Karda: Adalta, Vol. I

By: Sherrill Nilson

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

Karda rule the skies over Adalta. The powerful hawk-headed flying horses have been the protectors of their world for millennia. Now they are called to do battle again to save Adalta from an ancient enemy.

On Adalta for her first solo undercover mission, Marta Rowan is awed by the sight of these beautiful, fierce creatures. She wants more than anything to fly one. As cover for her mission, she applies to join their riders. Sidhari, a majestic bay Karda with shining copper colored wings chooses her, and Marta is caught in a soul-deep bond she never expected.

When her unit is assigned to guard handsome nobleman Altan’s quadrant, they fight a growing attraction. What about her iron-clad rules - no relationships, no friends, no lovers? Will she be able to resist her feelings for Altan, the love she feels for this magical world and sever her soul-bond with Sidhari because she knows, when her mission is over, she must leave?

From award-winning author Sherrill Nilson, the Adalta series is a fantasy adventure for anyone who ever wanted to fly away to a new world filled with magic and romance.

©2014 Sherrill Nilson (P)2019 Sherrill NIlson

Loved it! Can't wait for the next in the series!

In her role as a covert trade ship representative (read: spy), young Marta is set down on a planet settled by refugees from a destroyed earth. In the centuries since the planet Adalta was colonized, the people - who shun technology - have developed "Talent" - elemental powers that they draw from the planet itself. Marta is on the planet to research ways to open it up to trade with the roving ship she grew up on, but she is quickly drawn into the growing political unrest on Adalta...unrest she suspects is being supported by the greedy leader of her trade ship, who may be supplying weapons that could devastate Adalta. As a Mi'Hiru, a member of the all-female elite guard who patrol the skies on Karda -giant creatures with the body of a horse and the head and wings of a bird - Marta finds herself becoming inextricably bound to this new planet and its people, especially the handsome son of a powerful nobleman. This is a fun and exciting fantasy/sci-fi story with just enough romance thrown in! The characters are well-developed and the world feels very real. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to the next in the series.

Super fun listen!

The combination of sci-fi and old school fantasy make this book so fun to read. As I listened, I kept dreaming of flying with Marta and Sidhari!! Sherrill Nilson and the reader Natalie Naurus brought the magic of Adalta to life. They had me sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to find out how Marta was going to navigate her two worlds and survive the forces building against her.

Well...

I like the way that the author writes. I like the way the narrator reads. I didn't like where the story was headed so I quit at chapter 28 of 39. I didn't like the audio quality (and I am set for 'Enhanced') as it sounded muddy.

I was given this audiobook for free and have voluntarily left this review.

Great Start to a Fantasy Series

Karda is a great fantasy novel. It has everything I could want: strong female character, interesting animals populating the landscape, and deep mythology. Adlta is a very intriguing world that I cannot wait to revisit. Marta is a strong character who also isn't afraid to show weakness or fear. The karda are such interesting and deep animals that I immediately found myself drawn into their story and world.

I received this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Engaging and interesting

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

I enjoyed this book and the narrator. I must admit that I liked the story a bit more that I liked the narration, but I still feel the narrator was good and so I gave the performance 4 starts as well. I think any qualms I have about the performance are based solely on my own personal preferences and not on her talent. The audiobook was produced very well too.
The story is good- I was drawn in right away and I really like the main protagonist. There's a lot of traditional fantasy and YA elements to the story, but there are also a few novel aspects to the plot which I liked. I also liked that we were introduced to everything as the protagonist was- she's not native to the world she's on and so she's as clueless as we are about the magic system. So, we learn with her. The pace of the story was good- sometimes I wanted things to move a bit faster- but that was mostly just because I was excited and engaged. I also thought the romance was well done, and (an important factor for me)- there wasn't a ton of intense angst, huzzah! There are some fun sci fi elements to the book too, but I would mostly categorize it as a fantasy novel. Only word of warning is that there are some references to rape and torture that could be triggering for some readers. It's no more violent than most fantasy novels though. Less violent than many.

Overall, if you like fantasy, YA, honorable protagonists, and animal/nature connection magic I think you'll like this book and series.