Daughter of Destiny

Nicole Evelina/
Serena Scott Thomas
Genre: 
Audiobooks

HISTORICAL:  Listeners are quickly transported to medieval times in this audiobook, which stars Guinevere in her early years.  Guinevere is having visions, and in order to explore those visions she is sent to Avalon to begin priestess training.  Guinevere makes great friends and meets the first love of her life.  After a time, she begins to imagine her life being happy in Avalon.  It’s after her mother’s death that she travels back to her homeland, only to find her father is not the same man as when she left. Guinevere is sent to a foster family of sorts, to learn Christian ways.  For a young woman of sight, this is a dangerous place and time for Guinevere, and she quickly learns who her friends and enemies truly are.  

Nicole Evelina spent 15 years researching this book and it shows; the facts are the foundation of the story and the areas that Ms. Evelina uses fictional license makes Guinevere a much richer and more entertaining character than she is depicted in other books.  There are lulls where the listener might find the audio drags but for the most part, the story keeps a nice pace that makes for an engrossing listen.  The language is time-period appropriate and really makes the listener feel like they are in fifth century Britain. 

The narrator, Serena Scott Thomas, makes for a very believable Guinevere.  While her accent and speech are exactly what one would expect from this time period, her voice sounds much older than Guinevere is during this book and it is hard to overlook.  It’s also easy to hear swallows and a few popping p’s.  Other than that, the audio quality is good with no background noise and no breaks in editing.

Misty Walker