Sheepfarmer’s Daughter: The Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 1

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was an unusual book for me - I am not accustomed to reading about a female military heroine - even so, I was not disappointed. After reading this book, I had to find out what happened and eventually finished listening to the series. I was not disappointed I did that.

If you are looking for a new series, this might interest you.

Other books you may like: The Chronicles of Amber (apparently an old series, but I just read it for the first time and loved it), the Riftwar saga by Raymond E. Feist (not on Audible yet, but worth reading), and Trudi Canavan's Black Magician series.

This is assuming you have already read Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, his Elantris stand alone book, The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, and G. R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (Beware - no one is sure when this series will be completed). If you haven't read this list, start with these ones.

If you have completed the above list, you might like Peter V Brett's Painted Man/Warded Man series, the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks, Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy, her Tawny man Series, or her Farseer trilogy.

I enjoyed all of the above series. Some of them were more enjoyable that others, so, please read other reviewers to see if they would be a good fit for you.

If there was a series you enjoyed, please share it. Thanks.

SFD starts like just an unusual fictional period piece. It does not take long, however, to see the diamond in the rough in Elizabeth Moon's heroine Paksanarrion. Set in the "usual" medieval fantasy setting, this book is like other fantasies as Tarzan might have been to Jane Goodall. Paksa is an ordinary soldier - a woman no less. This most unusual book chronicles her initiation and trials as a warrior in a style unusual to fantasy. The story is told from the soldier's POV, not the POV of rulers and generals. Depiction of Paks' evolution as a soldier employs military strategy as a backdrop - quite convincing. I gfound myself sneaking reads between checks on my work. The definition of a good book? Can't put it down. I rated it 4 because I thought that character development and application of psychology could have been stronger. That said, it's Moon's first book. Very promising indeed. Try it for new flavor in fantasy.

I loved this book! I couldnt stop, I admit it is one that must be listened to without distraction, but I really like it!

I read this book when it was first released in 1988. When my husband and I started collecting audio book titles we searched for books that we had once enjoyed reading. We had been looking for The Deed of Paksenarrion ever since we started listening to audio books about a decade ago. This had been one title that had been overlooked for conversion to the audio book format. When it finally came out I snapped it up from Audible.com and I have not regretted it.

Narration: I have been unhappy with some of Jennifer Van Dyck's narrations in the past, mostly when she followed a favored narrator in a series and didn't check previous pronunciations. This time she is coming into the series fresh and has made it her own. I think she has done an exceptional job of making the Paksenarrion tales come to life and have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the book that I enjoyed reading many years ago. Kudos to Ms. Van Dyck for her performance in the Paksenarrion titles.

Paksenarrion brings to mind an epic journey similar to The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, or The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, only not as lengthy. Alas, I sometimes wish that it were longer, or that Elizabeth Moon were a more prolific writer. Though what she does produce is always worth the time to peruse.

For lovers of the fantasy genre you can't go wrong with any of the Paksenarrion books.

Now if the publishers would go back a bit further and include "Liar's Oath" and "Surrender None" and you would have the complete world from which Paksenarrion comes. "Liar's Oath" and "Surrender None" predate Paksenarrion and explain St. Gird and his assistant Luap and the formation of the Fellowship of Gird.

This has been one of my favorite authors and this saga one of the few I have read more than once The narrator seemed really uncertain, almost like she was sight reading, with many Shatner-like pauses throughout.
by the end of the book it was a bit easier.
The story is worth learning to set aside the discomfort of the awkward reader. I'm glad I stayed with it.
And... in the next THREE book Ms. Van Dyke really finds the story's rhythm and the flow is much better.

Thanks to Mrs. Moon for this wonderful story. Thanks to Ms. Van Dyke for the hard work to bring it to audio ... it's been YEARS of waiting!

The Deed of Paksenarrion is on my short list of all time favorite books and I've been watching for several years hoping it would finally make it to Audible - Thank you Ms Moon!

Personally I get more from a book when reading rather than listening so if I made one recommendation it would be to read these books first.

My only complaint (and should reduce my rating by half a point) is that the narrator doesn't always seem to get the inflections right for the occasion, but she does a pretty good job with different accents and tones for different characters and it's probably hard to please all the long time fans.

All in all I highly recommend these books - especially if you've any interest in reading Moon's latest - Oath of Fealty. You don't HAVE to read Paks's Deed first, but you'll enjoy Fealty more if you do.

I have listened to both the Serrano Legacy and the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon which are among my most favorite. This series definitely goes in a different direction, but is just as entertaining. Moon is such a great storyteller. I have been thoroughly entertained with the first book in the trilogy. I am already starting on the middle book. I find the narrator superb. This is the first book I have listened to by Jennifer Van Dyck, but will look for other titles by her once I have finished the trilogy.

I remember first reading this book over a decade ago, and I fell in love with this series. A must read in my opinion if you like high fantasy and believe there is good in the world, all 3 in the series is phenomenal. The narrator is also a good choice, I did enjoy listening to her as her other narrations (Mystic & Rider by Sharon Shinn).

I would recommend this book to epic fantasy fans. It has a solid story line and a fresh vantagepoint that kept me listening without being so deep that I wanted to re-wind. Reader was a definite plus to the experience and she made it easy to keep track of characters.

25 years ago Sheepfarmer's Daughter got into print and Paksenarrion was introduced to the first reader, over the years Deed of Paksenarrion became a model for fantasy genre.
The story of Honor, Will and Courage, the story of mythical beasts and beautiful creations, the story of foul deeds and Noble sacrifice.


PS
Try to spare some time for this book