Dark One: Forgotten

By: Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells

Narrated by: Rachel Jacobs, Sophie Oda, Keith Szarabajka, Kaleo Griffith, Avery Waddell, Kelli Tager, John H Mayer, Mia Barron, Luis Bermudez, William Elsman, Nan McNamara, Jim Meskimen, Roxanne Hernandez

From #1 New York Times Bestselling, Hugo Award-winning author, Brandon Sanderson, and co-author Dan Wells, comes DARK ONE: FORGOTTEN, a true-crime fantasy audio series and the first entry in Brandon Sanderson’s new DARK ONE fantasy saga.

Every year in the United States there are fifteen thousand murders, give or take a few hundred. Of those, nearly forty percent go unsolved.

In this six-part audio series, Christina Walsh is determined to change that. After struggling with the loss of her father, she sets out on a journey to bring the justice that has eluded her to the families of other victims. And she starts with a particularly strange case. The murder of world-renowned violinist Leona McPherson who mysteriously disappeared years ago after a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As Christina digs deeper, the story gets stranger. Leona was a prodigy, someone too good to be forgotten, but that’s exactly what has happened. She’s been forgotten. Entirely. By everyone who knew her. From the gushing music critic in her hometown to the detectives investigating her murder, even her own mother.

So Christina embarks on a cross-country mission, with her roommate Sophie, to figure out what happened to Leona. In the process, she uncovers a trail of similar victims who have suffered the same fate. But if no one can remember the victims, how can the killer possibly be caught? Christina’s only leads come from a crazed homeless man’s ramblings, a mysterious glass eye, and an otherworldly totem. Is Christina crazy or has she stumbled upon something so implausible it must be true?

©2021 Brandon Sanderson (P)2021 Recorded Books

I expected more

The story was very interesting, but the characters are some of the most unlikeable characters I've ever experienced from a Sanderson project. Maybe it's because this was made for audio and the dialogue was written more like a script or something but the characters often came off as annoying and frankly dumb. There are definitely some crumbs of more to come and the overall story was interesting enough that I'll probably listen to the next one, but I could've passed on this for now and not felt like I was missing out on anything.

Good story with poorly written characters.

I like the idea behind the story and the overall arc. My biggest issue with the book is the main characters. Two college students who act like 12-year-olds. Part of this impression may be from how the reader reads the book, but it is not only the reading that leaves that impression. The actions the characters take a more like a child then a woman in college.

My issue with the characters aside I could not stop listening to the book, I wanted to see how it turned out and the ending was satisfying. I cannot recommend the book, but if someone does listen to it they will have an interesting story with poorly written characters.

Entertaining

I love the podcast style story telling. A fun and refreshing story as well. This is also fun work from Sanderson.

Ouch

For the first couple of hours, I wondered if this was about a woman with a split personality, because I could swear the two female voices were the same. Whoever casts these audiobooks needs to listen to not look at the actresses. And the screeching, and the swearing! It was really hard to take. I stuck with it for the plot, but even that wasn’t very satisfying. I guess we are being strung along for a sequel, since we didn’t get any answers about Mirandus. But I can’t listen to the next one, too painful.

Creative well executed form of the story

Great story that reveals what is going on slowly over the course of a amateur podcast.

Wonderful Format, Actors, and Story!

I'll start by saying that I am a little biased being a long time Sanderson fan, but truly, this was a refreshing variation on typical narrations. The true crime podcast format made the story feel unique and especially engaging. The voice actors were PHENOMENAL in my opinion and really made the story come alive! Great job Brandon, Dan, and everyone else involved!

100% Amazing

For fans of true crime and fantasy—this is a MUST. This is a perfect mesh of both genres and I loved it. I will listen again!

Worst Sanderson

I love Sanderson books. But these dual authorship series have really lost some thing. And this one was the worst. I want to be encouraging, because being forgotten and using that like a super power is a cool idea, but the narration and the characters in the dialogue were embarrassing and cringe worthy.

Loved it

Excellent story collab, great performance and a wonderful addition to my audio collection. Well done!

Intriguing idea but….

Let me start by saying I’m a huge Sanderson fan and enjoy some of Wells work, so I was excited to see he and Dan Wells working on a project together.
I think the idea is intriguing and the idea of it being presented like a pod cast was creative. The character of Sophie was a bit too over the top for me. And there were just a few to many political references for my taste (not because I disagree with them but because I read fantasy to escape reality and I’m not a fan when reality encroaches on my fantasy) and I thought the ending was rushed. I probably won’t be spending credits on more but might check it out if it ever is available in Libby to rent via my local library.