The Mark of the Tala

The Twelve Kingdoms, Book 1

By: Jeffe Kennedy

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The tales tell of three sisters, daughters of the high king. The eldest, a valiant warrior-woman, heir to the kingdom. The youngest, the sweet beauty with her Prince Charming. No one says much about the middle princess, Andromeda. Andi, the other one. Andi doesn't mind being invisible. She enjoys the company of her horse more than court, and she has a way of blending into the shadows. Until the day she meets a strange man riding, who keeps company with wolves and ravens, who rules a land of shapeshifters and demons. A country she'd thought was no more than legend-until he claims her as its queen. In a moment everything changes: Her father, the wise king, becomes a warlord, suspicious and strategic. Whispers call her dead mother a traitor and a witch. Andi doesn't know if her own instincts can be trusted, as visions appear to her and her body begins to rebel. For Andi, the time to learn her true nature has come.

©2014 Jeffe Kennedy (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This well-written and swooningly romantic fantasy will appeal to fans of Juliet Marillier's Sevenwaters series or Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown." ( Library Journal)

good book

loved this book. amazing new world with great characters. the narrator does a great job of bringing the book to life just wish the rest of the books where available on Audible.

very entertaining

loved the story. I usually try to find a book to listen to while at work and this kept me wildly entertained and I ended up listening to it at home as well.

...lhtcc

cute xterm is st txt ft by the no time to get a hold of the time you are you doing today and I will be there for you to

Sigh.. I really liked this book

Mannnnnn..... who ever read this did a crappy job. Where’s brilliance audio when u need it. Am I the only one to notice that they read the title wrong?? How u screw that up??

Wonderful story

I love the story. I have read one of the Twelve Kingdom books and was thrilled to find this one on Audible.
The narrator was good. Not great, but good.

Stockholm Syndrome

What disappointed you about The Mark of the Tala?

The book started off at a nice pace as it was introducing the characters, but the benevelont king that united the 12 kingdoms suddenly becomes a tyrant. You would think that being his daughter and living with him her entire life, along with gossip from the war, would key Andromeda into the real aspect of her father. Then later, the Tala inform the main character that her father is in fact 1/2 Tala himself. This is a major revelation and could explain why he wants to get into the Tala homeland, but they gloss over and completely fail to mention it after only about a minute's worth of discussion. But what I consider to be the biggest disappointment of the book is the clear case of Andromeda falling victim to stockholm syndrome. By the end of the book, Andromeda is defending her kidnapper/blackmailer after forcibly made to wed the man. There is no real connection except for everyone saying that their inner beasts knew each other. These are just 3 of the biggest disappointments of the book that I found while reading.

What about Cris Dukehart’s performance did you like?

Cris Dukehart had a wide range of voices to cover the miriad of characters portrayed within the book. I would say the performance of the characters is the best part of this book.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Cris Dukehart's performance