King's Dragon

Crown of Stars Series, Book 1

By: Kate Elliott

Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio

It begins with civil war...

Torn by internal strife, Wendar faces deadly raids from the north by an inhuman race, the Eika. And now terrifying portents are being seen; old ruins restored to life under the light of the full moon and peopled by the long-vanished Lost Ones; dark spirits walking the land in broad daylight. And suddenly two innocents are about to be thrust into the middle of the conflict.

Liath, who has spent her early years fleeing from unknown enemies, is a young woman with the power to change the course of history if she can only learn to master her fear and seize what is rightfully hers.

While Alain, a young man who may find his future in a vision granted by the Lady of Battles, must first unravel the mystery of who he is - whether the bastard son of a noble father, the half-breed child of an elfin lord, the unwanted get of a whore, or the heir to a proud and ancient lineage.

Liath and Alain, each trapped in a personal struggle for survival, both helplessly being drawn into a far greater battle, a war in which sorcery not swords will determine the final outcome, and the land itself may be irrevocably reshaped by the forces unleashed...

©1997 Katrina Elliott (P)2020 Tantor

Excellent!

I read this book when it first came out, years ago & loved it. This audio version just brought the story back to life for me. Great voice acting!

fantastic story, narration puts me to sleep

this is my all time favorite Epic Fantasy Series, I've read it at least 10 times.

I'm sure the narrator is a lovely woman, but her tone is very slow and drab and she has literally no character voices to distinguish who is speaking. it's a shame John Lee or Simon Vance didn't narrate this

Excellent

One of the best Epic Fantasy books I’ve ever heard. Enjoyed it immensely. Complex characters and unexpected sharp turns. Can’t wait to hear the story continue in the next book.

Classic fantasy

The world is a classic fantasy setting inspired by world history. I have heard the first couple books are best, however I am so entranced by the setting and world building, that I may be of a different opinion.

My biggest problem was personal and shows how good the author is. I am a survivor of domestic violence and she did a wonderful job of psychologically putting one character through a situation that strongly triggered it in me. I felt understood as well though through the compassion in which she approached it storyline wise.

Book is AMAZING, narrator leaves much to be desired

I’ve read and then re-read this series many times. It’s my favorite of all time. I will say I finished it this time (in audiobook format) only because I knew exactly how good it was going to be but DEAR LORD — this narrator is just not good. I listen to audiobooks in the car and at work. I found that in her timbre, with her pronunciation of words, this particular narrator never kept one consistent volume level and I was alternating between straining to hear (so I would rewind and turn the volume way up) and then a few minutes later being deafened (and scrambling to turn the volume down). I have the physical copies and I would switch to those at home and during my lunch hours, but as much as I commute (2-3 hours daily), I almost cannot avoid listening to the majority of a book and I LOVE audiobooks normally. This was not the case this time which really saddens me; I was honestly so excited to see book 1 at least had finally been recorded.

This series is written so beautifully, but a lot of it is in italics, the hymns and poems are laid out in columns sometimes, and the names are spelled so prettily; the gorgeous time and effort the author put into the art of the physical page is utterly not communicated over the audio version. Again, this is my favorite series and I would STRONGLY suggest purchasing the 7 book series in a physical copy as opposed to this version.

Best series I have ever read!

Kate Elliott is a top tier writer on the level of Tolkien and Herbert IMHO. The creativity of the world creation and characters, and absolutely beautiful writing engulfs you in the world she created. I had read this series probably a decade ago and was so excited when it came out on audio. The Narrator is PHENOMENAL! My only comment is that her differentiation of voices is minimal so I had to pay attention to sort it out. Highly highly recommend!

Beautiful story!

An incredible story about the worthy and the unworthy. About the privileged and the peasants. About good and about evil. This is a coming of age story with many twists and turns for Allen and also for Lilith. I read this whole series years ago and was impressed with how the story develops. Great story telling! I really hope that Kate decides to release some of her other series as well. 5 stars all day long!

Long winded

A little long winded, but a good story. It would be better if it were about 2/3 as long with much of the random words for the sake of words were removed. Though the narrator does terrible male voices and when a male is speaking to a female it's difficult to tell who's speaking since it sounds like two females.

Great to finally hear this story brought to life.

It has been about 20 years since I last read this saga. I am so glad it holds up. Now audible just needs to release the next six installments.

Great classic fantasy

I love this series. Great writing. Great narration. Great story. I can’t wait for the rest of the series. I read this book years ago but the narrator kept the story new and interesting.