Eiagan's Winter

The History of Goranin

By: M. J. Padgett

Narrated by: Sarah Jareczek

Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The land of Goranin has survived the rule of the dreaded Allurigard bloodline for centuries. Suffering perpetual winter at the hands of a tyrannical, bloodthirsty queen, the people seek out a savior to restore their land to its former glory. They find one in Moriarian of Varrow. Moriarian makes grand promises, and the people of Goranin invite him in as their new leader.

Eiagan Allurigard, the feared dragon-riding Winter Queen, wants nothing more than peace and quiet. Her people push her to the edge, stage uprisings, and revolt against her absolute authority. When her immortality is stolen and Moriarian attacks, Eiagan barely escapes her castle alive. With a gaping abdominal wound and nowhere to hide, she seeks out an unlikely ally in her quest to reclaim her throne.

Moriarian’s promise of salvation is too good to be true, and the people are subjugated to a fate worse than death. As Moriarian ravages her land, Eiagan seeks revenge against him and those who betrayed her. Haunted by memories of her past, Eiagan joins forces with a band of rebels, a healer who believes he can save her blackened soul, and a den of dragon-shifters determined to free the land of oppression once and for all.

Traitors, a wicked sorcerer, and deadly creatures threaten their survival, but the queen is determined to win back her birthright at all costs - even if it means sacrificing everything.

©2019 Melissa Padgett (P)2020 Melissa Padgett

Really Dark- Heads Roll, But Intriguing **Triggers

Parents- PG13- I would place it as a high school and up read - fairly dark read and a trigger warning to abuse victims
Language- PG- no bad words that I remember
Violence- PG13-R- lots of pretty graphic beatings/abuse* (nearly beating to death), violent attacks, murders, beheadings, burnt people and villages
Sexual Content- PG- Nothing to warn of, some kissing and attraction but that's it.

Eiagan has a horrific and sad backstory with a tyrannical, abusive and immortal father. The author does a really incredible job with the world building and character development. This story bounces back and forth between current time and flashbacks into Eiagan's past. She's been hardened to the point that there appears to be nothing good or human left in her, in her mind weakness & love=death. It did take me a little bit to get into this book (1/3 into it) because of the level of darkness in the current and background story, the flashbacks take a while to fill in the gaps (questions I needed answered to understand what was going on). It's high in drama, action, and intrigue. If you're looking for a more intense and hard to put down fantasy read then this will be perfect, outside of the violence and trigger warning it's a very clean read.

Narrator (4 stars) does a wonderful job with the different accents, her acting skills and differentiation between characters. I felt it was a bit slow but normal speech was found at 1.35x speed, although I liked listening around 1.65x speed.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

OF WINTER

THE STORY CONTINUES

A UNIQUE STORY, FILLED WITH ADVENTURE AND MYSTERY. NARRATION WAS GREAT!
I CANNOT WAIT FOR MORE!

Compelling Fantasy

I enjoyed this first book, "Eiagan's Winter" in "The History Of Goranin" series. The story started out a little slow as the format wasn't linear, and I had to get used to the jumping from different time periods. Once I realized the importance of the dates at the beginning of the chapters, the more I got wrapped up into the story. The world building was extensive. The characters were complex. The story had plenty of action. Sarah Jareczek's narration was fine and kept my attention. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

STORY IS GREAT & ENJOYABLE.

DARK, COLD, CRISP AND SHARP ALSO CALM TO STORMY THESE ARE THE FEELINGS OF WINTER AS WAS THE EXISTANT OF THE QUEEN.

WELL WRITTEN AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

ACCEPTABLE FOR TEENS AND UP.

NARRATOR WAS GOOD AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

An engaging book with great characters and story!

M. J. Padgett writes an engaging book with great characters and a good paced plot. The characters overall are well written and you want the dragon riding Winter Queen to win this one. The overall story is well written and the story moves at a good pace. I look forward to book 2! Audio Version: Sarah Jareczek does a good job with the narration and overall character voices.