Narrated by Abby Craden
I first read the Tairen Soul series in 2012 (fortunately back-to-back – I doubt I could have waited in between books had I read them as they were published between 2007 and 2010). I remember them fondly. I also remember that when I tried Lord of the Fading Lands (book 1) on audio back then in did not work for me at all and I DNFd it. So it was with high hope that I dived into this listen: a rerecording with new-to-the-series Abby Craden. There were two questions; one – would the story hold up after more than ten years? And two, would the narration be an improvement?
The answer to the first question was, fortunately a resounding yes. Unfortunately, the narration was less successful than I hoped. While it was not as bad as my first listening experience, it was not the narration I was hoping for either.
The Tairen Soul series is actually one really really long book broken up into five. While each has a distinct story arc in itself (although that line blurs in later books), the overarching narrative is far from done and there is an element of cliffhanger to the ending of each as the series progresses. Each time, there is at least a HFN so there is nothing for romance listeners to fear. But, as the first time I read the series, this is also not a series I could easily put aside once I started.
It’s been so long since I first read Lord of the Fading Lands, I only had vague memories of the storyline, so in many ways this listen felt very fresh. The story is set in a completely different world to this one, with various races including the Fey. Of the Fey, there is a tiny subset who are also “Tairen Souls”. Tairens are a kind of cross between a giant lion/panther and a dragon. They breathe fire and can fly like dragons; they hatch eggs like dragons. But they live in prides and have fur and paws. Rainer vel’En Daris is the Fey King. Also known as Rain Tairen Soul, he is the Defender of the Fey and the leader of the Fey’Bahren Tairen pride. The last known living Tairen Soul he can shapeshift and take the form of a huge black Tairen.
The Fey are dying. And so are the Tairen. Something is attacking the kitlings in the egg and causing them to die. The last hatchlings are under threat and if they die, then so do all the Tairen. The Fading Lands are also dying. Desperate, Rain goes to the oracle, the Eye of Truth, for an answer and is sent to Celieria, the human lands outside of the Mists which separate them from the Fey. A millennium earlier, after the murder of his mate, Rain had scorched the earth. He had gone mad with pain and grief and has only recently* returned to sanity. He does not expect to find a “truemate” a “shei’tani” in Celieria but that is what happens. (*Recent to a Fey is about 300 years.)
Ellysetta Baristani is the adopted daughter of a woodcarver and his wife. They found her when she was an abandoned baby in the woods and have raised her as their own. Now aged 24, Ellie has no idea of what fate has in store for her. Attending the annual parade where a member of the Fey comes to the capital, she is even more excited to know that Rain Tairen Soul is also attending. All her life she has dreamed of Rain and she has steeped herself in Fey tales and lore.
Something about Ellie calls Rain out of the sky. Her soul calls to him. His to her. They are truemated but there are some barriers to a true bond forming. If Ellie does not accept the bond, then Rain will die. His previous mate was e’tani – beloved but not a mate of the soul. There is only one truemate in all the world and it is impossible to survive without that person once found. Many, many fey live multiple lives and never find their truemate.
It is the first time in known history for a Tairen Soul to find a truemate. The oracle said that Ellysetta would save the Tairen and save the Fey. As it happens, it will be Rain’s role to save Ellysetta.
There is a huge amount of worldbuilding, magic, politics, betrayal and drama; and woven through it all is a wonderful love story as, over the course of the series, Ellysetta’s soul reaches out to complete the shei’tanitsa bond with Rain. Lord of the Fading Lands tells only the first ten days or so of the story – which is a surprise given how dense the story is. I was often forcefully reminded that not much time had passed even though so much had happened.
The magic is easy to understand and thankfully for all that so much is packed into the book, there is little by way of info-dump. It’s all seamless and smooth, essential to the story and not hindering the pace.
I had no trouble believing the connection between Ellie and Rain and I was completely caught up in the story – just like the first time I read it. I don’t have time here to go into more of the plot, but fans of fantasy romance will love it (if they have not already).
I did not enjoy the narration. It was certainly competent enough, but I didn’t experience it as adding anything to story like the best performances do. Ms. Craden often sounds like she is clenching her jaw/back teeth and this led to some of the characters coming across as more uptight than they actually were on page. It led to me clenching my own back teeth a little too. While I enjoyed her character voices for Lillis and Lorelle, Ellysetta’s young sisters, I didn’t find the male character voices as convincing. There was also a breathy quality to her voice and a cadence that didn’t quite work for me.
Some of the pronunciation didn’t seem right either. For instance, Celieria has an extra syllable than the way Ms. Craden pronounced it – “Celeria”. That said, there are a lot of new (aka made-up words) in the book and I have no idea whether she said those correctly or not. They sounded believable enough for the most part.
I wish the narrator had been someone like Grover Gardner, Kate Reading or Davina Porter. As it is, I’m binge-reading the series again – but in print.
Kaetrin
Buy Lord of the Fading Lands by C. L. Wilson on Amazon
