Well of Shiuan

Morgaine, Book 2

By: C.J. Cherryh

Narrated by: Jessica Almasy

The world of Shiuan was doomed. Rising waters and shattering earthquakes had sealed its fate. The only escape routes were the Gates. And just as this knowledge dawned on the desperate tribes and cities there appeared the woman Morgaine--whose mission was to seal Shiuan's Gates.

©1978 C.J. Cherryh (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Wrong narrator

I have loved this series for years in book form, however by the second book of the Audible release, I have come to regret my purchase. I thought if I listened long enough I would be able to adapt, but I can't. Simply put, the narrator is the wrong voice and more so, the wrong gender for this series. The entire narrative of the series unfolds through the eyes of the young male warrior, Vanye. It's his thoughts, his perspective, and his observations. There is only one other character point of view later in the series and he is also male. As such, it would have been more appropriate to have a male narrator of a timbre able to convey as a young man. To have Vanye's story told in a fast paced, child-like, female voice has proven to be too distracting for me to finish.

Great story, terrible reader

I love Cherryh, and this story was fantastic. A remarkable world, fully drawn and believable, but very alien. Believable motivations, great characters, and a beautiful pervasive melancholy.
But the reader is awful. She reads way, way too fast; she pronounces a number of words working; and most frustratingly, she often pronounced characters’ names differently at different times. This makes it hard to follow the story, given that all the names are in made-up languages. Is it JherUn, Jherr’n, Jairin— I have no idea!
Still worth a listen.

Great story but bad narrator

To make the listening of this book bearable, I had to slow down the playback speed to 85%.

Disjointed and boring

Just not an interesting story. Characters that you don’t care about and events that just don’t flow well together. Narration isn’t ideal. Definitely listen at .85 speed or you won’t get anything.

Worst. Narrator. Ever.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Definitely Not. I had to stop. I couldn't take it any more. I managed to get through the first book of the series but I couldn't stand listening after the first couple of pages of the second book and I listened to the rest of series of books with text-to-speech.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Well of Shiuan?

The whole Book of Morgaine is absolutely wonderful. It is one of my all time favorite stories and I think I've read it at least a dozen times over the years.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This is the worst narrator I have ever listened to. She speaks so quickly it sounds like she's trying to get through the story as fast as humanly possible. Also, her voice is high pitched and irritating and breathy all at the same time. Her narration completely ruined the listening experience for me.

Was Well of Shiuan worth the listening time?

Not with this narrator. It is better to buy the book and listen with text-to-speech.

Any additional comments?

Reissue this with a different narrator!