Second Son

The Minstrel's Song, Book 2

De: Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

Narrado por: Benjamin Fife

In an attempt to manipulate the future, a family and a nation are forced to decide between two brothers.

Guided by a prophecy spoken hundreds of years before, the King and Queen of Llycaelon have set their course. Their goal: to fulfill the prophecy and save their nation from a dire fate. Rhoyan has always understood and accepted his own role as second born and perpetual prince. He looks forward to the day when he will be a warrior in his older brother’s guard. When Rhoyan is sent on a quest filled with unimaginable danger, nobody anticipates the greater repercussions.

As Rhoyan journeys far across the seas on his appointed trial, he will battle creatures of legend, suffer shipwreck, endure captivity, and lay claim to a fallen star. When tragedy strikes, Rhoyan must struggle to return home believing his quest has failed. However, the home he left no longer awaits him, and the true test of his strength and character has only just begun. Long before Aom-igh needed a champion, Llycaelon had a Second Son.

©2014, 2020 Jenelle Leanne Schmidt (P)2021 Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

Brant's early years add lots of lore to the series

This is the second story to a beautifully written fantasy series by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt. This story focuses on Brant's early years and adds tons of lore to the overall series. The characters continue to be written well, the world continues to develop in leaps and bounds, and the overall story continues to develop into a lovely series. I look forward to reading and listening to book 3 in the series! Audio Version: Benjamin Fife always does a fantastic job narrating and this book and series is no exception.

Brandt’s adventures will keep you coming back for

Second Son is the second installment in The Minstrel’s Song series by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt. In fact, it is a prequel to book one telling the backstory of Brandt. I am not a huge fan of prequels. They often do not live up to the standard of the first book in the series, but not so here. Second Son is an amazing book in its own right possessing the strength of a standalone novel.

Synopsis:
Brandt is the younger of two sons born to the King and Queen of Llycaelon. More than 500 years before his birth, a prophecy was told that a second son would take the throne and save the kingdom. Brandt is the first, second son born since the prophecy was foretold.

Brandt loves his older brother and has no desire to rule the country. He leaves home for training and ends up traveling far and wide on many adventures. Brandt has a good heart and is loved by all he meets.

His brother’s heart turns against Brandt, and bitterness consumes him. Will he order Brandt’s death in a jealous rage? Will Brandt find happiness in a faraway land?

Story Review:
Brandt’s adventures will keep you coming back for more. The pacing of Second Son is perfect. I enjoyed reading about his successes and failures, his joys and sorrows. Brandt endures much throughout the course of Second Son. Even when he barely survives life’s trials, Brandt keeps an attitude of gratefulness, curiosity, and loyalty.

Narration Review:
Benjamin Fife narrates Second Son. He does an amazing job! His narration is spot on, and there are no production errors in the book. I was so totally engrossed in the story that the narrator faded away, and I found myself battling sea monsters right alongside Brandt.

Source:
I received a free copy of this book at my request in exchange for an honest review.

A New Story With an Old Soul

There is so much adventure awaiting in these pages, it would be foolish of you to overlook it. This book has a great length to it. It is the prequel to King's Warrior, so I recommend reading it first, and it is even better! The King's Warrior was amazing, but The Second Son has even more adventure and intrigue. Also, the narrator is very good. I extremely enjoyed his voice. Very happy I decided to read this series. I cannot wait to read more.

Interim review

Circumstances right now prevent me from writing an extensive review. I will update my review as soon as I am able.

Clean fantasy

This is the 2nd book in the Minstrel's Song series, and I listened to it after listening to the first book. I really enjoyed the narration, and the story was good. I found it odd that the second book took place before the first book.
I would listen to another book in this series, because I appreciate a clean story, and the narration was excellent.

ITS A REALLY GREAT STORY

STORY IS PLACED IN A FANTASY WORLD WITH HONOR CODES, MAGIC AND ADVENTURE
NARRATOR IS GOOD AND EASY TO FOLLOW

A Tale of Two Princes, Or Maybe Three

Book one of the Minstrel's Song series, Second Son lays the foundation for the conflict between the two kingdoms and tells the story of how Brandt became Brandt. Brandt was born Rhoyan, the second son of the king and queen of Llycaelon, who grows up unaware of an ancient prophecy that speaks of the coming of a second son who will save the kingdom. That may not seem like a big deal, but there haven't been two sons born to Llycaelon until now. Both brothers are trained and sent on adventures chosen to test their fitness for the throne. Both are changed as they face trials that reveal what is in their hearts.

I loved this book. I loved the first one a lot, but I found this one easier to follow because it was told through the vantage points of the two brothers. Jenelle writes wonderful characters. Seamus and Brandt were both written beautifully and portrayed so sympathetically. Both experienced so many adventures and so many hardships, some of their own making, but many not. And since I've already read book one and know how this story ends, it took away some of my anxiety for the characters and what they were going through. But what incredible things they both saw and experienced. I expect to be recommending and rereading this book many times in the future.

I received a free audiobook from Benjamin Fife who has become one of my favorite audiobook narrators. As always his rendition of this story was perfection. I have written this review freely and willingly.

Wonderful sequel/prequel!

So great to learn Brant's and Arnaud's back stories. Wonderfully written and very well performed!

I enjoyed this more than the first book

The narrator, Benjamin Fife, provided me a copy of Second Son by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt to listen to and give an honest review as I have previously reviewed Kings’s Warrior (book 1 of The Minstrel’s Song) here. As soon as I started listening to this second book I immediately felt like an old friend was reading to me. Mr Fife has such an expressive voice for the different characters, but reads through the descriptions so smoothly that one can just slip into the scene and be immersed in the story. He is one of my favorite narrators!

While this is book two in the series, I don’t see any reason that one couldn’t begin reading or listening to Second Son without the background understanding of King’s Warrior. The characters are vibrant and the setting is easy to imagine. The conflict is steadily built through the story and no prior history is needed. That being said, a richer understanding is achieved for those lucky enough to read the series in order.

When the narrator provided me the complimentary copy of this book, he let me know he was in the process of recording the fourth book. I have a couple more books on my TBR clamoring for my attention, but book three, Yorien’s Hand, is on my TBR list as well as book four, The Minstrel’s Call. This is a fantastic series and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in engaging fantasy series. The character development is awesome, the world building is fantastic, and the action steadily pulls the story forward.The books are appropriate for any library or public classroom.

Great character development

I loved finding out the back story of Brandt. And getting teases about who the Minstrel might be… I was amazed how much was packed into this book. We find out about Brandt‘s childhood, and how he was moulded into the man we saw in King’s Warrior. We see his friendship develop with Arnold, And Arnold’s rise to being king… and more. They action never stopped. I kept thinking the story was done, but there was more! But it never seemed to drag. Looking forward to the next book in the series! You could easily read this book first. I received a free copy of this audiobook, with no obligation.