Longbourn: Dragon Entail (A Pride and Prejudice Variation)

By: Maria Grace

Narrated by: Benjamin Fife

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Darcy thought his problems were over when Pemberley hatched and successfully imprinted on humans. But baby dragons prove far more difficult than any dragon lore prepared him for. Only Elizabeth Bennet's notes offer him any help. When his imperious Aunt Catherine takes matters into her own hands, things take a turn for the worse and Pemberley’s life hangs in the balance. He desperately needs more of Elizabeth’s help, but she ignores all of his requests. 

Elizabeth, though, has problems of her own. After the Bennet family dragon sent Pemberley away, life at Longbourn was supposed to return to normal and Elizabeth get on with the all-important business of marrying the heir to her father’s estate. Except that he is the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed on to marry - a bumbling, addle-pated dragon-hater who demands she gives up the dragons she lives for. 

Can she, with the help of her dragon friends, find her way back to Pemberley before they both suffer their fate from the Dragon Entail? 

Jane Austen meets Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern. A must-listen for Pern fans.

©2017 Maria Grace (P)2019 Maria Grace

I like it

I love pride and prejudice, I love dragons. What could be better? Lol.
In all seriousness, if you are reading this and expecting it to be just like Jane Austin’s then you are going to be upset. But hopefully you read the description and realize that it is more like a trip into alternate reality Austin land. It’s a fun concept

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another fantastic installment

Picking up right where the first book left off, this one takes us on a journey that is equal parts comedy, romance, and mystery.

In most ways, it is much superior to the first book. Unfortunately, it lost a star on account of the non-ending.

As with the previous book, Benjamin Fife gives a phenomenal performance complete with unique, believable voices and masterful control of vocal inflections and tempo variations.

This story builds on the already fantastic character development established in the first, while bringing in several new characters that are just as wonderfully drawn.

I really enjoyed the further development of the dragons, including new species, as well as the ongoing investigation into the Blue Order and just what it is about Elizabeth that makes her so special.

I did feel that the dramatic reversal between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy was just a bit too sudden, but overall the development of their relationship has been a lot of fun to read.

I must confess, however, that the seemingly haphazard way in which characters go from being referred to by first name, then last name, and back again gets more than a little confusing, especially concerning family members with the same last name and the instance where one character's first name is another's last name.

But overall the flow of the story is excellent.

Now, as I mentioned above, the ending was thoroughly disappointing. It isn't that there's no climax, there definitely is. But it flows seamlessly into a connected plot that feels like a continuation, as though it was just a mid-point climax, then the book ends.

I will still be continuing the series, but I really hope the next book has an actual ending.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Not Stand-Alone

I didn't feel this was stand-alone. It does seem to be fun, though, and I plan to read Book 1 in the near future so I can enjoy this more. A lot of characters were thrown at me at once in the beginning, so I think I will need to start at the beginning. After all, dragons.

Cute narration of the dragons.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Longburn: Dragon Entail

Most people like Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett, but Darcy with Dragons is even better! The narrator did a wonderful job and it is really worth listening to!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Hmm... Excellent!

This was great! The narrator is really good.. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Veering further away from canon - for good and ill

The first volume of this saga didn't stray too far from the 'stations of canon' in that most of the events followed fairly closely to the original ones, if not always for the same reasons. This volume continues to follow roughly the same course of events, but diverges fairly significantly from the original in the latter half. Some of the divergence was welcome, but I feel almost that it tried too hard to keep particular events which would have been better off left out.

If you're going to stick to canon, stick to canon. If you're going to diverge, then diverge. But trying to keep particular iconic scenes, while altering their context significantly enough that they become out-of-place, is the worst of both worlds. One scene in particular, a famous proposal, was treated so. And I couldn't stop thinking about it, wondering why it bothered me so much, but in the end I realized it wasn't actually the scene itself that is the problem, so much as that it's symptomatic and symbolic of the deeper flaws which permeate this story.

This is a fanfiction. The first book managed to make me forget that, but there is no longer any way around it. I've been treating it as an original work, but that does it both too much credit and too much of a disservice. There are interesting new elements thrown in which, for a time, conceal the deeper flaws of the work. There are iconic scenes, familiar character interactions, and changes to make things just fresh enough to pass as new.

But the greatest flaw lies in the erasure of the two main characters' titular flaws. Instead of being kept apart by their own nature, they are people who have been deceived by outside forces. They are perfect for each other, only circumstance and misunderstanding keeping them apart.

Thankfully, I'm not here for the romance. I'm here for the dragons. And those are the saving grace of what would otherwise be a very bland wish-fulfillment fanfic. Setting aside the blandly nicer main characters, we also have a broad cast of dragons with their own politics, goals, and place in the story. It is here that the most interesting divergences arise, and these elements which succeed in enticing me to consider continuing the series should the opportunity arise, rather than dropping it for good.

As with the previous entry in the saga, the narration remains solid. The dragon voices in particular are very distinct and well-crafted to fit their personalities, and the listening experience was enjoyable throughout.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wonderful & Brilliant As The First One!

Just as much as I loved the first one, the Second book in this series did not Disappoint. Once again, its taking characters and people I've always loved and admired and adding extra life to them, and adding in dragons and extra fantasy that just makes it even better. Benjamin Fife once again brought life to these characters in a way simply reading the book alone could not do. I adored every minute of it and I am anxiously awaiting the third book in audiobook form.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Nice one💛

Longbourn Dragon Entail the follow up to Pemberly was a highly entertaining clever  and unique fantasy telling of the mid part of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. While some of the story ran parallel to P&P there was quite a lot of creative divergence too which made it both familiar and not.

I recommend it to those who liked P&P with a twist much like P&P and Zombies version is.

The narrator impressed me with his ability to voice the varied characters and creatures.

I look forward to the next part of the story when its available on audible.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntary leaving a review. 

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Excellent

This is my voluntary review. This story was just as good as the first. The narrator was excellent and the storyline was remarkable. It blended the dragons into Pride and Prejudice very well and the voices of the dragons were done well. I loved the descriptions and especially how the tunnels connected the various places so the dragons could meet with the humans who could hear them. Collins was played well and loved the way Darcy and Lizzie got together.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Dragons that talk. a wonderful thing.

I'm not sure it can get any better than dragons that talk in this great reimagining of Pride and prejudice.
I highly recommend it if you like dragons, Jane Austen. actually I'll recommend it for anyone.

The narrator is brilliant. I especially love how he narrates that dragons themselves. My favorite is Pemberly.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another outstanding installment.

Another wonderfully narrated story from Maria Grace. I'm starting to believe that Benjamin Fife is part dragon as he brings to life the dozens of dragonkin we have encountered in this story!

It is well written and each chapter will leave you wanting 5 more minutes. Can't wait for book 3!

part two of a great tale.

continuing the story of Elizabeth's life in dragon-infested England, there is a great balance of character development and story pace, as trouble keeps increasing and draconic law throws another spanner in everyone's plans.

narration is amazing, worth great character voices and perfect pacing, Benjamin Fife manages to really bring the characters alive and it is much easier to follow with all characters being easily seperated by voice/afflection and modification alone.

my only complaint is that the book ended sooner than i wanted and i am looking forward to book 3!