What an adventure of a story!!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This series is absolutely incredible. With all that happens you wonder what will happen next, although I don't think the prophecy was needed to make the story. At times I was really annoyed by how much they were trying to make sure the prophecy would come true. It should have been used as a guideline to follow but not be forced to make sure it would happen. Other than that, what an amazing series!! MC's are absolutely incredible!!

4 people found this helpful

Magic, dragons, prophecies...

Prophesies are a dangerous thing... And they make you wonder: do they come to pass because you try to fulfill them or do they come to pass because your attempts at preventing them from happening are the first step to their realization? It's a vicious circle and a paradox that a lot of fantasy stories (most of them, really) are built on...Some better than others...

The 'Sea Dragons' trilogy follows the tropes of a good fantasy in a great way: there's a lost princess brought up by pirates; there's a prophesy about her that has been fulfilling itself step by step, literally; there's a young monk, a mage in training whose powers are greater than anyone could have imagined; and there are dragons, lots of them... There also is the Great Evil that our heroes must destroy to save the world... We all know these from countless other fantasy books - the trick is to take them, make them your own and weave a story that will keep the readers (listeners) glued to the pages of the book. Ms Richardson did it - you just can't stop listening (reading), can't put the book down; you just have to know what will happen to Lila and Danu and their dragon-friend Crux.
All three books have really fast-paced plots, with lots of action, fights, battles, described in vivid pictures... But what I like most is that all the characters, and especially Lila and Danu, undergo changes; they grow up, mature, make mistakes and learn from them, and not one of them feels unreal. Yes, some of the decisions they make, some things they do may irritate you, make you angry or disgusted, but all of these make them feel true, make you feel connected to them, make you want to follow them to the end of the story.
So all you fantasy fans there, grab that book and have over 25 hours of a wonderful adventure :)

As for the narration, I generally liked it a lot; the individual characters were recognizable, the dialogues really well read. I would only like Ms Douglas to read a bit faster - it's a really long book, you know:) (And I think I just got used to speeding up narrations generally...:) but that's me, for most people the pace of the narration would probably be just about right).

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

2 people found this helpful

Just couldn't finish it

I couldn't even finish this! the narrator just rambles on and on.. and weird pauses!! just couldn't!! It kind of ruined the whole book for me!!

1 person found this helpful

rambling

disappointing . no growth in the characters. they never learned to trust no matter the trial.

1 person found this helpful

had to get used to narration

I am in the process of trying to go thru all of Ava Richardson's dragon books in the recommended reading order.

I really enjoyed the "First Dragon Rider" trilogy and so I moved on to the next trilogy.
With "Return of the Darkening" trilogy I did enjoy the story itself but I was disappointed that when referring to the history of the dragons and the realm the story was totally different as if someone just read cliff notes of the old story and then made up their own story around the central tenet of the original trilogy
Then in "Upon Dragon's Breath" trilogy two narrator's were used and some of the time this was ok but sometimes it was jarring because they did not actually have the male only read male points and the female the female characters so some characters had 2 different voices. also the female narrator was so slow I had to speed up the playback to be able to enjoy the book, but I had to be careful not to speed it up too much because the male narrator was already faster than her. I also found it annoying that the main female character could never seem to find a positive way to harness he magic or at least keep it from ruling her. the story never seemed to give you the thought that power can be used with love (not that there would not be a struggle to remain true to that) it was just always considered as something that would turn the user bad

Sorry for the long winded review that took me this long to get to my thoughts on this actual trilogy.

When I got to this, the "Sea Dragons" trilogy. I was once again disappointed by the narrator. it was often hard to hear any distinction between the characters she portraying and by time she got to the third book she changed how she was portraying then such that it almost sounded like a different narrator. Also it would seem that she was not given a list of pronunciations of names of previous characters from other trilogies so you had to get used to hearing names of characters and places sounding 'wrong'. I personally had an issue with the piracy nature of the main characters upbringing but I think that was to be expected as it was in a way a part of the story and how she and others perceived who she was and who she was becoming.

The whole trilogy seemed to drag on a bit and then quickly concluded as if there was a time crunch to turn it in. there were some loose ends left unresolved. for exame the main male character has magic and it is a major concern that he will turn bad even as the story comes to and end there is never an indication of how he will control himself and his magic

I still am glad I read/listened to this trilogy as it is part of the overall universe that Ava Richardson created.

Captivating story

Overall, I love the story. The plot draws you in and keeps you in a magical place, but I feel like the narrator forgot how she did the voices in the last book, or something. Danu suddenly sounds like he has a mouth full of cotton, and Crux turned into a whiny brat. Even on that note, I recommend the series!

great continuam

this story picks up where the last story line ended. it very exciting and fun to listen to. It shows some people, it they don't give up on their dreams and work as hard as they can. Their dreams can come true in some way. don't forget to ask for help and be grateful for any help.

Sub par

Repetitive,repetitive,repetitive! Character emotions schizophrenic. Lots of talk & bluster not backed up with actions. Narration ineffective.

Narration leaves much to be desired

Story is fun, a decent young adult read. Narrator has a very distracting cadence, and poorly concealed edits.

A must read!

This is a must-read story if you enjoy Ava Richardson's series of books! It has some of the same flaws of her other books, but at the same time, it has a lot of the same tear jerking sad moments and at the same time happy moments that the other series' have also. I fully enjoyed it and I will be reading more of her books.