Furyborn

By: Claire Legrand

Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham

Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

This stunningly original, must-listen fantasy follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable - until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire's heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world - and of each other.

©2018 Claire Legrand (P)2018 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Epic feminist fantasy." (Melissa Albert, New York Times best-selling author)

"Truly not to be missed..." (Kendare Blake, number-one New York Times best-selling author)

"Fiona Hardingham expertly narrates this thrilling fantasy, giving voice to two remarkable young women.... Hardingham's portrayal of these seemingly disparate but inextricably linked young women strikes exactly the right notes, precisely conveying the girls' single-minded intensity, which is underscored by sorrow and self-doubt. Impeccable pacing exquisitely ramps up the tension as the story hurtles towards a breathtaking climax that will leave listeners eager for more." (AudioFile)

Great Concept, Poor execution

Loved the idea, just did not like any of the characters and the constant POV swapping.

Great start!

This book is a great start to a trilogy. It started out a little shaky and I had some difficulty following the initial storyline. Once I got into it though it became very intriguing. I’m a bit over the whole ‘trials to prove yourself’ storyline that authors just seem to love these days. In my opinion it wasn’t a totally necessary part of the story and is the reason I went with 4/5 stars. I just think there was an opportunity to do something a little more new and exciting there, I understand it helped with character development though. But even with that it was still a great story with some creative and refreshing twists. There are a few steamy scenes that I wouldn’t recommend for younger readers which I think brought this book more into the New Adult rather than YA category. I enjoyed that each chapter started with some piece of historical information, I thought it was a cool element that added to some of the mystery of the story. I will definitely be continuing with the Trilogy. (Also the narration was excellent)

Enigmatic, but intriguing

Ultimately, the “why” behind this story is unclear. There are repetitive & cryptic elements in the book that are not climactic, but rather confusing. The heavy usage of world building specific information without explanation to the reader is distracting. It throws off the natural ebb and flow of understanding. But, with that being said, there’s still enough juicy qualities to this story to captivate and intrigue. To boot, Fiona Hardingham’s voice and performance is bewitching! I will listen to the sequels…I anticipate a clearer picture to form and come full circle.

Loved this Story

It took me a little bit of time to get in to this story as the multiple timelines were confusing but once I got in to the groove of the story, I loved it. Hardingham did an excellent job as narrator.

Took awhile to get into

At first it took me a few chapters to get into it. Although the first chapter really sucks you in, the back and forth of narrators and lots of characters was a little hard for me to get invested at first. But I am so glad I stuck with it...on to the next book

BLOWN AWAY!!

I just discovered this author a few days ago.
I listened to the “ A Crown of Ivy and Glass “ book ( a 1st in a new unfinished series), I started with that book because I read the reviews for it and I could see how the authors loyal readers were having a hard time adjusting to a new narrator and new characters ( which can happen when we as readers have already formed strong relationships with characters in other books that the author has written, it’s natural to compare them and feel like they aren’t who they should be 😋)
I utterly LOVED that book, which lead me to believe this author is a great writer and that I wanted to dive headlong into her other series.
I literally finished Fury Born in two days!!
I stayed up nearly all night last night completely inthralled by these characters and this remarkable story unfolding in my mind.
I predominantly read Fantasy novels & I have read hundreds upon hundreds of different fantasy/ fairytale stories and every combination I can find that interests me , and this is definitely in my top ten, possibly depending on the rest of the series, top five , books in this category that I’ve read.
I’ve seen other people say it’s slow or boring, I cannot even comprehend how this book could be considered either of these things.
I was completely engaged, engrossed, and swept up the entire time.
I read the ENTIRE Wheel of Time series, and that is as far as memory serves, 14 or 15 books long and there’s some SERIOUS LAG in those books.
This book was written beautifully.
There was a tiny adjustment period where I was making sure I was fully following the back and forth of the time lines, but once I discovered the flow it was effortlessly to keep up.
It is a book that you do need to Pay Attention to the Details, it’s not a drift off and you can still follow along kind of story.
I would agree with others that this is more of an Adult-ish read, I would say because it is more character driven, more plot and world building, foundation lying than fast paced romantic crap that so many fantasy novels have devolved into these days.
I thought the level of sex and sexual tension was excellent, this author has a taste for very descriptive details of the grotesque.
She loves her monsters and her gross descriptions of them 😂
I noticed that in the first book that I read of hers as well.
Now I’m off to start the next book in the series ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Awesome start to what I hope it a series.

Loved this!! You really had to pay attention with the Audible version since it was both of their stories but once I did I was hooked. Can't wait for the next one!!

Captures your full attention

Didn't want it to end...Can't wait for Book 2! Great narrator and I like how it flips between both women each chapter

Wow.

I have listened to many books this year and this is probably in my top 3 series. I know it’s not continued yet but I’m blown away. Fiona Hardingham is flawless at her narration, she captures each characters qualities so very well.

As for the story I am so blown away by the craftsmanship Claire has done, just wow. I love the division of the story between Rielle and Eliana. I could envision the cords winding together bringing us full circle without feeling like it was too easy or too predictable. I felt enthralled the entire time, the sacrifices Eliana made were heart wrenching and I loved her spunky character, sure she’s a murderer but she’s all the things she didn’t want to be, which is a good thing. Rielle I think it’s easy to hate her on precedent and sometimes she makes it too easy, although there are times I find I enjoy her, I still want to shake her until her teeth pop out like tic-tacs. But as with Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo there’s always the tether to the darkness that can prove impossible to ignore especially when the darkness is a hot and manipulative male, so it’s hard to blame her.

I truly am glad I found this series and can’t wait for the second installment! Thank you Claire! 💙

Fantastic

This is a fantastic book for anyone into fantasy, royalty, and magic. One of my favorites.