Shadow Prowler

Chronicles of Siala, Book 1

By: Alexey Pehov

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

An army is gathering; thousands of giants, ogres, and other creatures are joining forces from all across the Desolate Lands, united, for the first time in history, under one, black banner. By the spring, or perhaps sooner, the Nameless One and his forces will be at the walls of the great city of Avendoom.

Unless Shadow Harold, master thief, can find some way to stop them.

Epic fantasy at its best, Shadow Prowler is the first in a trilogy that follows Shadow Harold, the legendary thief of Siala, on his quest for a magic Horn that will restore peace to the Kingdom of Siala. Harold will be accompanied on his quest by an elfin princess, Miralissa, her elfin escort and ten Wild Hearts, the most experienced and dangerous fighters in their world...and by the king's court jester (who may be more than he seems...or less).

©2010 Alexey Pehov (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

LOTR quality

I used to have this in paperback, and I was devasted to find out it got sold to a used book store. I had to have it again. The story has many main characters and McLeod Andrews does a very good job with the different voices making it easy to keep track of who is talking.

Excellent story, excellent narration.

Would you listen to Shadow Prowler again? Why?

Yes, this was one of those stories that you just cannot seem to walk away
from... very enjoyable as was the narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I would have to say that Harold by far.

Have you listened to any of MacLeod Andrews’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but he did a great job and I would take a long look at a story that he narrates.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

J.R. Tolkien would have loved this book.

Any additional comments?

If you enjoy a great story thats easy to follow then this is for you

Wonderful story and great narration!

I loved the story. The characters were great, the story line very exciting, and the narrator is exceptional. Love how well the narrator changes his voice for each character. I couldn't stop listening and reading (I bought the book too). Now I'm off the read/listen to the next book. Definitely recommend this book, its as good as Michael J Sullivan's Riyira books about Royce and Hadrian!

Great Original Story

What made the experience of listening to Shadow Prowler the most enjoyable?

You never know exactly what is going to happen. Lot's of surprises. The characters are really engrossing. Not so much the developement of Haralds character but his interaction with the other charactersThere is a certain sarcasm and humor about how Harald sees the world. The book is kind of gritty, Harald is out for Harald and not to save the world and that's one of the facets of the book that I like.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shadow Prowler?

I really got a kick out of the Kings Jester.

What does MacLeod Andrews bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

While I'm not into British Accents, his accent was not so extreme that it was hard to understand. He really acted out the parts well and his voices were very good.I would suggest that you listen to an Excerpt if you are adverse to UK English.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was really entertained. I couldn't wait to pick it back up again after dropping it. And certain parts were so amusing that I reversed and played them again.

Any additional comments?

While I never heard of this Author, and you probably haven't either, don't let that dissuade you from buying this book. It ranks among the best fantasy books I've read.. So If you are into stereotypical idealistic hero type, save the world, save the maiden, smite evil, novel stay away. Harald is a rogue trying to survive and get rich. In that order.

First Thief centric fantasy epic

I originally went into this looking for more Richard Kadry narrated books and didn't expect too much but I was pleasantly surprised. There are plenty of good reviews so all I will say is this: If you're fan of magic based high fantasy and not sure if you'd be entertained by a character that isn't Conan or Gandolf then I highly suggest you take a listen. You will not regret the experience.

Very plain and predictable

The author seems to write a formulaic story. Disappointed..especially when you consider that he wrote this in Russian.

Impulse buy.. but i got lucky

I saw this book at a book store and kinda glanced over it. Then when browsing on here i saw it again and after reading another customers review i decided to give it a shot. It honestly had me hooked after the first 5 minutes. A great buy for anyone looking for a good epic fantasy novel.

Great Story and Great Characters

I wasn't sure what to expect when I made this purchase, and I really enjoyed this book. The story is engaging and the characters are really well written. I is all brought together by narrator MacLeod Andrews who does and excellent job bringing it all to life. His voicing of the different characters is one of the best I've listened to in my 300+ audio books.

It's almost a Tolken-esque story of a journey to acquire an object, and never left me bored or distracted.

I recommend this to fans of the genre.

A twist of difference

Sure you've read fantasy thief stories and quests before, but this time the tale's told with Shadow Harold's sour wit, Pehov's Russian love of poetic description, and MacLeod Andrews' outstanding narration. There's plenty of action, fun characters, funny moments, and clever surprises. But there's also some darned original high fantasy, with amazing moments of wonder and terror. Just when you think you know where the plot's going, you'll find you're wrong.

So give this book a chance to win you over. Russian writing styles may not be what you're used to, but Andrews does a great job making it seem like perfectly normal speech. I really liked what he did with the various characters, too.

This novel doesn't end on a cliffhanger, but on a good temporary stopping point in the quest, with progress made. I was eager to find out what happens next in Book 2.

predictable but it has its moments

not as family friendly and clever as the belgariad but not as dark and bleak as game of thrones, this novel started off predictable and strictly adhering to the high fantasy formula. the later books have a bit more inventiveness to them and the goblin was awesome but this first one was very easy to predict and was somewhat boring. still, it was interesting enough that i went ahead with the rest of the series despite my misgivings.
the series is a mostly enjoyable way to waste some time.
sadly, i never developed any deep attachments to any of the characters, including Herold, so i was never able to really immerse myself in the story.
the narrator got off to a rough start but he was great overall.