Limits of Power

Paladin's Legacy, Book 4

By: Elizabeth Moon

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Length: 20 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Elizabeth Moon is back with the fourth adventure in her best-selling fantasy epic. Moon brilliantly weaves a colorful tapestry of action, betrayal, love, and magic set in a richly imagined world that stands alongside those of such fantasy masters as George R. R. Martin and Robin Hobb.

The unthinkable has occurred in the kingdom of Lyonya. The queen of the Elves - known as the Lady - is dead, murdered by former elves twisted by dark powers. Now the Lady’s half-elven grandson must heal the mistrust between elf and human before their enemies strike again. Yet as he struggles to make ready for an attack, an even greater threat looms across the Eight Kingdoms.Throughout the north, magic is reappearing after centuries of absence, emerging without warning in family after family - rich and poor alike. In some areas, the religious strictures against magery remain in place, and fanatical followers are stamping out magery by killing whoever displays the merest sign of it - even children. And as unrest spreads, one very determined traitor works to undo any effort at peace - no matter how many lives it costs. With the future hanging in the balance, it is only the dedication of a few resolute heroes who can turn the tides...if they can survive.

©2013 Elizabeth Moon (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

A

Narrator

I did not care for the narrator in this volume of the series.

the new narrator is not as good

the story is well written

the narrator rushes and reading not as good as previous titles, makes me think it's a new narrator completely.

As always, Elizabeth moons storytelling is outstanding. Probably my favorite series

The narration was god-awful. pronunciation was just the worst. No homework was done. I'm hoping the next book has a different narrator.

Chopped reading

Love the series but this book is hard to listen to. Had full stops when reading spoken parts.
“Open the box.” He said. “Ok”. She replied. “Thank you”. He said…..

Great story, horrible narration

This narrator mispronouncing important character names, every city’s name and several important concepts over and over really detracts from your enjoyment. The previous books in this series and books from previous series all concur on the important pronunciations- this narrator’s choices are especially jarring, to the point that I may not be able to complete this volume as an audio book…and am wondering if I should just read the last 2 books myself.

PLEASE re-record this book with another reader.

What did you like best about Limits of Power? What did you like least?

Here in Paksenarrion's world many story lines continue their development. All worthwhile. All engrossing. As usual, Elizabeth Moon thrills and rewards her readers with excellence and humanity (even for Elvenkind, Kapristi, and Dragon.)
Despite the quality of the writing this was a difficult "listen". The reader's voice is grating and whiney, the characterizations unconvincing, and the cadence identical, over and over and over and over, the exact same rhythm. Dying, loving, learning, speaking, doesn't make any difference. I could only listen in short increments before the sameness of the raspy voice and the bizarre pronunciations would exceed my tolerance. Please do not use this reader for any more of Moon's wonderful work.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Limits of Power?

Kieri's sojourn in the glade. Arvid's acceptance of his inner "voice." Stammel's protection of the villagers.

Would you be willing to try another one of Angela Dawe’s performances?

Never.

Do you think Limits of Power needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

We hear that the 5th volume will complete the tale (at least for now). I can hardly wait. Surely with a different reader.

Any additional comments?

Thank you, Ms. Moon, for writing for us!

Excellent story, poor narration

For those of us who listen in order and know the proper pronunciations, listening was a bit painful. The story was very good, but the constant mispronunciations of names and places were off putting.

So sad

With the wonderful performers like Jennifer van Duke and Susan Erickson previously used in this series, the choice of Angela Dawe for this volume puzzles me. Her constant mispronounciation of numerous names and her jarring Midwest accent with it's touch of a nasal whine really decreased my enjoyment. Such a relief to continue into "Crown of Renewal" with the superb performance of Me. Erickson. Ms. Dawe may excellent at a more modern tale, but for this, she was an unfortunate choice.

good overall, narrator was odd

the story is excellent but the narrator speaks in a sing-song way that can be distracting.

Horrible reader ruined this for me!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book to friends, but I'd advise anyone I know NEVER to buy the audiobook version of the story. The reader was horrible! She emphasized every single word like a 5-year old telling about recess. And she mispronounced names so badly that I had to go back and listen - sometimes twice! - to understand what she meant.

I had gotten used to the reader for the last couple of books, and then the publishers changed readers again. Each successive reader became worse throughout the series. It is like they get you hooked on the story-line and then start cutting corners to make more money. I think they picked up the last reader in a Starbucks or something.

The funny thing was that she'd actually do the dialogue better than the narration. Her voice choices, however, were poorly considered. And, some of them were just nasty sounding. The reader tends to make all the women characters (and Moon writes STRONG female characters - sound like they are incessantly whining.

Bottom line: buy the book; NOT the audio version. Don't let this reader ruin the story for you as she did for me.

How could the performance have been better?

The question was: How could the performance have been better? My answer: They could have gotten my 8-year old grandson to read it.

Was Limits of Power worth the listening time?

Elizabeth Moon's stories are always engrossing, but the reader really sucked much of the joy out of the experience for me.