Domes of Fire

The Tamuli, Book 1

By: David Eddings

Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau

Length: 19 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

Six years had passed since the redoubtable knight Sparhawk had triumphed over the evil God Azash and returned to Elenia with Queen Ehlana, his bride. And now a new danger had arisen to threaten the peace of Ehlana's realm. The trouble had started quietly. At home, bandits began to plague the hill country. In neighboring Lamorkand, the customary political unrest turned ominous with whispers that the bloody heroes of old soon would rise again. And travelers reported that the Trolls had all disappeared from the icy northern haunts of Thalesia. Simple problems, apparently unrelated - until an ambassador arrived from the far-off Tamul empire, begging Sparhawk's aid. These same dangers that stalked Ehlana's kingdom had already struck his realm full-force.

The fabled ancient warriors of Tamuli had indeed returned - intent on carnage. Monsters and fell magics had followed, and the havoc and terror they spawned were tearing the empire apart. The empire had sent for the Pandion Knight who had killed the God Azash. If Sparhawk wanted to stop this danger before it could savage his own land, he now must lend his aid. Sparhawk, Ehlana, and their daughter, Princess Danae, agreed to make the grueling trek to the far-distant empire of the east. They traveled in company with a handful of trusted companions: the stalwart champions of the four Militant Orders, the knight Berit, Mirtai the giantess, and the young thief Talen. With the child-goddess Aphrael to speed their journey, they began the treacherous traverse of the utmost reaches of the Daresian continent, to Tamul's distant capital. There, in the emperor's glittering court, they would encounter corruption, treachery - and a greater danger than any man had faced before!

©1993 David Eddings (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Unsatisfactory attempt!

Domes of Fire is the forth book in a continuing series which started with "The Diamond Throne" in David Eddings' saga called "The Elenium." Although it is possible to follow the 6 book series by starting with "Domes of Fire," you will lose quite a bit of the back story and character development which most people find essential. I have read the entire six book series quite a few times and managed to find something new each time through.

There is, however, a problem with this audio rendition of the second half of the series. Kevin Pariseau made almost no attempt to learn the "correct pronunciation" of either the proper names of the people or the places in the series - even though they were well established in the first three books. Nor does he make much of an attempt to give the characters distinctive voices. Accordingly, his narration voice sounds about the same as the voices he gives to most of the leading and supporting cast members, and the women and children all sound like men. The result is a most unsatisfactory listening experience.

I give the six book series by David Eddings 5 stars, The producers and Directors at Audible Frontiers 1 star, and narration of Kevin Pariseau, in the last 3 books, 0 stars.

Others are free to disagree as they see fit.

Disliked Narrator

What made the experience of listening to Domes of Fire the most enjoyable?
I already own the book, so enjoy the story

What did you like best about this story?
I love the interaction between the characters

How could the performance have been better?
Narrator could have listened to previous narration - so pronucation of names would be similar and could have made the characters sound more mature ..Sparhawk and his fellow knights sounded like young men instead of seasoned warriors...

Any additional comments?
I wish publishing companies would try to keep the same narrator for a series or at least make sure each narrator pronounces names the same way

It would be nice if Audible re-produced the Tamuli series with another narrator and send out an update

Great story, terrible narration

It's funny... I logged in here JUST to leave this review, and the first other review I see notes the terrible pronunciation just as I am about to. This guy mispronounced even basic words, let alone names and titles from the story! There were a number of times where a name was said several times and I had to stop and take a minute to determine who he was talking about! Pla-TEEM for Platime... Hi-ree-o-cray-see for Hierocracy... Sti-RYE-cum for Stiricum. It's so horrible distracting that even as I write this I'm tempted to stop even listening to it. I doubt I can make it through 3 books despite how much I like the story. I've read the books several times through and loved them, but I don't think I can make it through this narration.... Ugh...

What Did He Say?

I have read the two series, The Elenium and The Tamuli, by David Eddings a couple of times. When I saw them here, I was so excited. The first series, The Elenium, was narrated very nicely and I found myself completely drawn into Sparhawk's world. The second series is another issue altogether. It is horrid! The narrator should have listened to the first book of The Elenium to get the names correct. It is so hard trying to listen to the story when you shudder at every name and place that the narrator is butchering. I cannot follow the story at times because I cannot figure out who he is talking about!

I was so disappointed. I do not know if I will be able to finish listening to the series because the narration is awful. I have read the other reviews and I am not the first disappointed with this reading of The Tamuli series. I do not recommend this series to any David Eddings fans. You will be sorely disappointed. Audio books are all about the voice reading them and this narrator was not a good choice for this series. Doesn't Audible.com have editors who fix these things before they get published? How can someone read for over 50 hours and no one catch the pronunciation errors? Normally, I would give Audible two thumbs up for their audio books but this time it is two thumbs down. If you liked The Elenium series go buy The Tamuli books and read it. You will be much happier with the money having been well spent. I wish I had not purchased the three books before reading the reviews and noting the different narrators.

Changed pronunciation...no voices...

I just started listening to Domes of Fire after finishing the Sapphire Rose and am really disappointed. I realize it is a different reader but one would think that it wouldn't be TOO much to ask for the new reader to at least take a quick listen to the previous books so a) pronunciation of names and places would be...oh, I don't know...similar, if not the same and b) voices might be close (or in this case, exist at all).

Sigh...I paid for all three books in this series so I will listen to them...if they improve, I will come back and update my review.

Narrator needs to keep the stories consistant

I have read the books prior to listening to them. The previous series,"Elenium", had a different narrator (no names will be used). The narrator for this series, "Tamuli", should have listened to the "Elenium" to hear the pronunciations of character names and other proper nouns to, at the least, try to maintain some continuity. It really takes away from the enjoyment when characters are addressed differently.

This narrator also gives most of the characters a Boston high society accent and many characters sound "foppish" at best. These are knights in armor not flowery courtiers.

I realize that Audible has no say in the choice of narrators but maybe they could pass along our comments

Thanx

The Narrator was very dissapointing!!!!!

Which character – as performed by Kevin Pariseau – was your favorite?

Kevin Pariseau was dissapointing as a narrator. I don't know what he was trying to achieve, but the way he read the book was very dissapointing. HE DID NOT DO HIS HOMEWORK!!! The first three books were absolutley wonderful to listen to and I fould myself in Sparhawk and Elena world. I even could picture who Talon, and everybody looked like. This second series was horrible. The places and names were not pronounced right. It was like listening to a foreinger butcher your native toungue!! Instead of listening to the story, the reader spends the whole time listening to him mess up the whole book. Very dissapointing indeed!!

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

The story was fabulous, I have read all the books time and time again. But the audio was dissapointing.

niles crane reads david eddings

As many of the other reviewers noted- the new narrator suddenly changes every pronunciation after 50 hours of the story (arguably certain names could have two readings but the word rouge is fairly standard) but couple that annoyance with the horrible voice and inflection of the narrator and what could be the start of a nice trilogy is ruined- I cannot finish this and surely would not buy any others in this series- the director and narrator could have maybe spent 5 minutes of research instead of this garbage.

A wonderful story, ruined by the narrator

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I realize readers sometimes change, between or in a series. However, this reader pronounces everything very different than than in the initial trilogy "The Elenium". This really distracts from the story. Frankly the reader ruined this series for me.

What other book might you compare Domes of Fire to and why?

The Sapphire Rose

What didn’t you like about Kevin Pariseau’s performance?

Very much disliked his pronunciation on most names and locations. It appeared he purposely tried to pronounce everything differently that the reader in the Elenium. It just did not work

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Domes of Fire?

I enjoyed the story and the scenes. Not sure I would change anything.

Danger lurks in a distant land

Sparhawk and his friends are needed again but in a far away land to help with a dangerous threat that seems to be spreading into their part of the world

when asked to go help the Tamul Empire with the crisis Queen Ehlana comes up with a way to help.

This novel is a great addition to the Eddings first trilogy my only issues is that with a change of narrator some of the names are pronounced different. the main difference i noticed is Talen, the first trilogy is pronounced as a birds claw, this new guy pronounces it with a strong A.

City names and other characters have the same difference as well. but if you can get over that then you will enjoy this book

Pronunciations changed on purpose?

It feels as though the narrator listened to the first trilogy and change all pronunciations on purpose. Maybe the intention was to make this 2nd trilogy "his own" but it's just annoying. If it wasn't purposeful I'd recommend researching earlier audiobooks with the same characters before recording new ones with a different narrator to avoid such issues.

What's in a name

I was so glad that Audible got another series of David Eddings work. These are great. The narrator reads it very well. My only problem is that he has changed the pronunciation of many of the names. Having read all the books several times as well as listening to the previous Sparhawk audiobooks I felt I was settled with all the character and place names. I think this narrator listened to the previous audiobooks and decided to change the names for a laugh. It's a little distracting/annoying but I guess I will have to live with it. If you liked the other David Eddings Series you will appreciate this.

Change of reader

I agree with the previouse reviewer, in that it is very disconcerting to have the characters and place names pronounced differently from those in the 1st book. Moreover the main characters character was changed to a harsher, less benevolent sounding warrior and some of his friends even sounded effeminate.

Good listen if you can abide the narrator

What didn’t you like about Kevin Pariseau’s performance?

I found the mispronounciation of names and places highly irratating and found myself skipping some parts due to it. There is also an accent where the narrator seems to be making an attempt to channel Sean Connery in Highlander. An attrocious mix of scottish and irish in an accent totally at odds with the character. Made my teeth itch.

Any additional comments?

Good book if you can tolerate the narrator.

love the author

I love these books. I'm not 100% sure on the narrator of these 3 books. but It grows on you. not as good as the Dimoned throne narrator. That's my only issue.

Great story, many strange pronunciations

Unfortunately, I found this narrator very difficult to listen to. The sparhawk books are all brilliant and the elenium was well narrated but many names are pronounced differently in this audio version of the tamuli to how I've ever heard them and how the first trilogy was narrated.

Great story but why switch narrators?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

YES! YES! YES!I love these stories. I bought them as soon as I could and I have listened to them many times since. These stories are my go to stories to get lost in. Please start with The Elenium trilogy and then listen to the The Tamuli trilogy. Great fantasy, brilliant characters, humour, tears, politics and knights in shining and rusty armour. These stories are full but completely accessible and frankly not the gore fest' many seem to be these days.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sparhawk of course. An honourable knight, loyal, honest, bluntly spoken, true, wise, and loving. Some of his jagged edges have been chipped off over the years but he still has enough to show he's a man not to be messed with. He scares Gods and man alike!

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

To be fair I have listened to Kevin Pariseau read a number of books and he's quite good BUT the first series 'The Elenium' was read by Greg Abby and he did an excellent job, Kevin just didn't match up. His pronunciation of some names and words grated, his character voice definition wasn't nearly as clear as Greg's and the overall result just wasn't as pleasing, for me. You of course may feel completely different and compared to some readers he is still excellent, I just HATE narrator change part way through a series and this is the second half of the 'whole' story.

Any additional comments?

Buy the books, listen to the books, but don't miss these books. They are great fantasy stories, fun, entertaining and a brilliant way to expand or start your fantasy adventure journey.

Hard work

I listened to this book for 5 hours and every minute was hard work. I was sure it was going to get better but it never did and I ended up requesting a refund. I felt no empathy for any of the characters, found a lot of the back story very confusing and the language and style a bit self important.
If you like this kind of story, fantasy, fighting and magic David Gemmell does it better.

ruined by different reader

I love this series but I couldn't even get past the prologue due to the change in reader from the last series, his pronunciations of character names is so different that it ruins listening to it unfortunately.

Outstanding - The power within the 'to'

All stories are made up events, plot points Major and minor that you would list as bullet points to summarise the story, or detail as A to b to c to D to e...

All great stories have amazing events but often they lose something in the 'to' the points between the events especially when the next coming event is over signed post and the 'to' feels like filler.

'Domes of Fire' dies not suffer this in fact the 'to' the part between the events is often just as enjoyable then the events themselves, there is no drag or sudden jumps and this is due to the ensemble characters, not just a hero and a couple of supporting characters but a dozen fully realised people each with their own story explored at various times within each 'to' section.

This story has no weak points I would strongly recommend anyone who's a fan of this genre to read and although it's a continuation of the previous trilogy it stand alone from the previous well enough.


"'There's no sleeping with the three of you around,' he accused them. 'Coming, Rollo?'
His wife and daughter gave him a quick, startled glance then exchanged a worried look. Sparhawk scooped up Danae's stuffed toy and ambled out of the room, holding it by one hind leg. He could hear Ehlana and Danae whispering as he left. He plumped the toy into a chair. 'It's absolutely impossible, Rollo, old boy,' he said, making sure that his women-folk could hear him. 'I don't know how you can stand it.' There was a profound silence from the bedroom. 'I think you and I should go away for a while, my friend,'
Sparhawk went on. 'They're starting to treat us like pieces of furniture.' Rollo didn't say anything,' but then Rollo seldom did."