• Spellfire

  • Forgotten Realms: Shandril's Saga, Book 1
  • By: Ed Greenwood
  • Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
  • Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (301 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Spellfire  By  cover art

Spellfire

By: Ed Greenwood
Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $29.95

Buy for $29.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

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.

What listeners say about Spellfire

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    148
  • 4 Stars
    79
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    14
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    111
  • 4 Stars
    65
  • 3 Stars
    43
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    26
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    152
  • 4 Stars
    64
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    7

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not Ed's Best Work

Would you try another book from Ed Greenwood and/or James Patrick Cronin?

Oddly, I enjoy reading/listen to Ed Greenwood's work. I usually find it mildly funny and charming in a high fantasy/young adult line of books. This one however, was just horrible from the start and stayed down the entire time.

James Patrick Cronin was abysmal. I have listened to JPC in other Realm's series (Brotherhood of the Griffon) and he wasn't bad. But, for some reason he destroys a few of the main characters here with a sloppy English accent. You'll never want to hear the word "Lady" (he pronounces it lay-day) again.

Has Spellfire turned you off from other books in this genre?

I'm over 50 books deep on FR on audible. I'll keep going but not with James Patrick Cronin.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of James Patrick Cronin?

Honestly, anyone would have been better. He mispronounces some of the names (people and places) and some of the characters sound horrible with his choice of voice. Of course, a narrator like Victor Bevine would have been much better.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Spellfire?

At 17 hours long... the first 4 hours are a confusing mess. Ed is known for this but it's long winded just to be long winded. I found myself starting and stopping the first 8 hours countless times just so I could stop hearing James Patrick Cronin and Ed's trivial scenes.

Any additional comments?

I have enjoyed both the narrator and author before but this book was very tough to get through. Perhaps reading this novel would have been a better choice. Listen to the preview (I don't know if JPC choice for Norm and Chandrill are in there... but they're bad).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

grab the paperback!

I hate to give a great book a bad review,but having read this when I was younger I was looking forward to listening to the audio. Not worth it. the reader is not cut out for this book at all, I couldn't even finish it! pick up the paperback or re read your old copy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Takes a minute to get going, but worth it.

I'm going to get the worst parts out of the way. The narrator is nothing special. Often times he drones on in a complete monotone drudge, and my personal pet peeve with some narrators, he adds no emphasis, emotion, or intonation to the characters he's reading, so often times I have to mentally go back after a vocal scene, and replay it in my head with the correct emotional portrayal between the characters.

The story however is fantastic. it starts slow, but picks up at a quickening pace. By the end of the book, I was able to forgive bad narration in favor of how the actual story played out. As for the story let's not play dumb, this is a Dungeons and Dragons book. Specifically set in The Forgotten Realms. There is going to be silliness and some slapstick banter between The cast. In that regard it mimics well the banter you may see at a gaming table. But take the book and story for what it is, and you can enjoy it well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story; horrible voicing

Absolutely terrible voice acting. Nearly every female was daftly British and the bad guys were old, Chicago-like mobsters. Guards and good guys sounded mostly like stupid ogres. I've loved this story for over 20 years and this "actor" has nearly ruined the whole series for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Kind of ok I think

The narration is not for me, or put another way it’s like being beat with a bag of oranges. But one man’s opinion and all, others will say differently I suggest listening to the sample say 10X and then decide if it’s for you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Had to return

I loved the story. I love the original Forgotten Realms created by Greenwood. The voice actor did was clear and concise, however there are so many characters in this novel to add life to each individual voice and this voice actor just does not have the correct vocal talent to pull that off. Many of the voices sounded like a high school play voice acting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

=)

One of my favs...Well done, Ed greenwood's novels are always worth your time. hail Elminster!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Don’t waste your credits..get it on kindle

I read this book as a kid and enjoyed it. When I got the chance to listen on audible I was very excited. The narrator was very annoying with his accents. I understand creating different voices for the characters, but one main character had a horrible English type accent; since he was a main character I had to hear it constantly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!