Sacrifice of the Widow

Forgotten Realms: The Lady Penitent, Book 1

By: Lisa Smedman

Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

Goddesses vie for the soul of people...

Halisstra Melarn, convert to the cause of the goddess Eilistraee, was sent to the deepest depths of the Outer Planes to kill the demon goddess she once worshiped, but instead was transformed into a hideous creature bent to the vengeful will of her former mistress.

For the Queen of the Demonweb Pits not only survived her Silence but evolved into something greater than she was before - something that no longer needs to share the domain she calls her own.

Could it be that the War of the Spider Queen has just begun?

©2007 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Great continuation of War of the Spider Queen

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Dara Rosenberg?

Rosalyn Landor would have been a better choice for the narration. She read all six books of The War of the Spider Queen and her voice would have added consistency to the story.

Any additional comments?

While I don't think Dara Rosenberg is the worst narrator that I have every heard, she is clearly out of her depth with the subject matter (this also applies to the Darkwalker on Moonshae Trilogy). Rosalyn Landor, who voiced The War of the Spider Queen, would have given the book just what it needed... the right voice and consistency.

This should be re-read by Rosalyn in much the same way as R.A. Salvatore's books are all being (re)read by Victor Bevine.

Worst Performance I've EVER heard!

Would you try another book from Lisa Smedman and/or Dara Rosenberg?

I would and will never try another book performed by Dara Rosenberg.

What didn’t you like about Dara Rosenberg’s performance?

I completely agree with the "Good Story, Bad Performance" review. She clearly does not like what she is reading and does not understand the story. I have been listening to audiobooks for years and have hundreds. This is the first I've ever found so poorly read that I can't stand to finish. Lisa Smedman must have been horrified when she heard this. The tone and inflection of her speech is the same as that of a pre-school teacher reading mother goose to three year old children. It is in this voice she describes murder and mayhem taking place in a level of hell. It must be no secret that the performance stinks if there is a specific template question like this in the review form.

Stopped listening after two chapters

Dara Rosenberg is no Rosalyn and crashed this straight out of the gate into the ground at mach 1. Terri-bad. I'll just read it instead, thanks.

don't buy

great story, but the narration is just so incredibly terrible. Words, easy words, mispronounced then pronounced correctly, then mispronounced again. over and over

Can't get through it...

I've tried listening to this three times so far but the narration is so bad I can't follow the story. She's very choppy and the pronunciation is not great. I will probably have to go buy a different format and read the book myself.

Very Disappointing Narration

I listed to all of The War of the Spider Queen and absolutely loved it. Rosalyn Landor's performance was fantastic. Coming off of that to this is extremely disappointing. Dara Rosenberg feels as if she is completely disconnected from what's going on in the story. Small wonder if she hadn't read the six books leading up to this one. The change is narrators was a terrible choice. I'm really sad to see this happen to such a good series.

Awful narration, couldn't finish

What would have made Sacrifice of the Widow better?

Please re-record this story with a new narrator. I really couldn't even finish the first chapter. I was really looking forward to hearing this story. Such a disappointment.

Would you be willing to try another book from Lisa Smedman? Why or why not?

I would be willing to try Lisa Smedman again as long as it is with a different narrator.

What didn’t you like about Dara Rosenberg’s performance?

Dara Rosenberg's voice sounds out of place for this story. I would expect to hear her reading a YA novel or a chick lit story. I expect this story to be dark and menacing. I think it would be better read by a woman with a deeper more sultry voice. Something to lure you in like a spider. I was unable to forget someone was narrating the story. Ms. Rosenberg sounds like she is reading this story for the first time and has no connection with the content. Her cadence changes in weird places. It is up and down all throughout the sentence. I feel like I have the audio equivalent to motion sickness.

What character would you cut from Sacrifice of the Widow?

The narrator

Really tried! Can't get past narrator.

I looked forward to this book, having really liked Lisa Smedman's contribution to the War of the Spider Queen series (and this character in particular). And I really tried to listen to it, but this narrator is truly dreadful in this context.
Really, truly dreadful, like a very cheerful elementary school kid who still has to "Read -- all -- the -- words -- carefully -- in -- case -- there -- is -- A -- problem.

I love this book, but...

I love this book. Read it years ago, and the story is amazing. However, the performance of this particular narrator is absolutely abysmal. Many of the common words in the English language are mispronounced, leading me to question if this is her first language. That's leaving off the strange words unique to the Forgotten Realms. Despite my love of the book, the pronunciation, strange inflections and accent made me turn this book off after a couple of hours.

Fantastic story God awful performance.

I should have heeded the reviews. The performance was beyond any horrible description I could confer upon it. I'm painfully enduring it to hear the story, but so much is lost in the performance.

Is this read a by a broken robot

Has this women grasped the ability to speak English. Her voice does not fit the book.
I will buy the book instead. Lloth would not approve.

Story is good but...

I enjoyed the story but found the narrator's performance poor. She pauses in strange places, her pronunciation isn't brilliant (I'm English she American so that can be forgiven) and the accents she puts on for different characters seems inconsistent. The recording is obviously edited and the transition between the different edits is jarring at times. Only by this if you're a Forgotten Realms fan.