Raven Flight

Shadowfell Series, Book 2

By: Juliet Marillier

Narrated by: Henrietta Meire

Neryn has finally found the rebel group at Shadowfell, and now her task is to seek out the elusive Guardians, vital to her training as a Caller.

These four powerful beings have been increasingly at odds with human kind, and Neryn must prove her worth to them. She desperately needs their help to use her gift without compromising herself or the cause of overthrowing the evil King Keldec.

Neryn must journey with the tough and steadfast Tali, who looks on Neryn's love for the double agent Flint as a needless vulnerability. And perhaps it is. What Flint learns from the king will change the battlefield entirely-but in whose favor, no one knows.

©2013 Juliet Marillier (P)2020 Tantor

Interesting Read

This is the second book in the series. The series has certainly dawn me in as the reader.

I very much appreciate the work that narrators put into making a book available to me while I work at non demanding tasks. It doubles the impact of my time as I am completing tasks AND moving through a book.

This being said, however, ( and with respectful thanks to the narrator ), I truly struggled with the her interpretation of Neryn’s character, emotions, and voice. The tenure of the voice which the narrator gives to her makes her to feel of a weak, milk toast sort of character. Neryn is actually a tremendously strong character with deep passion to her feelings. Her narrated voice felt “mousey” or whiney to me. I don’t feel the speaker knew how to convey this “strength AND struggle combined” authentically.

The narration style was also very clipped and jerky, Ie. in her delivery, rather than allowing the reading to flow. This made it difficult for me personally to listen to. I had to get past this in order to listen. All of these elements softened somewhat as the novel went on. Perhaps I adjusted somewhat to the readers style or perhaps she relaxed a bit more and brought her authentic voice.

All in all a very good read. I was gifted a hard copy of the series for my birthday from my daughter and was drawn into the first book so deeply that I let responsibilities suffer. A compliment to the author. Audible helps prevent this for me. Thank you, Audible and thanks again to the narrator. If you read this, I hope my input is helpful and constructive.

Beautiful, magical, and earthy

I’ve finished the trilogy weeks ago, and I’m still missing these characters. Neryn is a gentle hero, confident is her own ways of contributing to the cause. This is in contrast to some other heroins who are unrealistic or begrudging of their abilities. There are some very dark themes, as in all of Juliette Marillier’s books, but there is always something good that grows from the darkness, and love always prevails. This is a series that leaves the reader deeply satisfied.

A Riveting Story

I literally could not stop listening to this well crafted story. Now, straight to the next in rhe series, "The Caller"

Good Series

I enjoyed the second book in this series even more than the first. Great charcters, exciting plot, and love the Good People. Fantastic narration, especially strong with the Good People's accents. I'm a big Marillier fan, and this series does not dissapoint. Not quite competing with the amazing Sevenwaters series, but solid and with the character depth and world building I appreciate from Marillier. Running off to buy book three and start listening!

Possibly the best narrator out there

I love Juliet Marillier, but this narrator adds depth and complexity to the story that you must listen to. 10/10, would recommend to anyone.