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Dark One: Forgotten

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About this listen

From #1 New York Times Bestselling, Hugo Award-winning author, Brandon Sanderson, and co-author Dan Wells, comes DARK ONE: FORGOTTEN, a true-crime fantasy audio series and the first entry in Brandon Sanderson’s new DARK ONE fantasy saga.

Every year in the United States there are fifteen thousand murders, give or take a few hundred. Of those, nearly forty percent go unsolved.

In this six-part audio series, Christina Walsh is determined to change that. After struggling with the loss of her father, she sets out on a journey to bring the justice that has eluded her to the families of other victims. And she starts with a particularly strange case. The murder of world-renowned violinist Leona McPherson who mysteriously disappeared years ago after a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As Christina digs deeper, the story gets stranger. Leona was a prodigy, someone too good to be forgotten, but that’s exactly what has happened. She’s been forgotten. Entirely. By everyone who knew her. From the gushing music critic in her hometown to the detectives investigating her murder, even her own mother.

So Christina embarks on a cross-country mission, with her roommate Sophie, to figure out what happened to Leona. In the process, she uncovers a trail of similar victims who have suffered the same fate. But if no one can remember the victims, how can the killer possibly be caught? Christina’s only leads come from a crazed homeless man’s ramblings, a mysterious glass eye, and an otherworldly totem. Is Christina crazy or has she stumbled upon something so implausible it must be true?

©2021 Brandon Sanderson (P)2021 Recorded Books
Fantasy Mystery Women Sleuths
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I struggled with the format initially and initially gave up after about an hour as it just hadn''t hooked me at all. I eventually came back to it and I'm glad I did. The story became a lot more engaging as it went on and I liked the humor.

Keep going if you're struggling near the start...

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A novel concept, delightfully executed. A supernatural thriller with fun characters, immaculate pacing and a great twist.

Wonderfully executed nugget of thrilling perfection

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I pre-ordered this audio-drama because I liked the fictitious true crime concept but if I'm being honest that turned out to be the weakest part. The story was pretty good (nothing life-changing, but I listened to it all in one sitting and it kept me entertained) but the performances were a bit hard to get through at times.

I'm hesitant to blame the actors because I felt like this was more of a direction problem. Because of the 'podcast' format, there's a blurred line between dialogue and narration and the main character is often interrupted by other people in the scene. This could have been really fun, but most of the line reads felt like audiobook narration rather than acting. In short, moments that should have been immersive actually pulled me out of the story because the performances felt too clean.

This kind of thing would feel normal in most audiobooks, where an emphasis on clear pronunciation has become a part of the style, but I think the story would really have benefitted from more of an audio-drama approach. It didn't help that the two main characters are quite young. I think their dialogue is meant to be energetic, but the acting and editing style made it feel very forced. (Long pauses in the middle of scenes really didn't help)

Overall, if you can get past these issues, this is a fun listen. I hope the style doesn't put too many people off because, while I wasn't a great fan of the execution here, the story was solid and it's exciting to see people experimenting with the format of what an audio drama can be. Personally, I'd be quite interested in similar Mainframe/Dragonsteel projects in the future.

Well worth a listen!

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Good performances, strong story and a very nice horror vibe to the entire thing. Can recommend.

Very good

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Dark One: Forgotten is gripping from start to finish. It's presented partly as a podcast, partly following the people making the podcast, as they explore a mystery. The casting is great and performances fit perfectly, especially from the two main characters.

The sample is a good representation of the production values + performance quality and style. Listen to that, and you'll know whether this is for you. Just be assured that it lives up to the promise.

Great story, casting, performance & presentation.

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