Midnight's Daughter

Dorina Basarab, Dhampir, Book 1

By: Karen Chance

Narrated by: Joyce Bean

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir - half-human, half-vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.

Now Dory's vampire father has come back into her life. Her uncle Dracula (yes, the Dracula), infamous even among vampires for his cruelty and murderous ways, has escaped his prison. And her father wants Dory to work with gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.

Vampires and dhampirs are mortal enemies, and Dory prefers to work alone. But Dracula is the only thing on earth that truly scares her, so when Dory has to go up against him, she'll take all the help she can get….

©2010 Karen Chance (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A grab-you-by-the-throat-and-suck-you-in sort of book." (Patricia Briggs, author of the New York Times best-selling Mercy Thompson series)

Sometimes hard to follow

This is an okay book. I generally like the characters and there is a good overall plot. However, the author really mucks up the story line throughout the book, making it difficult to follow along. I had to rewind parts several times because I didn't understand. It didn't always help. EVERYTHING had a background story and it weighs things down. Thankfully, I had read the Cassandra Palmer series, which this book pulls from quite a bit. If I hadn't, I would have been completely lost.

The performance is okay, but the accents are terrible. The Romanian and French sounded the same most of the time.

I'll probably get the second book, just to give the series another chance. It has potential.

Can't wait to hear more about Dori

Great story, can't wait to listen to more of the series. The narrator is OK. There are other voices I prefer to listen to, but she does a decent job.

Book is awesome.. Narrator is not.

I love the Cassie Palmer series and I LOVE Cynthia Holloway as a narrator. The narrator for this book just seems to do it all wrong compared to the voices Cynthia Holloway did with the Cassie Palmer series. Since many of the characters show up in both, it's just weird having completely different voices and having words pronounced wrong.

I read the book when it first came out, and I was excited when I saw that it is now available in audiobook form, but I will continue to just read the Dorina series and listen to the Cassie series because of the narrators.

Anyways, it is a great series if you are a fan of the Cassie Palmer series. You get to learn more about some of the smaller characters. Dorina is kind of mentioned in the last Cassie book.

Another great story, hate this narrator

How could the performance have been better?

If you like Cynthia Holloway's performance on the Cassie Palmer series, simply buy the real book and leave this audible alone. It's not even close to the characters we know and love. All the guys sound alike. It's just bad. I will buy the nook version and read the 2nd book but I certainly can't make it through one more audible with this narrator. UGH!!!

Good narrator, but accents need work

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, this series is a great component of the Cassie Palmer universe. The characters are fun, and Dory is nice contrast to a lot of urban fantasy heroines.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dory-- she tough and snarky and totally competent and confident. It's a nice change from other heroines who can sometimes be too riddled without doubt or are thrown into a universe they don't totally understand. I also enjoy that she enjoys being crass and "low class" just to piss people off.

What does Joyce Bean bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Joyce Bean is a great narrator. I've listened to her before, and I think she really nails Dory and the other main characters in terms of attitude and timing. My only problem with her narration is her accents. Sometimes Louis-Cesare sounds German instead of French, and Mircea and Dracula seem a little heavy-handed. And Casanova, who is less of a character in this book than in the Cassie Palmer books, for some reason has a Cockney accent. That was actually a little disturbing since his whole shtick is "Latin lover".

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. But I've read it before, so I wasn't really feeling the suspense that a first time reader/listener might feel.

Wow, weird character voices.

Overall, I really liked the narrator, but she gives VERY strong accents to some of my favorite characters. If you have read any of the Cassie Palmer series, be prepared for an interesting change in their voices.

Not bad urban fantacy

I found the narrator pretty decent, and the story line interesting. People who complain about narrators should listen to Audiable's free short listen before they purchase. At least it gives you a taste of the narrators skills. I know several that I always like, but when I see a new name I always listen first. I found the "Dhampir" fantasy interesting, and since this is the first book in a series and I thought this was pretty good I will most likely get the next. Not a Jim Butcher, Loral Hamilton, or Kim Harrison.....but not half bad.

Well written but too much sexual violence

I discovered Karen Chance in Strange Brew and loved "Vegas Odds." When the sale included a Dorina Basarab book, I bought the first 2 books in the series. These books are well written and I think the narrator does a very good job.
The problem is that there are too many scenes that involve sexual violence. The sex is, for the most part, totally gratuitous. That would not be enough to downgrade the story but these include rape and sadism. I enjoy neither. The story would be much better without these scenes.

GOOD

Very interesting storyline. The main character, Dorina is strong and hard headed at times. The history between her and Mercea turns out to be quite fascinating, the story flow smoothly and the narrator, Joyce Bean narrated quite well with all the different voices for the different characters. Good start to a new series which I will be following.

Companion series to Cassandra Palmer series

Any additional comments?

This is a fun UF series that shares some characters with the Cassandra Palmer series. The books get better as the series progresses. I actually have listened to both series several times and find they are better the second (or third) time around. The 2 series play off each other a bit.In Midnight's Daughter, Mircea's badass (not in a good way) brother Dracula has escaped imprisonment again and is looking for revenge on the Basarab family. He has allied with the dark side in the war that is brewing between vampires, mages and the fae. .I have always liked Mircea and this series is all about him and his vampire family. Dorina Basarab is his estranged 500 year old daughter. Mircea has refused to give up on Dorina through the centuries and as the series progresses we see the depth of his love and loyalty to his (dysfunctional) family. I really like Dorina once she starts to lose the attitude. She is fearless, kind and slightly crazy. There are some fun side characters. I especially like Olga and Radu. The narrator does great troll voices. In fact, the narrator does a good job overall once you get used to very different voices for familiar characters.