#HistoricalMondays an audiobook review | “Longbourn: Dragon Entail” (Jane Austen’s Dragons, Book Two) by Maria Grace, narrated by Benjamin Fife

Posted Monday, 17 February, 2020 by jorielov , , , , 0 Comments

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Acquired Audiobook By: I started to listen to audiobooks in [2016] as a way to offset my readings of print books whilst noting there was a rumour about how audiobooks could help curb chronic migraines as you are switching up how your reading rather than allowing only one format to be your bookish choice. As I found colouring, knitting and playing solitaire agreeable companions to listening to audiobooks, I embarked on a new chapter of my reading life where I spend time outside of print editions of the stories I love reading and exchange them for audio versions.

Through hosting for Audiobookworm Promotions, I’ve expanded my knowledge of authors who are producing audio versions of their stories whilst finding podcasters who are sharing their bookish lives through pods. Meanwhile, I am also curating my own wanderings in audio via my local library who uses Overdrive for their digital audiobook catalogue wherein I can also request new digital audiobooks to become added to their OverDrive selections. Aside from OverDrive I also enjoy having Audible & Scribd memberships as my budget allows. It is a wonderful new journey and one I enjoy sharing – I have been able to expand the percentage of how many audios I listen to per year since 2018.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Longbourn: Dragon Entail” via Audiobookworm Promotion who is working with Benjamin Fife on this blog tour in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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What I loved about the first novel in this series “Pemberley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon”:

We retreat back into the world lit alive by Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett in a rather charming viewing of this family’s evening traditions. It is here were we find the incomparable Mrs Bennett still with a glint of criticism to share on her observations of her family and Lizzie herself, who is gathering requests for a story to be told about dragons. The young boys in her presence are besotted with the idea – barely able to contain themselves or the immediate glee they are experiencing over the prospect of what Lizzie might tell them about their favourite creature. And, thus our entrance into the Jane Austen Dragons series begins as if we never left this world at all – well, except with one minor difference, the last time I visited dragons were never whispered about nor aptly disclosed.

It is in this children’s story about the back history of dragons we first caught a glimpse of the first human who could interact with dragons due to his ability to ‘hear’ them; an unfamiliar trait amongst humans who previously were unable to communicate with dragons previously. This man was Uther Pendragon. And, thus the back lineage of dragons and humans is explained through how our original contacts with dragons began quite humbly and how Pendragon forged a unique capacity for peace with the dragon king he had met and of whom had given him gifts to takeaway with him. This was an interesting section of the story as it set down the tradition of how men kept falcons and why women kept birds; a seemingly uninteresting habit and yet, if you were to view this with the back history of how this tradition was manifested first through the meetings of dragons, it gives new meaning behind why humans have feathered companions.

This was a beautiful segue moment – where you can view this world in one dimensional lens and re-view it through the dimensional lens Ms Grace is writing for us to find disclosed. It was shortly after the bedtime story concluded where we first understood who Lizzie’s feathered companion really is and how she fits into the history of dragons inside this world. It is a slow building arc towards showcasing how most of the inhabitants still believe themselves to be living a rather ordinary experience – to see the non-magical elements round them and taking that as stock for what is truly the reality they know and love. Yet, behind that veilled reality there is a keener one, a more fantastical one which is seeking to merge into known history and the perceptional assumption everyone had already made about their own living sphere. It here I felt Ms Grace made a wonderful gesture towards breaking us out of the tradition of Pride and Prejudice and what we knew of the Regency to exchange it for this wholly new set of rules and traditions for this new world emerging into our view. I found it as fascinating of a transition as I had previously when I first learnt the word muggle and the differences therein in a universe just as fantastical as this one.

Ms Grace took us through a conjoined and mutually admired lens of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice storyline – keeping us clued into the familiar and then taking us into heightened new additions – not just the dragons but how she constructed this world ‘behind’ the lore and legend which has become the Jane Austen universe. It is in that breadth of entrance I could definitely see why the narrator Mr Fife was talking to me in my forthcoming interview about how expansive this world is going to become – because it isn’t locked into strictly resonating with our memories of Pride but will endeavour itself to re-transition through different components of theory and thought from each of Austen’s novels.

I truly loved her instincts – such as how she put in a new reason and central arc of intrigue into why the soldiers would be in Meryton and how this had a cross-effect of importance with the dragons. Similarly to how she enlarged the mindfulness of understanding why female heirs were not giving real estate and how this new component of needing a Dragon Keeper (a person who can hear and see dragons) is just as relevant as the old rules for the entailled property to go to a male heir. She takes the traditions of the story itself and then re-visualises how it can become augmented into a dragon society living adjacent and cohabitating with the humans who reside here. I found it wicked brilliant!

If you haven’t read Pride and Prejudice in a long while this is a wonderful re-visitation of the story – as Maria Grace aligns you so wholly true to where Jane Austen took us into her novel. The added benefit is the secondary arc wherein the dragons reign alongside the ton and country society the Bennett’s have become renown. As you take this journey each new corridor of the original story is re-explored and re-heightened by the presence of Grace’s dragons. It is hard not to spoilt what you will find within this new series because of how readily true she has written her world into Austen’s and vice versa. You almost question which of the world’s came first – even knowing the answer and that is a mark of a wicked good storycrafter who has given those of us who love Austen a new experience of her stories!

-quoted from my review of Pemberley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon

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#HistoricalMondays an audiobook review | “Longbourn: Dragon Entail” (Jane Austen’s Dragons, Book Two) by Maria Grace, narrated by Benjamin FifeLongbourn: Dragon Entail
Subtitle: Jane Austen's Dragons Book Two
by Maria Grace
Source: Audiobook via Audiobookworm Promotions
Narrator: Benjamin Fife

Darcy thought his problems were over when Pemberley hatched and successfully imprinted on humans. But baby dragons prove far more difficult than any dragon lore prepared him for. Only Elizabeth Bennet's notes offer him any help. When his imperious Aunt Catherine takes matters into her own hands, things take a turn for the worse and Pemberley’s life hangs in the balance. He desperately needs more of Elizabeth’s help, but she ignores all of his requests.

Elizabeth, though, has problems of her own. After the Bennet family dragon sent Pemberley away, life at Longbourn was supposed to return to normal and Elizabeth get on with the all-important business of marrying the heir to her father’s estate. Except that he is the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed on to marry - a bumbling, addle-pated dragon-hater who demands she gives up the dragons she lives for.

Can she, with the help of her dragon friends, find her way back to Pemberley before they both suffer their fate from the Dragon Entail?

Jane Austen meets Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern. A must-listen for Pern fans.

Genres: After Canons, Dragon Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, High Fantasy, Historical-Fantasy, Mythological Fantasy, Re-telling &/or Sequel



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B0828BKZ8W

Also by this author: Pemberley: Mr Darcy's Dragon, Narrator Interview (Jane Austen's Dragons), Netherfield: Rogue Dragon

Also in this series: Pemberley: Mr Darcy's Dragon, Netherfield: Rogue Dragon


Published by Self Published

Format: Audiobook | Digital

Length: 9 hours and 38 minutes (unabridged)

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The Jane Austen Dragons series:

Pemberley Darcy's Dragon by Maria Grace (audiobook)Longbourn Dragon Entail by Maria Grace (audiobook)Netherfield Rogue Dragon by Maria Grace

A Proper Introduction to Dragons (prequel)

Pemberley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon (book one) (see also Review)

Longbourn: Dragon Entail (book two)

Netherfield: Rogue Dragon (book three)

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Formats Available: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Converse via: #JaneAustensDragons + #AudioReads, #Audiobook

as well as #Pemberley, #MrDarcy OR #LizzieAndDarcy

& #JaneAusten, #PrideAndPrejudice #aftercanon

About Maria Grace

Maria Grace

Five time BRAG Medallion Honoree and #1 best selling Historical Fantasy author, Maria Grace has her PhD in Educational Psychology and is a 16-year veteran of the university classroom where she taught courses in human growth and development, learning, test development and counseling. None of which have anything to do with her undergraduate studies in economics/sociology/managerial studies/behavior sciences. She pretends to be a mild-mannered writer/cat-lady, but most of her vacations require helmets and waivers or historical costumes, usually not at the same time.

She writes gaslamp fantasy, historical romance and non-fiction to help justify her research addiction.

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as we shift forward in the series:

As we were exiting Pemberley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon we were undestanding how controlling Longbourn could be in regards to his (soon to be new) Dragon Keeper, Lizzie. For her part, what she had lost was the innocence of trust with dragons, something she never felt she’d lose and she was betwixt and betied about how to proceed forward with this distrupted. She wasn’t used to fearing the creatures and despite the earnest optimism she used to have about life and the ways in which dragons were a part of hers – you saw her questioning not just her place in the order of dragons but the place of all humans in keeping company with them.

There was an interesting scene exchanged between her and her father – where they discussed the entail to the estate and the fact that Collins was still a viable piece of that puzzle due to the constrictions of how the estates were set and run. Lizzie on the other hand didn’t like being dictated to by conventional standards, the order of estates or even the will of Longbourn – as she was a woman with a fiercely independent mind and she wanted to choose her own actions and the own course she had with how she desired to live her days. She felt her back was against a wall in many ways as everything she would normally choose for herself was being organised by others; thus setting the course for the most conflict in which she knew not how to diffuse.

One of the most sincere sequences which re-highlights how Mr Darcy and Lizzie start to see each other in a different turn of light is when Pemberley was first discovered and bourne. In those tender first moments of Pemberley’s life – we obsered how both pride and prejudice can get in the way of what needs getting done except to say, if both can be put aside for a common goal. I was most surprised Pemberley was a female firedrake – as most of the more powerful dragons of this world are male.

my review of longbourn: dragon entail:

The best part about resuming from whence I left off in this world is having Rumblkins and April in the most immediate scene with Lizzie as we pick up our footsteps alongside her as they go for a walkabout. This led directly to the melancholic mood Lizzie was finding herself in over Pemberley (a new hatchling and a dragon who meant more to her than she had first realised) and she didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Her Mum, Mrs Bennett was reliable enough to keep her on her toes with her regular antics and opinions, which she never took a pause from sharing; at least the woman had consistency! Still, Lizzie was beside herself – especially since with the rules of visitors now enacted upon Lizzie, she had to tuck away her dragons which everyone else considered to be something of a different feather entirely!

I had a feeling the dragons would be most vocal about their discontent for Mr Collins – I don’t believe any person or dragon alike could find something agreeable about him. He just has the kind of repelling personality that you are thankful to be removed from as soon as he takes his leave from you or you take it from him! I found him to be the most disagreeable character in the original canon and happily he continues the tradition in this series!

In the last installment, there was talk about how Dragon Keepers and their dragons are dictated to by the order of dragon world – as there are rules about their relationships as much as their are rules regulating the order of how things work between humans and dragon society. The interesting bit is that there is a wave of change moving through this world – where there are new rules being discussed (if not outwardly disclosed) about how these established relationships can work and if there are reasons to alter the ways in which what has been expected of each party should change to allow more freedom of choice within their respective roles. Interestingly further is how there is an option emerging where a Dragon Keeper can become replaced if it is not fitting for them to continue their role to their dragon. It is very well organised by Ms Grace – how this world maintains itself and how there are processes involved in order to effectively change established rule.

Lizzie is still sorting out how she feels about Mr Darcy – for he causes her the kind of vexations she doesn’t wish to indulge. Yet, she’s still under the spell of Mr Wickham who has the way of manipulating how people view him and of revealling his past histories in a way which puts a charm on others who might not realise the lies of his tongue. With April nearby Lizzie, she has the unfortunate knowledge of how there is a shortage of fairy dragons in the vicinity which directly impacts April – as how can she find her own mate if there are no males to choose from? I had a good chuckle at this as just when Lizzie thinks she’s resolved all the concerns of the dragons and has humoured her family with social obligations she doesn’t fully enjoy – she is fraught with a new entanglement which doesn’t appear any easier to resolve than the ones she’s recently solved.

Concurrently Mr Collins is directing his presence on Lizzie – be as it may, their entailed estate has this be-muddling issue of how they are interconnected for the sake of the family. Yet, you can hear in Lizzie’s voice and reactions (especially towards her father, Mr Bennett) how exasperated she has become with the tradition of inheritance. Yet, despite all this anguish happening round them, Darcy is bewitched and enchanted by watching over young Pemberley – as he was not as accustomed to being a keeper of dragons as Lizzie had been herself; she was raised with dragon culture and the ways of how dragons need to be watched over by humans – for him, it was a wholly new experience without the foreknowledge he readily believes would have benefited him greatly. Pemberley is definitely the dragon who caught Darcy off-guard and in many ways is a fitting reminder about how off-guard he can become round strong women! As I felt this might have been a set-up for a metaphor about Darcy as he relates to Lizzie, desptie himself and his initial bouts of pride and prejudice against her and her family.

Ironically or not, I loved the conflict with having Pemberley insisting on seeing Lizzie – it overrode her sensibilities when it came to interacting with other humans. Pemberley has her own mind and chooses to speak it even if it is not proper for her to be this outspoken which of course left me in smirks because isn’t that what you’d expect about the influence of Lizzie on Pemberley? I was enjoying to see who would win out in the end – would Darcy be able to soften Pemberley a bit to understand she had certain duties in front of his family and relations as much as she could assert herself if the times were right to do so? Seeing her as a juvenile shows the growth all the characters are taking as to raise a dragon properly requires far more patience than you would be eluded to believing possible!

What really infuriates your own ire though is the complete disrespect Mr Collins has for dragonkind! He doesn’t fit in their society because he has a complete aversion to their species – as dictated through his actions! I could definitely respect April for wanting to defend Lizzie’s actions to share dragon stories with children due to the insanity of how Collins was trying to erase their knowledge of dragons due to his own stubborn ignorance! He just doesn’t understand half of what the rest of the family does and it was further ironic that this is the man meant to carry-on the family lineage in regards to Longbourn directly! Daresay, Ms Grace surely knew how to throw down the gauntlet on the original canon and re-inspire the grievances we all have against Collins!

Pemberley is such a curious little dragon – as she discovers her environment and the life she has with Darcy, I noticed how he couldn’t deny the knowledge Lizzie still could impart about keeping dragons and knowing their biological needs. If anything she was similar to a large species Vet in our world – understanding more about dragons than most of her peers which I felt was starting to be a rub of irritation between them. I think Darcy wasn’t quite sure what to make with Lizzie – for she was lower bourne (in his eyes) and her station in life was a fixed issue (irregardless of her wits, talent with dragons and intellect therein) he could not rectify. This led back into their traditional bout of disagreements with the added layers of dragonkind in this world.

We are growing more aware of the depths of Lizzie’s fond attachment for Pemberley and whilst she is wrestling with her emotions about the dragon she was thankful to be in presence of soon after it hatched (which was quite the feat, as there is a lot of after birth care for hatchlings!) – Pemberley herself was not happy about how each time she came into contact with a female she knew instinctively it was not Lizzie. The two shared a bond that could not be severed and yet, there are obstacles in their path to where the propriety of this world was preventing them from having a closer friendship and relationship where they wouldn’t have to mourn the loss of being forced into living separately.

You truly get to see the depth of how far a dragon will inflict their influence on humans in their vicinity when you overhear how far Longbourn is attempting to use his influence to sway a choice that one of the characters needs to make for herself and use her own sensibilities when she does it. Also, the discouraging ways in which Mr Collins pursued Lizzie is wholly intact in this installment and even a bit more nauseating if you can believe? He just has zero social skills and he talks as if a woman were only meant to be married to him if she were willing to erase her own identity and simply do his bidding! Oy. It is his dribble of his own self-indulgent ego which grates on you the most and that is true in the original canon inasmuch as it is on display in this variant!

Except to say, part of me was curious if perhaps there was subterfuge? There is such a tedious balance in this world – between dragons and their keepers and friends, there is room enough for someone with a sinister heart to do a bit of plotting to circumvent certain actions and outcomes if they were willing to put in the work to accomplish it. Whilst the frays of intrigue are swirling round – Lizzie is having to deal with the rather odious and repugnant Mr Collins and her dismay at realising that her duty in life was going against her own heart.

Behind all of this though – are wonderful depictions of dragons, from the touch of their scales to their unique personalised personalities – you get a better feel of how the dragons here are presenting themselves with all the fragilities you might not realise they would have as they are as emotionally triggered as their humans!

One of my favourite scenes is when Lizzie encounters a dragon who can read and interpret old languages – including having the ability to be a dragon scribe, as he’s learnt to write despite the fact his paws are not as easy to find a way to hold an object to write as Lizzie could herself. The exchanged proved that even among dragons there are seekers of knowledge past what is expected and this resonated with me about how the hierarchy of this world constantly shifts to reveal more of the dragon society the deeper you reach into the series as a whole.

In this variant, Lady Catherine is just as devious and just as cunning as she ever was and that is most distressing for Lizzie! Especially as she ups the ante on what she is willing to sacriface of her sincerity in order to prove a point that she endears Lizzie to accept – even if logically it was the worst offer she ever received. Continuing as we had with the main timeline of Pride and Prejudice in the first installment, we are on the same course within the sequel. All the situations we are presuming will take place will unfold in their own good timing but the overall arc of this world are far more complex when you insert the dragons into the background of what stresses Lizzie and Mr Darcy.

When things really get interesting is when we go to ‘dragon court’ – this I felt was the shining moment of the installment because all the ‘cloak and dagger’ bits start to become revealled. Fife did a smashing job of alternating his perspective through all the characters representing humans and dragons alike whilst giving the strongest impression that this is a court which takes itself seriously in order to protect not just the dragons but also to protect their keepers and friends alike! It is also where you get to see a few of the characters in a different light of interest – such as Mary Bennett, Mr Collins (he truly is out of his depth!), Longbourn and even Pemberley! They are each attending for different reasons but it is what they reveal whilst their there which is of most importance to the central arc of the series!

From here I cannot wait to see what occurs within Netherfield: Rogue Dragon as the foundation has been set and I know we are going to be seeing a heap of Lydia in the third installment if my theories are correct thus far along as to whom is involved and why! Each step of the way within the series itself, Ms Grace allows you to tuck closer to the original canon whilst re-alighting the drama of these character’s lives into a new setting where there is far more at stake than an estate which is entailed to a certain kind of heir!

on the fantastical after canon styling of maria grace:

Grace has a way of inserting some of the back-histories of her world through bedtime stories with children in the series – allowing the reader to learn alongside the children of how dragons and humans are co-habitating this world. Some of the concerns brought forward in these rather benign exchanges of stories have reach within the installments – sometimes, some of what is revealled becomes part of the journey the characters are going to take and other times, it is social commentary about what is currently the state of dragonkind. I liked how these exchanges also gave root to the cultural heritage of dragons whilst presenting the stories as a measure of curiosity to younger generations who are going to be raised amongst dragons; even if at this point in time, dragons are still more fantastical than real in how they are accepted as a presence in their lives.

I had observed this in the first installment – how the stories themselves are acting as a gateway for each new generation of humans to put down the foundational steps towards full acceptance of the dragons who are amongst them. It gives the dragons a chance to have them understood and accepted long before the need to have humans interceding on their behalf if/when the need arises. I also felt because they were encouraging children to believe in dragons in this way, it would allow more of them to release their fears concerning dragons and believe in them as the caretakers they have become – seeking to help protect their territories and their rights to live in their chosen habitats.

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Fantastical Elements:

→ Hybrid creatures like the cat-snake Rumblkins who was really a Tatzelwurm

→ Dragons have telepath or empathic powers of influence over humans

→ A wholly fully realised dragon society including their own legends, cultural history with a spoken and written language!

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In regards to the audiobook, directly:

About Benjamin Fife

Benjamin Fife

Benjamin Fife has always had a passion for learning. With a mind that remembers all sorts of numbers and useless trivia, he regularly wins local radio shows and enjoys confusing people with sci-fi quotes.

Fife grew up in Southeast Idaho. He attended college at Idaho State University, where he met his future wife in their music theory class. They have been married nearly 20 years and now have six children and a whole menagerie of animals. When their oldest daughter was three or four years old they started reading aloud from novels every night at bedtime, and have continued the tradition ever since. The family loves exploring various worlds and topics through Fife’s wonderful reading skills, which get better every year. They all have his Christmas Carol voices memorized (and the older kids are known to quote along with portions), since he has read it to them every December.

Benjamin enjoys all kinds of sci-fi and fantasy - both books and shows, is an extreme eclectic music lover, and prefers his chocolate to be of the 90% cocoa variety. Above all, he loves to be with his family. He loves recording audio books, and is delighted to tell people, “I’ve finally found what I want to be when I grow up!”

I am appreciative of Ms Jess providing a cursory outline of how best to articulate my listening hours on behalf of this audiobook and the others I shall be blogging about or reviewing in future. I’ve modified the suggestions to what I felt were pertinent to respond too on my own behalf as well as keeping to the questions I felt were relevant to share.

Number of Times I’ve heard the Narrator(s):

This is the second time I’ve listened to the narration styling of Benjamin Fife.

Regards to the Narrator’s Individual Character performances:

The characters we all know & love within the context of ‘Pride & Prejudice’:

Lizzie: Lizzie has a more comfortable and confident presence in this sequel. Her voice comes across smooth and easy on your eyes. You can tell whenever she is being featured in a scene or if she is part of a larger group as Fife has made her voice distinctive enough to tell apart from the other characters; which is a lovely gift because you don’t have to question where ‘Lizzie’ has gone off too!

Aunt Gardner: I loved Fife softened Lizzie’s Aunt’s voice but maintained the edgy vibe and high anxieties of Mrs Bennett!

Mr Collins: I was quite taken by how Fife voiced Collins – mostly as he never interested me due to how he came across as feeling entitled and had a puffed out sense of himself! His voice in this series alters this perception just slightly but then nails it again due to how you just can never quite trust him! His voice held a certain presence of character and I enjoyed seeing how Fife handled his scenes.

Lady Catherine: Her uppity nature is on full order in this installment! She is just as horrid as she was in the original and the way in which Fife voiced her consternations made the point further confirmed that this isn’t a woman to trifle with because she always has something up her sleeve and can fully take you off-guard without so much as a ‘by your leave’!

Mr Bennett: He has a stronger voice in this series than in the original one where he is more akin to Hyancinth’s husband in Keeping Up Appearances. Yet, here he is presented with a fiercely strong conviction about the duties of his daughter Lizzie to be kept to the traditions they have upheld for generations. He doesn’t understand why she is discontent with Mr Collins, ill-humoured by Mr Wickham and he has a shorter fuse for her disdain for having to be further involved with Longbourn. Each turn, he barely gives her the empathy a father should give their daughter and thereby owns to his new role of being obstinate in proclaiming she must due to her duty above and beyond her own concerns to the contrary.

And, the dragons themselves:

Longbourn: His voice booms and he loves to make a ruckus whenever he his present. He doesn’t want you to ignore him though how you could is beyond me! He doesn’t suffer fools well and he takes his role very seriously and yet, there is a part of him that you question if you can trust. His stubbornness can get in the way of people liking him and it is also what prevents him from being understood without misconstruement.

Pemberley: Her voice sounds like a youngling who is just starting to understand how to put her words into vocalisation. A unique spin on how a younger dragon can sound and how they would try to ‘sample’ their words as they’re speaking much like a human child.

When all the dragons are talking in tandem with each other: I was most impressed how Fife was handling having multiple dragons in-scene altogether and how he had the creative licence to strike a balance between which dragon was talking and which dragon might have been interrupting the other! They sometimes talked in rounds, sometimes over each other and sometimes, one insisted on talking when one of the other dragons had something to say themselves, too! It was easily able to follow due to how he kept his voice alternating in both pitch, articulation and in some cases, accents – as to differentiate between Lizzie and the dragons he truly became more comfortable and confident in his approach at voicing Lizzie!

How the story sounded to me as it was being Read: (theatrical or narrative)

I still maintain this is a spoken narrative audiobook – where you are treated to a revolving cast of characters between humans and dragons; where each new voice presented has its own unique particulars of resounding as themselves in your ears – meaning, you can definitely ascertain who is who whenever the fuller cast is in-scene together. The dragons have a different pitch set than the humans and I felt this was a stronger vocalisation than the first installment because of how Fife was showcasing his confidence for the roles and for the story at hand. It was a very enjoyable presentation and one that draws you back into the series to the point you wish to hear more of it.

Regards to Articulation & Performance of the story:

I felt there was a lot of growth between Pemberley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon and Longbourn: Dragon Entail as the characters felt even more well-rounded and presented in this installment than the first. I’ve grown accustomed to how they sound now and evenso, I found Fife’s performance has grown and matured into a confidence of articulation as well. Even the way he’s choosing to bring back the elder characters vs the younger ones sounds better to my ear but it is his overall approach to voicing the characters and drawing us further into the world set round them that I loved the most to discover.

Notes on the Quality of Sound & the Background Ambiance:

The quality of the sound was free of background disturbances and distractions – a very crisp production for this audiobook where you can simply hear Fife narrating the novel and not worry about an other interruptions to distract you. There wasn’t any additional ambiance sounds in the background – such as overtures or musical interludes – either in the beginning or between chapters and sections either. It was simply a clean sound setting wherein you could hear Fife’s voice and listen to how Maria Grace developed the story to unfold.

Preference after listening to re-Listen or pick up the book in Print?

Previously I felt it would be a key benefit to have the print copies in hand as I go to re-listen to this series in audiobook. However, somewhere between the first and second novels, I’ve sorted out the rhythm, pacing and world-building to where I felt I could re-align into this second novel with more ease than the first. Knowing this – I would believe that I could continue to listen to the series as it progresses (even past these initial three) to where I might not need the books in print in order to maintain my connection to Ms Grace’s world, characters and the curiosity I have developed for her dragons!

In closing, would I seek out another Benjamin Fife audiobook?

As I am participating in the series throughout this audiobook tour, I am thankfully blessed to continue to hear Mr Fife’s narration of the Jane Austen’s Dragons series. I definitely have a better sense of his narration styling after having heard this first installment of the series and have become a ready appreciator of his style. I can definitely see him a good fit for traditional Classical Fiction releases as well as a continuing grace for approaching the after canons and/or seeking out other stories within the Speculative realms! I look forward to following his career and seeing what develops as time goes by.

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If you missed it – I shared my interview with Mr Fife.

My final review for the tour itself – Netherfield: Rogue Dragon on 19th of February!

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 This blog tour is courtesy of Audiobookworm Promotions:

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Be sure to follow the blog tour route to see what else awaits you!

Jane Austen's Dragons audiobook blog tour banner provided by Audiobookworm Promotions.Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Listening to this audiobook contributed to some of my 2020 reading challenges:

2020 Audiobook Challenge badge created by Jorie in Canva.2020 HistFic Reading Challenge banner created by Jorie in Canva.

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{SOURCES: Book Cover for “Pemberley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon”, “Longborn: Dragon Entail” & “Netherfield: Rogue Dragon”, the biography of Maria Grace and the narrator, Benjamin Fife as well as the blog tour banner, the audiobook promo banner and the host badge were provided by Audiobookworm Promotions and are used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #HistoricalMondays banner, 2020 Audiobook Challenge badge, 2020 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge badge and the Comment Box Banner.}

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

read more >> | Visit my Story Vault of Book Reviews | Policies & Review Requests | Contact Jorie

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Posted Monday, 17 February, 2020 by jorielov in After the Canon, Audiobook, Audiobookworm Promotions, Blog Tour Host, Classical Literature, Dragon Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, High Fantasy, Indie Author, Inspired By Author OR Book, Inspired by Stories, Jane Austen Sequel, Pride & Prejudice Re-telling




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