Of Darkness and Dawn

The Elder Empire: Shadow, Book 2

By: Will Wight

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Heart of Nakothi has been lost, the Consultants were victorious, and the Empire remains free of Elder control. For now.

Shera has become a Soulbound, but with her new powers comes a terrifying burden. Her Soulbound Vessel has begun to poison her mind, slowly transforming her into a monstrous, bloodthirsty killer. Meanwhile, Calder Marten and his Imperialist Guilds have begun to work against the Consultants...even to the point of raising their own band of homegrown assassins. Assassins with unique ties to Shera's past.

On the seas, a man will do anything to seize control of a throne.

In the shadows, a woman fights for her own soul.

©2015 Hidden Gnome Publishing (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Good book, awful narrator.

Quit whisper reading please. It's so annoying. Shera is a great character brought down by a terrible narrator.

I wish there was more

I loved the first book so I was very excited to listen to this one. There were a couple of key events that didn't get explained very well and the ending really left me feeling unfinished. I know there are two other books parallel to these from another character's point of view, but the male narrator's voice wasn't for me. I just wish this story was a bit longer.

The narrator almost ruins it

The main character becomes almost entirely unlikable due to the narration. It was good that Shera's all powerful vessel went through a change making her power more reasonable.

Great performance

The jump from past to present was more annoying than cohesive. The story seems worthy of attention but needs work. I'm invested enough to finish however I'm skeptical if it's worth the journey. My curiosity for the conclusion keeps me going.

woah! more!

I'm having such a blast with this series! I can't put these books down! What a captivating storyline! The characters are so interesting and the twist and turns are unforeseeable! I highly recommend this series! I'm enjoying it so much! Onward to the next leg of my journey!!!

Great series!

I have really enjoyed this series. The only problem is the constant whispering of the narrator.

so good!

I really like this series and I can't wait to read the next book. I like seeing the different point of views.

Voice Talent is Difficult to Endure

I have listened to Emily Woo Zeller before. She did work on some of Ryan Kirk's fantasy samurai-esque books. Every voice, intonation, and cadence she used in that series permeates this performance, and it's incredibly irritating - especially because she's not speaking for the same samurai-ish characters in this book. Now every actor only has so many voices, so I'm not simply annoyed that her "sage old man" voice is always the same. The problem is, as another reviewer stated, she pauses, and then forcefully whispers her words. Every sentence is spoken with this disorienting cadence. What's worse is that these are first person narrations, so you're getting internal narration from multiple different characters, but the narration makes it sounds as if EVERYONE in the world thinks in this aggressive, jerky whisper. Just change your tone and cadence a little bit. Take fewer pauses between sentences when the sentences continue the same paragraph or narrative string.

The book is ok. I listened to the first book a while ago and forgot why I'd chosen not to continue listening. I feel a bit bad about knocking the narrator, but boy! I feel snake bit having realized why I chose not to listen to this series. The main character "Shara"(?) is interesting. This book is inexpensive. I'd say just read the Kindle version.

FWIW: I listened to The Travelers' Trilogy by Will Wight on Audible Plus, and I enjoyed it. It was why I picked up this one again (having forgotten why I stopped after the first book).

Enjoyable Listen

pirates vs ninjas! I am an averages listener and I enjoy the series! thank you!

Sucked In!

From the first sentence my mind was captured by the intriguing story, my love of the characters, and the burning question of how it will continue. The performance is great, as always. Another great addition to this thrilling and unique adventure!

Another excellent book in this series

I wrote a rather long review for the first book in this series so will keep this one shorter . Excellent storyline, excellent narration and plenty of action/plot twists . Highly recommended