Beasts of the Frozen Sun

The Frozen Sun Saga, Book 1

By: Jill Criswell

Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Tim Campbell

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

Burn brightly. Love fiercely. For all else is dust.

Every child of Glasnith learns the last words of Aillira, the god-gifted mortal whose doomed love affair sparked a war of gods and men, and Lira of clan Stone knows the story better than most. As a descendant of Aillira and god-gifted in her own right, she has the power to read people's souls, to see someone's true essence with only a touch of her hand.

When a golden-haired warrior washes up on the shores of her homeland - one of the fearful marauders from the land of the Frozen Sun - Lira helps the wounded man instead of turning him in. After reading his soul, she realizes Reyker is different than his brethren who attack the coasts of Glasnith. He confides in her that he's been cursed with what his people call battle-madness, forced to fight for the warlord known as the Dragon, a powerful tyrant determined to reignite the ancient war that Aillira started.

As Lira and Reyker form a bond forbidden by both their clans, the wrath of the Dragon falls upon them and all of Glasnith, and Lira finds herself facing the same tragic fate as her ancestor. The battle for Lira's life, for Reyker's soul, and for their peoples' freedom has only just begun....

©2019 Jill Criswell (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Wondering if I listened to the same thing

Sometimes I wonder if I listened to the same book as other reviewers. I nearly passed on this book after reading a few reviews that really slammed the narration.

However, I found the narrators delightful. The male narrator's timbre was wonderful and lent so much gravitas to the male character. I found the pace of his reading to be normal, speeding up slightly to add intensity but never too fast. The female narrator, who reads the majority of the book, is lovely. I could listen to the both all day. Those that complain that she sang the book, well, I'm not really sure how to even think about that. She does sing twice, because the main character is singing. Her voice is wonderful. I have to think people who struggled with this narration are unused to accents other than their own. However, the accents are true to the world/time in which this book is set and was a strength of the performance in my opinion.

I enjoyed the story well enough though I thought the author often fell prey to telling not showing. However, generally this is a really nice listen and I recommend it. Perhaps audible should offer samples of all narrators when there are more than one to help people pick books they like (not like they are going to read my review--haha).

Endless Back-to-Back Failures, Losses and Bad Decisions

The protagonist facing adversity and triumphing is usually a formula for an interesting book. However, 80+% of the way through the book and all that happens is an endless stream of losses, failures — all brought in by nothing short of stupid decisions made by the main characters who seem to have special abilities that actually help them in no way at all. Somehow the author fails to understand that the reader needs an ebb and flow of wins vs. set-backs and they typically like to see their heroes and heroines not be completely inept!

I had to step away from the book just to get a rest from the doom/gloom of it all. It is pretty bad when the gloom overwhelms the need to find out what happens next.

Decent listen

I don’t plan to listen to the sequels. I don’t care enough about the world and the characters to spend more time, but I don’t regret the time I spent.

Enjoyed the story, but hard to listen to.

I love the story and can't wait to see how it develops even further in the next book.
My only frustration was with the narrators. The male spoke so fast most the time it was hard to keep up with him and the female sounded almost as if she was trying to sing the whole book and it was rather distracting. Mind you she has a lovely voice and they both did beautiful accents and distinct voices for different characters which I love, but her constant up and down and improper emphasis was frustrating.

How much can a body take?

I really enjoyed the first part of the story but it devolved into continuous cruelty and torture with an atmosphere of unrelenting heartbreak. This book ended on a sad promise of more misery to come so I will not subject myself to the sequel.

Amazingly well written, target audience female

First of all let me say that I did not finish this book as I feel like it was a little bit more romance-oriented. I did listen to enough to know that it is very well written, and that the author knows exactly what she's doing. If you're a male reader I encourage you to at least give this book a chance. The writer is incredibly good and deserves that much. Also this book is included so you don't have anything to lose..

Super solid and compelling book.

A great read, I managed to burn through it pretty quick on my commute. The voice acting is a little hard to get behind sometimes but it was really enjoyable. Outstanding piece of work Jill-o.

Way Too Many Fails. NO Wins

this has all the potential to be a great book. However the main characters just face all fails and no wins. It's extremely aggravating. The female is supposed to have abilities but anytime she can use them it falls short. Same with the male. He has battle lust however can NEVER win a single fight. I wanted to scream. It got to the point that I just expected them to dim-wit themselves through every trial.
The narrators are the only redeeming quality LOL. I'm gonna listen to the next book, but if this nonsense continues I won't waste another credit or purchase.

I wouldn't recommend

Had potential but the bad stuff that happens to the main characters just keeps getting worse... They are completely powerless in every situation and with a ton of luck manage to keep going that's it that's the book. Oh and the male narrators voice is not for me.

Beasts of the Frozen Sun

Wow! I really enjoyed this book! I am so happy that I found this book to read. The characters were amazing and the story kept my interest all the way to the end.

Brilliant read!

This was an excellent story, well narrated. The pace was just right with a good slow burning romance with star crossed lovers who can't catch a break. It has a really action packed story line with paranormal aspects and lots of plot twists. Would love to see this as a movie. Looking forward to the rest of the series