The Beginning of Everything

The Rising, Book 1

By: Kristen Ashley

Narrated by: Liz Thompson, Dina Pearlman, Stella Bloom, Joniece Abbott Pratt, Esther Wane, Gemma Dawson, Robin Miles, Clara Francesca, Lance Greenfield, Jakobi Diem, Ralph Lister, John Hartley, Rupert Channing, Sarah Coomes

Once upon a time, in a parallel universe, there existed the continent of Triton....

The land was filled with beauty, but it was also splintered by war.

Out of the chaos grew a conspiracy to reawaken the Beast, a fearsome creature who wrought only tragedy and devastation. The only way to stop him is to fulfill an ancient prophecy: Triton’s four strongest warriors must wed its four most powerful witches, binding all nations together and finally bringing peace to the land.

This is the beginning of the story of their unions: the quiet maiden Silence and the savage King Mars. The cold warrior Cassius and the fiery witch Elena. The steadfast soldier True and the banished beauty Farah. And the pirate King Aramus and his mysterious Queen Ha-Lah.

Their unions will not be easy, but each couple must succeed....

The fate of their world is at stake.

©2019 Kristen Ashley (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

At last!

I am not finished reading. In fact I’m only on chapter five, yet I felt the urge to stop and write this review. The Fantasyland series is one of my favorites of the Kristen Ashley creations. So I am thrilled that this is more of that world.
My only complaint is that it is not also available in Kindle. I frequently buy both and switch back and forth as the story progresses depending on my surroundings.
That being said, the performances of the narrators so far have been excellent. Their voices add to the emotions and dimensions of the story.

Great build up, a bit dark and different for KA

I've read a few other Kristen Ashley (KA) books but nothing like this... I'm not sure I've ever read anything like this. Really I've been sitting on this review for a bit over a week, I wasn't sure what to say, and even now, I'm not sure what to say. The creativity level is through the roof and her writing is top notch, like she has to be stretching both while creating The Beginning of Everything.

So we start the story with a major event. We go in quickly and it's a bit hard to keep up with everyone we're introduced too and meeting. However, KA takes her time, she always does, but with this story she goes step by step holding your hand. I'll be honest, I needed the hand holding. This isn't an easy story and I mean that in every way possible... the storyline is so engaging... it's disturbing, really but I couldn't stop.

The story was different. The cast of narration was seriously amazing. There's really only a few narrators that I recognized. This is just a harmony for the ears. I enjoyed the voices, the accents, the emotions and feelings they put into Kristen Ashley's words. I nearly had a stroke when we reached that cliffhanger... I knew I should have waited a bit longer to listen... like a day before the next book releases. I'll take only waiting a month between installments though.

Game of Confusion

There’s a lot going on in this story or shall I say blended stories. It has a good premise, in that a prophecy deems these four warriors take these 4 witch’s from different territories as their mate in order to yield enough power to defeat a dark force, BUT it’s a lot crammed in and way too many characters for audio only. Hard to keep up with who is talking and about what and most painful is the switching of narratives from first person to third person to thoughts and so on. I will stick with it for now although it felt like a clumsy attempt on a game of thrones type series. I like KA so am willing to deal with a lot of stuff to to get better stuff, so to speak. There’s a lot of weird sex and barbaric behaviors. I try to fast forward through. I skipped her Honey series because that’s not my kind of novel. I am no prude, butt(pun intended) this is a bit much for my taste.

My Thoughts on The Beginning of Everything

What a truly epic start to a series. There were several characters involved with there being four couples this series surrounds and some other one offs. But the way it was all laid out was fantastic. I slowly got to know and connect with each person as individuals and couples. In hindsight it made sense why this story is longer than average. All the time was needed and put to good use.

I really enjoyed the narrators. There were quite a few of them as well. It seemed like all the main characters had their own narrator, and if that wasn't the case then bravo to anyone who doubled up because I couldn't tell. I just really enjoyed hearing the different tones and accents for each person. And they all gave really good performances. I was especially fond of Cassius and Mars' accents.

I cannot wait to get started on the next book.

Awesome New Series

I swear this narration is half as long as listed. This book FLEW by and I am having withdrawal symptoms until book 2 is released in a week and a half. All of the hallmarks of an epic fantasy by one of my favorite authors. If I have one criticism, it’s the stereotypical virgin female hero.