The Words of Kings and Prophets

Gael Song, Book 2

By: Shauna Lawless

Narrated by: Aoife MacMahon, Aidan Kelly, Clara Harte

Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

The sequel to the critically acclaimed The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, The Words of Kings and Prophets is the powerful historical fantasy audiobook by Shauna Lawless.

Ireland, 1000 AD. Gormflaith is unhappily married to Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, and although a queen she struggles with her limited position. As an immortal Fomorian with the secret gift of magic, Gormflaith has a burning desire: to find and destroy the hidden fortress of her sworn enemies, the Descendants, who seek to kill her kind at all costs. She begins to use her magical powers, and discovers she is more skilled than she ever realised... but can she control what she will become?

Meanwhile Fódla, the Descendants' healer, mourns her banished sister but clings to life as the guardian of her young nephew. She seeks a place of safety for them both, but he has secrets of his own that could threaten everything—and Fódla must do all in her power to keep him hidden away from those who would use him for evil.

When a mysterious man comes to King Brian's court, his presence could spell disaster or deliverance for both Gormflaith and Fódla—and for Ireland herself. For he is Tomas, an ambitious immortal with few scruples—and he will do anything to see his plans become reality.

Soon, mortals and immortals alike are drawn towards a bitter conflict that could decide the future of Ireland and all her people.

©2023 Shauna Lawless (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd

Even better than book one!

The story continues to follow Fodla and Gormlaigh with the addition of a third perspective Colmon. It has the great character interactions but adds more magic and more interesting politics and drama. Like the first book there is some battles but mostly plot. I really enjoyed the even more fantastical and magical story.

The audiobook has three voices. Aoife continues to be Folda. She does great. There is a new female voice for Gormlaigh. She is so-so. Seems new to voice recording and her equipment had static and didn’t match the voice levels of the other two speakers. Also a lot of mistakes that weren’t edited out. The third narrator is a male for Colmon and he did great. Two out of three ain’t bad.

Obsessed! Waiting for the next will be so hard!

This sequel was everything I hoped for and more. The slow progression of tension throughout the story was so satisfying. I can't wait to read what happens next!

Spellbinding! (Pun very much intended)

The magic of the first book continues. After the Wonderful character development of book one, the deepening and advancement of each character was natural and at times surprising. A well-paced storyline paired with narration that sucked you into the place, time, and culture.

I can’t wait to buy book three to find out what happens to our heroes!

My only complaint is the narration of the woman who played Gormflaith, though that might be more on the production/editing side. There were pauses, sometimes mid-sentence, where you could tell she was talking a drink or turning a page. Her mic was also very sensitive, so there was a hum that wasn’t present for the other narrators. It took you out of the story for a bit. She also started out a little stiff and robotic, but warmed into a more natural cadence towards the middle of the book.

Overall a fantastic book that I couldn’t put down!

A fantastic sequel

I was a little disappointed they added a second female narrator, but I understand that now, since there are so many female characters, it could get confusing. Aoife is just so fantastic. I'm really thrilled by this series, and the ending gives you a peek at what's to come! can't wait!

Wonderful Irish Mythological Fantasy

A wonderful tale of Irish Mythology, history and fantasy, all woven together in a great tale of mystery and intrigue. And what a great presentation the audiobook is as well. Very much recommend reading this series.

Wonderful story and narration

The story was fantastic. I love this series so much! The only reason I gave the performance 4 stars was because of the odd gaps in Gormflaith’s narration. I could tell that many sentences had been edited together and sometimes the pauses in between sentences were so long that I had to double check the book was still playing. Overall, it wasn’t that distracting and I loved the voices these narrators gave to the characters!

Great Book - Abrupt Ending

Loved this second book in the series. The storylines are excellent and the writing is well done and thoughtful. However, I do think the ending was very abrupt. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Shauna Lawless is brilliant

I absolutely love the style, setting, and story of the Gael Song books so far. Shauna Lawless is fast becoming a favorite author. Aoife MacMahon's performance is outstanding as it was in the first book. Aidan Kelly does a great job as well. My only issue is with this is Clara Harte's performance as Gormflaith. Her raw talent seems obvious but her performance seems rushed and unproduced. Quite a few long pauses for no reason that should have been picked up in production and some stumbling on sentences.

What happened to Gormflaith's narrator?!

I loved continuing this story, but could not stand the robot voice of Gormflaith's narrator. There were some editing issues in her segments as well, long pauses, editing sounds, weird sentence structures and emphasis on the wrong words. All else was perfect! I've become a big fan of Lawless's work and can't wait for the next one!