Rhapsody

Child of Blood

By: Elizabeth Haydon

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Rhapsody, n (1542). 1: a portion of an epic poem adapted for recitation. 2, archaic: a miscellaneous collection. 3 a (1): a highly emotional utterance (2): a highly emotional literary work (3): effusively rapturous or extravagant discourse b: rapture, ecstasy. 4: a musical composition of irregular form having an improvisatory character.

Elizabeth Haydon is a major new force in fantasy. Equipped with a quick wit, Haydon has a sharp ear for dialogue, panache with characters, and that essential ability to transport her readers into her own fantastical world--a world so real you can hear the sweet music of Rhapsody's aubade and smell the smoldering forges within the Cauldron.

Rhapsody is a woman, a singer of some talent who is swept up into events of world-shattering import. On the run from an old romantic interest who won't take no for an answer, Rhapsody literally bumps into a couple of shady characters: half breeds who come to her rescue in the nick of time. Only the rescue turns into an abduction, and Rhapsody soon finds herself dragged along on an epic voyage--one that spans centuries and ranges across a wonder-filled fantasy world.

©1999 Elizabeth Haydon (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Good book,, overly dramatic reading

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Looked forward to hearing this book after a long time from reading it. The narrator has an off putting way of drawing out words. His tempo or maybe inflection just doesn't quite hit the ear right, personally. It's a good book that starts a series by Hayden that's impressive, but it falls short here.

How could the performance have been better?

Tempo. Inflection. Less, so very less dramatized.

A Detailed World

Really enjoyed this series years ago. A detailed world to get lost in and enjoy. The audiobook flows as nicely as when I read it myself!

Bad narrator

This is one of my favorite stories but the narrator is terrible. Weird cadence, overly dramatic, breathes into the mic too loudly, and the quality of the recording itself is bad, like it was recorded in a closet. Just terrible.

Most captivating story. "Time is a fragile thing."

Started this book so long ago and was never able to finish it. Finally I got the whole story and can't wait to get to the rest of the story.

Speed narration up to 1.15x! Big improvement.

Like many, I initially found the narration to distract from the story. He narrates like Every Word Starts With A Capital Letter. But speeding up the narration a bit made it sound much more natural and enjoyable. I'm on the third book in the series now, and the narration has also improved a bit. It honestly makes me wonder if the way it sounds at 1x is some kind of technical glitch.

One thing I've enjoyed a lot about the narration is the vocalization of each character (again, sounds much better when speed is increased). The narrator also has a lovely singing voice (there are quite a few scenes where Rhapsody, Grunthor and even Achmed sing). Every time Grunthor sings one of his battle shanties, I want to laugh.

So, if you've purchased this book, but the narration is making you grind your teeth (it did for me at first), bump up that speed and give it another shot.