Troubled Waters

Elemental Blessings, Book 1

By: Sharon Shinn

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of the Twelve Hours series welcomes readers to a new fantasy world, where the elements rule.

Zoe Ardelay receives astonishing and unwelcome news: she has been chosen to become the king's fifth wife. Forced to go to the royal city, she manages to slip away and hide on the shores of the mighty river.

It's there that Zoe realizes she is a coru prime, ruled by the elemental sign of water. She must return to the palace, not as an unwilling bride for the king, but a woman with power in her own right. But as Zoe unlocks more of the mysteries of her blood - and the secrets of the royal family - she must decide how to use her great power to rise above the deceptions and intrigue of the royal court.

©2010 Sharon Shinn (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This entertaining and suspenseful story is full of lively characters, and the intriguing new system of magic and politics provides plenty of potential for sequels." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Filled with vivid characters, beautiful scenery, sweet friendships, surprising destinies, political intrigue, mystery, a slow satisfying romance, and an interesting take on personality types, Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn is a book that just feels good." ( Fantasy Literature)

Light listening

It's pretty typical fluff. Zoe is an interesting character, and this was a pleasant enough listen. It made good background listening at work because I didn't have to fully pay attention to understand the story. The narration was great.

Too bad

She messed uo and put Foley with the wrong princess in the following books. wonder how she'll fix that mistake in her writing. I want a temple with a blessing container to help guide my life.

urggggggggg

I can't take Sharon Shinn I swear to god another one of her infuriatingly heartwarming love stories will kill me, how many more in this series? I need it immediately.

I liked the narrator most because of how her voices were identifiable without being annoying or overpowering.

Perfect narration of a fantastic book

Background story:
The society of the Kingdom of Welce is built around the balance of the five natural elements with related character traits & blessings: water (blood), fire (mind), air (soul), earth (flesh), wood (bone) & people’s resonance to one them.

Besides the King, the country is ruled by five great families with a particular affinity to one of the elements, especially embodied in the heads (Primes) of the families: water (“coru”) - Family Lalindar, air (“eelay”) - Family Dochenza, fire (“sweela”) -Family Ardelay, earth (“torz”) – Family Frothen , wood (“hunti”) – Family Serlast.

The story is about Zoe Ardelay-Lalindar, how, instead of marrying the King as his 5th wife, she comes into power as the new Prime of the Lalindar (her mother’s) family, how she is growing into her role and how she navigates the troubled waters of high society & court intrigue.

Things I loved:
- Sharon Shinn managed to “create” a story that flows simply & naturally without great fuss, pointless grandiosity & forced BIG revelations. Every detail seems to be in its place & fits naturally into the greater picture. She did indeed achieve BALANCE.
- The concept of the world building is based on the 5 elements & loosely on numerology. The author builds up her world slowly, but surely, with lovely, interesting & intriguing details of geography, religion, politics, social customs without being over- or underwhelming.
- The magic, if it can be called magic at all, is understated. It is more like natural powers coming to characters, in-synch with their intrinsic elements, with greater power being concentrated in the Primes of the 5 houses. It is an important feature, but not the actual drive behind the story.
- The heroine, Zoe: she is not your typical kickass one (not that I have anything against them in general), but still has a solid inner strength to her in perfect harmony with her natural element (water) that is very appealing.
She IS actually lovely, likeable & easy to relate to. She is not perfect & has no false humility about herself either. And that, my Fellow-Readers, is no mean feat considering how many authors seem to miss the point entirely by creating these „oh-so-very-speshul snowflakes” whose specialness lies in being insufferable („oh, please don’ tell me I am special, for I know I am not, though everyone else keeps telling me I AM”), spoiling the whole reading process, even if the story is a good one.
It is also a refreshing change that Zoe – upon learning that she is heir to her Coru grandmother & Prime of the Lalindar family – instead of denial and running away from her fate in the usual fashion of „chosen ones” of most fantasy novels, actually takes to her role like a duck is taking to water (pun intended), flowing into & filling in the space she needs to occupy naturally without any needless rumpus.
- The characters in general: main as well as secondary characters are well drawn. There is no black & white characterisation.
- The love affair is also understated: part of the story, without events having to evolve around it all the time. There are no earthquakes, fireworks all screaming: „HE/SHE is the ONE!!!” It is still believable how the 2 characters are influencing / are slowly being drawn to each other without the author having to hit us on the head every other page with how much they are in love, describing every move / look / facial expression / thought / feeling in excruciating detail.

Magical Fantasy

This is a good solid fantasy with some romance in it. This book reminded me of an Anne McAffrey book with no dragons, but magical powers displayed instead. It is a mild adventure with a sweet romance that doesn't contain an explicit scene at all. Thank you Sharan Shinn! It is mostly character driven and I, at least, really enjoyed the characters. I feel the world was very well-drawn and the characters, magic and plot were interesting. The story has an ending where there are a few loose ends, but the main plot and romance do get tied up. The main character starts out with a will about the consistency of milk toast -- very vulnerable, and ends up with a backbone of steel with immense power and capabilities. I thought it was solidly written. It isn't an action packed adventure, but it is a good story. Anyway, I'm glad to have found this author and I will check out some of her other books. If you like character-driven stories and lovely, sweet romances, you will enjoy this story. I have no complaints with the narrator other than a minor character accent problem. No other problems, otherwise it was very well narrated.

Really nice coming of the age story

This book is a coming of the age story of a woman who lost her father and finds her that she inherited family magic. I really liked the story and the voice/style of the narrator.

The story flows from a humble beginning of Zoe to her becoming a formidable power fairly smoothly. I really liked the main character Zoe, although she seemed too good and straight-laced some time. So it was a surprise when she got so upset at the end she causes such havoc. She just didn't seem the "type." I think that was too sudden, though I do understand her surprise and panic.

I find the premise of this kingdom interesting and I hope there is a next book. It seems to me that Zoe's adventure and her self discovery just got started. Looking forward to reading more.

A great author - narrator combination

What does Jennifer Van Dyck bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Sharon Shinn's gift for developing interesting stories brought me to Troubled Waters. Jennifer Van Dyck adds a fantastic performance to a well written story. I have enjoyed listening to this book several times.

Amazing book!

I read this on recommendation by author Gretchen Rubin and am soooooo glad I did! The fantasy and story of a made up land was captivating!

story kept me guessing where it was going. lol

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes, I did not know where the story would go. she could have gone so many ways with the book. I loved it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I did not have a favorite here. they all had color and shine.

Which scene was your favorite?

every time the water got away. and that is all I will say. lol :)

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

it is a bit long for that. but it is easy to get back into as you start back up with it.

Any additional comments?

give it a go. I am glad I did. and will be looking for more of her work.

Takes a long time to get to a Bad Ending

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, takes a long time to get the the climax that leaves you hanging in the end. Understand it's a series but too many loose ends.

Would you ever listen to anything by Sharon Shinn again?

yes

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no