Harbinger

Fate's Forsaken, Book 1

By: Shae Ford

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Seventeen years ago, a long and bloody rebellion wracked the six united regions of the Kingdom. Now the new King wields the vast and unvanquished army of Midlan with his right hand, and with his left has granted a small group of thugs, the nobles he calls his Sovereign Five, unbridled rule over the other regions. As if this weren't bad enough, the King has also outlawed the practice of whispering - which is a problem for Kael.

It's not like he asked to be born a whisperer: He didn't ask for his strange healing powers any more than he asked to be the village runt. And when he rescues a wounded girl from the perils of the Unforgivable Mountains, his luck only gets worse. She couldn't have been just any girl: She had to be Kyleigh - the sword-wielding renegade knight with all of Midlan on her trail. Then one miserable, snowy evening, things go from bad to worse, and Kael is left with no choice but to follow Kyleigh down the mountains and into the tumultuous lowlands. She leads him on one mad quest after the next - eventually pulling off an act of such mischievous proportions that it threatens to change the Kingdom as they know it.

©2012 Shae Ford (P)2014 Podium Publishing

Average Hero's Journey

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

It would depend on the person. If they love the YA demographic I would recommend this book. As for a Epic Fantasy reader no I would not.

Would you be willing to try another book from Shae Ford? Why or why not?

I don't think so. I really have no interest in reading the second book. I almost turned it off near the end but I dredged through it.

Would you be willing to try another one of Derek Perkins’s performances?

There are a couple books that are on my wish list with this narrator. I didn't like him for this book. I felt that it was a bad pairing and would tell Derek to try and stay away from young characters. The whine in the protagonist voice just starts eating at you. It could be the writing as well. I am going to give Derek another chance.

Do you think Harbinger needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It has a couple more books in this series. I will not be partaking in that adventure.

Any additional comments?

My vote is to pass on this book. Its just so average I cant really say anything nice about it. I mean, I tried to like it.
I think I might have liked this a little more if a different narrator had read it. Might be a better book to read in print.

Glad that I found it.

I was looking for a good book/series to get into and stumbled on to this one. Overall a great book. Looking forward to the next book to see how everything progresses.

Performance wise, I have heard better and worse. Many of the characters sound the same but overall great reading.

Fine book for the tween/young teen crowd

I came into this book thinking it was a reasonable adult read based on the reviews.

The book and I expect the series seem written for the tween/young teen crowd and should be marketed as such. This is not just fantasy elements, but the basic interactions, motivations, and story elements that strain adult credulity in an eye rolling fashion but would likely play fine with a younger audience.

I did finish the audiobook out of a completionist sense but was relieved when it was over. I won't be purchasing the sequels unless my 11 year old listens to this and begs me to.

I don't mean to say that the story is not an admirable effort or that I myself could write anything approaching it; only that a middle age reader is probably not the right target for this work.

My last audiobook prior to this one was Lord Valentine's Castle by Silverberg, which I haven't read since the 1980s, a good example of a book that might appeal to a younger reader while also offering a great experience for an older reader. Admittedly that book was a classic and Hugo and Nebula award winner.

Derek Perkins did an admirable job narrating.

Good

Any additional comments?

Based on the picture art I was a little skeptical. I know, "do not judge a book by its cover", but sometimes I can't help it. The story was fun and had some fun characters. There are some predictable points to the plot, but I still liked the book.

Oh yeah - that’s a keeper

I was sucked in and never let go - while this is a classic orphan discover destiny plot it is great story telling, rich characters and produced well in this Audio.
I enjoyed this and will be getting more of both Shae Ford and Derek Perkins respective works.