The Invisible Order, Book Two: The Fire King

By: Paul Crilley

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

With humans threatened by otherworldly creatures, orphans Emily and William Snow, and their friends - the pickpocket Spring-Heeled Jack and the wisecracking Corrigan - find themselves 200 years in the past, trapped in the London of 1666. Desperately in need of help, they go in search of Sir Christopher Wren, who was head of the Invisible Order, an organization dedicated to fighting this threat. But Wren's never even heard of the Order and has no interest in their story.

Stranded, the four cannot agree on their next step. But they'll have to decide quickly, because their enemies are on the move and the Fire King is ready to attack and burn London to the ground.

Set against the Great Fire of London, The Invisible Order, Book Two: The Fire King picks up right where Rise of the Darklings left off, weaving adventure, history, and legend into a thrilling, heart-stopping story.

Also listen to the first book, Rise of the Darklings.

©2011 Paul Crilley (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Fun combination of mythos of Arthur, Raven King, Fairies, and more.

This review is for books one and two as they must both be read for the entire story to be imbibed. What begins with an 1860’s orphan girl’s stumbling upon the fantastical world of Fay-dom, builds to cover a two-hundred year-old war between the Fay and humanity. Crilley does a nice job weaving the disparate content and myths of Arthur, Merlin, the Raven King, Pendragon, good and evil queens, and more. The story is written around 13y.o. orphan girl Emily, her 9y.o., strong-willed little brother William, and the street urchin, Spring-heeled Jack, Emily’s unwitting boyfriend. They travel between their present day London and the same city in 1666, and alternately between the London Fay underworld of both eras. This is a terrific adventure along the lines of Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland, and similar stories. Katherine Kellgren is outstanding in acting each character with their own persona and sound. Enjoy

Good Enough for a Filler

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

I've long been a fan of Katherine Kellgren and actually chose this audiobook by doing a quick search with her name. Kellgren's renditions really soar when the narration itself has personality - either because it is spoken in character like Bloody Jack, or simply because of writing style like The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The narration in The Invisible Order is sadly not as full of forceful personality and the liveliness of Kellgren's voice suffers rather as a result. At times, the dialogue in the text can also feel forced or stilted, which prevents her from going full steam ahead with her hilariously over the top characterizations.

Any additional comments?

Overall, the story and the narration are good enough to keep one listening to find out what happens next.