New and complete! The Guild of the Cowry Catchers, Book I Embers by Abigail Hilton
New stuff from Abbie Hilton, with a little help from her friends. We present The Guild of the Cowry Catchers, Book I Embers in its entirety:
Among the querulous island kingdoms of Wefrivain, the only unifying power is religion – a wyvern cult ruled by an eccentric High Priestess. The system is under attack by a gang of pirates called the Guild of the Cowry Catchers who prey on Temple treasure ships. The Temple Police charged with eradicating this menace keep disappearing.
Enter Gerard, a young prince, exiled from his small kingdom for rashly marrying the court minstrel. He has been chosen by the High Priestess as the new captain of Police. Gerard is smart, honorable, and a little naive. To break the pirate ring, he must cooperate with a wily, amoral colleague, who has already tried to kill him twice. As Gerard struggles to protect his talented wife, obey his seductive employer, and forge a complicated friendship with his dangerous co-worker, he becomes increasingly aware that the pirates have a legitimate quarrel with the wyverns. Dark secrets lurk in the Temple dungeons, and solving them will cost Gerard far more than his honor.
The Guild of the Cowry Catchers is a fullcast audio experience featuring the voices of Nathan Lowell, Norm Sherman, Kim the Comic Book Goddess, Chris Lester, Kimi Alexander, and many more. Cowry Catchers is also an illustrated podcast, with high quality watercolor illustrations available on the website. You may remember Abigail Hilton’s first series, the Prophet of Panamindorah. Cowry Catchers is a darker, grittier story set in the same world. It is not for children. Subscribe, and experience a Panamindorah you’ve never heard before.
June 11th, 2010 at 2:25 am
I have listened to this fullcast podiobook on Abbie’s site and I love the Cowry Catchers series. Great characters, a unique world, an enthralling story with twists and turns you wouldn’t expect and astonishing production quality – what more can I say? Except for one thing: what a great cast! Wait until you hear Norm Sherman as the extremely extrovert, sarcastic & cunning Sylvio – one of the best audio book performances ever. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
June 11th, 2010 at 4:30 am
This is aa wonderful little piece of audio drama. Although quite different from ‘Prophet,’ what I feel to be her trademark strengths remain the same – world-building, character development and fine use of moral ambiguity. That, paired with truly excellent casting and very good use of music and sound effects, makes for a most engaging story. Plenty of suspense adds to the tale’s appeal – new listeners, consider yourselves fortunate to have access to all episodes at once, so you don’t have to wait for each installment.
June 11th, 2010 at 5:06 am
To chime in with the other comments, this is definitely a great podcast! She has also started the second series to this story, but as of today, it’s only on the second episode.
June 11th, 2010 at 8:25 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Podiobooks.com, Breaking Book News. Breaking Book News said: New and complete! The Guild of the Cowry Catchers, Book I Embers by Abigail Hilton http://bit.ly/bf18uB via http://topicfire.com/Book [...]
June 12th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
This is such a great podcast novel: excellent writing and storytelling, and phenomenal performances by the voice actors. My favorite aspect of it, however, is the depth and complexity that Abbie has given to her main characters.
June 14th, 2010 at 6:01 am
That should be done every single day!
June 14th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
This is such a good book. Everything from the writing to the author’s narration to the great cast (it’s as if Norm Sherman and Nathan Lowell were born for these roles!) to the music and sounds Abbie uses…it all makes this an instant podiobooks classic. Treat yourself!
June 19th, 2010 at 7:42 am
Awesome production qualities. The recording is professional quality and the story is even better.
An amazingly well developed world with great engaging characters. I am really looking forward to the next book in the series.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Easily one of the best audiobooks I have read thus far. Really good! You got to listen to it.
June 30th, 2010 at 7:09 am
Cowry Catchers is one of my all time favorite podcasts so far. Writing quality and story development are on par with Mur, Sigler and Ellis. The full cast recording is great, such a good way to produce a story. The editing makes is seem like the cast is all in a recording studio at the same time. Her world is truly unique, which is rare in this day and age of fantasy.
January 21st, 2011 at 11:20 pm
I was a little skeptical to listen to this book, but I am SO glad I did. I lost many hours of sleep listening to this book in my bed. I went on her site to find book two, and now am dying for book three! You will love this book! The reading and writing are perfect!
September 7th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Are you kidding? This isn’t at #1 podcast of all time spot? AMAZING. Its SOOO original. The characters are exceptional, deep, and real. The story is fast paced and unpredictable. And the voicing! Oh My Goodness. Insane. Sylvio’s voicing is my favorite (100/10), Nathan Lowell continues to be one of (if not the best) voicer (though his own books are middling, at best… I enjoyed his first 3 trader tales but it was aimless, and I doubt I would enjoy them now) and the others (the goddess :O and the wyverns!). Abbie does a great job too. I started the second but I am so alarmed because I’m running out of listening material. Anything else I listen to from podiobooks can only be worse than this. 3rd book come soon!!!! I could go on and on about this book. GET IT NOW!!! You won’t regret it.
September 7th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Hey, Mike! Thank you for that very kind review.
Book 3 is actually complete in my feed (cowrycatchers.com or look me up in iTunes). I just haven’t gotten around to putting it on PBs yet. Cowry Catchers is a 5-book series, and the podcast is currently between books 3 and 4.
In addition, the illustrations are on my website, and they are worth a viewing. There are also interviews with all of my major cast members. I did one set between Books 1 and 2 and am currently doing a second set between Books 3 and 4. You can find the interviews either by looking through the feed or by clicking on my “Cast and Characters” page. All the interviews are linked there, and the character portraits on that page are unique.
So come visit me over on my website! I have goodies.
October 28th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
I’ve listened to all of the series so far. These are gripping stories and disturbing in a good way.
November 13th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
This is wonderful stuff!! Very imaginative setting and creatures. I particularly love Silveo, and the way his character has been developed. Some of the illustrations are just stunning, and the sound effects used in the recording add a lot to the listening experience. Highly recommended!! I went to Abigail’s website to download book 3 and I’m a bit gutted to realise I’m close to the end of the Cowry Catchers audio that’s been released, but I might listen to the other Panamindorah stories when I’ve finished book 3.
January 18th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
I am halfway through and I am very pleasantly surprised this title! Silvia is delightfully nasty!