The High King's Golden Tongue

By: Megan Derr

Narrated by: Michael Stellman

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

Prince Allen has trained his entire life to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious mother, who has made their kingdom one of the wealthiest and most influential in the empire. For the past few years he has trained to become the new consort of the High King. The only thing no one prepared him for was the stubborn, arrogant High King himself, who declares Allen useless and throws him out of court.

High King Sarrica is ruling an empire at war, and that war will grow exponentially worse if his carefully laid plans do not come to fruition. He's overwhelmed and needs help, as much as he hates to admit it, but it must be someone like his late consort: a soldier, someone who understands war, who is not unfamiliar with or afraid of the harsher elements of rule. What he doesn't need is the delicate, pretty little politician foisted on him right as everything goes wrong.

©2015 Megan Derr (P)2017 Less Than Three Press, LLC

A must read.

Derr' s descriptive text allows her readers to get up close and personal with the characters. This book is a perfect example of how a world could be envisioned if we could accept each other on our on terms with the recognition that who we are and who we choose to love is both an empowering and miraculous gift. Can't wait for her next book!!

10 people found this helpful

Fantastic story with a next-level good reader!

If you could sum up The High King's Golden Tongue in three words, what would they be?

Fantastic, Layered, Different

Who was your favorite character and why?

Allen for sure. He has a poker face that people can't really read but inside his mind, he is steadily doubting everything and constantly thinking through every situation. At first, I was a little irritated with Sarrica for being so callous but the fact is that miscommunication is the cornerstone of any good story.

Which character – as performed by Michael Stellman – was your favorite?

Commander Lesto. He's kind of an anti-hero. Someone who you'd think was a surly jerk but secretly has a heart.

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

The man who understands every language in the room holds all the power.

Any additional comments?

This story was so rich and layered, with its own history and lore, I found myself hungry for more information about the surrounding kingdoms. The characters were extremely interesting. I wanted to know all of their stories. The narrator made the story immersive and extremely enjoyable. I NEED THE REST OF THIS SERIES ON AUDIO RIGHT NOW, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

6 people found this helpful

Delightful!

Delightful! Arranged political/royalty marriage, slow burn romance, politics and intrigue. I enjoyed the focus on language/translation with a diplomat-linguist as one of the main characters. I enjoyed the High King's snark with his brothers-in-law/arms as well. There wasn't any pointless miscommunication plot line stuff, and the lack-of-communication/assumptions issues were typically quickly resolved and reasonable for the characters rather than drawn out annoying.

I enjoyed the plot, the world building, the cast of varied characters and the reading overall. I definitely hope future books in this series are made into audiobooks because I would love to listen to more!

5 people found this helpful

Great Story!

Love this story and series by Megan Derr. Although the narration was adequate, I have come to expect narrators to give unique 'voices' for each character (like narrators Gomez Pugh & Greg Tremblay). Unfortunately, that really was not the case here. If I was not already familiar with story, I may have gotten a bit confused because there was no real difference among the character voices when they were all 'talking' to each other.

4 people found this helpful

Great book. Audio does it justice.

Have you listened to any of Michael Stellman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I'm very happy that Stellman decided to drop the accent he tried to do in "Tournament of Losers" (also by Derr). There are few things that irritate me as much as this weird notion that audio fantasy books require British accents.

Especially since this is one of my fav books by Derr, so I'm glad I'll be able to re-listen many times without having to suppress that irritation.

9 people found this helpful

Favorite of the year!

WOW. How did I not read this book before?! So I went to Netgalley to try and start reducing my mess of a tbr pile and found the second book of this series on there. I figured since it's a series I should start with book 1 and I LOVE Allen so much!!

This story follows (mostly) Allen's journey as he tries to become an acceptable consort to High King Sarrica, who has promptly kicked him out of court on his arrival. His reasoning: he wants a consort who is a soldier, someone who can rule with him as an equal, not just a pretty face he can't trust. Allen on the other hand, isn't sure why he's been so rudely dismissed and later ignored and humiliated. Instead of letting this get to him too much, Allen puts himself to use, intent on proving Sarrica that he isn't weak. He tries to settle communication affairs with staff, gets to know his surroundings, and finding out about a secret mission in need of a silver tongue (multilingual speaker), Allen appoints himself to the task. A task that ends up being much tougher for everyone involved than Allen expected.

I actually listened to the audiobook and while the narration wasn't amazing, it was pretty well done, keeping me engaged with the story from beginning to end.

I instantly fell in love with Allen's character. I loved how he was so tenacious when it came to being Sarrica's consort. I mean, he'd spent his life (and last 2 years) training to become his partner. He knew 14 languages (FOURTEEN PPL, TWO IS HARD FOR ME ALREADY) like a native, knew how to mingle with the council, and was charismatic enough to make (almost) everyone fall for him. And even with all his talents, he's not prideful or a jerk. He always listens to people and tries to find the best solution to things. And he keeps proving he's not a fragile little prince. Like SARRICA YOUR FOOL.

And speaking of Sarrica. I like how it's almost like experiencing two different characters. We see him from Allen's lense at the start. I swear I was about to knock him out then. And we actually got into his head and realized that Sarrica is stressed out with kingly responsibilities, is still in mourning, and is just an awkward guy who can't seem to express what he wants well. I think this last one made me especially feel for him because I've been in that situation before many times. Plus, his bantering with Lesto and Ren? (the one con about audiobooks is that I have no idea how to spell character names).

Oh, and did I mention that being gay is like being straight in this book?! Like nobody bats an eye at that. And by being gay I mean m/m and f/f relationships since we do get a glimpse at both. There was one thing I was a bit confused about and that's Mpreg. It's mentioned that Sarrica's late husband sired their kids and another character mentions being able to carry children, but I'm not sure if only certain people can or if everyone can.

In terms of the story, it wasn't anything Amazing but coupled with the worldbuilding, I have to say this is one of the few books that I instantly wanted to know more. I wanted to know more about the different cultures mentioned, hear the languages, and just SEE everything. I'm sure it would be beautiful! I also can't say much about the plot but do expect some killing as this does take place in a world where war is a thing.

In terms of the romance, I did enjoy it though if I had to be picky, I did feel like the change in behaviour was a bit abrupt. It's something that Allen mentions at one point but having been inside of Sarrica's head, it also sort of makes sense. We see his change from grumpy ol' fool to smitten high king. And that ending was a bonus for all that tension throughout the story, lol!

I really REALLY want to see more of these two and I'm crossing my fingers that the second book, which focuses on Lesto will bring them back.

3 people found this helpful

great story, weak and overly agressive dialogs

the realm was great, Allan's character was appealing. one thing that bothered me endlessly, the High King and Lesto drove me crazy with their aggressive teasing and crude yet dull comments. " I'll kill you I'll tare you to pieces" every half sentence makes conversations unbearable

2 people found this helpful

Different ... Odd

This book's approach to same sex romance was very different. The best part were the affectionate "manly" relationships between the main male characters as well as the fact that women play an entirely different and unexpected role. Don't read this book for any kind of sexual surprises. There are none. It has no real BDSM themes, just subtle and very sparse hints of kink. The author's command of world creating is top notch, but still bizarre. That's why the mid-level rating. I'm still not sure that I like the book, not sure that I don't. I am not inclined to read another from this author. Oh ... Michael Stellman's narration made this book more than it could ever be with just print.

2 people found this helpful

Good short story to great novel

in 2012 this,was,a greaat little short story. I loved it then, but Megan has done an outstanding job at rewriting and expanding the original. I love this new book, and am going right back for a second listen.

2 people found this helpful

Great Storytelling

Epic story with good characters is the hallmark of this tale. This a definitely a must buy for LGBT fantasy.

1 person found this helpful

Wonderful audio

I loved the print version of this so I already knew the story. However, the audio really brings nuances of the difference characters to life that I hadn't really picked up on in the book before, such as Lesto's softer side and Sarrica's frustration. I am looking forward to rereading the book again to see if it feels any different - although it will still be a 5-star read for me.

5 people found this helpful

Can't wait for the next one!

I loved this book so much that I spaced out listening to it just so it would last longer. If you love queer romance, excellent characterisation, pride-and-prejudice style romances, court intrigue, and protagonists with unusual skills, you're in the right place.

I appreciated, too, that it didn't whizz through the plot too fast; portions of the novel took the time to linger with characters I loved and shed a bit more light on the setting that I'd become interested in, but only once I cared about those things. There wasn't a single thing I didn't love about this book, and the narration is smooth and thoughtful.

1 person found this helpful

Love love love

please please please give me more and the narator is perfect keep them coming please

This is Okay

I have a tendency to overhype myself for things. I get excited about the prospect and promise put up by trailers, blurbs, other reviews. I get lured into thinking, “This is going to be my newest favourite!” and it always stings when it falls short. I know this about myself and I don’t want to put the blame for that flaw on anyone else.

This book was one of the things I got excited for, only to feel the product lacked any sort of captivation. It’s a pretty standard story with the twist being that the culture doesn’t care about sexuality and accepts it as a personal choice. This is done with great effect in another series that I adore, Riverside, and I find it equally charming in this piece. I am always delighted by worlds that display this relaxed and unconscious openness to diversity. It is unfortunate it is one of the only outstanding parts of this otherwise bland piece.

The bad parts of this book are not terrible, but they do catch you at moments when they are at the least welcome. The largest flaw I found was the lack of personality in the characters. The main character, a translator prince with an arranged marriage to the high king, is universally loved without him putting any real effort into it. He has skills in languages, politics and deduction. He’s beautiful and has no distinct flaws. He is a Mary Sue. The only person who doesn’t like him is a man who is determined to hate him instantly, a notion that is chastised out of him by his friends. Pince Allen’s effortless acceptance into Society is disappointing and very... Hollywood and low risk. The lack of danger in the book is another negative, in my eyes. The world Allen enters should be dangerous, rife with backstabbing and plots. There is an attempt to bring that in, with a few murders and a daring adventure away from the court - but it feels like there isn’t a danger in Allen failing.

A part of that is on the narrator’s fault, as there was little inflection or change in their tone no matter the circumstance. The discovery of a murder was spoken in the same way as a love scene.

It’s a pure romance novel, not the political drama I went in thinking it was. Would I have enjoyed it more if I had known that? Yes, I think so. If I hadn’t read book after book with this same feel and pattern, I would love it. I am glad it exists and I am glad less experienced readers will be able to be charmed by it. I wish I could have been one of them.

I am going to rate that as a 3/5 for being overall okay, though it's not one I would recommend or read again myself.

I adore this story....

I love my Kindle book of this story, and this audible book hasn't disappointed me!! Stellman is a great story teller. I could tell when different people were speaking, and he did so without over the top accent/ voice impersonations that often get on my nerves. I have fallen in love with all of the characters all over again, as Stellman conveyed their emotions really well. I was drawn in to Harken, and finished it in two days. This is something I am listening to again and again! Kudos to both Derr and Stellman! If you like fantasy and romance definitely give this story a go, I cannot recommend it enough :)