Swallowing Darkness

A Novel

By: Laurell K. Hamilton

Narrated by: Claudia Black

I am Meredith, princess of faerie, wielder of the hands of Flesh and Blood, and at long last, I am with child - twins, fathered by my royal guard. Though my uncle, Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, claims that he is the true father since he abducted me from my home, betrayed, and defiled me. And now he has branded my guards as a threat to my unborn children.

Bearing an heir has placed me halfway to my aunt’s throne, that much closer to my reign over the Unseelie Court - and well ahead of her son, my cousin Cel, in this race. Now I must stay alive to see my children born and claim my place as queen.

But not all in faerie are pleased with the news, and conspirators from every court in the realm plot against me and mine. They seek to strip my guards, my lovers, from me by poisoned word or cold steel. But I still have supporters, and even friends, among the goblins and the sluagh, who will stand by me.I am Meredith Nic Essus, and those who would defy and destroy me are destined to pay a terrible price - for I am truly my father’s daughter. To protect what is mine, I will sacrifice anything - even if it means waging a great battle against my darkest enemies and making the most momentous decision ever made as princess of faerie.

Fairie tales: listen to another Meredith Gentry fantasy.Public Domain (P)2008 Random House Audio

Another good book, with a good new narrator

If you are a fan of the series you will enjoy this book. If you are new to the series do not start here. I really like the new narrator for the series. Some times it is hard when a new narrator takes over a series but pronunciations are the same and her reading really drew me in to the book. I hope Claudia Black will narrate the future books of this series.

This is by far my favorite

This is by far my favorite book, bothe with story and with narration. The narrator's voice was lovely to listen to and the their imitation of the other male voices was not ear grating as the other narrator's or as annoyingly high.

why why the reason why

why couldn't they just get Claudia Black to read the whole damn series she was so fucking good it made me want to listen more

Outstanding

Laurell K Hamilton is a storytelling genius. You need to listen to the whole series, but this was the best ever.

Ms Hamilton you did a VERY risky thing

Changing readers on an audiobook in the middle of a series is a very tricky and risky thing especially when you love the voice of the first narrator and I just love who she hired to read these stories to us the first time. And also changing readers can also hurt the flow of the series in so many ways especially if the narrator isn't up to par (Tracy Hickman and the Dragonlance narrators HELLO) But this new narrator OH MY GAWD she's so heavenly with her voice and her reading is just so amazing but that doesn't take away from the other narrator I'm definitely going to be finding more books she reads too but this new reader and I'm sorry I'm terrible with names but she is so amazing. I wish Jean Auel would hire her for her Earth Children Novels she just that good. Anyway I loved every minute of this book this is some of Ms Hamiltons best storytelling I wish she stayed with this series too and put as much interest in it as Anita Blake but it is what it is. Thank You Ms Hamilton this story is amazing!

Love the narrator!

I enjoyed this book so much more than the others in the series primarily because of the rich, accented voice of the narrator. I have listened to every Laurell K. Hamilton audio book I can find and love them all but this was the most enjoyable due to the reader.

merry gentry series

this is an awesome series totally worth reading this is my second time reading this series and i still enjoy as much as the first time. a must read series

Terrible Narrator choice

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I have to agree with the countless reviewers before me regarding the narrators on these books. Although several books were read by the same narrator I'm irritated by the constant name changes! Especially since it's the same person narrating the majority of the books! Otherwise she did a decent job.So why then would they make things even more confusing for us listeners by suddenly tossing in an accented narrator? One who can't even pronounce "skeletal"? Meredith Gentry has spoken with an American accent throughout this entire series! Now suddenly she's english, pardon me but WTF? What a terrible judgment call! Many of the listeners are L.K. Hamilton fans and will follow the series to its completion so all these name changes and different accents really can lessen the enjoyment of an otherwise excellent story. I really hope things like this are taken into account in the future with other books, had this not been a LK Hamilton series I would've given up on it several books ago. Just because a narrator is talented doesn't always mean he/she is best for that story, and most definitely not if they are unable to remain consistent with important details such as name pronunciation.

Great Story, One of the best in the series.

Would you listen to Swallowing Darkness again? Why?

I will probaby relisten to this book. Mostly enjoyed the book and really enjoy the series.

What did you like best about this story?

There is more detail and backstory in this one.

What didn’t you like about Claudia Black’s performance?

Here I have problems. I am a fan of Ms Black as an actress, so when I read negative reviews of her performance, I was not inclined to believe them. Unfortunately, now I agree with those reviews.
Either I was getting used to her reading style or she seemed to get a bit better toward the end.

Wonderful story

really enjoyed the story. this was the first if the series done by a new narrator. at first it was weird, especially with a British accent, but I came to truly appreciate the richness and emotional depth Claudia black brings to the story. the original narrator is much more skilled at bringing different voices to each character, and there are quite a lot of different characters in these books. this narrator lacks that ability and some of the reviews panned her abilities. what I found once I got past the very different styles is that her voice is very rich and the emotional depth she brings to her characters is enough to leave me truly satisfied with the overall experience. even with many of the voices sounding similar, you still always know who is speaking. I would listen to more books by this narrator. as for the story, a lot happens to merry and her men in this novel. there is less sex and more actual story and is one of my favorites in the series.