Sheepfarmer's Daughter

The Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Moon

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

Refusing to marry a pig farmer and joining the army, even if it means never seeing her family again, Paksenarrion begins an adventure that enables her to restore an overthrown ruler.

©1988 Elizabeth Moon (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

really REALLY enjoy this story

i really did read the books 3 times, And have listened to the Deed of Pakanarion once a year since the audiobook became available.

its a real kick to read the beginning knowing the end and appreciate the long vision of a great story teller that Eluzsberh Moon is.

Enthralling

I wasnt sure I would enjoy this story as it had a lot of war in it but I really enjoyed it. Jennifer Van dyk was a great narrator and made the story come alive. The description of the towns and citadels made it easy to imagine you where right there with them. I look forward to reading and listening to more of these stories.

Wonderful story! Narration sometimes lacked climax

was just as good as I was told. glorious, exiting, and pulls on your emotions well. I do feel the narration was good, but before very climatic moments I would have expected a change in pace or a pick up in intensity but many of the times she would continue as if nothing was all too different and I'd just sit their for 10-15 seconds not even realizing combat had broken out. still 4 out of 5 on narration though!

Good story, poor recording.

I love this book, but the recording quality is poor. Specifically the volume is uneven between chapters and randomly throughout. The narrator could give slightly more character to the descriptions. Dialogue is better, and has different voices happening, but the descriptive text is a bit flat.

Rather ponderous

There was more detail about mercenary camp life than I cared for. Too much daily life and not enough action. When there was action, it was not as exciting as it should have been. Perhaps that was partly the reader's fault. She would be a wonderful non-fiction reader but she just didn't bring the characters to life like she should have.

Excellent!

Great story, wonderfully told. The author paints an epic telling of the battle between good and evil in the characters and their world

Enjoyable and a Wonderful start of a great series

The Sheepfarmer's Daughter is very much a coming-of-age tale of a girl steadfastly following her unconventional dream to become a soldier, despite objections from her family. I thought several things make this tale stand out from others in its genre: Elizabeth Moon's own military experience gives a solid realism to military training and Paksenarrion's development is not just a result of her innate capabilities but also a result of hard work and determination. Although Paks becomes a soldier and there are many military elements in the tale, this is the tale of Paks' life and growth, and only peripherally the tale of battles won or lost.

There are certainly hints throughout the book that this is only part of a larger tale (and thankfully, we can go on to read more of that tale!) but the book stands very well on it's own ... hmm, books don't exactly have feet, so perhaps cover? After all, most books are only part of a larger tale and often we don't have a chance to see what happens next, however much we may wish to go on.

Jennifer Van Dyck does an excellent job investing this book with the voices of the characters and their emotions: her narration is consistently smooth and well paced and her choices for timbre and accent for individual characters delightful.. Although this may have been the first of the many books she narrated that I heard, I have listened to others since and have specifically looked for books she narrated when selecting a new book for my own audio library.

A heroine non the less

Recently my taste in these epics has soured and if it hadn't been for a special from Audible on "first" books in a series, I might not have gotten Sheepfarmer's Daughter. My appetite for good Epics had a high water mark to match as my first had been written by David Eddings ( and probably co authored by Leigh) The Maldoriaoun (Please forgive the spelling but can't exit this program to check.) and The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and I so regret his death before HE completed the series. These series had credibility, adventure, and each book was a very good stand alone without the constant dark, brooding passages that my subsequent listens did. Until this book! It has had the action, adventure, and mystery without the depressive beating inflicted by so many books. It did not go on and on about self doubt, character flaws, man's lack of faith, the self inflicted problems of the times, etc. Elizabeth Moon let us "see the sun" as needed and feel content and happy about circumstances and action taken! It was so refreshing!
I know that the second book is usually like unseasoned stew or uncooked dough: flat after the first book. I am looking forward to this one. I'm hoping the same style of writing is done and I'm happy to gamble a credit on this sequel without the qualms I have had with others!

Great Series!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Paks is such a wonderful character...a woman warrior with a strong sense of right and wrong as well as her own inner compass. Great role model for young ladies reading this book.

Fantastic Fantasy Trilogy: Book 1

What did you love best about Sheepfarmer's Daughter?

This is the first book of a trilogy. This book specifically deals with the main character's transition from living on a farm with an angry father to living in a barracks pursuing life as part of a mercenary army. This is a fantasy based world, but the fantasy is secondary to the plot. The world is well developed but it doesn't over shadow the characters in the story. I have found that in some fantasy books, the world is its own character in the novel. This is not the case in this book. You get the richness of the world without it being overbearing.

What other book might you compare Sheepfarmer's Daughter to and why?

Not sure. I haven't ventured into true fantasy yet. I have a problem sometimes getting into what my friends have called "high fantasy" books. Which is a serious bummer because I've started Game of Thrones 4 times and I still haven't gotten past the 1st chapter. I read the print copy of this book as The Deed of Paksenarrion (all 3 books in one) years ago and loved it.

Have you listened to any of Jennifer Van Dyck’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Jennifer Van Dyck's performance is outstanding. She is one of my favorite narrators. I have tried new books because I saw that she was the narrator.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I don't know but it would be a great movie, especially now that everyone is on the Game of Thrones kick.

Any additional comments?

Don't be afraid to give this trilogy a try, its well written, the character development is good and its original. Definitely not reused content in a different world.