Crystal Queen

Riland Throne, Book 2

By: John M. Olsen

Narrated by: Andrew L. Barnes

Devotion. Duty. Power. Deceit.

Princess Lilia Talendor of the Graven Kingdom finds herself promised to marry a foreign king to secure her father's release. She will do her duty, but even the plans forced upon her suffer as slavers take advantage of chaos in the kingdom during the king’s absence.

King Gavin Stoutheart wants desperately to meet and impress Princess Lilia, even if she is the daughter of his enemy. He hopes to bring peace to all of the Crystal Kingdoms, but traitors, spies, and uncertain advisors challenge his plans as he seeks to discover why the princess has been delayed.

Crystal magic and animal avatars join the intrigue as challenges come from all quarters. War looms on the horizon, and one thread runs through it all. Gavin needs allies, and Lilia could be the key to saving or destroying both their kingdoms.

©2018 John M. Olsen (P)2019 Immortal Works LLC

Better than the first book!! A must read!

I rarely say this, but this second installment is better than the first book! Full of intrigue, puzzles, and fantastic mind games. If you enjoyed the first book you will surely enjoy this one as the adventure continues to watch Gavin attempt to rule his barony in a way no one would think to—friend and foe alike. I’m excited to read the next book and see how his decisions fair against insane odds!

Parents: PG-PG13 Other than war and deception with blood and guts, but nothing inappropriate for kids. There's no bad language and no sexual content.

Narrator has soothing voice, interesting music addition, and there was only an occasional issue with repeating words and odd pauses.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

CRYSTAL QUEEN

A GREAT STORY FILLED WITH ADVENTURE!
NARRATOR DOES A GOOD JOB. LOOK FORWARD TO MORE FROM THE AUTHOR.

Great magic and intrigue

I really enjoyed this probably even more than the first. The intrigue ramps up with political factions from every side while detail is still put into minor interactions. Very good story and great audiobook!

Great series

After reading book 1 I couldn't wait to see what Gavin would do. It turns out that the girl that was to become his wife was just as cunning as him. Lilia the young princess set out to fulfill her part of the agreement made by Gavin & her father. Along the way her servant Rona & Lilia were captured and became slaves. Gavin had troubles of his own. He set out on a journey with great task of discovering vital information from someone he didn’t trust. While Lilia & Rona planned to escape their paths were destined to meet. Great characters & I love the parts that all the animals play no matter how big or small. This author has my attention now. Looking forward to book 3.

Baskerville Book Reviews

Book 2 had a very boring start, I believe book 1 did as well. There’s just far too much court politics and drama, back-and-forth nonsense that puts me to sleep. I’ve seen it done well, this just isn’t one of those cases.

When the story finally goes somewhere, it’s nice. But it wasn’t as exciting or interesting as the first book was when it got interesting. Again, there was too much back-and-forth nonsense that had me pausing the book constantly to listen to other stuff. I’m fine with a slow-paced novel if it’s building up to something interesting. This was just downright dull at times.

The narration was alright. The narrator did a good job of giving the characters life, while the overall narration was a little dull. There wasn’t much in the way of inflection or tone changes, which led to it sounding monotonous.

There were 1 or 2 instances of what sounded like repeated audio clips. When I had my phone close, I noticed an obnoxious background hissing as well.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

Great read

Crystal Queen (Riland Throne Book 2), my second read from author John M. Olsen. From the opening pages of Crystal King (Riland Throne Book 1), you could tell this was an epic in the making with the story requiring multiple volumes to tell. Wonderful characters, detailed settings, very good read! Narrator Andrew Barnes adds greatly to the listening enjoyment I look forward to the next volume of the tale! (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

ANOTHER GREAT MEDIEVAL ADVENTURE ROMANCE

WELL WRITTEN STORYLINE BEING GREAT AND EASY TO FOLLOW.
ACCEPTABLE FOR TEEN AGES AND OLDER
NARRATOR IS GOOD AND EASY TO FOLLOW.