Review of ‘Princess of Dorsa’ by Eliza Andrews,
Audiobook narrated by Elizabeth Saydah
When Princess Natasia, the eldest child of the Emperor Andreth, is almost killed by an assassin, her father decides to name her the heir to the throne. But there hasn’t been a female Empress in living memory and when the internal divisions in the palace become increasingly dangerous, the reckless and inexperienced princess will have to learn to lead. She can trust no one but her personal guard, the mysterious but fiercely loyal Joslyn.
This is such a great lesbian epic fantasy audiobook, that any fans of fantasy and/or ‘Game of Thrones’ should give it a go in either audio or printed format. I’m not a fan of this genre but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Even though this is mostly an adventure fantasy book, there is also a lesbian romance in it. I have to warn that this story ends in a cliffhanger but there’s no need to panic as book 2 is about to be released soon.
This is an intricate tale and the author takes her time to let it flow in all its possibilities. There are a good number of secondary characters, some more prominent than others and the action takes place in different locations so I’m glad that nothing was rushed. ‘Princess of Dorsa’ is a long story but, in my opinion, there is nothing in the plot superfluous or meaningless. The book is more than 400 pages long and the audiobook version is 15 hours and 34 minutes of pure entertainment. It’s really great value for money.
Ms. Andrews has a really descriptive style of writing so even though I’m not particularly imaginative, I could see in my mind’s eye the story unfolding in great detail. I’ve never listened to Elizabeth Saydah narrating before, and although it took me some time to get used to her voice, I liked the final product a lot. The amount of different characters is one of the challenges of this story but Ms. Saydah is very good at performing different voices, especially the male ones. The book has many different moments, some of danger, others of adventure and even emotional ones but Ms. Saydah delivered them all outstandingly. Highly recommended.
Overall, a great lesbian epic fantasy audiobook. 5 stars for both the story and the narration.
