Dragon Whisper

Dark Age Trilogy Series, Book 1

By: Niamh Murphy

Narrated by: Gabrielle Baker

Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

A looming war. A devastating Blight. A god hungry for souls. 

To save herself, she will first have to save the world.

In the dying forests of the Weald Wood, Breanna, a young outcast, is simply trying to earn a Hunter's axe. 

When she witnesses the sacred Forest Drake kill her father and destroy her village home, she knows her life is forever altered. But Breanna holds a secret that could be the key to stopping the Ancient Dragon God's rampage. 

The fate of every being in the land now depends on one young woman who can hear the Dragon's Whisper. 

Will she find her courage, or see her world destroyed?

©2018 Niamh Murphy (P)2019 Tantor

Give it a minute, it gets pretty good.

I was drawn to the author due to the Sapphic content, but do not be fooled, this isn’t a romance. The budding relationship between Breanna and the healer is not anywhere near central to the storyline.

I really struggled through the first half of the book. Very confused about Andra/Olwyn but by the looks of other reviews, I probably should have read the prequel first so I won’t let that affect my review. Oops 😬.

I listed to the first half twice, then moved on after getting myself situated—it’s not one where you can listen and do other things, you’ll need to pay attention or you’ll get way lost.

The narrator was very slow, had to crank up the speed a bit.

Wish there was just a tad more character/relationship development earlier on.

Took a bit

I started it a while ago and finally decided to give it another chance. I believe the narrator did a good job overall, but I had to speed it up. She spoke too slow for my taste, which is why I think, in the beginning, I had a hard time staying focused. Once I sped it up, I really began to get into the story and enjoy it. Even though the main character’s constant doubt became exhausting, I am looking forward to the second book!

The Characters are all Imbeciles

The protagonist is an incredible coward throughout the entire story. All she does is run, complain, and whine about what a coward she is or how weak and useless she is. Okay, not everyone has to be brave but this girl is incredibly beyond feeble and the whole story tries to make a point of how brave she is for running into trouble despite being afraid... but that’s not bravery, that’s just idiocy. Basically this girl just gets into trouble a whole bunch (I lost count how many times), gets other people to save her, freezes in fear, is told to run, feels the need to stay, gets injured, runs, and then feels bad for being such a weak and useless coward. The one time she decides to ‘be brave’ is when she’s in her weakest state and when it is the worst possible moment that she could ‘be brave’.

Her brother is the most stereotypically British person that has ever been imagined. He’s rude, Irrational and complains about everything under the sun. All he ever does is curse people to hell and hit things.

The villains were irritating. Andra just supported Orwin through the whole power craze even though she knew it was wrong. I hate when villains are just power hungry fools who break everything telling themselves that they’re doing the right thing. At least most villains recognize their villainy - or if they don’t at least they’re funny, smart or SOMEHOW redeemable.

The only characters I didn’t completely hate were Cassian, the swamp folk, and the wizards.

Also be forewarned that this books follows that stupid miscommunication trope where the main character has a secret that won’t have any negative impact but they get all overwhelmed by it for no reason.

Dragons and magic

What a great story and narration. Can’t wait for the sequel. I highly recommend this book.

Anxiously awaiting for book two!

I really enjoyed the storyline. I wonderful leap into epic fantasy. Best part is that it is written with LGBTQA+ characters without the fear of coming out scenarios. It is a world where it can be normal.

underwhelming

the villains are this stories weak point. I gave zero cares about them or there cause they never felt like a threat or having a master plain or well anything. the main character going on a journey to save her home was at least written decently. over all I won't be reading the sequel.

wow

didn't kacie what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. it was really good and i can't wait till the next one!

Good classic fantasy story

A very enjoyable story, the overall plot was fun and does a good job of world building. If you are a fan of classic Tolkien-esk fantasy with elves etc, you will enjoy the setting.

My only two things to note were with character development, occasionally some of the characters did things that seemed jarring, their motivations seemed a bit hard to follow or naive.

The other point is regarding the sexuality in the book, whilst I enjoyed the inclusion of the same-sex relationship of the druids, and the androgynous race, that both worked well, it would have been better if that had been all. The slightly surreal sexual scene between the protagonists in the immediate wake of the dragon attack felt a bit gratuitous! not to say their relationship wouldn't make sense in later books, but it felt a bit shoe-horned in here.

Overall very enjoyable high fantasy and I will definitely listen to the next in the series.

Loved it!

Loved the journey, the telling of it and the fantasy world. I am a big fan of the Lord of the rings so this was perfect for me.