Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter

Narration by Khristine Hvam

This audiobook defies convention. Jam-packed with a number of different themes, from a polygamist cult to vampires, shapeshifters, witches, and everything in between, Blood of the Earth is sure to keep the listener entertained with its highly unique and well thought out, complex urban fantasy world. Add to that Khristine Hvam’s narration, which is simply divine and adds a whole other level of authenticity and feeling to this already must listen to title. In fact, the whole audiobook package is so well put together that it just earned Faith Hunter and Khristine Hvam a 2017 Paranormal Audie Finalist nomination which was just announced earlier this month!

Before running out and buying this audiobook, however, a few words of caution are worth noting. First of all, this book is romance light. Like most UF series, the debut novel is based on the UF world building, not the romance. All that said, there are a few potential love interests for the heroine, Nell Ingram (the main character of this series) that this book teases the listener with, though almost no romance is actually contained within this book.

Second, it’s worth pointing out that Blood of the Earth is the debut book in a spin-off series (Soulwood) to the long-running Jane Yellowrock series (10 books have been published so far, with the 11th expected in May of this year) by the same author and narrator. Although it is the first book in this series, some knowledge of the Jane Yellowrock UF world is helpful to more quickly and better understand this series, including background knowledge on several of the main characters that appear in this series. Plus, the Jane Yellowrock series is fantastic and for PNR/UF lovers a must listen to series in and of its own right (I’d put it right up there with Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series and Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series). However, I do caution that if you are listening to both series, you should do so in the order that the books have been released so far. I had only listened to the first few books in the Jane Yellowrock series and as a result this book had spoilers for some of the books that I have not yet listened to. I still plan to listen to the entire Jane Yellowrock series, but I would have waited to listen to this book until I was further along in that series. As it stands, now I’m hooked on not just one but two series by this fabulous author/narrator combo!

Nell has had a tough life. Born into a polygamist, religious cult where women are subservient to men, and having a fiery and dominant personality, Nell has been at odds with this culture her whole life. So much so, that today she lives outside of the cult in a rural area where she is pretty much off the grid. Before getting to this place in her life, however, she had to suffer the harsh realities that included her arranged marriage to a polygamist couple before she even reached the age of majority (to escape becoming the youngest wife of the cult’s leader). She is finally free now and even inherited her husband’s land after he passed away shortly after his first wife’s submission to a terminal illness. Now she hopes she can free her sisters from the polygamist life, even while the cult’s leader that she spurned still has his eyes set on bringing her back to the cult and taking his revenge on her for spurning him so many years ago.

It is against this backdrop that PsyLED, a Homeland Security agency in charge of paranormals, comes calling. Led by Agent Rick LaFleur, one of the major characters of the Jane Yellowrock series, the PsyLED team, which includes a whole cast of supernatural beings with various powers, comes to Nell hoping to recruit her, based on a tip from Jane Yellowrock. Jane met Nell in a prior book during a mission to track down a rogue vampire. During that trip, Jane took note of Nell’s unusual supernatural abilities, which include an affinity with, and powers over, nature and connection to the woods she lives in.

During this PsyLED recruiting visit, however, several girls are kidnapped, and Nell’s help in that endeavor, given her prior connection to the church/cult, becomes even more invaluable. Will the team be able to save the girls before it’s too late? And just what is going on in the cult that is leading to these kidnappings? Moreover, what are Nell’s true powers and how can she help?

Having enjoyed Kristine Hvam’s narration of the Jane Yellowrock series, I knew that I was in for a treat with the narration in Blood of the Earth. I was slightly concerned that now that I associated her voice with the first series, that characters might sound confusingly similar to the prior series. However, Ms. Hvam alleviated my concerns and even exceeded my expectations when she showed her incredible range by creating more unique, distinguishable, and personality appropriate voices in Blood of the Earth. In addition, she maintains remarkable consistency for the characters that appeared in the prior series, making their identification possible just from their voice without the need for dialogue tags.

Ms. Hvam’s voice for Nell was spot on, sounding just like a small, rural town inhabitant and yet remarkably strong. Combining these influences, Ms. Hvam perfectly brings to life the spunky, strong, and hope inspiring Nell (who by the way, sounds completely different from Jane Yellowrock – further separating these intertwined series)! Additionally, Ms. Hvam pays close attention to the mood of the scene, appropriately varying her speed and emotion-laden delivery for each different mood portrayed in Ms. Hunter’s writing.

All in all, Blood of the Earth is a great debut to a new spin-off UF series. I can’t wait to further explore this magical and complex UF world, as well as, listen to more of Ms. Hvam’s performances!

[section label=’Audiobook Information’ anchor=’Audiobook Information’]

BJ


AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION

TITLE: Blood of the Earth

AUTHOR: Faith Hunter

NARRATED BY: Khristine Hvam

GENRE: Urban Fantasy

STEAM FACTOR: Glad I had my earbuds in

REVIEWER: BJ [button type=’link’ link=’http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J4HCVRO/?tag=audiogalsnet-20′ size=’btn-lg’ variation=’btn-default’ target=’blank’]Buy Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter on Amazon[/button] [section label=’Excerpt’ anchor=’Excerpt’]EXCERPT:

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