The narrator makes this book so much better!

I first read this book on Kindle and I loved it, But when I found out it was being made into an audiobook I was anxious to listen. I know a good narrator can make a great story into an excellent story that is exactly what the narrator did in this book. Anyway this review isn’t about the narrator is about this awesome book. Oh and white tape believes is a normal night a strange man shows up to see her daddy. Te has a bad feeling about this and she was right when the stranger leaves her and the father must make the way to the mountains. The assembly is making more rules against magic and since Tay has Powers the only way her father can protect her as a bring her back to the mountains where he grew up. On the way TV will find out many things about herself but the first and hardest lesson is how to live without her daddy who dies along the way and now she has left with her cousin and his friend to warriors who are there to protect her. Tay Is confused by it all especially why her cousin would give up his life to protect her, but all will become clear And she has a lot more surprises in store. I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait for the second book. They have so many questions that need to be answered and I want to Siri what’s going to happen next. I can only hope the narrator is going to do Second book in this series. He has an awesome voice and this is an awesome story.

2 people found this helpful

Fresh take on high fantasy

Parents this is not for teens, while the sexual content isn’t explicit it is definitely in the grey area headed for borderline. The language is moderately heavy (no f-bombs) but when you add the sexual content with the strong allusions to intimate relations, bursting bodices, and talk of rape, plus the magic and medieval battle violence, slit throats, hanging, physical violence, drowning, suicide, assassins, etc.... It easily becomes an R rating.

The story is enjoyable and, like others have mentioned, the world building is fantastic. The POV switching was ok for the most part, but can be a bit confusing when you switch at a pivotal moment without any real warning. If you enjoyed Tolkien than this will be up your ally but not quite the same. Based off the description I expected Te to be more of a “go-getter” and less the “damsel in distress.” Maybe she grows more into that role later in the series but it isn’t terribly apparent here. I don’t mind the plethora of characters; however, the switching between their stories even when the stories started to join together was a bit burdensome from a listening standpoint—I’m sure from a kindle or physical reading vantage this would be less of a problem.

The narrator has a cool accent, differentiations are fairly clear, sound effects are interesting but a bit distracting/jarring. He is well suited to this book.

Overall an enjoyable book, I could personally do with fewer sound effects as they can be a tad overly prevalent in key parts of the story.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 person found this helpful

AMAZING LISTEN!!!!

Thank you Suzanne for this amazing story

I don't review often but when I do its because I have found something I REALLY enjoyed. The narration of this book was one of the best performances i have heard during my audible experience. Cliffhanger but thank god book two is here!

I highly recommend this book and cant wait to listen to the next!!! Trust me its worth it.

Just listen to the sample to hear the amazing narration.

1 person found this helpful

Epic fantasy at its finest

This book was great. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten lost in a fantasy series, and this was a welcome diversion from the real world. The first book in this series is like Tolkien meets Ursula le Guin. A hidden gem that I highly recommend for all fans of classic “sword and sorcery”

1 person found this helpful

wonderful

A unique and fresh take on high fantasy, well welcomed. Lots of POV shifting however it is in a concise manner, dont worry easy to follow so you're not lost and it adds an extra layer to the story especiallywhen the pieces begin to come together. Wonderful and expansive world building beautifully displayed with no info dumps and you're not left drowning in extra seemingly useless fluff trying to figure out how it is relevant to the story. Once it hit the rising action it lagged a tad momentarily but not much and picked right back up, well built rising action and climax that culminated beautifully leaving me wanting so much more. I cant wait for the next book in the series.

The narrator was really good , perfectly suited to this story, really bringing the characters to life. He has an great voice, good vocal range and fantastic pacing. He had clear and concise enunciation. Only complaint was the spound effects.

1 person found this helpful

YES!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I first read this book on Kindle and I loved it, I jumped at the chance to get this book on audible and to get it for free was even better! I absolutely love this book and cannot wait for the second in the series. There are so many questions that need to be answered. The narrator was really good and well suited to this story. He has an awesome voice and fantastic pacing.

1 person found this helpful

The Start of a Wonderful Journey

A fresh epic high fantasy, The Lost Sentinel is the story of Kalaya, its magic, and its magical guardian known as the Sentinel. On the island itself, magic users (mystics) are exiled to the mountains while a group called The Assembly controls everything else. The current Sentinel ("living" among the exiled mystics) is dying. It is hoped that Tei will prove to be the new Sentinel, but she isn't. She's destined to find the next Sentinel. Meanwhile, the people of another island, Stonehaven, are in search of a more sustainable home, and someone on Kalaya has reached out through an astral link to promise their leaders a home in paradise on Kayala in exchange for their help defeating the exiles.

Normally I save my comments on the narrator's performance for the end when I review audiobooks, but oh my goodness, I must gush about this voice! George Ellington's smooth Scottish accent gave the story a medieval highland feel that I think suited it very well. Criticize the world-building for being simply "medieval Europe but magic" if you wish, but I didn't mind at all, and I couldn't imagine a more appropriate regional accent to bring this story to life. Even if I hadn't enjoyed the story, I would have listened to the end just to hear Mr. Ellington keep reading it!

I love the concept of a Sentinel and Confidant pairing, and that these people are so important in keeping their magical home alive. I love the idea that mystics who die in battle can choose to stay in the astral in-between and continue to defend their island home, as several characters end up doing throughout the story. Although I'm not exactly cheering for war to befall Kalaya, trouble's brewing anyway, might as well make it interesting with an army of outsiders. I love the way their role has been set up. Readers can sympathize with those people and understand what motivates them. They need to find a better home that will sustain them, and they're being offered one in exchange for help defeating what they've been told is an oppressive group destroying a peaceful people. The fact that they're being deceived only makes it more interesting.

This book offers numerous points of view (POV/s) and transitions between them sensibly at chapter breaks while keeping the timeline straight and not leaving us in the middle of obtaining vital information. It wasn't confusing at all. Even though the narrative voice is written in the third-person, it's quite clear which character we're following every time a switch takes place. Obviously, we spend a good chunk of time with Tei, the main character. She's well written and interesting, but I didn't feel especially connected to her. This is definitely the sort of book I love because of the concept and plot rather than the characters. That said, I certainly don't dislike her.

I found it difficult keeping track of who the different young-to-middle adult male Kalayan characters were at times. They are indeed given different enough names so perhaps I would have had an easier time if I had read this book visually rather than listened to it. There are three vital men in this category among the exiles, one of whom loves Tei, one of whom is assigned as her protector, and one of whom loves Tei's friend, but they're all so closely tied to Tei and her mission and they're all important to each other, and I think Tei loved one of them but not the one who loved her... See what I mean? This confusion didn't take away from the story at all for me, but it may spoil it for some readers. There's also Brogan, a farmer and singleton whose late father wanted him to join The Assembly but who hates and opposes all The Assembly stands for. This POV was introduced long before his role in the story became apparent, and when his path finally crosses Tei's it feels like they used to know each other and have history, but I'm pretty sure they don't. I did like Brogan's POV sections, and I look forward to more from him in future books, as he's clearly being set up to be a vital player in the upcoming war.

I'm eagerly awaiting a chance on my busy reading schedule to pick up the next two books in this series! I'm hoping for a little more insight into the magic system as the story continues, but mostly I just really want to know what happens to Kayala and its people.

I was asked to listen to this title and sent a promo code by the author via Audiobookworm Promotions in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity! This has not swayed my opinion. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

1 person found this helpful

Mostly a Romance

It was OK. Tei is mostly our central character but she spends a lot of time being protected by the guys, usually carried around like precious luggage. In reading the description for this book, I was looking forward to having a female lead who got stuff done. But for most of the book she is almost helpless, barely making it from scene to scene, almost always with the assistance of this guy or that dude. Then there’s the romance. It seems that any guy who spends a bit of quality time with Tei falls in love with her, so it gets a bit weird with the various male protectors who come courting.

We do get a good start to some world building at the beginning of the book. Then there’s the politics, which I felt added to the plot. Initially, there’s some definite danger and running from danger. Though there was that moment where Tei and her guys are all hiding under some shrubs along a road and Masked Riders are hunting them. I couldn’t help but think of that scene in the LotR movies where Frodo and the Hobbits are evading the Ring Wraiths, hiding off the side of the road.

After that, the romantic elements become more pronounced and that was a bit of yawn for me. The politics did keep my interest a bit longer but then got a bit predictable. I struggled a bit to get through this slump in the middle. The ending does pick up a bit as betrayal and the threat of death loams over Tei. There’s a nice little twist at the end which could make the rest of the series better.

While I can see the story has a decent arc and is written well enough, it didn’t spark anything for me. Sadly, I was bored with most of it. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: George Ellington has a lovely voice that is quite pleasant to listen to. However, with the story having a female lead, I jumped into this book expecting a female narrator. While Ellington had distinct voices for all the characters, his female voices needed some femininity. Then there’s the sound effects. They were odd. Oddly timed. Odd sounds. I could sometimes tell what they were right away and sometimes I was left guessing. The pacing was good and there were no real technical issues with the recording. 3.5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Suzanne Rogerson. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Good story

I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Kalaya is an island nation whose people no longer embrace magic; in fact, they persecute mystics and their protectors. Mystics now hide in the mountains. Tei is a young mystic whose father has taught her to hide her magic. After a visit from a stranger, he decides that it is time for Tei and him to leave for her safety. Tei hides with the other exiles, but she has an important mission: to find the lost sentinel before the current sentinel dies.

The author has done a great job at world building. It was interesting learning about Kalaya and its people. The characters, however, could have used more development. I wasn’t able to connect with the characters, even Tei. Hers is one of three stories that I’m sure will eventually all merge. The second story is about Brogan whom Tei has a connection with although they’ve never met. Farrell is probably my favorite character of the three. He is the captain of a ship but he wants more for his family and his people, and he’s wanting to make some difficult changes.

The narrator has a voice I really enjoy listening to. He also did well with pace and timing.

The Lost Sentinel is a fantasy that many readers will enjoy. I think it should be read with the realization that it would be preferable to read the trilogy, because although the ending was good, it’s not really a stand alone.

Great narrator, but PLEASE stop the sound effects

3.5 stars. I liked this, but I was also ready to be done, and I'm not sure I'll continue on with the series. I read tons of fantasy and books with unique settings, but here I struggled just a bit to understand Kalaya, and there were SO many characters. Each chapter seemed to shift focus from one set of characters to another (all third person but definitely getting into separate POVs). I was listening to the audiobook (which I received for free in exchange for an honest review) and these shifts were quite confusing, because there was NO pause or any indication of a scene shift. The text is available in Kindle Unlimited, so I checked out the Kindle copy to just peek and review when I got a little lost with the narration. I noticed in the text, there was a **** to give readers a visual that the storyline was shifting. The audio needed something there. Just a longer pause, or perhaps a small sound effect.

Because ... holy sound effects! And um, no, just no. They didn't work here and the audiobook would have been much better without them (that's my opinion anyway). I could just picture the narrator and a sound editor with a keyboard of sounds "Gavin heard a baby cry" (narration stops for a moment and we hear the baby cry), "the sounds of gulls overhead ...." insert sounds of gulls and so on ... water lapping, horse hooves clomping, swords clashing, cries of terror. I'd start to relax into the narration and the suddenly SOUNDS would startle me so. My mind would be saying "please, please, let the sounds be over, just get back to the story". The narrator was really good, I loved his accent. I hated the sounds.

Lots of fantasy books like this with a created kingdom and lands have seemed to include a map (which wouldn't have helped with the audiobook version, but I checked the Kindle copy, but no map). I would have liked that here, to better understand Kalaya and the different locations mentioned.

There seemed to be three main storylines - Tei is the main character, the story starts with her and her storyline dominates. Garrick and Rike are with her most of the time. Then there is Brogen, he and the "assembly" and farmers/masked riders storylines. Then there is Farrell, outside of Kalaya, trying to find the island (but it's hidden by magic, by the Sentinel).

I liked the characters, and was interested in where the story was going. I was sad when some characters didn't make it out unscathed ... I peeked at the blurbs for the next books in the series. The trilogy is included in Kindle Unlimited. We'll see if it makes it onto my "to read" list.