The Daemon Prism

Collegia Magica, Book 3

By: Carol Berg

Narrated by: Angele Masters, David DeVries, Daniel May, Eric Brooks

Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Dante the necromancer is the most reviled man in Sabria, indicted by for crimes against the living and the dead. He salves bitterness with a magical puzzle - a desperate soldier's dream of an imprisoned sorceress and a faceted glass that can grant one's utmost desires. But the dream is a seductive trap. Haunted, blind, driven to the verges of the world, Dante must risk everything he values to unravel a mystery of ancient magic, sacred legend, and the truth of the divine.

©2012 Carol Berg (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Enthralling and not to be missed." (Kirkus Reviews)

Such A Disappoinment

Unfortunately, I feel very let down by Audible over this book. While it states in that it is narrated by Angele Masters (yay!) and David DeVries, it is in fact also narrated by two other people - Eric Brooks and Daniel May. I'm four hours into this edition and am nearly weeping at Eric Brooks constantly shouting the text at me and feeling lost at places because of his complete inability to place correct emphasis on some of the text. It is as if he is doing a cold reading and is totally unfamiliar with the story. Or he is drunk. Or both. To be fair, he can do a variety of different voices, but the majority of the time it is as if he is talking to you as if you are an idiot. A deaf one, at that.

I know there is respite to this torture; I've flicked forward through the chapters and discovered the lovely calming voice of Angele Masters further on, so I will struggle on to the end because I do enjoy Carol Berg's story telling. I'm just at a loss as to how they could have released such a poorly narrated version of it.

Ouch

What disappointed you about The Daemon Prism?

I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed the first two volumes of the Collegia Magica series and I am sure that the story in this last volume is very engaging. However, I cannot get past the narration of Dante. It is abysmal; listening to it is almost painful.

What could Carol Berg have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I am sure that the author had no control over the production of the audiobook, so it is entirely NOT her fault.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator chosen to read for Dante could have read in a normal speaking voice rather than SHOUTING. At. Me. As. Though. I. Were. An. Imbecile! His reading is stilted, staccato and truly horrid. As an example, when Dante is visited by Masson de Cuvier in the opening chapters, and is listening to the man's story, I expected him to tell the man to stop bellowing at him. I almost laughed when the text of the story said that the man lowered his voice, and I had to lower the volume of my player because the narrator was still yelling at the top of his lungs.

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

I am sure the story is an excellent story, as Carol Berg is an excellent author.

Any additional comments?

I had read some of the other comments here which indicated the narration was not good, and I foolishly ignored them. Do yourself a favor and borrow the book from a library. Your ears will thank you.

Set Dante's character to 2x speed!

If your player allows it, reset the speed for Dante's character to double speed. Not a perfect solution but it does help.

Great story but Dante's narration....

Any additional comments?

I listened to the other 2 books in this series with great pleasure. I started this one with the same hopes and was unfortunately let down by the Dante chapters. I'm persevering to find out what happens in an engaging story but will never listen to it again.

This is a review of the book--not the narrator.

I, too, thought they picked the wrong guy to be the voice of Dante. Some people are far more sensitive to the narrator's voice than others (this means you, Gordon). But if you can just relax and pay attention to the words rather than how they are delivered, I think you will find this a powerful story.

This is the last book of a trilogy and it brings the story to a magnificent ending which I would never have suspected was awaiting us as I read the first book. I suppose it would be possible to understand and follow this book as a stand alone, but your experience and understanding will be very much richer if you read all three books in their proper order.

The main character through most of the book is Dante, a sorcerer. He is a very powerful magician with particularly bad control of his temper. In this third book of the trilogy, we finally learn about those parts of his past which contribute to his apparent hatred of everybody. But we also learn that he has a destiny which even he has never suspected which also drives his rages.

I find Dante not only the most interesting character in this trilogy but one of the more interesting and original characters in all the fantasy I have ever read.

I recommend this book.

Great book, wrong reader for Dante

Would you consider the audio edition of The Daemon Prism to be better than the print version?

Haven't read the print version.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Daemon Prism?

The climax is good, and the conclusion was excellent.

Would you be willing to try another one of Angele Masters and David DeVries ’s performances?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

David is a great reader but he was the wrong choice for Dante. Aside from the minor annoyance of sounding too old, he sounded FAR too cheery throughout the whole book as he reads the part of a very unpersonable character who is tortured (by himself and others) throughout the book. There was no anger, which is probably the single most defining quality of the character.

Voice of Dante

What made the experience of listening to The Daemon Prism the most enjoyable?

When the gentleman who read Dante's part was NOT reading.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Daemon Prism?

The ending, when Dante is lead back into the living world.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of the narrators?

Jim Dale

Any additional comments?

Great Book. Bad Reading.

End to the Collegia

There is nothing wrong with the story. Ms Berg does a wonderful job and gives a great end and eplioge. The problem I had with this story was the narrated any (and it is most of the book) part from Dante view. I never mind Will Stater as Capt Kirk but that voice of saying EVER word like it is it's own sentence...that what you get from the reader for Dante. The other voices are just fine.

The story is well thought out, just twisting itself into a end without changing the rules of the world and if a finally sadness hang over the end it is only at the lost of the story. I hope that Ms. Berg will continue to write stories in this world and that Audible will carry them. Just pick someone else to read Dante!

Enthralling end to a great series

If you're having second thoughts because of the reviews that pan Dante's narrator, dismiss them at once. While it's not the best performance I've ever heard, it's not that bad, either. Dante's narrator speaks a bit slowly for my taste, but since the chapters are all attributed to one character or another--Dante, Anne, Elario, or Portier--I simply sped up the audio during the Dante chapters, as another reviewer suggested. Problem solved, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this wonderful conclusion to a marvelous series. Highly recommended.

This is book 3 of the series.

Spirit Lens is Book One
Soul Mirror is Book Two
Daemon Prism is Book Three

They make a LOT more sense if you read them in order, although Book 2 is the best
of the three.

Disappointing Narration

As many have commented, the narration can make or break an audiobook and in this case I feel that the voice of Dante really detracts from the story; so bad in fact, that I am having a job getting through it. The narration is stilted and the words are over-enunciated, rather than being smoothly read. Very odd.

I haven't got as far as the other narrators yet, so I hope it will improve