Lord of the Abyss

By: Nalini Singh

Narrated by: Isabelle Gordon

Length: 8 hrs

Publisher's Summary

As the dark Lord who condemns souls to damnation in the Abyss, Micah is nothing but a feared monster wrapped in impenetrable black armor. He has no idea he is the last heir of Elden, its last hope. Only one woman knows: the daughter of his enemy.

Liliana is nothing like her father, the Blood Sorcerer who’d cursed Micah. She sees past Micah’s armor to the prince inside. A prince whose sinful touch she craves. But first she has to brave his dark, dangerous lair and help him remember. Because they only have till midnight to save Elden.

©2011 Nalini Singh (P)201 Audible, Inc.

Wrapping Up a Series

This book is the last in a series along a common theme, but written by four different authors. All of these titles are currently available on audible. I will list them in order as follows:

1) Lord of the Vampires by Gina Showalter
2) Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe
3) Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Anderson
4) Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh

To understand this book properly, the other three need to be read, preferably in order.

To sum up the premise behind the series: A kingdom is conquered by an evil sorcerer. The king and queen are killed in the battle. The three princes and one princess are spirited away by a last minute spell cast by their parents as they died, but the spell is more or less simultaneously corrupted by the sorcerer when he figures out what the parents are up to. Each book is about one of these four royal children. You find out what happened to them after the spell was cast, and discover their adventures in finding their way back to the kingdom of their birth, and of course, finding love along the way.

I get in the mood for light entertainment, so this series filled a slot for me just fine. However, If you are a serious sci fi or fantasy buff, this probably isn't the series for you. This is light romantic fantasy. These books are more like childhood fairy tales that have been spiced up for adults with liberal sex scenes and romantic intrigue.

Of the four authors who write in this series, Gina Showalter and Nalini Singh were the ones I was most familiar with, having devoured many of their books. I can't say that either of them wrote up to standard for this series, and I have to think that perhaps they treated it as something of a side gig and didn't pour as much time of effort into it as they do most of their other work.

Isabelle Gordon did a great job with the book. Her vocalization of the story added drama and her pacing was excellent. I gave her 5 stars for her performance, 3 for the story, rounding out to a solid 4 overall.

Good Ending to the Series

This wasn't my favorite of the series but it was still a good listen. As other reviewers have stated this isn't Nalini Singh's typical style of writing. After reading the previous 3 books I felt compelled to listen to this one (I had to know how it ended).
This one had a good plot and a nice mix of excitement and romance. If your looking for a light read then this series is for you.
I can't really say the entire series is credit worthy, but definitely a good get on sale.

Elden's Beauty and the Beast the end story

This is the final book in the tale of Elden. This is book four and it wraps up this usual fairy tale splendidly. I think this is a combination of Beauty and the Beast and the princess and the frog. Both stories are pleasantly blended together in this sensual love story. Micha is the youngest born to crown of Elden is lost to all with his memories missing. A daring Liliana takes the chance to attempt to restore his memories in time to save Elden. Will the handsome lord kiss the ugly princess? But the story is about their growth and the interesting little characters that aid them in their journey. Nothing fancy but it is a good tale. The narrator did a good job with the story. Again Nalini has a certain style to her psych series and the her angel series. While there is a touch of that with this story, it's different and it should be. I enjoyed this final story. If you were able to get into the other 3 stories Lord of the Vampire, Lord of Rage, Lord of Wolfyn then this is a must to complete the different and interesting tale of Elden.

Solid Performance of a Unique PNR

4.5 stars overall. This is the last PNR (paranormal romance) in a series of four, but I only read this one. I had no real problems following it. I read it a few years ago, and only recently bought the audio. Good story, good narration. No complaints from me on either count! I had never heard Isabelle Gordon before -- felt impressed and happily surprised.

This is an enjoyably "spooky" paranormal with the unique hero -- "The Lord of the Abyss" -- transforming into a huge maddened wolfhound. However, he is not what he seems. There is also a blood sorcerer, a little brown dwarf, a friendly mouse, and all sorts of magical beings.

Fun and fast read, with a few smexy scenes between our adorably lovable hero and his brave, determined heroine. Loved how she was soooo ugly -- hideous -- but he loved her for her beautiful spirit, and ignored all the beauties in his realm. Loved how she coaxed his memories to return through the food scents and spices of his childhood, and through the "stories" she told him.

Caution: Some torture of children and animals, bloody murder and mayhem. I don't usually go for that, but in fantasy, it doesn't seem real.

LOVED IT!!!

VERY GOOD AND WELL WRITEN. NEW TO THIS AUTHER BUT VERY SUPRISED AT HER WORK. THERE WAS A LITTLE OF VERY THING IN THIS BOOK. STEAMY AND SWEET AT THE SAME TIME. THE NARRATER WAS GOOD WITH HER PERFORMANCE. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO A FRIEND.

Best of the series!

I loved the rest of the books in this series, and this was by far my favorite. The characters were strong, youthful and fun. Micah was well written and his situation was as if Ms. Singh lived it. A great way to end the series.

Lord of the Abyss Book 4

For Nalini Singh this is very much a different form of writing in this book! And, it has an original formal role from time also passed the whole time that was ancient and old history. The lord of the Abyss was very good with his job of protecting the village where he is responsible for protecting. He took time giving and getting to know the lady Liliana that came from another land to help him save their world and place. In the end they were able to come back with the elements of surprise on their hand they fought for all that is good and holy. She became lovely and the caused that her father put on her was finally broken. He married her and they went back home to his based in the Abyss where they remain and become protector of the land.

Best of the series!

Now this was the best of the series, and the reason I picked it. Nalini Singh does such a fantastic job of world building, and making it easy for a reader to visualize everything that’s happening as you read or listen to her books. I loved the enemies to lovers trope, the not so pretty characters, and I really enjoyed the battle. For a shorter read, this really had a lot to it. I am glad I read all the books in the series to get to know all the couples and the world they lived in.

The best

Great writing great narration
Loved this book
The 4 sequel was good, the 1st book least favorite.
This last one is my favorite!

Up My Alley

Well, Isabelle Gordon can do no wrong when it comes to narration in my book. She really shines when it comes to fantasy novels. She has such a diverse choice of voices, and I especially love her male characters. So, double thumbs up for the performance.

The story was great. I didn't have to listen to the previous four books to understand what was going on. Plus, this was a type of Beauty and the Beast retelling, so I had a general idea of what was going to happen. Although I generally tend to like slow burn romances, I found that Liliana and Micah's quick attraction to each other was written well. I wished that we could have explored more of the worlds in this book, but I guess that's where I should be listening to the other books to have a more cohesive idea of how the fantasy land is constructed. Maybe there could have been an extended Part Two of the novel where the two had to travel more and meet more people. That would have been fun! As is, the romance was lovely, the characters were sweet, and the ending was great.

I'm going to take my time to listen to more of Nalini Singh's work!
(And I'll be stalking listening to more of Isabelle Gordon's narration...)