Flesh and Spirit

Lighthouse, Book 1

By: Carol Berg

Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly

The rebellious son of a long line of pureblood cartographers and diviners, Valen has spent most of his life trying to escape what society - and his family - have ordained for him. His own mother has predicted that he will meet his doom in water, blood, and ice. Her divination seems fulfilled when a comrade abandons Valen in a rainy wilderness half-dead, addicted to an enchantment that converts pain to pleasure, and possessing only a stolen book of maps.

Offered sanctuary in a nearby monastery, Valen discovers that his book - rumored to lead men into the realm of angels - gains him entry into a world of secret societies, doomsayers, monks, princes, and madmen, all seeking to unlock the mystery of a coming dark age. To his dismay, Valen must face what he fled so long ago, for the key to Navronne's doom is buried in half-forgotten myth and the secrets of his own past....

©2007 Carol Berg (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Hard to get into

Maybe it just wasn't what I expected but I had a hard time getting into the story...the way the characters talked was odd, but again that could have just been off putting for me because I didn't expect it.

Stellar book, quite strikingly bad reader...

Carol Berg is a wonderfully vivid and talented writer, and this dark fantasy is one of her best, and Valen’s journey toward the “end times” engaging. It is something of a cliffhanger, so if that’s something you don’t like, well—be warned. I read this book when it came out in print and really looked forward to the audiobook version, since I adore Carol’s writing and this book.

Unfortunately, the reader is one of the worst I have ever heard in my 16+ years and 800+ titles with Audible. Unsuited to the material, weird cadence, misplaced pauses, often too-fast reading, almost no difference in character presentation (women sound like men, everyone sounds almost the same!), and let’s not talk about the mispronunciation of common English words! Over and over and over. The repeated mispronunciation of such words nearly sent me into a rage-stroke. He even mispronounces—start to finish—the main character’s name! I finally gave up listening and pulled out the e-book to finish. I’ll re-read the second volume in print or the e-book. I just cannot even stand it anymore. Fortunately the reader for second set of books set in the same world have a much better reader! So there is hope there.

takes a while to get going,

perseverance it's w o rth it. first have was a hard slog through half frozen mud.

Love the book, bought the audible

This was the most fascinating world I have ever read about, and loved all the characters.

Intricate, intriguing story; so-so narration

As for the story, Carol Berg has done a superb job. This dark fantasy will grip your imagination with its refreshingly multidimensional plot and compelling characters. A must-read for all fantasy fans. Word to the wise, you'll definitely want to check out this book's sequel, Breath and Bone.

The narration, however, is mediocre. The pacing is a bit awkward. There are many mispronunciations of words and hesitations that make it seem like the narrator doesn't understand the meaning of what he's reading. This isn't a glaring issue and many people may not even notice, but it did bother me. Having said that, I still wholeheartedly recommend this series on the strength of the story alone.