Masques Audiobook By Patricia Briggs cover art

Masques

Aralorn, Book 1

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Masques

By: Patricia Briggs
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren, Patricia Briggs (introduction)
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Before #1 New York Times best-selling author Patricia Briggs created her two hugely successful urban fantasy series, Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega, she wrote her debut fantasy epic, Masques. Newly revised and expanded, and available in audio for the first time, Masques arrives in our store just in time, with the fourth book in this series, Wolfsbane, coming soon.

After an upbringing of proper behavior and oppressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. Her latest mission involves spying on the increasingly powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi. But in a war against an enemy armed with the powers of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is – or where he will strike next?

Katherine Kellgren (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), one of Audible's favorite narrators and one of the premier voices of science fiction and fantasy, sweeps listeners away on this engrossing adventure.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an introduction written and read by author Patricia Briggs.

©2010 Hurog, Inc, (c) 1993 Patricia Briggs; (P)2010 Audible, Inc. Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Magic Users
Engaging Characters • Intriguing Storyline • Entertaining Fantasy • Interesting World-building • Enjoyable Romance
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Masques is a comfort book. The kind of book you pull out on cold wet days and enjoy with a nice warm blanket and a cup of hot tea. While certainly no Tolkien, Robert Jordan or Anne McCaffrey, Patricia Briggs knows how to tell an emotionally satisfying tale.

We begin the audio book with an author read introduction which explains the real world context within which the book was written. I loved her final 'compromise', in that she admits to fleshing details in the book out with a rewrite, while taking nothing away from the original novel.

As far as the story itself, it is an emotionally satisfying tale, with main characters that are interestingly flawed. This is no epic, but it was enjoyable, and had a few interesting twists and surprises along the way. The two main characters had great chemistry, and the romance between them built comfortably and believably throughout the story.

As far as the reader, she did an excellent job maintaining individual voices for several of the key characters. Her timing and general storytelling skills were definitely great. Sometimes her 'excitement' when reading action passages was noticeable, but it didn't really detract from the story or my enjoyment of it at all.

To summarize: Satisfying, cozy story of sword, sorcery and romance.

Satisfying tale, interesting characters

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A newly updated edition of Patricia Briggs' first book and the inclusion of an introduction by the author herself had me one-clicking on this audio edition. Fantasy world, action, intrigue, mages, shape-shifters, and engaging characters made this a highly entertaining story from start to finish.

Masques is the first book in the Sianim series and the first in the Aralorn duology. It can be read standalone or one of several stories set in the same high fantasy world.

Aralorn is the shape-shifting, warrior daughter of a noble family. She has left the pampered life of wealth behind to train and become a mercenary and spy. Her latest assignment takes her to spy on the household of the most powerful mage in the land. She is meant to discover a possible assassination attempt, but instead discovers the mage himself is corrupt and using his power to entrap minds, enslave people, and kill for additional power. The mage must be stopped. She faces him with the help of a mysterious shape-shifting wolf, a young king who is impervious to magical influence, and some surprising help along the way, but they are up against a mage who has summoned the undead along with some of the most powerful magic users he has tricked.

Aralorn was an engaging heroine. She is clever, skilled, and compassionate. She also possesses mild magic that helps her disguise herself and resist mental manipulation. She is impetuous when her compassion is engaged which is why she rescues a wild wolf from a trap and ignores everyone including the wolf himself who tells her that he's dangerous and possibly worse. Aralorn does like to go her own way and work alone, but knows she is woefully inadequate to face off with a powerful mage. This was an underdog situation and I do love those, but it was also a story of treachery and redemption. I found Aralorn something of a 'too perfect' character, but Wolf was much more complex. It is his story as much as Aralorn's and gives the depth to this tale. His past is slowly revealed and he must face it before he can take on the mage. He must also learn to trust particularly the fierce woman who stands at his side.

I do love how the author weaves lore and legend into her stories so well. This is a fantasy so it has plenty already, but within the story lore and legend play a strong role in helping Aralorn and their friends against sheer magical might.

The narrator is one whom I've encountered before. Katherine Kellgren did well with this story mostly narrated by Aralorn, but also Wolf and a few others. She really told a good fight scene and had a nice repertoire of voices for characters and situations.

All in all, it was great to step into Patricia Brigg's fantasy world and I look forward to the other stories in the series. If you enjoy fantasy that is carried by action and intrigue with a smaller dose of romance, try this one.

Action, Intrigue, and Romance in a fun Fantasy!

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What made the experience of listening to Masques the most enjoyable?

The author starts with a brief background about the book. I think she's too hard on herself. I found the story entertaining and one that I will go back to periodically since I really enjoyed it. The characters are interesting, the mystery keeps one's attention and the unlikely romance fits the story. Good listen/read.

Great story that keeps you listening!

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I really enjoyed listening to this audio version of this story. In fact I like Aralorn much better than Mercy. It's too bad that she only has the 2 books.

Really enjoyed

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If you could sum up Masques in three words, what would they be?

Good first book

What did you like best about this story?

For Briggs first book good characters and story

What about Katherine Kellgren and Patricia Briggs (introduction) ’s performance did you like?

Good voices without trying good speed

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Just enjoyed overall

Any additional comments?

The end is abrupt but still good book

Good

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Masques Book 1 picked up steam as it rolled along. It reminded me of an old-fashioned story in which the worst and best details are left to the imagination.The characters were well-developed and thoroughly enjoyable. Narration was lively and easy to enjoy.

Intriguing

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I enjoy the characters and the humor. Nothing like a sarcastic mouse and a grumpy wolf.

I listen to this series at least once a year.

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I really really really like Patricia Briggs' stories! I LU-HUV the Mercy Thompson series! I have them all on audiobook and really appreciate that she gets really good narrators for her books... like she cares about this audio-book fan-base. This is a solid book and Patricia does a foreword in it explaining where this series fits into her career. I still think this is a solid story and I really hope she writes some more in this series. I think they will only get better with her experience.

A good story! Great narrator!

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This was a wonderful and entertaining stroy. Kept me captivated and wanting more. Skip the intro about how and why the author wrote the book; it was because of that I deducted a star.

Wonderful Story

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Downloading the book had sequence issues. It would not be where the narrator would say it was on.

Story was awesome.

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