Prophecy of Thol

By: Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Narrated by: Kelley Hazen

Recurring nightmares haunted D'laine Jackson when she woke from an eight-month coma following a tragic accident. Four images were branded in her head: a dark-haired, handsome princely young man, a fierce reptilian monster, a white furry creature whose red eyes implored her with some unspoken message, and an ominous black robot.

Now, five years later, D'laine was getting ready to go off to college. During one last shopping trip with her father and brothers for dorm supplies, a blanket of fog rolled out of the sky at the mall, in broad daylight in plain sight of dozens of witnesses. When the fog pulled back D'laine was gone.

When she woke, her nightmare turned into reality.

©2017 Dawn Greenfield Ireland (P)2017 Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Parallel worlds and a prophecy to fulfill...

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself in a completely different world and met creatures you had vividly seen in your nightmares before? And how would you react if you found out there was only the tiniest of tiny possibilities that you'd ever go home again? These are the questions that D'laine Jackson has to answer. She also has to decide whethere she's ready to accept the situation and adjust to the new world or fall a victim to the first "monster" she faces. But there is even more in store for her during her adventures in Thol - she'll meet friends and foes, she'll change foes into friends, she'll acquire some magical powers and she will fulfill an ancient prophecy, saving the world... Not bad for a 17-year-old girl, right?

Prophecy of Thol is one of those books which you read or listen to with pleasure even though you have the general idea of what will finally happen right from the start - you obviously don't expect the main character who is "the one from the prophecy" to suddenly die and not fulfill the prophecy, right?:) So we know it will end well. But we don't know what will happen on the way and that's the interesting part. That part is very well executed in the story of D'laine Jackson.
Dawn Ireland created the world of Thol that is so different from ours and yet also in a way so similar that like D'laine we are in awe of it and yet miss our home. Thol is populated by numerous races of creatures, some living in peace, some constantly at war with others. D'laine has to come to terms with all this and quickly learn how to live there and how to use her newly discovered powers. I like the fact that as her knowledge and awareness of the world around her grow, she also becomes more and more mature, and while at the beginning of the story she simply reacts and makes hasty decisions, like a typical teenager, at the end her decisions are thought out and concern the good of everyone, not only herself.
There are also other very interesting, well developed characters, many of them, in fact. Some of them will even surprise you a few times:)
The plot itself is fast-paced, "hopping" from Thol to Earth now and then, which adds a lot of dynamics to the story as we have the insight into both D'laine's thoughts and feelings and the emotions of those she has left here, at home... The ending may seem a little bit rushed and give you a feeling of being a little out of the blue, but when you think about it, there are hints as to what can happen throughout the whole book, so I can excuse it... Well, to be honest, I really liked it:)

As for the interpretation by Ms Hazen, it's very good. She's great at giving characters very distinctive voices. It's not that I always love all the voices, some of them kind of irritate my ears, but I do appreciate the fact that I always recognize who is speaking just because there are no two characters that have exactly the same manner of speaking. Also, Ms Hazen is great at conveying emotions and equally good in narrative parts.

So, all in all, it's a great interpretation of a very engaging and entertaining book. I can't wait to read/listen to the next part.


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

GREAT NEW WORLD, GREAT START TO A NEW SERIES

I really look forward to where this series is going. D'laine Jackson finds her self catapulted into a new land - one that she remember from her nightmares that are also haunted by her dead mother. We discover this new world with her as she discovers her rightful place in it. I loved all the new creatures, the way the place looks the way things work. I thought the author did a great job in giving us something new. We jump back and forth back to earth where they are looking for D'laine. The guys that are a part of the science team are funny and also very smart. I loved the way the author threaded between these two worlds. There's war, romance, philosophy and suspense. Great work!

SUPER LISTEN

Really great book. The characters are of all ages - the heroes young and dynamic and really tough. They have the kind of conscience that makes you wish the whole world had this kind of attitude. The story has a lot of levels and these kids are dealing with a lot of issues. IN the word of Thol there are all kinds of beings in conflict both physical and philosophical. What kind of world do we want to live in? What is right and what is wrong? Yet there is plenty of humor and plenty of inventiveness in the creation of this 'other world' that keep the story very balanced and a pleasure to listen to. This is a new venture for this author - science fiction/fantasy. I have listened to her cozies which have the same creativity and comedy. Bravo Dawn Ireland. I'll listen to more.

An Awesome Listen

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the narrator and found it very intriguing. The story is woven around the adventures of a young woman following her destiny as she's dragged to a parallel world. The characters are wonderfully written and the plot is supported with action, suspense and humour. The narrator's presentation of all the strange characters is superb and enhances this very enjoyable tale. I'm looking forward to book 2.

Modern Day Alice in Wonderland!

“Prophecy of Thol” can best be classified as a young adult (YA), coming of age story, written by Dawn Greenfield Ireland. It is a story centered around a young woman (D’lane) who is suddenly whisked away into a parallel universe where she has to utilize all her skill and knowledge to survive the recurring nightmare which has come true. As a listener, we are given the privilege of seeing this young woman grown into a more mature lady in all aspects. The audiobook edition is quite well narrated by Kelley Hazen who is a veteran to the craft with over seventy titles available on Audible; at the time of this review. It appears there may be an agreement between the author and the narrator as she has voiced all of the author’s current audiobooks. If you are someone who enjoys a decent coming of age story, with a few twists, I think you may find “Prophecy of Thol” a book you will want to listen too. The book is over eleven hours of audio, so it is worth the time and credit if you are able to get past a few bumps in the road along the way.

Let me say up front that I’m not one who is a fan of either young adult nor coming of age stories. And, based on the book’s summary, this is not made clear as I assumed I was a more in deep and complex science fiction tale. If you come to the book understanding where it is coming from, it may be less of a shock when you listen. I did want to say that the book’s opening was what drew me in and kept me wanting to listen. The author did a good job of hooking the listener from the beginning. In the opening chapter, we are presented with a father telling his young boy about this mysterious person in a picture with odd-looking creatures. It is like we are watching a flashback of events as the book unfolds. For me, the writing style felt more Young Adult (YA) based on the sentence structure, character communication, and the descriptive nature of the scenes or objects. At the time, I felt that the author was overly verbose and did not give the listener enough creativity in their own minds. There were even a few items that seemed to be referenced incorrectly such as using Bluetooth as a device and not as a communications protocol, etc.

The characters, overall, seemed defined and multi-dimensional. At times, I felt the main character’s family had just too many tragedies making it a bit too complex at times. Maybe this is due to my rather uneventful upbringing. Our main character also seems to be rather confused in her spiritual beliefs, and much of her faith comes by way of new age beliefs; including the power of crystals. The rest of the family, though loving to one another, seems quite dysfunctional as a whole. The author does a decent job of creating a new and unique world. We are shown very different creatures, some distinctive plant life, and various means of communication. The book felt like a modern day take on Alice in Wonderland set in a science fiction realm having dual suns. Although the book mentioned many different technologies, often these gizmos lacked details on how they worked or why they were created in the first place. I simply wanted more details on these items and at times less on the scene description.

The book was told as if it were read out of a diary. It felt more like someone was telling facts of events and not a grand journey. Yet, the book at times felt like it lacked personality, action, and suspense. Sure, there were elements of action and suspense along the way, however, these did not seem to really surface until the last few chapters of the book. Apart from this, the tale felt like it lacked the more traditional story aspects keeping the listener engaged. That is not to say that the book lacked twists and turns, but it was not overly suspenseful nor mysterious as I would have liked it to be. I did like the author’s use of switching back and forth between the two worlds from chapter to chapter. It was good to get an understanding of how the family was coping with the loss of their daughter/sister and the steps being taken to get her back. The conversations between the characters as times felt forced and rather predictable. The use of language also did not always match the characters age or personality in a few of the characters. It seems the author intended a couple of characters, such as Stanley, to be comedic relief, but this often did not work for me. He seemed less like a true scientist and more like the character Beaker from the Muppets.

The book’s narration was what I would expect from someone having a number of performances behind them. The audio quality was solid, and I do not recall any issues with background noises or volume inconstancies. The many characters all felt unique and the voicing was dependable throughout the book. A few areas that I will say could have been improved were some of the younger character’s voices and the voice of Stanley. At times, these voices were simply annoying, and you wanted to get past them as soon as possible. Other than this, the narration was spot on and professionally produced.

For parents or younger readers, I’m sorry to say that this book contains vulgar language which mostly occurs during the last few chapters. I was going to say that the book would be great for younger readers as the violence was not overly excessive and the romance was light and not overly sexualized, yet I was surprised that vulgar words were thrown in last minute. There was no reason these words needed to be added and I was quite surprised that the one character I assumed would not use vulgar language was the one who did. Apart from this language usage, I would recommend this to younger audiences. However, if you are offended in any way, I would advise you not listen.

In summary, the book was an average coming of age young adult story. If you go into it based on this understanding, or if you like this type of book, I would recommend it as long as you are not offended by the use of vulgar language. It took a bit longer than I would have liked to get into the meat of the story, but once there, the unique worlds, creatures, and events made the book interesting. If you are planning on picking up this book, you should be aware that it is the first in what appears to be a series of books. This is not clearly stated on the Audible page, so you should know that the book ends with many of the book’s plots unanswered. There is some closure given, but not enough to call this a stand-alone title.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author/narrator/publisher.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog.

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Nightmares come true

Many years after recovering from the accident that put her into a coma, Dlaine's nightmares have started all over again. When she finds herself pulled through a portal from Earth into Thol, her nightmares come true as she meets the creatures, both good and evil, from her dreams. She has a destiny to fulfill in Thol before she will be able to find a way back home to her family.
The reading was good, with the narrator able to do a range of different and distinct voices, and to convey many different emotions.

AWESOME

I loved this book. I loved the characters. I loved the world the writer created. I loved how funny it was. I loved the way people cared about each other. I could picture all the different beings as they appeared on the other world. I loved the premonitions that lead to the reality. I loved how D'laine discovered her powers. I loved how she learned about where she was and the beings that helped her adapt. The bad guys were gnarly. The kingdom was really cool. I really loved how you can feel the rest of hte story building but not quite see where it is going to go.I loved the crazy scientists. I had a lot of fun listening to this book and just going on the ride.

Awful and very boring story

Awful and very boring story. I ended up returning it for a different book. I try not to do this often. However seeing it in my library, with knowing how bad it was helped me to decide on exchanging it for another.
My apologies...