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 “Two Thousand Years” via Audiobookworm Promotion who is working with M. Dalto on this blog tour in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
What drew my eye to listening to “Two Thousand Years”:
When I first read the premise of this story & the series it was beginning – I thought for sure it would be a wickedly good fit for me as an audiobook listener. Especially as I am one of three co-host & founders of a month-long Fantasy event called: #WyrdAndWonder {@WyrdAndWonder} – yet, I couldn’t have been more off base with this selection! I love soaking into worlds of Fantasy & seeing what an author can envision for their world – however, as I’ll explain – this unexpectedly just wasn’t my cuppa in regards to the story itself or the performance of the narrator. As I still stand by what I blogged previously about narrators – sometimes they really can break your interest in hearing a story!
Two Thousand Years
Subtitle: The Empire Saga Book One
by M. Dalto
Source: Audiobook via Audiobookworm Promotions
Narrator: Amanda Abeillan
Two thousand years ago, the prophecy of fire and light foretold the coming of the queen empress who would lead the empire into a time of peace and tranquility. But instead of the coming of a prosperous world, a forbidden love for the empress waged a war that ravaged the land, creating a chasm between the factions and raising the death toll of innocent lives until the final, bloody battle.
Centuries later, Alexandra, a 22-year-old barista living in Boston, is taken to an unfamiliar realm of mystery and magic where her life is threatened by Reylor, its banished lord steward. She crosses paths with Treyan, the arrogant and seductive crown prince of the empire, and together, they discover how their lives, and their love, are so intricately intertwined by a prophecy set in motion so many years ago.
Alex, now the predestined Queen Empress Alexstrayna, whose arrival was foretold by the annals of the empire, controls the fate of her new home as war rages between the crown prince and lord steward. Either choice could tear her world apart, as she attempts to keep the empire's torrid history from repeating itself.
In a realm where betrayal and revenge will be as crucial to her survival as love and honor, Alex must discover whether it is her choice - or her fate - that determines how she survives the empire's rising conflicts.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9781731461797
ASIN: B0849Z224C
Published by The Parliament House
on 3rd February, 2020
Format: Audiobook | Digital
Length: 8 hours and 20 minutes (unabridged)
Pages: 363
The Empire Saga:
Full Details about the Saga!
Two Thousand Years (book one)
Mark of the Empress (book two)
Beginning’s End (book three)
& this series has novellas: (more info on author’s site)
Reylor’s Lament (novella one)
Treyan’s Promise (novella two)
Sarayna’s Fate (novella three)
Formats Available: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook
Converse via: #TheEmpireSaga + #AudioReads, #Audiobook
as well as #Fantasy, #FantasyRomance and/or #NewAdult
About M. Dalto
M. Dalto is a Young Adult and New Adult author of adventurous romantic fantasy stories. Her bestselling debut novel, Two Thousand Years, was a 2016 Watty Award winner (Wattpad.com). She has since released two companion novellas, and its sequel, MARK OF THE EMPRESS. Her sophomore release, LADY MUTINY, has been signed with Magnolia Press for publication in 2020.
She was recruited to participate in Wattpad Paid Stories program for serialized authors in March 2019, and has since been invited into the Wattpad Stars program. She continues to volunteer her time as a literary mentor and freelance developmental editor, where she hopes to engage, assist, and inspire new writers through their literary journey.
She spends her days working as a full-time real estate paralegal, leaving her evenings to pursue her own writing agenda. When she’s not typing furiously at her computer, she enjoys reading fantasy novels, playing video games, and drinking coffee. She currently lives in Massachusetts with her husband, their daughter, and their corgi named Loki.
In regards to the audiobook, directly:
About Amanda Abeillan
Amanda Abeillan has narrated over a thousand hours of audio included in books, educational videos, commercials and more. She loves telling stories and making them come alive for her audiences. She also enjoys singing, playing the piano, and learning French. In her spare time, she can be found watching British panel shows and history documentaries.
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 first time I’ve listened to an audiobook narrated by Amanda Abeillan.
Regards to Articulation & Performance of the story:
The key reason why I felt disconnected from both the story and the narration styling of this narrator is because as I was first listening to the opening chapter of the novel every word felt smushed together and the style of narration simply felt rushed. I attempted to listen to this via the Audible app and directly off of Audible.com – yielding the same results. I also toyed with the speed of the audiobook being heard and unfortunately for me, decreasing the voice’s speed impeded hearing the story and increasing it gave me a slight headache trying to decipher the words at that particular higher release of speed. I honestly could not connect with the narrator’s style and delivery – everything felt off-tempo – which is the best way I can describe it.
Notes on the Quality of Sound & the Background Ambiance:
Despite not being able to shift into the story or to have a firm connection to the narrator’s narration – I didn’t hear anything in the ‘background’ of the audiobook which would affect a listener from hearing the story itself. The quality of the sound (of the bits I heard) were stellar – it was merely the delivery of the narration I took issue with directly as it took me ‘out’ of the context of the storyline.
Preference after listening to re-Listen or pick up the book in Print?
I would definitely like to try reading this story in print eventually. Despite the health crisis right now – my local public library is still open (for limited use such as borrowing and returning items) however, their purchase requests were shut down a few months ago for reasons which were not yet explained. Whenever they re-open those requests to be sent to them for consideration, I will earmark this title to be considered and hopefully if they accept it, I can try again to see if the story is one I can connect with or if it simply was not meant to be one I could read.
This was an interesting observation for me – because when I’ve had experiences in the past where I could not connect to a book in print and when opted to listen to the audiobook, the narrator saved the story and the author’s style. In this instance, the reverse could be true – perhaps I will connect with the context of the story in print but need to opt-out of the narrator’s dictation of the story.
In closing, would I seek out another Amanda Abeillan audiobook?
At this point in time, I’ll take a pass on seeking out her stories. I love the organic experience of listening to audiobooks – I was even settling into continuing to colour different pages out of a lovely colouring book I was given during my 5th Blogoversary – being that I’m celebrating my 7th this end of March (on the 31st) it was a rather fitting find! It is a colouring book which celebrates the natural world (from flowers to forests to woodland creatures and quotations!) in the Springtime. I’d rather continue to listen to other stories before I reconsider trying another one of her audiobooks.
I might loop back to her offerings to see if she’s slowed down her delivery of narrating a story but otherwise, I will yield that this narrator simply wasn’t a good fit for me. Others might warm to her instantly and that is why this journey into listening to audiobooks is such an interesting one to take-on!
This blog tour is courtesy of Audiobookworm Promotions:
Be sure to follow the blog tour route to see what else awaits you!
{SOURCES: Book Cover for “Two Thousand Years”, the biography of M. Dalto and the narrator, Amanda Abeillan 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: #AudioReads banner created using Unsplash Photography (Creative Commons Zero) Photo Credit: Alice Moore, 2020 Audiobook Challenge badge, 2020 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge badge and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.
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