A woman voice actor ?????

Emma Gregory ? Who is this? What is a female warhammer narrator??? I didn’t know I was sexiest. I’ve not listened to a female female voice actor in Warhammer before. I was skeptical. It feels odd to write this, as I’ve never thought I had is bias. I listened to the sample and thought , “ehh I don’t know, I guess I could Deal With It” to get some dark eldar, I Was wrong. I bow down to her majesty’s forgiveness. Her talent is phenomenal. Now if you are in any way like me in this thought process give it some chapters to get used to her pacing. You will be rewarded. I’m ashamed at my sexiest bias when it comes to female leads in Warhammer. It would be disrespectful to compare her to even some of THE BEST male narrators/ voice actors. She has a range from soft ,soft /hard, and nails the HARD without taking you out of the story- it’s not forced - it wasn’t even until my second listen, that I realized she pulled of that Gritty voice in one of the Characters and seamlessly had elegance in her voice. know this is heavy spotlight but I was not interested in a female narrator if given a choice between a male/ female narrator or character lead ( on an unconscious level) i would choose male 99.9% and now- with Emma / I may prefer her over some ok male readers. I get the feeling she is even a fan of Warhammer. She nails the tone, pacing, inflection. I couldn’t imagine anyone else reading this character. My own sexist mind always thought Warhammer is very masculine grim dark tone, apparently I’m sexist in this way. I’m not drawn to many female characters in this universe but is perfect here, and I’m forever changed. I was explicitly looking for something with Dark Eldar and so far this is the most I’ve found. Emma is in a category all her own as one of the best! Im now convinced only she could pull this off, and I would consider listening to more female leads because of her! She is now a favorite of mine. Emma Gregory I’m even willing to search out other of her audiobook readings. I went from skeptical to raving fan. The writer Gav Thorpe is great as well and it’s obvious to give praise to him as an author, the voice actors / narrators are just as important to the readers experience as the writer in this medium . They are often given less credit when they breath life into this experience and only given negative reviews if they suck. Emma Gregory has my full Warhammer respect. . Emma single handedly body slammed me with goodness. She in every way deserves her place in Warhammer ( not that I’m any authority to hand this out, but as a simple fan, In my eyes, I will be forever changed by this.)- Now the story- is great/good but I’m coming off of CANE and BALSAURIS CAWL- and that’s tough to follow and I’m not even a eldar fan, I came here because it’s one of the few that have dark eldar and I was pleasantly surprised- get this audiobook it’s solid - wish there was more dark eldar, but I would only be happy with 100% dark eldar story, so in truth it’s unfair for me to judge. Get this one for the change - you will be rewarded. Maybe not by the inquisition at your heretical actions from enjoying some Xenos. Tell them it’s research on behalf of Balisauris Cawl =][=

5 people found this helpful

The best Warhammer fiction I've encountered

Warhammer fiction is rarely something I could recommend to someone who's not already a fan of the franchise. This one I could, though it would still require that the reader has an interest in it as well as the Eldar in general.

This is an adventure story more than the typical war story of the Warhammer novels. It details Jain Zar's travels to try to reach Craftworld Ulthwe and prevent a coming disaster. She crosses paths with every aspect of Eldar lore, not just the Craftworlds but also the Dark Eldar and the Corsairs and even a bit of the Harlequins. It spends a great amount of time reflecting on the eldar condition; their not-quite-human manner of thinking and their relationship with Slaanesh.

It also covers a secondary story dealt with in flashbacks, talking about Jain Zar and Asurmen's (the Phoenix Lord of the Dire Avengers) travels together when she was young as they try to pick up the pieces of their freshly shattered civilization, unsure if any other eldar besides them even still exist. It tells both stories simultaneously, devoting one chapter to Jain Zar's modern travels to Ulthwe and the next to her ancient travels with Asurmen.

Because of that, this is just about the best introduction to the race I could think of. Everything cool about the Eldar as a race is contained in this book and explored to some degree.

It's also a great deal more character driven than I would have expected. Far from just an excuse to see battle scenes, the personalities of all of the major Warhammer continuity characters, along with a few side characters invented for this story, are explored here.

However it is quite grim and dour, with not a single moment of humor or levity. Even the orks, normally the comic relief of the Warhammer setting, are viewed as being the murderous and unthinking engines of destruction they really are beneath the accents and quirky mannerisms. The theme of the eldar is that they are a dying race and every victory comes at great cost to themselves, and every loss is felt even harder, and those themes are both here in full. There is also a substantial amount of gore, and the horror of the dark eldar is on full display here.

Also, since this is an audiobook version, I should mention that Emma Gregory's performance here is incredible. She voiced every character distinctly, and gave the scenes the appropriate mood and tone. Her voice will always be the voice of Jain Zar to me from now on.

All-in-all, a decent space opera story for people looking for an introduction to the eldar race, and for eldar fans who are seeking more fiction about their favorite space elves.

3 people found this helpful

Aliens are a tough perspective

To write a story from an alien perspective based simply on that fact. With that in mind, this book was a little bit tough to get through.

Understand that my perspective is one of a fan of the Warhammer 40K world. In fact, my 1st army that I learned was Craftworld Eldar. That might have honestly made the book more difficult.

The pace of the story was almost nausea inducing period from long flashbacks to what seems to be the present day, it was frustrating because the advance of the story line was inhibited, not aided, by the way the flashbacks were written.

Book ended with almost no resolution. This is difficult for a book that made you go through a fairly long and arduous journey.

I have listened to this reader before, and she is normally fairly good, but here the breathy melodrama is something to be born not something enjoyed.

Thorpe's writing can run hot or cold. On some books, like Deliverance Lost, the writing seems excellent. On others like this book or he is novels dealing with the titans or the 1st legion, it can be frustrating to get through the book.

This book really doesn't advance any story in the over all Warhammer 40K universe. It really doesn't change much and it really doesn't feel like much happened in the end.

1 person found this helpful

Among the best of 40k fiction

Thorpe tells the epic tale of the Eldar from fall through the fight now, all through Jain Zar’s life. It’s a great book, and amongst the best of the Black Library. Great narration, too.

this book was a chore to get through

the voice actress was phenomenal but the book failed to hook me even though eldar are in my top 3 favorite factions. the best parts of the book were about Jain zars past and the Era during the fall but the primary story was just plain boring. If you want a good Eldar book pick up Valedor by Guy Haley over on black library or Amazon. That book is extremely well written having awesome battle scenes along with giving you actual insight into Aeldari Culture and what it's like to live on a craftworld along with very compelling characters.

Great book and Great voice

Exciting adventure following an Eldar Phoenix Lord. A very interesting look into a non-Imperium Faction's perspective.
Give it a read if you like WH40k books but want a change of pace from space marines.

good story just why skipping around

I like that the eldar are getting some attention, but the chapter structure is horrible. You have two plots one in the present and the other in the past. You'll be listening and getting engaged just for the story to switch to the other plot and its jarring. Other than that the story is good.

Excelente

Great story, tons of characters, and a wonderful narrator, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A must read for Eldar fans.

very much liked

good book with great narration. fantastic origin story of 3 of the phoenix lords. keep up the series!

a must read for any one

This book was excellent in so many ways the characters are interesting in a way that gets you invested in the story.