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Elfshadow  By  cover art

Elfshadow

By: Elaine Cunningham
Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
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Publisher's summary

Silent death stalks the Harpers of Faern. One by one, members of the semi-secret society for good in the Realms are falling to a murderer's blade. Now a Harper agent and a beautiful half-elf assassin must solve the mystery. If they fail, they will be the next victims.

But things in the Realms are rarely that simple....

©1991 TSR, Inc. (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Elfshadow

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Read

Ms. Cunningham Captures the Elven History of the Realms like no other. An excellent look at the moon blades and the conflict between the elven subraces. Danilo Thann is one of the best and well developed heroes of the Realms literature.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Her first book and it shows

I remember reading this when I was 12 or so and thought it was decent. Reading it again now years later I see a lot of things I don’t like. The audio portion is good. That is all fine.

But there just is not enough back story given to the main character. She isn’t a Mary Sue imo but more time should of have been taken to develop her. Because I could see some making the argument she is a Mary Sue.

It is hard to love this book mostly because the main character is supposed to be a great fighter But then acts like a teenager or preteen. Which is it is she an amazing fighter, or an immature half breed? cunning assassin, a well traveled adventurer who tracks her prey with efficiency... or a misguided and often times glass half empty unable to read between the lines young adult.

Sorry for being harsh I know this is Elaine first novel and even she has gone on record saying she made mistakes here and there. I just wish they had been corrected before the final product made it to shelves.

I want to like Arilyn a lot and even made D&D adventures with characters themed after her when I was a teenager but I cannot ignore the inconsistencies in her character flaws that i personally see. Now I wish I had spent more time as a Danilo fan. He should of turned into the main character imo.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good book. Great narration.

Slow start. Fairly predictable ftom the onset, but hooks you to want to bunge the final chapters.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

always a fan

this book has always been a favorite of mine and listening to it just made it all the better I am pumped for the next on...onward dandy!!!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A Humble Start

While this isn't a bad story, nothing in this book hits the high notes. Character never quiet come to life, the plot meanders, foes are under developed and the setting isn't used very well. The book lets too many hints around the mystery slip and most readers will figure out the mystery plot long before the characters do making the middle of this book painful to get through as you wait for the characters to get a clue. While I've certainly read worse genre fiction, it lacked a little something to really set it apart or tap into the wonderfully vibrate D&D energy leaving it very average.

However despite the books flaws, I don't regret picking it up. While I can only recommend this book on its own to hard core fans of the Forgotten Realms series it does set the stage for better stories down the line and really lets you get to know the leads. The characters events and relationships established here all are used to much better effect later in the series and while it slows down in the middle, the last 3rd of the book really picked up nicely once Airlyn finally figured out the score and stopped bumbling around clueless from point A to point B and goes to confront the villains in a great high adventure conclusion.

So, while Elfshadow has its fair share of flaws, I still recommend picking it up if you are a fan as it builds into some great stories down the line.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic High Fantasy

Elaine Cunningham weaves a masterful tale of friendship, high adventure, and perfidious elves that prove her a true master of the Realms.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

a fine forgotten realms story

the story had a good pace and interesting details. I grew to like the main characters very much

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

decent first novel

Slow Start. Strong follow through. Enjoyable banter and character development. Will continue with the series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

captivating story

it has a slow start, and the reading seems very halting and pieces to get her in the first few chapters. after that though it all improves. who doesn't love a good fantasy novel?

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Probably best read as a book and not listened to

The story itself is relatively compact and enjoyable. Pacing is decent as well. Problem for me (and it's only an opinion) is that this narrator wasn't the right choice. I think our female lead could have been better portrayed by someone else. I think the meanest accusation I can throw at the narrator is that he could have put more emotion and life into the performance of the characters. It WAS NOT BAD, just a little muted and could have used a bigger dynamic and emotional range.

I would say this is a good choice for teens through adults. It's unoffensive and doesn't have any provocative scenes or sexualization that you might find in other novels. It doesn't pander by having a strong female character "just because". You follow her journey as she grows, makes mistakes, and learns from them.

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