Crypt of the Moaning Diamond

Forgotten Realms: The Dungeons, Book 4

By: Rosemary Jones

Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg

Explore the terrifying depths of the dungeons of Faerun!The Siegebreakers are a tight-knit group of eccentric mercenaries who boast they can safely bring down the walls of any fortress, and will do so for the right amount of coin. But when the walls of their latest job crash down on their heads, trapping them in ruins treacherous with magic, monsters, and ever-rising water, it's all they can do to stay alive. Undaunted, the Siegebreakers are determined to escape and finish the job.

©2007 Wizards of the Coast LLC (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Basically good

Any additional comments?

I liked the story. This is what I expect in a D&D subgenera story (as opposed to Fantasy) -campaigning, in a dungeon or a city or somewhere. These characters are part of a siege (an army plus the hired mercenaries), end up in nearby dungeons, and so must go adventuring to get out (and get some booty along the way if possible ;-)

I liked the characters. The mercenary group is made up of a variety of people and races, a little too anglo-western female child targeted which is not this subgenera, yet I liked it overall. The characters like being together and are mission focused. Best of all, while they might be too quirky, they are not unbelievably stupid, which is far too common and just kills a story for me. The army that the mercs are working for are mostly guys and of a different, Ali-Baba like culture. This makes for some good interplay between the three groups; the mercs, the army they are with, and the opposing army group.

The narrator's voice is good but the narration almost ruined it for me. The problem was that so much of the story was spoken as if this was a cartoon for small children. I mean, I liked watching the Power Puff Girls with my little nieces, as that was the kind of show it was meant to be. But it is pretty hard to enjoy a D&D story when the narration keeps making the PPGs pop into your mind because it sounds so similar.

A fun Read

Would you listen to Crypt of the Moaning Diamond again? Why?

This is my first book I have read of the series but it has made me want to get the other three. The books all loosely relate to each other in a dungeon type setting... and the adventure of escape always thrills me. I did enjoy this book though. A nice little fantasy to escape into.

What does Dara Rosenberg bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She was a terrific narrator. You know one is a good narrator when you forget that you are listening to just one person read the story. Her characters were great and she displayed great emotions for all of them. I'm glad she does the other books in the series.

Any additional comments?

Will go back to the first book in the series to read it but it doesn't have to be in order.