The Elvenbane

Halfblood Chronicles, Book 1

By: Andre Norton, Mercedes Lackey

Narrated by: Aasne Vigesaa

Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Two masters of epic fantasy have combined in this brilliant collaboration to create a rousing tale. This is the story of Shana, a half-breed born of the forbidden union of an Elvenlord father with a human mother. Her exiled mother dead, Shana was rescued and raised by dragons, a proud, ancient race who existed unbeknownst to elven or human kind. From birth, Shana was the embodiment of the Prophecy that the all-powerful Elvenlords feared. Her destiny is the enthralling adventure of a lifetime.

©1991 Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A splendid blend of the talents of two excellent storytellers” (Anne McCaffrey)

"One of the season’s liveliest and most appealing fantasy epics.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“A brisk, glittering yarn that packs as much action, suspense, and twisting of conventions into one novel as many writers invest in whole trilogies.” ( Amazing Stories)

A fun listen

Where does The Elvenbane rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

On a scale of 1-5, I would rate it a 4 (5 being high, 1 being low).

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the adventure and the thrill of discovering the history of the main character as well as the origins of the dragons. Looking forward to hearing the next book in the series.

What about Aasne Vigesaa’s performance did you like?

The performer did a great job characterizing the characters, though one of the voices seemed exceedingly childish as the story progressed. This may be just how the character was originally written, though I would have to read the physical book to know for sure.

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

I had a few moments when I chuckled out loud, but it didn't make me cry.

Any additional comments?

A fun listen, great for wandering around the house while doing chores. The progression keeps a nice pace and the performer does a good job withouth being too grating on the nerves.

Not the best of Lackey

This story is slow getting started and drags at various places throughout, but is fairly good at the end. It is not Mercedes Lackey's best. I personally prefer the books she writes solo.

Emotional Magical Fantasy

Welcome to a world of magic where the humans are slaves. The elves control everything within their domain. The half-breeds are feared by the elves (for good reason) and the dragons are in hiding. This is a world where unicorns exist although they're called one-horns and are one of the most dangerous animals of all. It's a challenging world where the different aspects of 'humanity' are understandable and heartbreaking. The heroine is a wonderful character I loved to cheer for.

Good Story, So-So Narration

I read this book a long time ago, but this is the first time I've listened to the Audible version. I enjoyed it.

That said, the narrator bothered me at times. 99% of the time she speaks with a crisp standard American accent, but then all of a sudden she has a tendency to mispronounce common words like "lived" example: "I lived in Norway," She'll pronounce it "LIE-v'd." It's the kind of mistake I'd expect a text to speech engine to make, not a person.. I just can't give a narrator more than 3 stars if they can't stop themselves from butchering everyday words. It drove me bonkers.

loved it- consistently kept my attention.

I have to admit I kept expecting more treachery from the characters .F ortunately the storyline was so intriguing it wasn't needed . The pacing of the story was exceptional. I would definitely recommend this book.

Fun read

I liked this book when I read it some years ago. Enjoyed listening to it. Not my favorite narrator, but ok.

FUN and enjoyable

What did you love best about The Elvenbane?

The images and imagination it invoked.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Shawna and her adoptive mother.

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

She brought the characters to life for me.

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

No. I enjoyed thinking about it in-between listening.

Any additional comments?

I am waiting to buy the sequel.

great!

the only thing I didn't like was that the ending seemed rather abrupt. everything else about this audiobook was great!

Great Performance, good story

What made the experience of listening to The Elvenbane the most enjoyable?

The performance of the story really brought it to life, I will be listening to the next book and probably reading the last of the series. Really good characters and world, my only complaint is that it seems like the authors spent more time building the world than in telling the adventure. I would have thought the war with Darien would have been long and involved and more telling...instead of an explosion, no answers and it's over. We'll see.....maybe it's in the next book

Not my favorite narrator.

I like the book - nice fantasy storyline and characters. I can’t get past the narrator though. The southern accent for the humans threw me so much I couldn’t get past it - just terrible. The voices for Keman and Shana are almost toddler aged and didn’t fit the dialogue, internal or spoken. A few words were mispronounced which didn’t bug me that much but was enough to take away from the story at times. The narrators voice itself is nice maybe whomever “directed” (is that a thing in audio books?) the accents and cadence didn’t do a good job. Probably returning this one.