Darkwalker on Moonshae

By: Douglas Niles

Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg

Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Kazgoroth, the Beast, has come into the world to destroy the power of the Earthmother. Changing its shape as needs be, the Beast goes across the island of Gwynneth, corrupting everything in its way. Its destination is a large gathering of Northmen raiders at Oman's Isle, in the middle of the Moonshaes, where they are preparing an assault on the kingdom of Corwell. The Northmen don't realize yet that this is going to be more than just a plundering raid. They don't know that their leader isn't King Thelgaar Ironhand, but the Beast, who has killed the king and assumed his shape.Meanwhile, the Earthmother, aware of the danger and hurting from the corruption brought to the land, her body, by the vile presence of the Beast, awakes her children - the Leviathan, the Pack, and Kamerynn, the Unicorn. They will try to stop Kazgoroth in different ways, but that won't be enough.At Caer Corwell, the seat of the king of Corwell, rumour brings word of war coming to the kingdom. Preparation is under way, but the Ffolk don't know where the enemy will strike. It is up to Tristan to organize the Ffolk against this both human and demonic threat. In his fight against the odds, helped by Robyn, he will grow into the responsible leader that should inherit his father's kingdom.

©1987, 2004 TSR, Inc., c. 2004 Wizards off the Coast LLC. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Decent enough

The story is just as great as any of the forgotten realms stories are. The drawback here is the narrator. She pronounces things strangely and reads in a manner that leaves the listener confused at times. Also a problem I had with this recording was the lack of a breath or any sign that we switched character view points. One moment we are the prince fighting to keep his castle safe and then suddenly in what sounds like the same sentence we are the trusty Moore hound running home with a pack of wolves confusing the listener to exactly what's going on. If you can pour all your attention into the recording it's decently easy to follow but if you are multitasking it's very easy to get lost as to what's happening.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

A good story ruined by a bad voice actor.

Would you try another book from Douglas Niles and/or Dara Rosenberg?

I read this book years ago, while there were a lot of loop holes and typo's it was a decent read.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Better voice actor.

What didn’t you like about Dara Rosenberg’s performance?

I typically don't do reviews unless I find something terribly wrong....and Dara's performance on this novel is horrid. It's like listening to the Amazon Echo read a book except that Alexa reads better. You can tell when she messes up (which is often) because there is an overdub and it's evident. Either she can't read very well, or she just doesn't like this story.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was definitely disappointed at the performance on this novel. It's a Forgotten Realms classic. I now wish I had just read it again in lieu of paying for such a terrible performance.

Any additional comments?

I won't be purchasing any books soon that is read by Dara Rosenberg.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

great book

look forward to the rest of this trilogy. great start to tease you into continuing.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

the voice acting is absolutely horrible...

if I didn't already buy the audio book I would give up on listing and just buy the physical one instead. I just need to know the rest of the story now so I guess I'll suffer though XD

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

A fair book marred by a poor performance

What didn’t you like about Dara Rosenberg’s performance?

There are a lot of words that are mispronounced or misread, from pronouncing "Macabre" as "muh-cab-re" as opposed to "muh-kahb" (but, thankfully, not "ma-carb" as in the trailer for "Color Me Blood Red"), or pronouncing words spelled with a lowercase "m" as if they contained a "r n". The story itself is fair, but the poor performance made it incredibly difficult to listen to.

Any additional comments?

The author relies heavily on diabolus ex-machina in the latter portion of the story in order to raise the stakes, which is frustrating when you're experiencing a story in an audio book format.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

good old fashion Fantasy adventure

To be brief the storyline is very classic D&D. My only true problem with this story is that I feel the narrator was trying to be to goofy with many of the characters. I didn't always feel like I was listening to a different character or scene so I had trouble change scenes in my head.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Horrible Narrator

Would you try another book from Douglas Niles and/or Dara Rosenberg?

Dara Rosenberg mispronounces several words. She confuses the front of a boat with a twisted bunch of ribbon. There are others but that one really sticks out. She also has very annoying "voices".

Would you be willing to try another book from Douglas Niles? Why or why not?

I like Douglas Niles' writing. Sure it is a bit heavy handed and very lite but I still like it.

What didn’t you like about Dara Rosenberg’s performance?

It's ending. Very painful.

Did Darkwalker on Moonshae inspire you to do anything?

No.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Too many glaring mispronunciations

The story is fine (not great, but fine, it's Doug Niles and you know what you're gonna get), but so many mispronunciations - I'm not talking about fantasy words, or even the Welsh ("Simrick" for Cymrych, fine, whatever), but "dogd" ("dogged"), "lopd" ("loped"), "bed-raggled" ("bedraggled") and on and on. One or two here and there are fine, but if you're a voice pro, you should have a better grasp on the language.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

The narrator was painful!

What did you like best about Darkwalker on Moonshae? What did you like least?

The story was good and entertaining.

Would you be willing to try another book from Douglas Niles? Why or why not?

Yes I would be willing, but not with the same narrator. The story was compelling enough so that I want to continue the series, but I cannot listen to that narrator again.

Would you be willing to try another one of Dara Rosenberg’s performances?

Never

Do you think Darkwalker on Moonshae needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, but it needs to be read by another person.

Any additional comments?

I hope someone realizes how awful the performance was. The sound quality was terrible. There were moments when she sounded like she was in a tunnel, and then a second later had the mic too close to her mouth. Her starts and stops were distracting and frankly aggravating. I bought both the first and second novel on the same order, and I wish I hadn't done that because the narrator was so bad I will not listen to the second book.

5 of 9 people found this review helpful

No. Just no.

I tried to listen to this. I really did. I only got 6 chapters in and it's bad. It's so typical, and tropey. I don't care what happens to anyone. On top of this the narrator is the worst I've ever listened to. Every word is enunciated maddeningly with no flow or care for normal speech patterns. It's like an automated answering system is reading the book to you and I just can't get past it. Maybe I've been spoiled by the best of narrators, but I've listened to quite a few books. I am hard passing on anything written by Douglas Niles and anything narrated by Dara Rosenberg in the future.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

God-awful performance makes this unlistenable

What would have made Darkwalker on Moonshae better?

I can't say I've understood the story because the insipid, tedious over-pronunciation of this smug reader kills my brain.

What did you like best about this story?

Don't know, it's unfollowable.

Would you be willing to try another one of Dara Rosenberg’s performances?

Never, never ever ever. Oh god how I wish I had never bought this.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Darkwalker on Moonshae?

I've no idea.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful