Lord of the Fading Lands

Tairen Soul, Book 1

By: C. L. Wilson

Narrated by: Abby Craden

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

The first book in USA Today and New York Times best-selling author C.L. Wilson’s hugely popular, stunning, epic fantasy romance series about Ellysetta, the girl who would be queen, the Tairen Soul, and their eternal battle for true love in the mystical Fading Lands.

Once he drove back the darkness. Once he loved with such passion his name was legend.

Once, driven wild with grief over the murder of his beloved, the majestic Fey King Rain Tairen Soul had laid waste to the world before vanishing into the Fading Lands. 

Now, a thousand years later, a new threat draws him back into the world - and a new love reawakens the heart he thought long-dead. Ellysetta, a woodcarver’s daughter, calls to Rain in a way no other ever had. Mysterious and magical, her soul beckons him with a compelling, seductive song - and no matter the cost, the wildness in his blood will not be denied. 

As an ancient, familiar evil regains its strength, causing centuries-old alliances to crumble and threatening doom for Rain and his people...he must claim his true mate to embrace the destiny woven for them both in the mists of time. 

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.  

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2008 C. L. Wilson (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

My favorite books of all time

I have read these books so much I can almost tell the story verbatim. This is my first time listening to them. It is a totally different experience. This book is..no words honestly...listening to it immersed me in ways no other book ever has. I picked up on things I did not while reading. Little things that made the picture so much more clearer. Better than my imagination can do, I have a very good one also. C.L Wilson..you have so much talent. The way you tell a story amazes me. I am also friends with you on FB and you are just an amazing creative person. The way you interact with your fans make your books so much better.

Abby you did this book justice. Perfect justice. You brought this book to life for me. Tell harper audio you need to do the last 3 of them! I will def look for other books you have narrated as well.
Well done all around.
Abby and Wilson make the perfect pairing.

Love this new recording

One of my all time favorite fantasy series! And it was great to re-visit Rain, Ellysetta, and all their cohorts from the Fading Lands with a newly recorded audiobook with narrator Abby Craden. Ms. Craden’s tone and pronunciation was so much better than the previous audiobook. She did a good job with each of the characters’ voices. Overall, it was an enjoyable listen.

Yowza...

Deeply conflicted about this book... the horrible cover scared me off for a long time, but the amazing reviews made me give it a chance. If the cover made you roll your eyes, be prepared to keep rolling them through the entire book, because I've never read anything that made me laugh (and not because it was trying to be funny) this much.
The writing is very good and enjoyable to listen to and there's a lot of solid world-building, but the world being built is just... ridiculous? Going into it, I knew the story was about winged magical cats, so my expectations were low, and I was still kind of shocked by how silly and goofy it is (again, unintentionally). The only redeeming part is the main relationship, which has a great and healthy-seeming sense of growth and mutual respect. Not sure if it makes the book worth reading though.
Also something to be aware of it that the book ends in the middle of what feels like a very predictable story arc. Like, not even a cliffhanger, just cuts out in the middle of every single storyline. It tracks like a three-act structure, and it ends mid act two, so there's just mildly growing tension, no serious conflict, and no resolution of any kind. If you think cliffhangers are annoying and bad, this will be infuriating.

really love this series

love the story line
kept me engaged cried some laughed some but didn't get bored.

Horrible narration

I was really excited that they released the first two audiobooks with a new narrator, as the original production was old with poor editing & you could hear every time a breath was taken..

But after an hour with this new narrator.. I have decided I can deal with the old one.

Every male voice was too raspy/croaky, and most sound like they are trying to speak with their jaw wired shut. Why do they all sound furious and out of breath?? Like they’re trying to talk without moving their lips. It was EXTREMELY off-putting.

Love This the 4th time around

This is the 4th time listening and I love the New Narration. Wonderful Story. I look forward to listening to the rest of this awesome series.

Trigger warning

Yeah so the narrator was awful, but more importantly hi trigger warning the main character is assaulted in the first chapter.

Great book. Narration miss.

I’ve been a fan of this series for years. I checked the audio book out from the library then purchased the first book to avoid being put on hold. I was surprised to find the Audible book had a new narrator. She has a lovely voice and does the female voices well, but the male voices are painful to listen to. The best female narrators drop their voices slightly but stay within a comfortable range to represent male voices. This narrator drops her voice too much. She’s obviously straining and her voice becomes gravelly and rough. It’s impossible to tell one male voice from another because she leaves no room for variation or inflection. I only buy audio versions of books I like to hear over and over. This one turned out to be a waste of money because I find the male voices so unpleasant that I’d rather wait for it to be available from the library.

Good story, terrible narrator

The narrator continually went from low whispers to very loud moment to moment. Whenever attempting voice changes amongst genders, her voice would rise to almost a yell for masculine and drop to barely audible for feminine. Very boring and hard to follow. i have listened to hundreds of audio books, this was my most awkward, least interesting.

So Good!

I struggled a little with the narration of Elysetta being a bit annoying ( she is 24 and still says Mommy lol) but the story is so good! I got a little lost on all the names and places but the main storyline was easy to follow.

Will be downloading book 2

unbelievable

I was enthralled by every word. I was so immersed that when it finished I was ready to throw my phone. I could stop listening. just an amazing book can't wait to continue to the next one.