The Forest People, Book 3
BY MAGGIE LYNCH
Narrated by Rachel Jacobs
Length: 5 hours 52 minutes
Series: The Forest People, Book 3
Publisher: Windtree Press
Release date: February 12, 2019
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy
Surviving the ultimate transformation and the Agnoses predators, Camryn now faces the rise of a new Mazikeen Queen who thinks nothing of calling the darkness for her own needs. With the forest people on the brink of war, she retreats to the solitude of the Cloud Forests. To grieve. To heal. To accept she is the chameleon of prophecy.
But the ancient world proves to be anything but quiet, and she is far from alone. Guided by the first forest people, who are now elemental spirits, Camryn must master the powers of air, earth, water, and fire. Only then can she enlist her thunder dragon, control time itself, and save Dagger from the void.
Even then, her quest is far from over. With the realms of forest and human pitted against each other, one world teeters on extinction while the other tips toward eternal darkness. Only Camryn seeks a balanced resolution and with it, an impossible choice requiring her to make the greatest sacrifice of all.
Chameleon: The Summoning is the third audio book in The Forest People, a YA paranormal fantasy series. If you crave unlikely heroes and heroines, internal and real battles between creation and destruction, and mind-blowing magic, then you’ll love joining Camryn as she finds her true self and fulfills a 1,000-year-old prophecy against all odds.
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HALL WAYS REVIEW: AUDIO
BOOK REVIEW. This third installment in The
Forest People series picks-up right behind book two and takes readers along as main
character Camryn hones her skills to be able to fulfill the prophesy of the
Chameleon. (I don't recommend it as stand-alone; readers would miss too much.) Being the Chameleon and carrying all the weight the role brings would
be a daunting task for anyone, but for a girl who wasn’t raised within the
magical realms of the forest and who is riddled with guilt and fear, at times
it seems overwhelming. Fortunately for Camryn, she is surrounded by beings who
believe in her and who are committed to helping her develop her skills.
The
peripheral characters in Chameleon: The
Summoning bring the elemental world into focus for readers -- and Camryn. Endra,
the new queen, drips with darkness and malice and magical strengths which made
her a character readers will love to hate. (I wanted more!) Then there are the fairy-like
ancient first Forest People, who shine with light and goodness. These
characters, especially as voiced by Rachel Jacobs, make the scenes come alive when
Camryn is being trained to use her elemental powers.
The
strength and power and leadership of women is a recurring theme of the book,
and there were scenes that seemed to channel other powerful females with
whom readers may be familiar (Grandmother Willow from Disney’s Pocahontas, Bella from the Twilight series
by Stephanie Meyer). Messages of friendship, respect, and the deep bonds women form as they support each other abound. Equally powerful is the message of what happens when hatred, jealousy, and ego corrupt a person.
“If the world is all light,
then what is illuminated?”
Chameleon: The Summoning is all about balance, cause and effect, good and evil. The struggles
within the story are both external between peoples and tribes and internal
within various characters as they are pushed and pulled with decisions and
quandaries. There is a lot going on with a huge cast of characters, numerous tribes,
many sub-plots -- and little resolution -- which makes the story feel disjointed at times. (The
ending is satisfying but a little vague and leaves me with more questions than answers.)
But the stories keep moving forward and never stall for long, and the multiple story threads make it feel like author Maggie Lynch is setting the stage for future books – I
hope so! There is a world of possibility in this series.
ABOUT THE NARRATION: In this third book of the series, narrator
Rachel Jacobs really hits her stride; this is the best narration of the three.
Her pacing is perfect, and she adds even more voices to the mix with the addition
of Endra and the elemental first Forest People. Young or old, male or female,
good or evil, dragon or human, Rachel manages to assign a voice that’s unique
and memorable for each character. 5/5 Stars here.
Thank you to the author and Audiobookworm Productions for
providing me an audio download via Authors Direct in exchange for my honest opinion
– the only kind I give.
I received this audio book as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Maggie Lynch. The gifting of this audio book did not affect my opinion of it.
Maggie Lynch is the author of 20+ published books, as well as numerous short stories and non-fiction articles. Her fiction tells stories of men and women making heroic choices one messy moment at a time. Maggie is also the founder of Windtree Press, an independent publishing cooperative with over 200 titles among 20 authors.
Her love of lifelong-learning has garnered degrees in psychology, counseling, computer science, and education; and led to opportunities to consult in Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. Since 2013, Maggie and her musician husband have settled in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where she now enjoys the luxury of writing full-time. Her fiction spans romance, suspense, science fiction and fantasy titles. Her current non-fiction titles are focused on helping career authors succeed in the business side of writing and publishing.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Goodreads⎮Pinterest
Rachel is an actor, singer and voice artist based in Los Angeles. She received a BA from Oberlin College’s Theatre Program and did intensive study with the American Conservatory Theatre, the National Theater Institute & Shakespeare and Company. She began voiceover work while on tour in Hong Kong, dubbing live action shows and voicing many characters for cartoons. After returning to the states she toured the west coast as a resident performer with California Theatre Center and has been narrating audiobooks since then. When not recording books Rachel makes hair bows and headbands for her shop on Etsy and can be seen running around as a who-fairy princess in Universal’s Grinchmas.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook
Giveaway: $50 Digital Gift Card!
Winner’s Choice of:
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(Ends April 25, 2019)
BOOK THREE
Apr. 18th:
Lone Tree Reviews (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Apr. 19th:
Apr. 20th:
Apr. 21st:
Apr. 22nd:
Apr. 23rd:
Apr. 24th:
The Book Addict's Reviews (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the book. Sounds like a good series
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your review and spotlight. You are right. I did lay threads for more books. The next trilogy gets into the war. But my publishing schedule is so tight this year that I won't start that trilogy until 2020. I will be using Rachel again, of course. She knows Camryn so well I couldn't possibly find another narrator to do it.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds great and I appreciate getting to hear about it. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDelete