The Dryad Storm

De: Laurie Forest

Narrado por: Julia Whelan

The New York Times bestselling series!

Magical forces clash and Erthia hovers on the brink of ruin in the can't-miss finale of Laurie Forest’s epic fantasy series, The Black Witch Chronicles!

Who can survive the Shadow storm?

Black Witch of prophecy Elloren Gardner Grey has unleashed her powers and embraced her legacy as a Dryad and guardian of the Forest. But the losses—of life, of love—have been almost too great to withstand as the Shadow continues to devour the world. With only a tattered shred of hope remaining, the Bearers of the Wand of Myth must battle their way back to each other to mount a final stand.

But Elloren and her allies are not only facing Mage Vogel's advancing forces—the armies of the Eastern Realm will stop at nothing to see the Black Witch struck down.

With Elloren's bonded mate prophesied to kill her, Shadow demons rising, and the ties between allies unraveling, can this fracturing world unite to face down the coming storm?

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Listen to all the books in the Black Witch Chronicles!

• The Black Witch
• The Iron Flower
• The Shadow Wand
• The Demon Tide
• The Dryad Storm
• Wandfasted (prequel ebook)*
• Light Mage (prequel ebook)*

*Also available in audio in The Rebel Mages anthology

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Laurie Forest (P)2023 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Not great, not terrible

Pros:
I was really glad things ended the way they did. The conclusion made sense and in the middle/end of the book, there was a good twist. Fine for the last book in a five book series.

Cons:
I felt like the book could have been SIGNIFICANTLY shortened. First off, I read this book a few years after the release of the previous book so I don’t remember any characters aside from the main love triangle. The book starts out with a super long prolog about characters I don’t remember (and at that point I just want to hear what happens to our main girl). In the middle/towards the end the author does a really good job wrapping up the love stories of all the characters (quite the feat) but I really didn’t like it. It felt like the same love story over and over again. Within the last 30 minutes I thought I had escaped discussion about the purple moon BUT NO (if I had a donut for every time that moon was brought up I’d be full and would likely have diabetes). Instead of focusing on all the other characters m, I would have preferred a fully flushed out conflict between Elloren and Yvan. I still haven’t fully recovered from elloren thinking Yvan was dead and then, Willy nilly, getting together with Lucas. How can Yvan forgive her so easily? The author only spent roughly 5-10 minutes explaining and fully flushing out this love triangle. I’m so dissatisfied. 3 hours left in the book and I didn’t care to finish. I did finish it and completely didn’t think it was necessary. Aside from our main/sub characters from the first book, I didn’t connect with many of the other characters and thought it was a total waste of time.
I also really disliked another aspect of the overall plot line. SPOILER WARNING: why does everyone have to become a Druid in order to fight together and protect the natural world? I understand that it can be a metaphor for “joining” together with everyone, but, as a POC, I didn’t appreciate this take. Throughout this series, we see parallels between racism, sexism, and hate between Earthia (?) and the real world. Yet we need to change our DNA in order to “join” with everyone and fight evil? I wish to e author spent more time trying to reconcile and develop a more believable solution…. Instead of focusing on everyone’s (very repetitive) love life.
Just a personal preference, SPOILER WARNING, but I also didn’t like the action. I oftentimes felt like the “good” side was being obliterated, despite the build up that elloren is the all powerful, black witch. I would have appreciated better fighting scenes. I know the theme of the book was for love to override evil, but it just didn’t feel consistent with the first book and left me feeling alittle lackluster. I saw a wuxia drama that conveyed this theme while also remaining consistent with the violence within the series. It was very satisfying and made me bawl my eyes out.

Overall, I’m really disappointed with this last book, yet happy with how everything ended. Please feel free to read if you’d like to know what happens, but don’t raise your expectations (you can easily read the sparks notes and get the same info). Also feel free to speed through a lot of the love scenes… or just skip them.

Loved this series!

This entire series has been so good! I really love time and effort put into the development of the story and characters. I love that it WAS a long story! So many surprises, ups and downs. What a ride!

Perfection!

Wow, it was worth the wait. I disagree with the reviews saying it was too long. I believe many prefer immediate gratification, as opposed to a thoroughly flushed out poetic story such as this. With that said, Laurie has truly brought the Black Witch series to life. She is truly a talent!

Julie Whelan is an Oscar worthy talent. She never disappoints in bringing the story alive.

Thank you Laurie for the glorious ride!

Great ending to this epic series

Wow. Just wow. The conclusion of this epic YA fantasy series was fantastic - all the storylines pulled beautifully to their individual conclusions wrapped up in love and hope. It was definitely another stay up too late, cannot put it down, it should get more than 5 stars kind of book. I was equally desperate to read it all at once and also to savor it and make it last. The storyline was imaginative, the characters were real and relatable, and the writing was captivating. It had a perfect balance of all the best plot elements and the world building continues to be phenomenal, woven together scene by scene, and layer by layer. With the addition of this book, Erthia now exists as a living breathing place full of three dimensional beings, so real it feels like I have been there and lived with these characters. This is book 5 in the Black Witch Chronicles and the overall story arc spans the entire series and this book picks up where the last book left us. Elloren has bonded with the great tree, III, to become a Dryad Witch Guardian. Lukas is dead and she has renewed her Wyvern bond to Yvan. There are multiple sets of forces out to destroy her after she was forced to participate on the attack on Voloi and her allies are scattered. To beat the evil mage Vogel, who wields the Shadow Wand, and save Erthia, Elloren and her strong allies along with all the people of Erthia with their prejudices and multitude of conflicting cultures and religions will need to find a way to unite. Be prepared, this story packs quite an emotional punch - terrifying, thought provoking,and uplifting all at the same time. It is ultimately a story of good versus evil but Forest does such a fantastic job of creating multi-layered worlds, characters and storylines that that’s an extreme oversimplification of what this story is. So strap in and enjoy all the intrigue, fighting, dangerous situations, end of the world scenarios, paranormal creatures, evil masterminds, henchmen, loyal friends and family, tragic back stories, secrets, mystical coincidences, snark, laughs, soulmates, redemption, hope, love, and so, so many plots twists.

Julia Whelan did a phenomenal job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice a multitude of characters quite convincingly.

Ridiculously long!

I love this series and had to finish it because I started it. I needed to see how it ended. This book could’ve been cut in half however, and delivered the same message. I am surprised that a publisher wouldn’t have forced an edit but for all I know, maybe it was even longer, which would be hard to believe way too many characterssome superfluous and a great deal of time was spent on making sure everybody had a partner for life, which really was not the point of the story. If you have read the rest of the series, like me, we will probably want to finish it, but just be prepared. This is one of those rare occasions when an abridged version would have been welcome.

so much love

I guess I was expecting more fight then love. There is a time and place but there was so much love, it over looked the actual story of the world ending! EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER ever mentioned throughout the whole series, found their soul mate and had like a whole chapter detail about it. Some could have simply been done as a wrap up at the end of the book. I should have known this is where it was headed after the last book filled with so much lovey dovey stuff. It was missing the controversial topics that was in the first book, the action when elorin was training in shadow wand, and way more detail of the 13 years later at the end of this book. it did wrap up very good but I feel disappointed for the long wait and long book. I struggled to make it though. if you love the love stories, you'll 'love' this book.

More Harlequin Romance than what I care for

I thoroughly enjoyed the previous books. However, this one has more of a Harlequin romance tone than fantasy novel. The story is good, but the constant “flowery descriptive language” and “merging” became tiresome. Didn’t enjoy this one as much as the previous novels.

So Very Sad

4 stars because I can't bring myself to ever give this series 3.

Oh my goodness... I've championed this series for years now and have recommended it endlessly. I was absolutely heartbroken when Lukas died, and I so wanted the forest to bring him back. With all the other magical happenings, this wouldn't have been that much of a stretch. And since the idea of gardens was introduced, a three paired relationship could have been beautiful! I'm so very sad that this never came to be.

We spent a lot of time in this book with couples hooking up. It was extremely off-putting. So much so that Elloren's POV wasn't really there. It could have been so moving, so powerful, and so epic. Then, toward the end, we skip a massive amount of time, and we don't get to witness her pregency or birth and all those tender moments that were so freely given out in the first books. Those moments and experiences that hooked us as readers were missing, and I'm mourning them, heavily.

This was so bogged down in repetitive themes of religion and bigotry. And yes, that world was terrible, and yes, it needed a resolution where they all came together. But I was left feeling just meh.

And we waited so long for this as it was picked up by a publisher, and the release date was pushed out. I'm just sad. Now, I have to wonder what the publisher did to this gorgeous series. Because it wasn't the words of Ms. Forest that I've come to crave.

A Harrowing But Very Satisfying Conclusion To My Forever Favorite Series!!

~~~”But there is something unshakable here. In our bonding. In spite of every last thing the world has thrown at us all. The story is not yet over, III promised, and the idea lights in my heart that maybe this moment is an important part of that story—to love, against all the odds.
Maybe that’s the important part of everyone’s story right now.” ~~~


Well, my friends, the conclusion that I have waited years for has come to pass and I can honestly say that it was worth the wait.

This incredibly imaginative series with its amazing characters, unbelievably detailed world-building, and all-inclusive life & love-affirming messages is my favorite series ever and I will never not recommend it to all who will listen!

Seriously, this series should be taught in every high school in every nation. The world would be so much better off learning the lessons this series teaches. I, as a homeschooling parent, made sure my daughter read this series and, in so doing, feel I have raised an accepting and loving child. A child not influenced by preconceived ideas but who can judge independently and come to her own conclusions.

The Dryad Storm is told in eight parts with a multitude of different POV’s. This masterpiece sees Elloren and her allies (some hesitant and some downright hostile) through The Battle for Erthia and its aftermath. That’s the simplest, least spoilery way I can describe it.

Along the way, you will feel every emotion known to man including despair, disgust, fear, horror, frustration, elation, and f**k yeah!!

There’s All The Feels along with a great amount of romance between many different types of couples and, dare I say, a quadrouple?! LOL! No, it’s not reverse harem..all is nicely resolved but I would classify this book NA. It’s certainly more risqué than the beginning books’ YA designation. But I feel like it follows the natural progression of the relationships built in the series and all is tastefully written.

All comes full circle, especially Elloren’s character growth from naive girl to full warrior woman, and all loose ends tied up giving the reader that big sigh of relief and feeling of satisfied completion.

But your also left with Laurie’s overriding messages to love all peoples of all faiths, colors, and beliefs. To harness your ability to be empathetic and sympathetic to your fellow man and, most importantly of all, to our beleaguered and embattled earth.

For the audiobook listeners, Julia Whelan once again gives a phenomenal mind-blowing performance!! The three narrators of this series all give extraordinary narrations that bring this most compelling series to poignant life!

So, whether you’re a reader, listener, or both, do not miss this most important of epic fantasy series!!

ok, the story got too long, but JULIA WHELAN!!!!!!

the last book was ok, a little too long at the end, but it was worth the wait. Thank you Laurie.
But I'm most impressed with Julia Whelan, always a pleasure to hear her Voice..but in this series...oh men oh men.
Amazing narration 👏👏👏 I cried and laugh, got very angry, thank you for bringing all this emotions to life with your narration.