Sorrowfish

The Call of the Lorica, Book 1

By: Anne C. Miles

Narrated by: Kae Marie Denino

Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Two worlds. One fate.

Sara is having crazy dreams. Gryphon and dragon crazy. The scary part is waking up, safe in her apartment, with scratches and splinters. Is she losing it because of stress? One more unfinished sculpture will fully tank her grades. Goodbye bachelor's degree, hello failure. Her twin sister is in a coma. And on top of everything else, her best friend, Peter, wants to date.

It's enough to make anyone sleepwalk.

Choosing to defy the Conclave, Bard-in-training Trystan risks capture and mind control to find a magical lute through a shadow network. Luthier-wizard Dane meets a sinister stranger and barely escapes with his life. Dane's fate entwines with Trystan's when they must end an ancient curse, guided by a fae they only know as Sara.

©2019 Anne C. Miles (P)2020 Anne C. Miles

Fantastic! Refreshing!

While I didn't like the narrator as much as some others, the story itself was compelling and prevented me from giving up early on like I usually do. The story is rich, new, and a wonderful blend of modern fantasy and faerie tales. It's certainly not the run of the mill sword and sorcery tale that so many other authors fall into.

A Story of Two Worlds

I had a really hard time getting into this book, which may very well have been a case of "it's not you, it's me". It had all the things I usually look for in epic fantasy. There were talking animals and gnomes and a completely evil religious order and two worlds with heroes who can travel between them. In short, I expected to love it, and by the end, it all came together but in the beginning I found it a bit hard to follow all of the characters and it took awhile to get invested in any of them.
All in all, it's not a bad book. I really think it wasn't the right book for me or perhaps not the right book for now.

A Very Different Type of Story

Two Characters from different Realities, both with Fears cause by inadequacies trying to move forward. Each trying to accomplish what needs to be done but their self doubts getting in the way. This is just the start, as the story progresses each of them must face their fears and amount to more then they originally were.
Narrator does a Wonderful job with the characters and the storyline.

Wondrous characters and a delightful listen

This ended up being a fantastic tale with a cast of wondrous characters and creatures! A story that centers around two worlds, Kentucky where student Sara is dealing with family trouble and a world full of magic and song, Canard, that comes to life in Sara's dreams. Canard is a world full of gnomes, wizards, and other fantastical elements and is being held together by music, more specifically The Song, and as the World Tree dies, so does The Song. Sara (a student in Kentucky but a Fae in Canard), Tristan (a Bard), and Dane (a Wizard) must find a way, although separate for the time being, to save the World Tree, the Song, and Canard. This well written story is full of folklore, adventure, and lovable creatures. Sara, not so loveable. I had a hard time connecting with Sara, although she and all of the other characters were very well constructed. A five star narration by Kae Marie Denino, she was a delight to listen to and her storytelling was amazing. She got into each character and portrayed them perfectly with wonderful voices and nuances that brought the story to life. I went into this story not knowing what to expect, I had never heard of the author or the book so I was expecting something quite different but the surprise was definitely a positive one. Being new to this genre, not everything translated well, I did find myself lost at some points but I found my way back to the story and overall, it didn't seem to effect my experience much. I blame my lack of imagination but it did take me a while to get into the story and really begin to understand what was happening. Ultimately, I am anxiously waiting the next installment and I hope its released in audio as well, and hopefully with the same narrator!

[Thank you Anne C. Miles for the free audiobook!]

Great story!

Although it's quite different from what I normally read, I really liked this book. It's a portal fantasy with a mix of characters from our world and a fantasy world, and it has great characterization throughout. Even though it's a fantasy novel, I thought the scenes taking place in our world were especially well done, though there was some great imagery in the fantasy world as well. The description was often vivid but never overdone.

It is a Christian book with religious themes, and though I'm not the target audience for such fiction, for the most part I didn't find it intrusive. There were a couple parts in the book that made it clear that the religion in the fantasy realm is the same as Christianity in ours, though the particular aspects of it go by different names. There is some additional worldbuilding done with the fantasy world's religion that made it rich and interesting. The cultures there were well fleshed-out and the society felt real.

There's plenty of danger and adventure in this book, but it is thoughtful as well, with themes that wrap up nicely at the end of the book. In the first half, I found myself wondering when the two different worlds would intersect, but eventually they did come together in a satisfying climax. Overall, if Sorrowfish sounds like your cup of tea, you won't be disappointed.

A great story

This was an interesting story. The characters from different worlds working together to stop evil. Sarah really had a chip on her shoulder and I did not understand until the end of the story. She had some different adventures a long her journey. She made some great friends on the way. I enjoyed the story.

Worth sticking with it

There are two distinctly different storylines and I had trouble figuring out what was really going on. Then all of a sudden, about halfway through, it all started making sense to me. It was like the lightbulb went on, and I loved how it all came together.

Now that I understand Anne C. Miles’ style, I would not hesitate to pick up another of her books.

I didn’t have any issues with the narration by Kae Marie Denino. A solid performance.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.