Spellfire

Forgotten Realms: Shandril's Saga, Book 1

By: Ed Greenwood

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The fire that burns...

It can lay low a dragon or heal a wounded warrior.

It is the most sought-after magical power in all Faern.

And it is in the reluctant hands of Shandril of Highmoon, a young, orphaned kitchen-lass.

Now she's on the run from half of the evil sorcerers in the land, not to mention their relentless minions. But with the help of a handsome young wizard, some rough-and-tumble Knights of Myth Drannor, and a certain old mage of Shadowdale, she just might manage to stay alive.

At least until tomorrow.

An all-new expanded version of Ed Greenwood's classic tale, including a new forward by the author.

One of Ed Greenwood's most popular novels, Spellfire is being rereleased in an all-new audio edition. This version has been completely reedited and contains added material that bring new excitement to the story. This edition is classified as the first title in the brand-new Forgotten Realms series Shandril's Saga.

©1988 TSR, Inc., c. 2005 Wizards off the Coast LLC. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Narrator ruined this for me

I think perhaps the narrator went to the William Shatner School for Acting by the way he delivers lines. That and the seemingly wrong tone in several scenes. The characters seem flippant or unconcerned in areas of drama and loss.

I read this book decades ago and enjoyed it. I wanted to relive it again, but the performance leaves much to be desired. Silly me purchased the series all at once, and now I find the narration makes this something of a slog to get through.

in any case it is a good story, one I recommend fans of the genre take to reading for themselves you can find a print copy somewhere (mine is not for sale).

Pure cookie cutter with atrocious narration!

If the narration weren't so bad I probably would have enjoyed these books more. Listening at 0.90X made the narration a little better, but dragged out the misery. I took a lot of naps while listening to books one and two and I didn't bother listening to book 3. These books are really guards for pre-teens, which I can really enjoy at times. I do not recommend this trilogy. Enough said...

The classic fantasy

Forgotten Realms classic fantasy well performed (read). A great book by Ed Greenwood - i enjoyed this fantastic setting.

Great Listen!

The different voices were excellent and made the story memorable. Elminister's voice seemed spot on for what I would envision.

Better read than listen to.

Have liked the book since I first read it years ago. Writer is average but enjoyable enough. Reader is absolutely horrible to the point where it is almost painful to listen to. Pauses in awkward places and voices that don't fit and grating.

Just What I Needed

Good ole fashioned nostalgia. Read this some moons ago, just as good as I remember.

an overall satisfying read

my lady and I quite enjoyed listening to this before bed every night. A greqt book by Greenwood, and a solid introduction to the world of the Forgotten Reqlms. My only quibble might be the narration. Some of the voices aren't consistent and some of the accents seem ridiculously out of place (Brooklyn accent? really?).
Overall, worth the download

great narration

narrator was amazing as always. story was good as well. 5 stars.

:) :)

Enjoyed the book

Narrator was awesome! He does voices for every character in book. Very good story especially the last chapter was 5 stars. Have listened to a good number of Forgotten Realms books. This one was one of the better ones I have listened to. Alot of charming characters. Elminsters view of evil characters. Makes you feel bad for them. A little too much doting over Shandril and Narm. By the Knights. Is kind of annoying. And makes you wonder why? When they just met. Is why I removed a star. But overall a very good book.

Interesting Story

Would you consider the audio edition of Spellfire to be better than the print version?

I remembered reading this book when I was in High School. A friend of mine loaned it to me, though not being big in the D&D thing, I found it an ok read. I purchased the audio to re-live the fun in the story. It is an adventure novel where the main character, Shandril, gets a lesson in getting more than she bargained for.

What I didn't remember was how the story gets thick with multiple back stories involving minor characters that interact with the heroine briefly and then usually die. There are so many like sounding names that, at times, became confusing who was friend or foe.

Take it for what you will, Shandrils' story is good but keep a note pad near to keep the characters straight. And if you like whimpy male character, then you will like her male counterpart, Norm. (Let's just say that his name fits perfectly)

Which scene was your favorite?

Shandril comes into her own, learning to use her power to attack her enemies.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but it moves along well enough to keep me awake during my drive to/from work.

Any additional comments?

D&D fans will love it.