Highlanders Audio Series by Karen Marie Moning

Karen Marie Moning - Highlanders Series
Audio Books narrated by Phil Gigante

All the Highlander audio books are available as audio CDs/MP3CDs directly from Brilliance Audio (AudioBookStand and AudioBookStandDL), or sources such as Amazon, Borders, B&N, Walmart, etc. They are also now available as downloadable audio from Audible, either directly (with member pricing) or through Amazon.

1- Beyond the Highland Mist - Sidheach James Lyon (Hawk) Douglas, Earl of Dalkeith and Adrienne de Simone, (see previous)
2- To Tame a Highland Warrior - Gavrael McIllioch (Grimm) and Jillian St. Clair, (see previous)
3- The Highlander's Touch - Circenn Brodie and Lisa Stone
4- Kiss of the Highlander - Drustan MacKeltar and Gwen Cassidy (see previous)
5- The Dark Highlander - Dageus MacKeltar and Chloe Zanders, also downloadable from Audible
6- The Immortal Highlander - Adam Black and Gabrielle O'Callaghan, also downloadable from Audible
7- Spell of the Highlander - Cian MacKeltar and Jessi St. James, also downloadable from Audible
8- Into the Dreaming (standalone novella, originally published in the 2002 anthology Tapestry; not available in audio) - Aedan MacKinnon and Jane Sillee

See INDEX for more info.

Series Category: Lava Cake - reads like warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts (A,A-)
Flame Height: 6"-7" out of 9"

Because of the length of time that’s passed since I read this series and the fact that the Fae lore and intrigue was secondary to the romance, I'd completely forgotten about all the foreshadowing and clues leading up to Moning's more recent Fever series. But more on that when I do my Faefever commentary; for now, I’m going to concentrate on Phil Gigante and his Highlanders.

For those of you that have never read this classic time travel/fantasy romance series, I would suggest that Highlander books 4 (Kiss), 5 (Dark), 6 (Immortal), and 7 (Spell) be read/listened to in order. While Aoibheal, queen of the Fae, or Tuatha Dé Danaan, and her fool/confidante Amadam (Adam Black) do appear in the earlier books, the Keltar Druids story arc begun in Kiss is not dependent on those previous books, but from that book on, the stories do build on one another.

In my previous Highlander commentaries (see index), I’ve proclaimed that Phil Gigante’s eargasmic performances are the perfect mating of story and storyteller and I can’t imagine merely reading these stories from a printed page ever again. In my review of Kiss, I pointed out that “Often, when a man attempts a woman’s voice, it comes off as mocking. However, while no one will ever mistake Phil’s voice for a woman’s, I quickly was no longer conscious that a man was voicing the female characters. Yes, he uses a higher pitched voice for women, but there’s something else there too… a softness, a vulnerability… something… that does not scream “man mocking woman”.”

However, keep in mind that, as a man, even Phil G’s talent can only produce so many believable 20-something female voices. So in Immortal and Spell he differentiates the wives from previous books by giving them each a very slight accent and changing the cadence of their speech patterns. If you don’t listen to the books back-to-back you probably won’t even notice, but it was an exceptionally sound solution since it allowed Phil to retain the quality of his female voices.

Now the men’s voices? OCH! I’m pretty sure that the scenes where they are all together should carry embedded warnings, “Warning: the following scenes carry serious risk of Death by Eargasm”! Drustan’s voice is my favorite- Gigante uses a deep growling brogue imbued with Drustan’s complete confidence in himself. Dageus’ Scottish brogue by way of Liverpool reflects his mischievous, “Hail fellow, well met” personality- when he isn’t possessed by a baker's dozen of ancient evil Druids, of course. Phil gives Adam both a sidhe and a human voice that never quite loses his seductive sidhe arrogance. Cian’s sexy brogue contains an underlying anger and iciness which, considering he’s been trapped in a mirror for hundreds of years, seems more than appropriate, but gradually one can detect a subtle thawing and underlying warmth.

In addition to bringing the main characters alive, Phil G. puts just as much effort into making the secondary characters seem real to the listener. Whether voicing an old woman, one of the villains, or even a child, Phil plays his voice like the fine instrument it is to make every character distinctive and believable.

Phil takes his performances one step further than just using his gifted voice abilities; he adds special effects that bring the story to life. For instance, if someone is on the other end of a phone conversation, the other side of a door, or in the case of Cian, on the other side of a mirror, Phil uses a special effect that makes it sound like their voice is coming from that source. Wait till you hear the effect he uses to portray the power of the Druid “Voice”—it’ll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up the first time you hear it.

Those entertaining extra touches, what Phil once referred to as that extra “inch”, mean that Phil Gigante’s performances are not to be missed!

So why doesn’t this series end up in my Crème Brûlée category? Phil G.’s performances certainly do, but the stories themselves are Peanut M&Ms. They are highly enjoyable escapist fantasy romance that became auto-buy book crack for me. But KMM’s heroines are just too similar—nearly identical overachieving virgins—and her love scenes are just a bit too over the top dramatic. My inner 12-year-old giggled more than once in embarrassment for poor Phil, and I have to wonder just how often he busted up with laughter. However, I think listening to the books back-to-back like I did just spotlighted those flaws even more. But nonetheless, thanks to Phil Gigante, the Highlander audio book series remains firmly on my list of all-time favorites.

Piquant Opines (audio book): Audiofile (book 1), BNet (book 5)
Piquant Opines (print): The Dark Highlander, The Immortal Highlander, Spell of the Highlander



Have you listened to any of these audio books? Read the print books? Feel free to review or link to a review in the comments. Even if you don't agree!