Meadowcity

Arcera Trilogy, Book 1

By: Liz Delton

Narrated by: Jordan Scherer

Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

He wants to forge a new empire, at any cost. And she's the only one standing in his way.

Professional adventurer Sylvia Thorne just wants to travel through the wilds between cities for a living, but when the governor of Skycity declares war on her home, she must embark on a quest that will determine the fate of the Four Cities forever.

And if she's not careful, it won't be just her life she's risking - but everyone in Meadowcity.

Governor Sorin Greyling of Skycity is obsessed with knowledge. When he discovers the Four Cities' darkest secret, he'll stop at nothing to obtain the knowledge and power that has remained hidden for centuries.

Will Sorin's discovery make him a legendary leader? Or will it drive him down a dark path of destruction?

©2014 Liz Delton (P)2020 Liz Delton

So good

I enjoyed this book it was fun and entertaining great start to a new series can't wait to hear the rest of the story

Wow!

I thoroughly enjoyed this dystopian like books. The narrator was captivating and the story left me wanting more! I cannot wait to listen to the second book!!

great story

I really liked this story! I listened to it with my teenager and we both enjoyed it

Love

I am more of a vampire angel and demons book kinda girl. But this book is so amazing that I dont even care that there isn't any Supernatural in this. This book is so good I can see what is going on in the book like a movie in my head. so can't wait to see what happens next

Great

The author does a good job at painting a picture in the readers mind of this creative and unique society. I enjoyed the characters and plot. Am looking forward to book two.

A bit of a stretch

I was given this audiobook for free and am providing an unbiased review. The story is about a post apocalyptic world with four new cities which emerged. Technology is avoided. Communication between the cities is through runners who follow trails, taking days to weeks. One city with a paranoid obsessed leader declares war on the others. How he convinces his city to do this is unclear since he is not a dictator. It is also not explained how his city has built up the resources to attack the others in a short time. The narrator is good and the book is good listening, but the plot has holes.

A Great Book!

This is the first book in a Trilogy and it was such a good listen! It is a YA book but don’t let that stop you from giving it a listen. The characters are so believable and well developed. The narrator is excellent and really adds to the story!

I was given a copy of this audiobook in return for my unbiased opinion.

Meadowcity

Things started off a bit slow for me, but it didn’t take long to get in the groove. There’s an interesting storyline and great world building. I’m definitely interested in seeing where this series goes.

Both Liz Delton and Jordan Scherer are new to me, and I have to say, I was impressed. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Well Paced YA Novel with Excellent World Building

The beginning of the Arcera Trilogy is well-paced romp through the woods and beyond of the lands that contain the four cities that people populate after a war many ages ago seperated civilization into individually ruled city-states whose town name details it's surrounding topography. The main characters are likeable and development comes without excessive exposition as the world is fleshed out thoughtfully by the author. It comes and goes without too much fluff and for the most part the execution is spot-on, the antagonist's motives seem shaky, but like all good things, I am sure the best is yet to come.

The narrator does a good job with male and female voices alike, the dialogue. flows well and since this is an unabridged production there isn't a tremendous amount of "over-acting" in the voice work (something I dislike in general).

On the audiobook side alone, the end of this book contains an excerpt from the second book, so you know you're going to get some kind of resolution to the story which you will have just dedicated 8 hours of your time to, which is something that I think more "part ones" of the audiobook world should do.

Don't kill the messenger

This book is awesome with its unique take on the concept dont kill the messenger, at least to me. No one ever writes about the person's journey and the fate in their hands when they are tasked with delivering a message. Its a great start to the series.

Exciting adventure

This is a great start to a new series. I enjoyed this book and the brilliant narration made it extremely easy and exciting to listen to. The story follows Sylvia who embarks on a thrilling adventure to save her home. I look forward to hearing the next book.

Suprise hit well worth the time

I came into this book unsure of what to expect, but what I found was a very enjoyable and fresh take on an old trope. High praise for Liz Delton for crafting an intriguing primes and building a world and characters that the listener will come to care for.

I don't want to give too much away because the lead up is so worth going in blind, so I am going to keep it brief, The protagonist is a messenger tasked with an urgent mission after a stranger arrives at her city gates warning of a coming war. We also get a look through the eyes of the antagonist and come to empathize with his motivations too, which is refreshing because deep down you know his motivations may be right even if his path to achieve them definitely aren't.

My only criticism is that the way the book is written, initially I thought the two stories were running parallel to each other which led to a lot of confusion. It wasn't until I realized one was set a bit back in the past did it make since. This could be because i missed ques that gave me a heads up, but either way it is a rather minor detail and doesn't detract from the overall excellence of the book.

Performance seemed to be hindered more by equipment than the actual narrator. While her performance was top notch, she sounded a bit distant and isolated giving the narrator a faraway ASMR feeling at times. However, while it is noticeable at first, you do get used to it rather quickly. I also noticed that it is more of an issue when on earphones, and not as noticeable on speakers, so if using in the car this wont be an issue.

Definitely worth a listen if you are looking for a lite and not overly complicated story, but also want an world that would leave you thinking 'wow, what if i lived in this world?' 'could this really happen?'

Great concept and an intriguing series opener

I enjoyed this story very much, took a little while to get going but very interesting once it did. Loved the characters, will be fascinated to see where the series goes in the future!