Child of the Prophecy

Sevenwaters, Book 3

De: Juliet Marillier

Narrado por: Heather O'Neill

Magic is fading... and the ways of Man are driving the Old Ones to the West, beyond the ken of humankind. The ancient groves are being destroyed, and if nothing is done, Ireland will lose its essential mystic core. The prophecies of long ago have foretold a way to prevent this horror, and it is the Sevenwaters clan that the spirits of Eire look to for salvation. They are a family bound into the lifeblood of the land, and their promise to preserve the magic has been the cause of great joy to them... as well as great sorrow.

It is up to Fianne, daughter of Niamh, the lost sister of Sevenwaters, to solve the riddles of power. A shy child of a reclusive sorcerer, she finds that her way is hard: She is the granddaughter of the wicked sorceress Oonagh, who has emerged from the shadows and seeks to destroy all that Sevenwaters has striven for. Oonagh will use Fianne most cruelly to accomplish her ends, and stops at nothing to see her will done. Will Fianne be strong enough to battle this evil and save those she has come to love?

©2002 Juliet Marillier (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Sevenwaters Book 3 doesn't disappoint!

Marillier continues with another Sevenwaters' success. This fantasy-filled story is a wonderful sequel to this series. I've enjoyed reading about the many characters and how their intricate lives mix together. The plot is well thought out and is consistent with the previous books in the series. I'm enjoying this author's writing, as well as the narrator's rendition of it, and look forward to read the next. Well done!

sooo dark a story...

i must admit i am barely through half of this book. with the first two books i could not wait for the next, this one i'm not so sure about. i'm apprehensive about the dark, unsettling feeling i get as i listen.
i do not care for books that have so intensely manipulative main characters, that use their own dark evilness as the force behind their desire. there is not enough 'good' in this book so far to out way the unease that grips me as i listen. although i keep listening in hopes that the light will soon overcome the darkness.
regardless of how well written or how talented the author, i do not want books that leave me unsettled in my spirit. there is enough of that in the world without intentionally taking it in through fiction.
there are things about this book that disturb me, though you do get glimpses of hope, and almost certainly you think you know that in the end 'right' will surpass 'wrong', and all will be well at the end.
now, about what i've read so far...i can't believe after the first two books, that the main female character, although young, is so naive to the point of stupid. infact, i feel angry at the author for making her this way. and the way no one tells anybody else what is going on, always to the detriment of family and loved ones is beyond belief! i hate 'stupid' ! so many secrets, so many lies and deceptions. with such history of how this does not work for them, you'd think they'd learn by now.
i can't believe the author doesn't smarten up her characters a little. the story would be so much better if those with 'powers' were to communicate or use these powers to get where they're going with a little more intelligence. what's the point of having abilities when you don't use them as needed? it would make the story so much better.
i will eventually finish this book in hopes that it gets better, but will say this is the worst book in the series so far.
once again there is too much left out from the second book to this one. just as in the first to the second, there are many years left out. i wanted those years!! i still want those years.
i will say that the narrator is very good, and i enjoy listening to her. i just wish the author had done as good a job writing this book as the narrator did telling it.

Wonderful, except for..

Would you listen to Child of the Prophecy again? Why?

I'd listen to the whoel series again, I think. Can't say for sure, since I'm only half way through. :)

What does Heather O'Neill bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Love her accent and her wide range of emotion in her voice. However, I do not like the way she pronounces names of characters from the first two books. Not saying she mus-pronounces them 9I would not know, to be honest), but nevertheless there's a distinct difference and it's annoying.

Any additional comments?

I wish, oh how I wish the readers of audio book series would be properly educated on how to pronounce names, places, etc.. ESPECIALLY if they come into a series at a later point in time. It is SO frustrating to have to get used to new pronunciations every time the reader changes. Why is that such an issue?!

great story, average sound quality

wonderful story but the sound quality was really off sometimes - the narrator's voice would get really loud and muffled midway through sentences, like it was really poorly edited. this was very jarring and distracting and took away from the experience of the story.

Lovely ending & didn’t notice severe audio issues

I was so excited to learn that this book was not the actual end to the series, even though it is the end of the trilogy. Lovely to have so many loose ends tied up and to follow characters throughout their whole lives, and the lives of their children!

In terms of the audio issues others mentioned, I hadn’t noticed so much but I always listen via speakerphone, not headphones so I don’t think things were as jarring for me.

volume control needed

changing narrators from book to book is annoying but the volume changes in this (3rd) book was particularly annoying

Fantastic Series!

Any additional comments?

I love how each book thus far has had a different narrator. Each book is told from the perspective of a different person and therefore would have different voices.
It would be nice, however, if each narrator pronounced all the characters' names the same way.

I love this series.

it is truly an adult fairy tale. I can't put the book down, it's so easy to get lost in the mists of the past and forget all else. I can't wait to start the next book.

strange narration

the quality of the narration was very off putting...it sounded like parts of it were "overwritten" on a different recording that sounded louder and had a slight echo...I almost returned this book because of it...but wanted to hear the books after this and didn't want to miss anything. If I relisten to this series I will skip this book.

Questionable production and narration, excellent story.

Excellent third installment to the Seven Waters series, but the audio performance left a lot to be desired. The narrator gave it a lot of heart and for that I appreciate her, but the editing was choppy at best and there were a lot of mispronounced names and misplaced inflections. I've come to expect this from Audible Exclusive content. Very very low production quality that ultimately does both the story and the narrators telling them a disservice.