Emerald: The Talisman of Eldon

World of Samar, Book 1

By: M. L. Hamilton

Narrated by: Kelley Hazen

In one terrible instant, Kai is thrown from his privileged life and plunged into a conflict that began before he was born. Worse yet, he learns that the one man who can help him is his enemy.

Kiameron is the crown prince of DiNolfol. He is torn between two destinies - assuming the crown upon his father's death or answering the call of his non-Human traits, abilities associated with the mysterious Stravad.

The decision is made for him with the destruction of everything he holds dear. Armed with his burgeoning powers and a mysterious talisman that he does not know how to use, Kai strikes back at Gava, the despot who destroyed his life.

Crippled by self-doubt and fear, he falters in his quest, until he meets a man who forces him to take action. However, his new ally is hiding secrets, secrets that will rob Kai of everything he holds sacred.

©2010 M.L. Hamilton (P)2020 M.L. Hamilton

Horrible Narrator - Great Story

Narrator' monotone was horrible to the story. Great book overall , hire Nick P next time maybe? Just a suggestion.

Loved it!

Wonderfully narrated and well written. I will definitely be reading more of M.L. Hamilton’s book.

Epic Action-Packed Adventure

Emerald: The Talisman of Eldon: World of Samar is an action-packed adventure with a heavy leaning toward fantasy and science fiction.  Kai, a young sheltered man who leads a life of privilege is faced with an impossible decision.  Either choice will limit him and knock his world out of kilter.  Kai’s magical abilities and a mysterious talisman can give him the power to strike back at the invading army who destroys everything.  The only problem is, will Kai get his power under control and learn the secrets of the talisman in time?

Kai is unsure, fearful and stumbles in his mission until his new friend gives him the support, he needs to succeed but there is a terrible price! 

As with an epic tale such as this one, there are many characters that help move the plot along and we are given many characters with a host of qualities that are captivating.  Each character, whether a main or a side one, is given detailed background and interaction.  Each character is important to whichever story line they are involved.  This is not just a single story about one man’s quest, but it is also a romance, adventure and a finding of oneself.

In the beginning, listening to Kai and his King father argue made me smile as I remember having similar conversations with my son and my father.  Those arguments and discussions that leave the child feeling inept and less than worldly by the end.   Those conversations that end in a huff of anger and the “do as I say, not as I do” moments. 

The dialog in Emerald is realistic and heavy with power that helps keep the story line moving forward.  There are a lot of moving parts and characters but the author, ML Hamilton keeps the stories flowing smoothly. Like a weaving a tapestry, ML Hamilton follows a pattern but then throws in an unexpected development that leaves the listener wide-eyed as they were not expecting that particular action.

Hamilton keeps her listeners guessing until the very end.  The listener will feel the pain that Kai experiences because Hamilton richly describes each emotion, action and experience in rich detail that invokes vivid images.  She does this with each character slowly and completely.

This is a carefully woven story and one that the narrator, Kelley Hazen does expertly.  Her performance is amazing.  Her range of voices is overwhelmingly perfect and each voice she performed fit each character to a T.  Her delivery is smooth and filled with the appropriate level of emotion.  I could sit and listen to her for hours.  She never stumbled or failed to deliver.  She kept the high energy throughout the entire book.  I have had the pleasure of hearing Kelley perform other books and she has never failed to deliver an excellent performance.  She assumes each character and makes them her own.

I completely enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one in the series. 

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.  The dream sequences took on an echo to distinguish them from non-dream action – this was different but did not detract from the book or it’s audio quality. 

It was everything I hoped it would be!

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.

Spectacular

There is no way to describe how fascinating the story is. I just kept listening to find out what happens. Love Kelley’s voice.

An Awesome Listen

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the narrator and it is 27 hours of some of the most enjoyable listening I've done in awhile. All Kai wants is to be normal, not a king especially not The Heir. Fate has other plans for him though. Following his nightmares into the daylight changes the world as he knows it. The characters are well written and intriguing in this tale of combining two lives of two very different men. This series has something for everyone, suspense, drama, mystery, humour and a touch of romance. This combination of author and narrator creates pure enjoyment.

Spellbound

This is an epic take of tragedy, triumph and phenomenal journeys!

It is a wonderful tale in which I enjoyed escaping! Looking forward to the sequel!

Emerald: The Talisman of Eldon

This is one of the longest single books I have listened to. The story is well written and so detailed. There are a couple of “groups” of individuals with similar names, so there were a few times I got a little confused, but I was quickly able to get back on course. All in all, a very entertaining listen.

M. L. Hamilton is a master storyteller. She paints such vivid pictures with her words, and her characters become so real.

Kelley Hazen always does a fantastic job. The voices she chooses for the characters really fit them. My only complaint would be that the effects used to differentiate the dream sequences sometimes overpowered the narration. I needed to back up and re-listen a few times to make sure I really heard what was going on.

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

Sci-fi / fantasy

I had a hard time getting into the story. I did push through and finish it. I am not a big fan of this type of story. That being said the narrator did a good job. In my opinion she didn’t have much to work with

Another great tale by Ms Hamilton...

Ms Hamilton has become one of those writers whose books I'd buy blindfolded...:) so when offered the first installment in her new series I jumped at the occasion without hesitation. And I don't regret it a bit:)
The book is long, yes, and the listen is even longer:) But it's also a tale that gets you surprisingly (or not...:)) immersed in it after the first chapter. And yes, there are times when you feel a bit lost, with so many different characters, so many different races and not so much explanation about all of them at the beginning - but it made me even more engaged in the story; I just wanted to find out exactly who was who, why they acted the way they did and what the end of the whole complex intrigue would be.

As I said, there are a lot of characters in the book, some of them appear only for a fleeting moment, but all of them have a place in the story, all of them are full-bodied people, and none of them leave you indifferent. What I like best about them is that you react to them as if they were real - like I did with Kai. I liked him at first a lot, understood his longing for normalcy, even felt sympathetic towards him; then I got angrier and angrier with him for behaving the way he did, for being reckless, careless, haughty... Then he redeemed himself in my eyes again... just like in real life - you feel angry when someone doesn't fulfill your expectations or lets you down, but you still like them because you know they are good in their heart:)
But I have to admit that it's Cy who stole my heart - his story is both touching and inspirational, and he makes a wonderful counterpart hero for Kai. The book wouldn't have been so good without them both complementing each other...:)

As for the plot itself, it's so full of twists and subplots that it would be enough material for three separate novels:) Not that I'm complaining, mind you:) But just a warning: don't start listening if you can't spare at least 3 or 4 hours in one go - cause the tale is addictive; once you press the play button the syndrome of '5 more minutes' hits you right in the head and doesn't let go...:)

Narration by Ms Hazen is impeccable as usual :) She's a great narrator that I've listened to so many times before and yet her ability to bring characters to life still astonishes me. And I am always in awe of the way she makes all of the voices so distinguishable, so their own, so true... It's a fantastic duo of a writer and a narrator :)

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

Eh

the narrator has this stutter type of talking. Every Character has a super high class type of speach. Its hard to explain but it gets annoying. Also there are different races in this book but there is NO explanation about them. Just all of a sudden you are hearing small details as if you knew about them all along. Goes for places, kingdoms, everything has no explanation. Just written like you know everything about everything. Im very surprised because Hamilton is one of my favorite authors and i have to admit this was poorly written. The worst part of this book is when the main character has a dream there is a echo affect that is so horribly annoying. I stopped listening after the 4th time it happened. I just couldn't keep going.