Roar

The first book in a new fantasy series deals with sentient weather--and its good and evil manifestations. It's a compelling plot, but the author's choice not to use contractions in the dialogue makes the conversations seem stilted--a problem that is even more noticeable in audio, especially in the many heated emotional exchanges. Notwithstanding this, narrator Soneela Nankani ensures that the story's flow is hardly disturbed. Her perfect pacing and timing, in particular, help to enliven a one's listening. She makes wonderful use of delicate British accents in the female cast. Her males are mostly in the voice of the story's narrator but work well. And she's masterful in the pronunciation of real mouthfuls of original place names. Can't wait for Book 2. M.C. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine