I've already pre-ordered the sequels.

Being objective this isn't great literature and you have to totally suspend your disbelief about abilities and coincidences, even allowing for this being a fantasy novel. It is however, a really enjoyable tale vastly improved by the brilliant narration of Derek Perkins. Perkins acting is brilliant, he uses a variety of accents and tones of voice to give life to the characters and also has a really pleasant narrating voice. The plot is interesting, the characters engaging, varied and likable. Ben Hale is an author whom I would happily buy again.

If you only listen to audio-books occasionally and don't use more than your one credit a month, I have to say that there are better stories out there by authors like Terry Pratchett, Patrick Rothfuss and Ben Aaronovitch. However, if like me, you use Audible a lot, have run out of stories by your favorite authors and just want to listen to something that is easy to get lost in, then this looks like a great series for you. I think this book was well worth the credit I spent on it and I have already ordered both sequels and am glad to see the same narrator is used for both.

I wouldn't usually mention price but at the current time Audible is practically giving them away, so I would order yours as soon as possible. If you are reading this after Audible will have inevitably had to put the price up, have a look at the cost of buying 24 credits which you can use anytime (go to account details then click on Change my membership - you will not be obligated to change unless you click on one of these options). Each credit works out less than the price of most kindle books and they don't have the production cost of audio-books, so at this price each book still works out a bargain.

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9 people found this helpful

trudged along for 2nd time

narrator was excellent
I often chose books because he has narrated them.
there's none of the "oh hurry up I need to go to the ĺoo" .

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Disappointing book narrated for kids

What disappointed you about Elseerian?

Badly narrated and difficult to listen to. This is a book for kids.

What could Ben Hale have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

It would help if Ben had made it clear he had written this story for children

How could the performance have been better?

By getting a decent narrator

Any additional comments?

I purchased book 1 and book 2 at the same time. I wish I hadn't as these books have tarnished my library with stuff I will not listen to and don't want in there.

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2 people found this helpful