Reviewed by Melanie on
This is the first book in Pamela Palmer's Feral Warriors series. I was not familiar with Ms. Palmer until I saw her at a book signing earlier this year. I really liked her and wanted to look her up. When I heard that her Feral Warrior series was going to be released on audio, I decided to wait to give it a listen instead of reading it. I did pick up her Vamp City series, which isn't on audio at this time, and I really liked it, so I was excited when Tantor offered me the opportunity to review these on audio.
I came into this series knowing very little about it. Even though it had been out for a while in books, I hadn't read the reviews. Once I decided I was going to review the books, I wanted to go in with as little outside influence as possible. I just saw that many of my friends read them and saw their ratings and that most of them were high. I knew the books were PNR and they were animal shifters, each male a different animal. I really like the world. It is such a different world than most of the shifter books out there. I mean, there are several things that are common. They can shift into animal, I mean duh. These shifters have an immortal life span, but can in fact die, if a mortal wound is inflicted. When that happens, a new feral of the same animal will take his place. So there will always be one of each of the different animal types.
The heroine in this story, known as the Radiant. She was raised human and knows nothing of this world, but she is essential to the lives of these warriors. The warriors have been looking for this new Radiant since their previous Radiant died. The Radiant, like the warriors, is immortal, but can die from fatal injuries. Because she was raised in the human world, it takes them months to find her and the lack of a Radiant has caused issues with the men. The woman in that position grounds them, helps them keep their "humanity" for lack of a better word. They have also lost their ability to shift, which is their greatest strength.
I won't go to much into the story itself. Let's just say that for the most part, it is suspenseful with some sensuality. There is a section in the middle where I thought the story got a little stuck and I felt that the story should "get on with it already". It was also a little bit predictable. The beginning and okay and the ending was good.
The thing that got me more than anything were the names. Each of the men are basically named their animal. Tighe (tiger), Paenther (panther), Jag (jaguar), Kougar (cougar), Hawke (hawk), Wulfe (wolf), Vhyper (venomous snake) and Foxx (fox). The hero in this book is Lyon, can you guess what he changes into? Also, notice the spelling of the names, which I didn't notice while listening, but does this look familiar? You can see where she gets some of her inspiration.
Overall, I will say that this series that has potential. I don't know how many great series where I've had to convince friends to continue reading past book one. I will definitely give this series more time and books and see how it goes. When reading or listening to a new author or series, I always like to give them at least two and sometimes even three books before I pass judgement.
The narration was okay. I listen to most of my audios at regular speed. I listened to so many CDs from the library before I got into using apps to listen, that I just was used to it. I still listen to my favorite narrators this way. With Rob Shapiro, I felt he read very slow with some long pauses and with a book that had slow parts in it away, it was just not doing it for me.Once I sped it up, it was much better. The different voices are not very distinct and the women's voices are a little feminine, but not much. At this time, he is not a narrator that I will go looking for, but I don't think he detracts from the book once you increase your listening speed.
I like to thank Tantor Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 19 May, 2014: Finished reading
- 19 May, 2014: Reviewed