Dragonsbane

Winterlands, Book 1

By: Barbara Hambly

Narrated by: Nicholas Camm

A rich and breath-taking fantasy classic full of whirlwind adventure, magic and dragons – Dragonsbane is the first book in Barbara Hambly’s landmark epic quartet, The Winterlands.

When the Black Dragon seizes the capital of Bel, the young noble, Gareth, must journey into the decaying Northlands to find John Aversin, Dragonsbane – the only living man ever to slay a dragon. Upon arrival, Gareth also meets Jenny Waynest the half-taught sorceress and mother of Aversin's sons.

A bargain is struck: witch and dragonkiller agree to rid the city of its monster in return for the king’s aid in their wintry home which is beset by bandits. But when they reach court, nothing is as they expected.

For Gareth is no mere noble, and the king is in the thrall of a deeply evil power that seeks total control over the land. The kingdom crumbles. Perhaps the dragon that Jenny and John have been brought to slay is the least of their enemies…

©2019 Barbara Hambly (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"This is literary alchemy of a high order, and it confirms Hambly’s place as one of the best new fantasists." (Locus)

Needs audio adjustment

The style of the narrator is unique, the roughness suits a story about characters from the outlands and wilds. I like it, though at times words sound half-swallowed, and very hard to hear.

I need to crank the volume three ticks from the max limit, and I STILL think the vocal variation makes it hard to hear. Even now, as I listen, I want to tick the volume up again.

Either this book needs major audio balancing and adjusting, or the narrator needs to bloody project even when he is reading as a ‘whisper’ or in a confiding tone.

I have always loved the story of Jenny and the dragon and Dragonsbane, I like the narrator but the volume issues make it hard to recommend wholeheartedly.

Poor audio quality

Audio levels of the narration varies wildly. This makes it very hard to follow the story without turning up the volume and having complete focus on listening.