Audio Book Review and Blog Blitz: The Lost Sentinel by Suzanne Rogerson

The Lost Sentinel Book 1 – Silent Sea Chronicles

About the book:

The magical island of Kalaya is dying, along with its Sentinel.

The Assembly controls Kalaya. Originally set up to govern, they now persecute those with magic and exile them to the Turrak Mountains.

Tei, a tailor’s daughter, has always hidden her magic, but when her father’s old friend visits and warns them to flee to the mountains, she must leave her old life behind. On the journey, an attack leaves her father mortally wounded. He entrusts her into the care of the exiles and on his deathbed makes a shocking confession.

Struggling with self-doubt, Tei joins the exiles search for their new Sentinel who is the only person capable of restoring the fading magic. But mysterious Masked Riders are hunting the Sentinel too, and time, as well as hope, is running out.

Against mounting odds it will take friendship, heartache, and sacrifice for the exiles to succeed, but is Tei willing to risk everything to save the island magic?

If you like character-based fantasy, then you’ll love The Lost Sentinel – book one in the Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy.

The cover of The Lost Sentinel shows a dark cloaked figure against a blue cloudy back drop.

My Review:

I read the audiobook of Visions of Zarua by this author last year, so I was very interested when she offered me the opportunity to read the first book in her fantasy series The Silent Sea Chronicles. As a person who is visually impaired, I really love audiobooks. I listen to them all the time and my favorite app for doing so is Audible.

Like her standalone novel, Visions of Zarua, the Lost Sentinel is set in a medieval fantasy world that operates with a “soft magic” system. Also, like Visions of Zarua, the book starts out as a bit of a “slow burn.” However, as the story moves along, the pace quickly picks up and you begin to deeply care about the characters and their quest.

Growing up, “old school” fantasy was one of my favorite genres. Fans of classic “sword and sorcery” will find a lot to love about Rogerson’s work. What is particularly delightful is that she manages to put a fresh spin on a classic genre. Her imaginative storytelling and creative world building combine to put a unique spin on the comfortingly familiar quest formula. I enjoyed getting lost in this immersive listening experience.

The narrator of The Lost Sentinel did an excellent job. He even included some small and significant sound effects (a door knocking, a baby crying, the rocking of a ship at sea) that helped bring the story vividly to life. My only complaint is that the narrator’s accent, combined with the fantastical names, made it a bit difficult for me to understand him at times. I usually listen to audiobooks on three times speed, but I had to read this one more slowly because of his accent. However, this did not detract from my listening experience.

If you’re a fan of authors like Ursula Le Guin or Mercedes Lackey, you will definitely enjoy the writing of Suzanne Rogerson.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Purchase Links

Audible

Amazon Audiobook

Author Bio –

The photo of the author shows her smiling and sitting in front of a multiple bookshelves full of books.

Suzanne lives in Middlesex, England with her husband, two children and a crazy puppy.

Her writing journey began at the age of twelve when she completed her first novel. She discovered the fantasy genre in her late teens and has never looked back. Giving up work to raise a family gave Suzanne the impetus to take her attempts at novel writing beyond the first draft, and she is lucky enough to have a husband who supports her dream – even if he does occasionally hint that she might think about getting a proper job one day.

Now an author of four novels including the completed Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy Suzanne hopes the dreaded ‘W’ word will never rear its ugly head again!

She loves gardening and has a Hebe (shrub) fetish. She enjoys cooking with ingredients from the garden and regularly feeds unsuspecting guests vegetable-based cakes.

Suzanne collects books, is interested in history and enjoys wandering around castles and old ruins whilst being immersed in the past. She likes to combine her love of nature and photography on family walks, but most of all she loves to escape with a great film, binge watch TV shows, or soak in a hot bubble bath with an ice cream and a book.

Follow Suxanne on Social Media Links –

Narrator Bio

My name is George. Seoras, if you speak Gaelic. Born in the United States, German on my father’s side, a native of Bamberg, and a Stewart on my mother’s side from a wee parish outside Stirling. I am a keen learner, eager to travel the world around me, and an instructor of English with years of experience teaching in the US, Turkey, and Japan. In audiobook narration, I have discovered a perfect opportunity to perform and play with languages, dialects, characters, cultures. Essentially, my voice is my livelihood, and my spirit longs to explore.