a few days! once I started listening to it I couldn't stop! the narrator was awesome, and the story takes you away to magical places and adventures. will definitely listen to this book again!

A bit slow, but a fine tale

Main characters: a human knife-thrower thief, a captured elven explorer, and (eventually) a small dragon.
In the starting book, the thieves have captured the elf. There is some racism here, but it's not over the top as I've seen in some stories. We eventually learn that the elf can cover his ears and pass as human.
There are kings and princes and many mages
I listened through this for a week. Fairly entertaining and it held my attention. However, many of the conversations did seem to get repetitive.
The narrator does a fine job.

Enjoyable listen

I liked this series. The only thing that drove me nuts was some of the story was very repetitive. Most of the part with Mar could have been shortened, but the character development of the others made up for that.

Great value! A great YA epic fantasy adventure!

Jacque Stevens wrote an amazing YA epic fantasy adventure series and this box set is an excellent value! Great plot, story, characters, and an overll grand adventure. I look forward to the next series from Jacque. Audio Version: John Pirhalla did a good job with the overall narration and each character's unique voice.

A great series!

This is 5 books in the series in one recording. It's an amazing value for the whole series following Drynn's adventures. As this is a set of novels for young adults, there's no trigger warnings needed but that doesn't mean the stories are without suspense, action, and danger!

Great Value for Complete YA Series

Short version: If you like YA set in a fantasy realm with solid worldbuilding and characters, then grabbing this entire series for a single credit would be a great choice!

Longer version: The Queen's series is a solid piece of storytelling set in a fantasy world with just enough twists to the mythology and magic systems to make it feel fresh. The main characters make understandable choices given their backgrounds and even when they choose poorly, it makes sense (and for older listeners makes you want to roll your eyes occasionally at the obliviousness of youth). All five books tell a continuous story, so having a copy where you can go straight through from beginning to end is nice and avoids the issues of trying to start partway through the series (note: this is definitely a series that you can't skip to the middle of without missing very key information). The narrator does a fantastic job providing personality to each voice, and paces things nicely. The worldbuilding was done nicely, with reveals done at appropriate places and in novel ways rather than just an information dump or having a "talking head" character explain most things. The series is left open in a way that wraps up the central conflicts of the moment, but leaves the door open for further adventures in the world, either by the same characters or in later ages of the world. Highly recommended!

Disclaimer: I was given a review copy for free and have voluntarily left this review.

Really well done

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This a wonderful well thought out series. I loved it. My husband even loved it. He’s looking forward to reading it.
It a thrilling tale about elves, drow, wizards, humans, and lots of other creatures! Amazingly intricate and a beautiful world I highly recommend to fantasy lovers.

The elven view on the human world is hilarious

I absolutely love this book. Both content and how it’s narrated. The narrator did a splendid job in portraying the amazement and wonderings of the strange things between the species. The author has an excellent view on how each species would react towards certain unknown strange customs, objects or matters of speech. The elven brothers are hilariously naïve in human matters but the author has managed to express all their cluelessness without making the boys stupid. It’s never doubtful that they are smart, it’s just very very sound reasoning on the most simple things by a species that doesn’t use, need or know any of these things because they have lived secluded in a forest for many generations without any contact and thus, without any of the customs they might have.

I absolutely adore this story and this narrator deserves a medal for this one!

The Queen's Series

This is based on listening to the first two books and the beginning of the third. I’ll update after finishing if my opinion alters significantly. First off, the narrator is fantastic. Best I’ve listened to in a while. He’s really easy to listen to, everything is clear, and the different character voices (including a lot of variation in accents) were very distinct without being off-putting. As far as the story goes, I was drawn in very quickly and my interest has continued to grow. The different races area are well developed and I’ve enjoyed learning about their differing cultures and understanding of the world and each other.
I received a free Audible copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

An Incredible Magical Story

This is a magical story about elves, magic, good, evil, and overcoming obstacles. Each book was narrated excellently and each story left me excited to listen to the next one. It is rare to find a book let alone a series that you wish would never end. That is the best compliment I can give.