Shadowdale

Forgotten Realms: The Avatar, Book 1

By: Scott Ciencin

Narrated by: Nicole Greevy

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

An all-new audio version of one of the key titles in the entire Forgotten Realms novel line.

At the time of its original release, this series presented key events that impacted the entire Forgotten Realms world, and the effects of those events are still felt in current novels. This title was originally released under the author's pseudonym, Richard Awlinson.

When the gods are banished from the heavens, they must travel through Faern in the guise of mortals.

When four companions, last survivors of the Company of the Lynx, find themselves in possession of a mysterious amulet, they must escape death at the hand of Bane, god of murder.

When magic itself runs wild, no one can say that the most innocent of spells will not destroy the world.

©1989 TSR, Inc., 2003 Wizards of the Coast LLC (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Nostalgic story, mediocre narration

I loved the story when I was a teen. However, after progressing through more and more stories in the fantasy genre, I realized that it doesn't hold up well compared to the works of Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, etc...

the relationships are either crude or rushed, but at least the lore from the book still resides with the parts of myself that loved the Baldurs Gate videogame series!

the narrator was a bit tough though it was like Siri/Alexa was reading to me, very bland.

Amazing!

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

This is one of my all time favorite series in the Forgotten Realms setting.

What did you like best about this story?

This is the first book in the series. It's a great beginning to an epic adventure.

What does Nicole Greevy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I'm not sure where Nicole Greevy came from, but she does an amazing job portraying the characters in the book. It was great to hear all of my favorite characters come to life! Great job on finding Nicole Greevy audible! I would listen to more books narrated by her any time!

Any additional comments?

I can't wait to hear the rest of the books in the series!

Great Story, horrible narration!

I really enjoyed this story I haven’t read in many years, but I’ve heard automated messages with more emotion and inflection than this narrator! Probably the worst narrative audible performance ever…

Good start to the series

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

Story built throughout with an explosive conclusion

What did you like best about this story?

How it fills into the rest of the written Forgotten Realms mythology

Did Nicole Greevy do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes, but I'll admit that I had difficulty with her rendition at first - I'm well used to it now.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The opening of character's backgrounds which begin to clue the reader into motivations

Any additional comments?

Because this is the first in the series the start is slow - so slow that I almost stopped the book. I'm glad I gutted through the slower parts.

termine toda la serie.

muchos claman que la narradora es mala. En mi apreciacion no lo es tampoco la mejor. la historia es excelente. si eres fan de los reinos olvidados este es un libro obligatorio.

Epic fantasy as read by an old GPS

I have known this story for almost 25 years and remember it fondly. I was truly hoping the other reviews were overly critical, and in that foolishness I didn't listen to a sample. I really should have, but the truth is that even though the narration is dry, flat, and monotonous,
I'm still kinda glad I bought it because I got this tale back into my life.

I fully expect I'll be suffering through this same plight for the other books in the series, but that is only a testament to how much I want this story refreshed in my mind that the narration is endurable.

Good story dies in the narration

I love the story. The characters don’t have much depth yet, but that’s fixed in later books as they’re developed more. My problem is the narration. Nicole Greevy is just flat the entire time. It was hard to get into the audiobook with an emotionless, monotonous narrator. I’d recommend the story, but I’ll be avoiding Nicole Greevy going forward.

Not amazing, but good enough.

The story was a little slow for my tastes, but the charecters are all pretty well developed. Their interactions are the best part about this book. The narrator can be a little monotone, but she does use voices for characters that makes them distinct.

awesome

as good now as it was when I was a kid lol... still love it

Sadly, the reader makes these books a grind

I'm on about chapter 6 of this book, and see that most other listeners share my sentiment -- the reader is monotonous and boring (although she does get slightly better as the book goes on). The previous review that says she sounds like Siri is accurate. I actually have to take breaks because I am so fatigued by her droning voice that is more concerned with exact pronunciation than with telling an engaging story that's fun to listen to. I'm listening to The Avatar series because it's related to a D&D campaign I'm currently playing in, otherwise I would skip this series.

The other reason I'd skip it is that the author is the usual "the silky pale flesh of her exposed leg" type of dudebro writer. So gross. (You think I'm joking -- he actually says this early on when describing a woman riding a horse.) But that last bit isn't Audible's fault. I just wish we could have choices in readers so we're not stuck with either Siri or James Patrick Cronin who absolutely butchers accents and makes weird mouth smacky noises to the point I actually had to demand a refund. But that's a separate review for a different book...