Magic’s Pawn

Here is my problem. I love this series. I have read and re-read these books for years and that means that I have formed an opinion of how certain names and words should sound – even if the author might pronounce them differently – so when I hear the narrator say a word that I think should be said differently, I wince. I shouldn\’t, but I do. So, in a sense, this might be a good version of the book, but my experience with the material has jaded my listening opinion. Sorry. That being said, I do want to take issue with the way in which the book was read. I had a hard time distinguishing between characters. The narrator has a few different voices, but they are not distinct enough to tell which character is talking. Also, I was taken aback by not being able to tell when the narrator was moving from scene to scene. It all seemed to blend into one great big paragraph instead of sections of story. I didn\’t enjoy that aspect. Like I said, it might be my experience with the material, but this reading was only an adequate version of this story. I am happy to have bought it, but it does not rank high of my favorite purchases.

Ever read something when you were young, think it was amazing, then come back to it and wonder what you were thinking? That\’s my relationship with my highschool obsession with Mercedes Lackey. I used to think her works were the most imaginative, romantic, intense things I\’d ever read, and I honestly paused Magic\’s Pawn before I could even finish it. I don\’t know if that\’s because this is one of her early works, but I did not make it all the way through this book. The prose was flowery and purple, the people\’s inability to communicate for the sake of plot-tension unbelievable in the extreme, and characters who were supposed to be tragic and sympathetic came across as snotty rather than flawed. If you do like fantasy, or if you have a young person in your life who has just finished Twilight and wants to know what to read next, recommend this author to them- but maybe start with Owlflight or the Black Gryphon or Oathbound. They\’re perfectly lovely books- just more tween than I had remembered.

I\’ve long held that Vanyel just was not a very relatable character, or at least not as likeable as many of Lackey\’s other protagonists. Very whiny, and a lot of the plot seems weirdly paced. But the performance was by far one of the weakest I\’ve heard for her novels. The narrator often puts weird emphasis on certain words, as if he is reading the sentences by seconds instead of in one long flow. several times, it\’s meant that I have to play catch up in my mind when his pronunciation of a sentence doesn\’t match what it\’s trying to get at. He also pronounces many of her names, foreign language words, and place names in what I would have thought to be the LEAST likely manner when I was reading it versus listening. maybe that\’s just me, but overall the performance was awkward, inconsistent, and distracting.

MAGIC\’S PAWN BY MERCEDES LACKEY Vanyel Ashkevron is a 16 year old young man who\’s father is Lord of Forst Reach in the kingdom of Valdemar, and is expected by his father to take over his estate as Lord Holder when he comes to manhood. However, Vanyel is far more interested in music than in being Lord Holder or in the \”hack and bash\” fighting his nemesis, Jervis, tries to force down his throat. He understands neither of those any more than he understands why his father never seems to think he does anything right and seems to believe he lies: though he does not. Eventually the root of his father\’s \”problem\” is told in this first book and handled well in all three of this trilogy. I found the treatment Ms. Lackey did of the issues around being gay with a parent who is homophobic (though neither word is used it becomes obvious) to be very accurate and true to life. Those who think it isn\’t either had awesomely progressive parents or they are not gay and therefore have no understanding of the wounds this inflicts. Magic\’s Pawn, the first in three books of the trilogy known as \”The Last Herald Mage\” is the beginning of a tale that starts with the main character (Vanyel) very young, and ends in the third book in his mid thirties, quite a different man and very mature. It seems that things only go from bad to worse at first, but eventually the story shows what it took to make Vanyel the Legend he eventually becomes.The characters and relationships in Lackey\’s writing are very well drawn, and while this first book of the trilogy includes seemingly overdone emotions, for a 16 year old confused boy, it\’s just right. Emotions are always seem to adults to be a bit overdone at 16 years old regardless of gender or sexual preference. About the narrator: James DeLotel did a FANTASTIC job of narrating all three books of this series for the American Printing House for the blind. However, my copy is old and missing at least 22 pages (broken tape, fixed ultimately but missing the broken part) of the first book is missing. I so badly wanted copies of all three books that were whole. I am grateful that Audible did this, but I wish that Audible could have some way of checking the narration at the very least, even if they can\’t afford (or won\’t pay for) studio time for recording in which both editing and directing could have made a huge difference. I think that this narrator, Gregory St. John, has at the very least a natural gift for narrating, but even gifts need direction. This narrator for this book has been reviewed MANY times as having anything from an annoying effect on listeners to an UN-listenable effect. I found it merely annoying because I know the story is worth it. No newcomer to these stories can be expected to see that though. MERCEDES LACKEY has written quite a few fantastic series that many people follow in an age when reading has all but gone out of style. It\’s not fair to the author or the listeners to have such inconsistent, badly timed and badly pronounced (e.g. \”Tamentable\” is said in place of \”Lamentable\” for instance in book two) regular English/American words as well as the inconsistency of pronunciation of names as well as pacing. Speaking of which, the pacing is horrid. No pause, not even one second between obviously different scenes. The reading is so bad, my first listen included many lost sentences going by as I tried to figure out what the narrator had just said. And I had already read the entire series three times in hardback!!! If too many of Audible\’s narrators are like this, I fear many people will find other places to get their audio books. I\’ve even thought of doing that myself, which I find a bit disturbing. And all because of bad narration by one narrator. One. And I know, from experience with \”The Island\” and a few other books from Audible that regardless of the greatness of the writing, the horridly unprofessional narration made it so I could barely stand the too fast reading, very bad \”accents\” that do not remain consistent within characters, bad pacing, mispronounced words, etc. in any book from Audible. That\’s not good for keeping me from wandering around looking for other sources of audio books. It is necessary, I believe, to bother with studio time, recording with editing and some direction. I put up with it, because it\’s where I first found a copy of \”The Last Herald Mage\” trilogy not as old as my worn James DeLotel version. But….I won\’t be tossing that version, as it\’s nice to RELAX rather than be constantly irritated and finding myself correcting the narrator such as when St. John says the word \”merc\” (shortened form for mercenary) as \”merse\” rather than \”merk\”. Actually, with that mispronounced word, St. John was absolutely consistent! Which only made me more annoyed. After about the fifth time he says \”merse rations\” I start correcting him … as though that will make any difference. I\’m glad I already loved these books or Audible, frankly, I WOULD NEVER HAVE BOUGHT THE SECOND ONE. In fact, I probably would have asked for money back and rescinded my rights to the first book once I got that money back. That\’s how annoying it would be had I not already been familiar with and loved the books themselves. Really, these things could have easily been cleared up with a little direction. It makes your narrators look bad as well as your company. Of course, this is all assuming that Audible has any say and is something more than a place that rents audio books from other places. If Audible does rent from other places, perhaps Audible needs to first read user reviews from the companies they rent from so they can better choose which books Audible wants to present to it\’s clientele. Magic\’s Pawn, Magic\’s Promise and Magic\’s Price are awesome books in written form. And if a bad narration, bad or no editing and no direction causes people to turn away from the books themselves, I hope authors check in and insist on their books being done by professionals rather than just well, gifted folks in home studios with no direction and absolutely no editing. I will start warning authors if I see this on the increase. It\’s a very bad misrepresentation of an author\’s work when the narration alone turns readers away. How many times do your customers have to tell you this, Audible, before you find a way to seriously address the issue? And if you\’d like a dialogue, Audible, contact me, I\’d be happy to talk to you about it. For those who love fantasy and love books by Mercedes Lackey, you can still hear her works here, just allow for some really challenging moments in listening for this series.

I must admit – I probably have worn out 2 or three paperback versions of this series, as well as the Arrows of the Queen series (of which only book one is currently available for audio.) I remember my introduction to Misty Lackey, at the last convention she attended (Dragoncon 2000 – and therein hangs SEVERAL tales, but) – this is the first series I read where there was a protagonist who makes you cry and makes you laugh, and makes you feel the plight of the outcast so comprehensively that you CAN\”T read only the one book – start one and before the week is out – you will be hunting down book 2 and 3 to finish the story off. Fair warning – Vanyel is gay. Now, having MET Misty and Mark Shepherd (who sometimes co-writes with her) – I\’ve sometimes wondered just how much of Mark is IN Vanyel – but she doesn\’t make it into a big deal. (She never really does much in the way of romance in her early works, and while the series DOES skew PG – I don\’t think Misty\’s ever written an \”R\” rated sex scene – and if you want X – look elsewhere.)

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