Minion

By: L. A. Banks

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

All Damali Richards ever wanted to do was create music and bring it to the people. Now she is a spoken-word artist and the top act for Warriors of Light Records. But come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demons - predators that people tend to dismiss as myth or fantasy. But Damali and her Guardian team cannot afford such delusions, especially now, when a group of rogue vampires have been killing the artists of Warriors of Light and their rival, Blood Music.

Strange attacks have also erupted within the club drug-trafficking network and drawn the attention of the police. These killings are a bit out of the ordinary, even for vampires. No neat puncture marks in the neck to show where the life's blood has been sucked from the body. These bodies have been mutilated beyond recognition, indicating a blood lust and thirst for destruction that surpasses any Damali has encountered before.

Damali soon discovers that behind these brutal murders is the most powerful vampire she has ever met, and this seductive beast is coming for her next. But his unholy intentions have also drawn the focus of other hellish dark forces. Soon Damali finds herself being pulled deeper into the vast and horrifying vampire world.

©2003 Leslie Esdaile Banks (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

love this series!

This is a great story. It is not loaded with sex and all of the vampires aren't just humans with a little bite problem. Minion only scratches the surface of a story and vampires aren't even the tip of the iceberg.

I only have one problem with the audiobook (note the 3 star rating instead of 4). I have read most of the series and have a definite of idea of what a young black spoken word performer from Louisiana should sound like.

After having listened to the Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse series' along with Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series, I've come to appreciate how important the correct narrator is to the story. I think Ms. Huber does a pretty good job of reading, for the most part, but too many times she sounds like a suburban house wife when 3/4 of the characters in the story are from inner city Louisiana and Southern California. This story needs someone that sounds more urban so that when a character says "...lost his natural black mind..." it sounds authentic and not as if the narrator studied urban lingo a few hours before hand.

28 of 28 people found this review helpful

Not in theVoice

I absolutely LOVE this book and the Vampire Huntress Legend series and was really excited about getting this audio book, but was really disappointed upon downloading. The narrator's voice could not be more wrong for this book. The personalities in this book are rich, urban, and culturally diverse, which is not what you get from the narrator - there are folks who are asian, black, latin, white, american, european, west indian, south american, etc. I was especially disappointed in the main character Damali, who is a young black educated female from the hood who is a soulful singer. Instead of hearing a voice that matches who she is, the narrator makes Damali sound like a whiney spoiled white valley girl who couldn't sing a soulful note in anyone's dreams. Such a fantastic book deserves a better voice casting & I would like to hear someone else do the voices for the other books.

21 of 21 people found this review helpful

Needs a new narrator

This story had potential but the narrator ruined it. Her voice just didn't suit the story.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Great story needs new narrator.

I like the story line but the narrator sounds out of place. Like the cliche white director feeding his black actors lines, the way he thinks urban black people should sound, know what I mean? If not, refer to Robert Townsend's first movie, Hollywood Shuffle (The Black Actor's School).
My family is from the 9th ward of New Orleans but I was born in L.A., I couldn't take the storyline seriously after hearing about 3 slang lines the way I know them to sound, murdered.
Saying all of that I still love the series and I am looking forward to more audiobook version of this series.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Horrible Narrator

Wow...I listen to audiobooks all the time and this is the first time that I could not finish the book. The narrator was horrible. I know the author is great and the books great, but this narrator made me sick. I wasted money on this for sure.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Good story, wrong narrator.

I am a big fan of the late Leslie Esdaile, and the only reason I never read her vampire huntress series is I thought they were for teen readers. After her passing, I decided I wanted to read all of her books. This is a very good story, but the narrator is just wrong. Don’t get me wrong, she reads/narrates very well, but not for an African American story-line. I was constantly reminded that this was a white woman trying to sound black. I finally got use to it, but I think I will read (not listen) to the rest of the series. Overall, still a good story.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Right book, wrong reader

What made the experience of listening to Minion the most enjoyable?

I read "Minion" and was looking forward to having the story come alive as an audio book. I enjoyed the story very much, but thought the reading lacked the rhythm of the written book.

The book was written by an ethnic author in ethnic street slang, and I didn't think Hillary Huber captured the cadence of the book in her performance. I thought her performance was a bit lackluster.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the way L.A. Banks weaves the light and dark aspects of our European religion and mythology into a credible urban fantasy world.

Would you be willing to try another one of Hillary Huber’s performances?

I would be willing to listen to Hillary Huber in an audio book by a different author, but I think she missed the mark with "Minion".

Any additional comments?

I would love to hear this series read by someone who understands and can capture the street language of the West Coast rap scene. Damali sounds like an east LA Valley Girl, not an African-American rap....er, Spoken Word Artist in this version and that is not how I heard Damali in my mind when I first read "Minion".

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great Story

Would you consider the audio edition of Minion to be better than the print version?

I wouldn't consider this version better, just because when I read the book, I had way better voice characters in my mind.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This is the type of book, that needs several voice actors, not just one.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I'M GLAD I PERSISTED, GOOD SERIES

Took me a little while to get into this book but once I did I was hooked and couldn't wait to listen to the second book in the series. Different perspective on vampires (these are really nasty!) A very slight hint of a romance story going on but it's mainly a vampire huntress and her guardian team against the forces of evil.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable listen - Need more to be available

Enjoyed this book and hope others in the series will be available SOON!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful