The Firebird

By: Susanna Kearsley

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird - the mythical creature from an old Russian fable.

Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna who leads her into the past on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.

©2013 Susanna Kearsley (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Overall I really enjoyed this book.

It had a bit of a slow start, but it was worth it. I really enjoyed the story. Also the narrator was excellent.

Great Read - Terrible Listen

What did you love best about The Firebird?

This is very good book, picking up where The Winter Sea leaves off

What did you like best about this story?

the historical elements

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Katherine Kellgren?

Anyone!

Any additional comments?

This is a great book - completely ruined by the narrator. Katherine Kellgren reads as through she is Chelsea Handler delivering one liners. There is absolutely no emotion or depth in her rendering of the characters or the story. If you want to enjoy this book - read it!

Wonderful Story. Kept me captivated all the way!

This was my first Susanna Kearsley story and I loved it. I bought the audio book because Katherine Kellgren is my favorite narrator and she lived up to my high expectations of her performance. The story was intriguing and fun, and provided many twists. I will definitely be reading more of Susanna's stories.

I got lost in the story

love this and could not stop listening. I'm sad it ended. I wished it went on.

An ingenious approach!

Without giving away spoiler, which you will discover in the first few pages, I liked the instrument she used to move back and forth between story lines. Yes the story is a little heavy on romance and all too predictable, with the men being something out of a yard sale romance novel. However, the story itself moved along quickly enough that this was not a serious drawback.
The narrator was absolutely a dream to listen to and I wouldn't mind hearing more of her. There were lots of different accents to handle, Scottish, Russian, Irish, British, American- and they may not have all been "strictly authentic, ( I am not an expert) but her ability to move quickly between them was amazing as well as her ability to handle both men's and women's dialog.

Wow! I loved loved it.

What did you love best about The Firebird?

This book had the right amount of history and romance. From Start to Finish you wanted to know, needed to find out about the firebird and the story behind it..

What other book might you compare The Firebird to and why?

this is my first book by this author and I will listen to more.

Have you listened to any of Katherine Kellgren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love Katherine Kellgren. I first listened to her in the Bloody Jack Series by L. A. Meyer and she made the story come alive.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I wanted to listen to this story in one sitting.

Fine Writing

I love getting two books in one as the story jumps from the present to the past and back. The historical story is richer for its details, as well as its more diverse characters, but both stories were satisfying. As with all the best writers, Kearsley's prose seems effortless. She's a master of setting mood through description, and her characters are well delineated. The only fault I can find in this one is that all of the young males are stock Romance characters (tall, well-muscled, enigmatic, masterful and never crude). That may keep the ladies coming back for more. As for me, I'll try anything Miss Kearsley puts her hand to, because the power of her writing overcomes any cookie-cutter characters that may insinuate themselves into her stories.

Dissapointing narrator voice

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not in auditory form, because the narrator's style is so unemotional and detatched that it makes it difficult to connect with the story at all, and becomes more and more painful to listen to as the story progresses. Another review said the narrator is like listening to Miss Jane from The Beverly Hillbillies, and that about sums it up. Ruins the whole thing, I would read it rather than listen to it read like this.

Would you recommend The Firebird to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, I do love all of Susanna Kearsley's books, and have enjoyed many through Audible. I am sure this one is just as good. Just not in as an auditory read.

Was The Firebird worth the listening time?

No. Not because of the story itself. It was painful to listen to the narrator style. Couldn't get past it.

Can't believe I got this for 4.50

The book moves a little slower than my ADD wishes (:)) but I loved the two romances mixed into one. If you are looking for just romance this book has it mixed heavily with historical background and building structure descriptions. The love stories are sprinkled and not the main focus of this historical romance. I would have not purchased it had I known this because I want all the focus on the romance except for this book. I loved every long description and historical background and felt it added so much to the story. Even if not on sale this is a book well worth a credit.

Kept falling asleep throughout narration.

Had a hard time focusing on the book. Kept falling asleep. Not sure if it was the narrators calm voice or content but I wasn't interested enough to rewind after missing some of the content.