Karavans

Karavans, Book 1

By: Jennifer Roberson

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

Diviners have told Audrun that the child she carries must be born in a haven of peace, far from her war-scourged homeland, but as she flees she finds only far greater danger. For her karavan is overtaken by Alisanos, the deepwood - a dangerous magical forest that harbors not only demons, gods, and other otherworldly creatures, but also its own sinister intentions - and which may have already claimed Audrun and her child for its own.

©2006 Jennifer Roberson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

My feelings are complicated...

I would have given 3.5 stars for performance and story, not 4; but a 1/2 a star isn't an option and this book is better then a 3 star. Excellent story idea, world, and characters, but not well executed and very confusing to listen to (I promise I will explain!):

Having just finished the book, I very much wanted to read the second and third. I really liked each character and the the underlying story, and definitely wanted to know how the story ends. However, I could not sit through another two books written in such a drawn out manner that could easily have been consolidated into the first book. Had I read this book, verses listening to it, I wouldn't have been able to finish the story. The author goes into exquisite detail at all times, over things you think might be important because of how it is written, but only to find out that it was not significant at all, but only written in this manner so the reader would feel more connected with the character at each and every moment. I can appreciate that type of experience to a point, but it seemed to take away from the momentum in this case. And details where left out when it really was appropriate!

You also have to listen closely, to follow what is going on; but after the an entire book, I felt like I should have understood more of what is to come for each character, and for the non-humans, to understand better what each character was and what that meant. For example, throughout the story, at least one of the main characters (Rhuan) is something more than he tells people. The reader understand this early on, but even after Rhuan admits it, the reader never receives greater understanding.

The story follows dozens of characters (humans, elven like people, and demons) and switches back and forth between each of them continuously like flashes in a movie. This wouldn't have been much of an issue, except when listening to the story you have no warning. From one sentence to the next, without any notable pause or warning during the reading, you will go from one characters perspective to another. This is especially confusing when the switch is between two women as all the female characters have very similar personalities and only the particular events in their life are different. I often had to rewind due to confusion. This may have been a narrator performance issue, not sure.

excellent story

it took listening through the first few chapters before I became used to the narrator. She sounded a bit stilted at first, and then relaxed into the narration. After that a most enjoyable listen.

it got really good at the end

I have been a huge Jennifer Roberson fan ever since i was 15 yrs old. still to this day the Chronicles of the Cheysuli are my favorite series.
However i had a harder time getting into this book. maybe because the book has a way of jumping around and I was having a hard time keeping track of who was where. it wasn't until I got a little over halfway through the book that I really started to enjoy it.
If you have patience I would definitely recommend the book.

i-robot

I love the story. Read the books years ago. Purchased audible because I do not have time to read anymore. Have to say quite disappointed in the narrator. I thought I was listening to a computer generated rendition. No feeling or emotion in the story. Robersons storries are always full of feeling. I have listened to more exciting user manuals