The Child Prince

By: Honor Raconteur

Narrated by: Cheridah Best

Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

Sevana Warran, reigning prodigy Artifactor of the age, has absolutely no desire to selflessly serve her fellow man. She wants, in fact, to be left alone so that she can putter about in her workroom.

But her efforts in avoiding other people prove to be in vain. The reigning family of Windamere is no longer sitting upon the throne and the Council has instead taken power. The sole hope of avoiding the evil machinations of the Council is Bellomi Dragonmanovich, Prince of Windamere. As a 21-year-old cursed into the body of a perpetual eight-year-old, he lacks the power and ability to stop the Council.

Sevana, after a judicious review of the situation, decides that she cannot let things continue. If she did, she'd never be left alone and would instead be buried in paperwork if the Council has anything to say about it. So she kidnaps the prince from where he was locked away in the palace and sets about breaking his curse.

Prince and Artifactor quickly realize that simply breaking the curse won't be enough to free Windamere from the Council. It will take training, cunning, allies, information, and more than just a little magic if they are to reclaim the throne.

©2013 Honor Raconteur (P)2014 Honor Raconteur

Too many....hesitations....in...speaking.

What did you love best about The Child Prince?

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sevana, I enjoyed her rebelliousness.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Cheridah Best?

Not exactly, see below comment.

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

No

Any additional comments?

Enjoyed story but was constantly put off by the hesitations of the narrator. Once I noticed the pauses I could not stop hearing them. A good audio editor should have given Ms. Best guidance.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

A good story

I was looking for a new author. I've had this book on my Wish List for awhile. I was hesitant to get it due to its length. The cover art seemed to imply a novel for teens and younger. I also have too many audio books that get tedious with such a long duration.Well, I finally decided to give this book a try. I was pleasantly surprised. The book is well done. It has appeal for adults as well as teens. I enjoyed hearing a story were bedroom scenes real and implied were absent for a change. I found the characters interesting and fun. The development of the cursed prince is kept a part of the story. I also enjoyed Cheridah Best reading and character interpretations. There was predictability and surprises. A new world with magic and a touch of steampunk, magical and mythical creatures and a sentient mountain home for added interest. These complimented the main characters. I hope there will be more books from this author. I recommend this book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Took me awhile to get through...

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Cheridah Best?

Not sure. Perhaps a male narrator. She just read in a really drawn out fashion, that drove me a little crazy. Luckily I was listening on my Droid app so I could put on speed read at 1.5x. That seemed to work much better, making her sound like she was speaking at a normal speed. I did really enjoy some of her voices. BUT Bel's grown up voice sounded like his childs voice. His child voice was quite good, for a child, but for an adult it was really bad. This made it very hard for me to picture him as grown up when he sounded like a four year old. All in all I think she was an OK narrator, but could have used a better editor/ producer to guild her. And perhaps this book just wasn't aa good fit for her...

Any additional comments?

This is a long book. Honestly it could have been shorter but it wasn't. Which I'm still debating with myself about. I kind of just viewed it as a TV series, with multiple episodes and the length worked in its favor then. I also enjoyed it much better with that mindset.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another great start to a 100 star series.

It is official Honor Raconteur has a new series that is as good as the first. There is one very small cloud on my horizon though, the narrator of this one has a speech problem that pulls me up short each time she utters two particular words. Now you may think me hard with it only being two words, but oh dear how it grates on my nerves. These words are ask and else, or if it is said by this narrator, axts for ask (when did they add a T let alone an X?) and elts for else (again with the T?) I mean if you are going to be a narrator it really is important to speak correctly, Yes? Still I cannot blame the author, she is still a great fantasy writer, and I hope she keeps writing for years to come. I cannot say I have wasted credits by buying this one. J

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

I love this!

seriously I need more of Honor in audible..... I have all her audiobooks but there's only 10 of them.... need more

A very interesting magic

I absolutely loved the way magic works in this world. The work it takes to break a curse was fun to consider. I also liked the political movements they where just enough to make things satisfying.

The narrator is painful to listen to.

I read the kindle version in 2013 and I remember being absolutely charmed. I'm listening to it and this narrator has stripped all of the joy and interest out of the book. Her " child" voice is the stuff aluminium chalkboards are scratched out of. Don't do this to yourself.

Poor Narrator choice devalues book

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes and no. I enjoyed the story enough to finish the book, but it took over 2 weeks because it became painful to listen to the narrator struggle with mispronunciations, reading pacing inconsistencies and breathing-pausing sounds; and her pitch is too high and forced. It seemed like this was a trail reading, or a book sorely lacking an editor. If I had a do over, I'd pass on this book and wait to see if another narrator picks up the series. That said; when the narrator sounds relaxed, her voice purrs and is enjoyable, it just doesn't happen often and frequently enough.

Good Story

If you could sum up The Child Prince in three words, what would they be?

Interesting story, political intrigue et al, interesting plot.

What did you like best about this story?

Magic system and characters

What three words best describe Cheridah Best’s performance?

She doesn't allow a dialogue to flow, from character to character.

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

Sometimes.

Any additional comments?

Narrator needs to listen to a conversation, then emulate that when she is reproducing it.

good story, narration isn't good

Having seen a couple of videos of the narrator, she is a more than capable speaker. I think the problem with the narration comes down to editing and direction. At times it sounds like there is a metronome in the background keeping the pace down.

The story itself is good, not amazing but good. The Characters are solid and well defined.

A good story wrecked by narration

I enjoyed this story but Oh, how I wish I'd read it rather than listening. The narrator's Jackanory style, poor pronunciation and inattention to emphasis seriously spoiled the story. The unusual plot and many loveable characters leave me wanting to know the sequel. That, though, will be the Kindle edition.