The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. HOWARD

Official Blurb

The Hour of the Dragon, also known as Conan the Conqueror, is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian. It was one of the last Conan stories published before Howard's suicide although not the last to be written. The novel was first published in serial form in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1935 through 1936.

My Review

A classic of pulp era fantasy story telling. Conan starts in this story as a king but is soon thrown down to the level of a wandering vagabond. But if you know Conan, like I know Conan, then you know that he won't take that lying down!

This is one of the best Conan stories from the master, it features a great story arc and the unrelenting tenacity of Conan's character comes right through. Yet at the same time, you find that Conan is no machine, he feels fear, and yes even runs from a foe now and then!

If your only experience with Conan is the first film, then you might recognise some the names and places mentioned in this story as the first film seems to have lifted many of the names it used from this story, although not the plot. This story is straight up heroic adventure from beginning to end, a good pace that never lets up.

As to the reading, well. Awesome. Another Mark Nelson classic.

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 8/9

Listen to the first chapter.
Download it from Librivox

The Emperors Edge by Lindsay Buroker

Official Blurb

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads.

But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.

Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin, is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down.
Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead.

My Review

I hadn't read the blurb when I first started listening to this so I went through all of the "that's odd" moments you might expect when the story starts off feeling as a feudal Japan/samurai story, evolves into a buddy cop story, then a political intrigue and then in wafts the early steam age.

Sound odd?  It is. But it is good. It's a fun adventure based in a Japan-like steam-punk world. Oh and just a enough magic to keep things interesting.

The narrator is not the author on this book, which is quite unusual for books on Podiobooks, but the reader does a wonderful professional job.

As a bonus this is the first part of a series, but stands very well on its own.

Reading 2/3
Production 3/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 7/9

Download it from the Podiobooks

Listen to the first chapter.

Beyond the Black River by Robert E. Howard

Official Blurb

Conan the Barbarian in this exciting story is selling his sword to one of the civilized countries to help in it's push to claim lands from the primitive Picts. The Picts are not excited about the idea however. Old gods and mythical creatures are called up by the Pict witches to contest the invading army and Conan finds himself battling for his life amid the blood thirsty hordes that include saber-toothed tigers, 40 foot long venomous snakes and a demon from another dimension who is intent on crushing him. The huge dog Slasher makes an appearance here and distinguishes himself so well in a desperate battle to delay the onrushing Picts that Conan openly praises his courage and pledges 7 Pict heads in his honor. 

My Review

I believe that this is the first Conan audiobook I have listened to. It was a real pleasure to hear one of the original stories that started this character on his journey to myth-dom...is that a word?

I read a lot of Conan books in my youth and I remember him to be a fairly uncaring kick-ass good good-guy-ish. This story backs that up. Conan is doing good, but in the end it's only because he's a sword for hire not because he's a super hero.

As the official blurb says, Conan and friends are pitched against all kind of enemies that require liberal application of hard steel and the spilled blood of foes. It's high action adventure almost from the get-go and throughly thrilling. Yeah, I loved it. 

I enjoyed the reading by Phil Chenevert. He has a sing-song voice that lilts its way through the story and I found it really very easy on the ears.


Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 8/9

Download it from Librivox

Listen to the first chapter.

Snow Glass Apples by Neil Gaiman

Official Blurb

None.

My Review

I've just finished listening to a dramatisation of Snow Glass Apples by the Seeing Ear Theater. I was really impressed.  It's a full cast drama and very well written and acted. Just like the previous presentation from them.

This is a new look at the Snow White story. All the elements seem to be in the story, Snow White, the dwarves, the poisoned apple, the magic mirrow, yet they are not arranged in the way you remember!

This is plain and simple a monster story, and the monster is not the queen. This is a harsh, horrid story that's not safe for work. It's more Brothers-Grim than Disney.

I really enjoyed the story, despite its dark and horrific nature. Half the pleasure was finding out how the classic story had been twisted!


Reading 3/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 9/9

Download it from the Internet Archive
Listen to the first part

The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan

Official Blurb

They killed the king. They pinned it on two men. They chose poorly.

There's no ancient evil to defeat, no orphan destined for greatness, just two guys in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they become the unwitting scapegoats in a plot to kill the king. Sentenced to death, they have only one way out…and so begins this tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

The Crown Conspiracy is book one of the six-book saga: The Riyria Revelations. Eschewing recent trends toward the lengthy, gritty, and dark, the Riyria Revelations is a return to traditional fantasy combining great characters, humor, and drama in appropriate measures. The series is told through six novels each a separate episode in a single epic tale . Across the entire chronicle, mysteries build, characters evolve, and plots thicken, but each is a self-contained story that can be enjoyed in its own right.

My Review

The blurb above pretty much says everything you need to know about the story and actually says it better than I could. It's a fantasy romp with great likeable characters. I listened happily and enjoyed the experience. It's a light story, with the odd moment or two of gore to add spice.

It was narrated by Nathan Lowell, the author of the "Golden Age of the Solar Clipper" series of podiobooks, and frankly, I could listen to him all day long. This story just seems to match his reading style.

I don't think there's anything to add. It's a fun adventurous fantasy story :)

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 7/9

Download it from the Podiobooks
Listen to the first part

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The Gearheart by Alex White

The Blurb

Jonathan Andrews, Initiate in the Seekers of the Arcane Unknown, joined the society two years ago with the hopes of protecting the secrets of magic from the greedy world beyond. However, a ravening shadow appears with a hunger for Seekers and Jonathan finds himself out of his depth. When Jonathan's friend is attacked and the young initiate is assailed with apocalyptic visions of the future, he must find a way to uncover the past and stop the beast before it tears his group, and the world, asunder. It's a ripping tale of magic, adventure and gunfights!

My Review

I found this book at Podiobooks when by chance I decided to take a look at the "Steampunk" category, it was the only book listed, so I decided to give it a go. As it turns out I'm not sure it qualifies as what I'd call steampunk, but it does qualify as a darn good book!

So what's under the covers? Well it's set in the our world , modern day, but with magic under the covers, known about by only be a select few. The protagonist is a new member of this group, an "Initiate". The book opens with the initiate on a mission to retrieve a magical relic from the hands of organised crime. Bullets, swords, magical blasts and car chases follow in rapid succession, a rip roaring start.

At this point I thought we'd be following this little crew on a new important mission or something along those lines. No. Instead we find a magical villain set on destroying the world and quite capable of actually doing it. The "Seekers", pitched as the good guys, turn out to not be all they promised.

I'm afraid to give too much away as I'll spoil the plot, but let me just say, magic, guns, swords, prophecy, robots, monsters and doomsday weapons. Wet your appetite?

Reading 2/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 8/9

Download it from the Podiobooks

Listen to the first part

Ravenwood by Nathan Lowell

Official Blurb

A Tanyth Fairport Adventure.

After twenty winters on the road, Tanyth makes one last pilgrimage in her quest to learn all she can about the herbs and medicinal plants of Korlay before settling down to write her magnum opus. Her journey is interrupted when she stops to help a small village and learns that much of what she knows of the world may not be quite as it seems.

In this work, Nathan Lowell blends wiccan tradition and shamanistic lore into a fantasy quest and creates a world for a new - if unlikely - heroine to explore. She learns that the familiar sometimes hides the fantastical and that, even when you think you’ve made your decisions, life doesn’t always agree.

My Review

This book was written by the same author who wrote "Quarter Share", "Half Share", "Full Share", "Double Share" and "Captains Share", Nathan Lowell.

I can confirm that he has brought the same easy writing style to this book but with a twist. This tale also makes a change for him with regards to genre, rather than Sci fi, this tale is pure fantasy.

The protagonist is an older woman wandering the world leaning herb lore and finds herself in a tiny new village where she is needed, and for a time at least stops her wandering. Unlike the "Share" series that were great despite nothing seeming to happen(!), this book is full of adventure. It's not a classic trek across the world as so many fantasy books do, but rather a challenge to make the vilage succeed against adversity. Problems arise, including enemies that challenge the village and Tanith.

I love the way Mr Lowell builds the tension in this book. You know something bad is coming and it's just over the horizon but Nathan draws this out so that when it arrives it really delivers.

Do not expect a clash of armies or evil super villains, expect a good story with well made characters, and an excellent reader and you wont be disapointed.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 6/9

Download it from the Podiobooks

Listen to the first part

The Colorado Sequence by Stacey Cochran

Official Blurb

Physicist Dr. Amy Levine has discovered a mathematical sequence--the Colorado Sequence--that describes an underlying pattern and a guiding force within the very fabric of reality. Now she's on the verge of an astonishing breakthrough, and the U.S. government wants to know how she has done it. How has Dr. Levine learned to accurately predict the future? And they're willing to kill her to find out. Levine and a group of friends escape to Colorado to unravel the mystery of the sequence, but there they become snowbound. They must locate a secret treasure room, find a hidden key, and answer an ancient riddle before a devastating eruption destroys them all ... and the power of the Colorado Sequence is lost forever.

My Review

This sci-fantasy novel is amkind of sequel to "Amber Page and the Coral Stone". The story doesn't star Amber Page, but Amber does appear in this novel and it is set after that other novel.

There is a new reader for this novel who does an outstanding job. However I did notice a couple of second takes that havn't been edited out.

The story is full of the bizarre, the strange, the sci fi, the fantasy and all of it revealed amongst our own modern world. The story has a rip roaring start and it doesn't really settle down after that, action followed by more action with a side order of action.

Let's see if any of the following appeal to your taste. Cliff hanging, actually hanging off a cliff. Beatutiful and mysterious glowing girls. Martial Arts. Alternate realities. Huge fantasy battle. Riddle. Machines of Super Science. Man versus Nature.

Any of that appeal? This a great audio novel that will make the time fly by. I wish it would be made into a hard hitting mini series!

This is a great story.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 7/9

Find it at Podiobooks.

Listen to the first chapter.

Murder at Avedon Hill by P.G. Holyfield

Official Blurb

Lord Avedon has a problem. Generations of Avedons have watched over Avedon Hill and controlled the only pass through the Lantis Mountains. Traditions are important to the Avedon family, but one tradition has tragically come to an end. Gretta Platt, Housemistress of Avedon Manor, has been murdered. A member of the Platt family has always served the Avedons as Housemistress. until now. Only a handful of people live at Avedon Hill, and most are suspects. Arames Kragen, retired Aarronic Advisor and scholar of prophecy, arrives at the gates of Avedon Hill, hoping to gain access to the mountain pass. Lord Avedon is not in a giving mood, however.

This is the story of Arames Kragen and his attempt not only to discover who killed Gretta Platt, but also to uncover the truth about a town that apparently has more secrets than inhabitants.

The Land of Caern: It is a world where the gods, the Children of Az, can choose to be born as mortals to directly affect events in the world, and often do. It is a world where the Priests of Caern frantically search for the mortal incarnations of any of the Children, in order prevent the Prophecies of Iberian from coming to pass.

Welcome to The Land of Caern. Welcome. to Murder at Avedon Hill, the podcast novel by P.G. Holyfield

My Review

I first heard about this (nearly) full cast dramatisation back when it was originally being released. Many of the podcasters I was listening to kept mentioning that they were appearing on it.

Well I rolled over to the site and even subscribed but when there were big long gaps between the episodes coming out I decided to to give it a miss.

A year later I re-discovered the book and checked it out, it still wasn't finished! So once again I decided to give it a miss.

Well here it is a couple more years later and on checking it out I find that its been completed in my absence!

Was it worth the wait? Yes. I don't mean to say it was worth putting you life on hold or anything, just that it's okay, and not a disapointment.

As the blurb hints, a couple of traveling chaps from a religious order find themselves in Avedon Hill a walled town in a high fantasy land. They want to simply pass through the town and use the mountain pass beyond, but the way is closed. The Master of Avedon Hill has closed the pass because he's a bit miffed by the murder that just took place. Our hero offers to solve the murder if he'll be let through to the pass.

And on that premise the story rolls. The majority of the story is set in the town of Avedon Hill and follows the investigation through every step. I realise that I've made it sound like a rehash of "The Name of the Rose" but it's not. That book didn't have monsters and gods walking amongst the living, that book didn't have spell casters and half breed monsters working in the smithy!

As the investigator moves through this wild and crazy town we get to meet all of the characters in the town as they are interviewed and they are a real weird bunch! The fact that most of the cast are voiced by a different people really helps you to follow the plot.

I really enjoyed this story, the characters were original and developed through the plot in unexpected ways and the magic was both unexpected and exciting, we learnt how things worked as the story progressed which means there are a lot of surprises along the way.

Who should listen to this? Fantasy fans obviously, but keep in mind this is not a straight reading, most characters are played by different voices and with a narrator in between. If you don't mind that sort of thing, dig in!

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 6/9

Download it from Podiobooks

Listen to the first chapter

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The People that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Official Blurb

The People that Time Forgot is a science fiction novel, the second of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Caspak” trilogy. The first novel ended with the hero writing a manuscript of his adventures and casting it out to sea in his thermos bottle. The second novel begins with the finding of the manuscript and the organization of a rescue expedition.

My Review

This story is really more of the same, and that's not a bad thing. "The Land that Time Forgot" was a grand pulp classic and this sequel follows in the same vein.

Our hero this time ventures to the land of Caspak in search of the hero from the previous book. Once again the machines of man are laid low by the beasts of the island, as our hero flys a boat-plane over the cliffs and into adventure.

As the story of the search and survival continues we learn a little more about the strange pattern of life Caspak, the mysteries are explained a little more.

This adventure is jolly good in a classic style and the pace does not let up, it moves from danger to danger and fight to fight.

If you've listened to the prequel and enjoyed it, you should most definitely download and listen to this sequel. I did and enjoyed it, and now I'm looking forward to listening to the third part of this trilogy.

The reader Ralph Snelson gives us a great gift with his narration. He narrated the first in the series and the continuity into this sequel is a welcome happenstance.

Reading 3
Production 2
Story 2

Total : 7/9

Download from Librivox

Listen to the first chapter

The Book of Dragons

Official Blurb

A dragon who flies out of a magical book; one whose purr quiets a fussy baby; another who eats an entire pack of tame hunting-hippopotomuses: These eight dragon tales are filled with the imaginative wit of children’s author Edith Nesbit.

My Review

The official blurb about nails it. THis is a book of eight seperate stories all about dragons, but not the expected fire breathing dragons you might expect. Sure, some of them do breath fire but it's pretty much incidental to these stories.

These are bed time stories that wont terrify, but will excite a childs imagination.

It's a childs book, and I think it holds up in todays world.

Readng 2
Production 2
Story 2

Total 6/9

Download the book from Librivox

Listen to the first chapter

Darkfever

Official Blurb

Enter the world of Karen Marie Moning's New York Times bestselling Fever series with her first ever audiobook podcast, Darkfever. MacKayla Lane's life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she's your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks...until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death-a cryptic message on Mac's cell phone-Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister's killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed-a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae....

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book-because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands....

My Review

Yuk.

Oh.. you want more?

This is a part of the urban fantasy boom that's been going on for a few years and this is one of my few dips into this particular pond. It's not a genre I dislike it's just not one that I normally choose.

So when this started I was impressed with the reader although the intro/outro guy got right on my nerves from the first chapter.

The lead character is presented as a Barbie girl from the south and sadly ends up having about as much character. The story is presented as a kind of diary and sufferes terribly from too much diaretric eccentricity and naval inspections.

For example, I don't care what the characters are wearing and the author seems in love with the idea of dressing her barbie doll character and friends. For goodness sake nearly every scene seems to start with the character getting dressed and telling us about their socks, shoes and shirt etc etc etc , who cares(!) where's the plot?

So as you can gather, I didn't like it. It had it's moments of action and occasional horror but between these were far too many "filler sections" that padded out the story and consisted mostly of inane drivel.

Harsh? Yep, but I really disliked this story, and resented what started out with such promise turning into mush.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3

Total Score 5/9

Download it from Podiobooks ( but only if you dont like yourself! )

Listen to the first chapter

MOREVI : the Chronicles of Rafe and Askana

The Official Blurb

Morevi, a landlocked kingdom shrouded by jungles and mystery, falls under the rule of Askana Moldarin, known in her realm as "The Black Widow" following her swift and bloody ascent to the throne. In the dawn of this New Age, hidden traitors in her own regime threaten to destroy everything. Askana, independent of council, seeks help to reveal the conspiracy against her...

Enter Rafe Rafton, captain of the Defiant.

My Review

This is one of the very first books to be podcasted, ever. There were three back in the early days and I've never been able to work out which was first, but this here story is one of them.

The story itself is a swashbuckeling fantasy/historic novel. The Rafe in the title is a ships captain who carries out "official" piracy for Henry the VIII. Somehow somewhere he's managed to find a way across "the rift" to the strange land where Askana rules with a steely female fist!

The story has all the classic piratey goodness, swordplay, quipping heros, women who know how to fight and just a touch of romance to pin it all together.

The reader has done a splendid job of putting this together audio and has spliced in enough sound effects to keep it interesting.

Reading 2/3
Production 3/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 7/9

Download it from Podiobooks

Listen to chapter 1

The Seventh Mountain

The Official Blurb

A dream, surreal and frightening, begins the path of 12 year old Mark Young's future; a path set long before he was even born. Fortunately, it's not a path he's doomed to walk alone. His course leads to true friends, fortune, and a place where he learns to wield great power.

This place is The Seventh Mountain, the place where Magi train. The Seventh Mountain conceals the direst legend known to man. Mark's fate lies within.

My Review

I have never seen or read any Harry Potter, but even I can see that this story is like Harry Potter, but with a slight Christian twist.

It's an episodic story that follows the exploits of a young lad as he discoveres his heritage and the Magic that is at its core. The young lad ends up at a Magic College where he is taught the arcane arts.

We have sporting adventure and a couple of small doses of actual danger, and the mysterious unknown is threaded throughout. We discover a bunch of small teasers which are never followed up and are obviously there to be furfilled in the remainder of the series. As yet, there has been no sign of the rest of the series.

I feel that this is a YA novel or perhaps even younger. I listened all of the way through but never really felt drawn into the story. The Christian elements were what hooked me, I kept thinking to myself, "how is the author going to pull this one off".

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 1/3

Total Score 5/9

This book is available from Podiobooks.

The Sea Hawk

The Official Blurb

The Sea Hawk is a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1915. The story is set in the late 16th century, and concerns a Cornish sea-faring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is villainously betrayed by a jealous brother. After being forced to serve as a slave on a Spanish galley, Sir Oliver is liberated by Barbary pirates. He joins the pirates under the name “Sakr-el-Bahr”, the hawk of the sea, and swears vengeance against his brother.

My Review

Simply put, I enjoyed this. I downloaded it without reading the official blurb, expecting it to be a history of the British sailor known as "the Sea Hawk". Nope, I got that wrong.

What we have here is a story of the sea, betrayal and love. In the tradition of these older books we have the set up, the recovery, the chance for revenge, and the endgame. The story is not your hyper paced modern adventure but rather a steady series of events that explore the characters and their motivations.

I was enthralled by the story slipping an episode of this story between every other podcast I've been listening to, and was happily satisfied by the ending.

Well worth listening to. A little word of warning, there is a bit of noise on this recording, not hiss, more of a hum. It's not on all of the episodes and is easily ignored.

Reading 2/3
Production 1/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 5/9

This book is available from Librivox.

There is an Audio Promo for this book.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

The Official Blurb

Come and hear the strange tail of The Boss Hank Morgan, a modern day (at the time of publication) Connecticut Yankee who inexplicably finds himself transported to the court of the legendary King Arthur (as the title of the book implies). Hank, or simply, The Boss, as he comes to be most frequently known, quickly uses his modern day knowledge and education to pass himself off as a great magician, to get himself out of all sorts of surprising, (and frequently amusing) situations, as well as to advance the technological and cultural status of the nation in which he finds himself.

My Review

I like many others I'm familiar with the story through the Bing Crosby film of the same name. It was the happy memories of that film and the "Busy doing nothing" song that drew me towards this title.

What we have is a rather too long for its content story. The reading runs for 13+ hours and the animated and spirited reading just couldn't save the story for me. The reader gives his all and is very good, yet as stated the rather pointless rambling of the author who makes verbose points through the prose , only to contradict it later rapidly loses sympathy for the main character "the boss".

When the story is moving it is interesting and amusing. It doesnt cause belly laughs but rather causes a small grin to slide over your face.

Overall I found it a bit of a drag as I was constantly fearing another long expostalation of opinions and expressions that the character didn't believe in. There was a little noise on the recording but nothing that would upset the avid listener.

The film was better.

Reading 3/3
Production 1/3
Story 1/3

Total Score 5/9

Available from Librivox

Tarzan Lord of the Apes

The Official Blurb

Tarzan of the Apes is Burroughs’ exciting, if improbable, story of an English lord, left by the death of his stranded parents in the hands of a motherly African ape who raises him as her own. Although he is aware that he is different from the apes of his tribe, who are neither white nor hairless, he nevertheless regards them as his “people.” When older, larger, stronger apes decide that he an undesirable to be killed or expelled from the tribe, it is fortunate that Tarzan has learned the use of primitive weapons.

Although small and weak by ape standards, Tarzan is a human of god-like strength and agility to men who discover him. By studying these people, he gradually decides he is not an ape at all, but human.

And when he meets Jane, a beautiful American girl marooned with her father and friends on the hostile coast of Africa, Tarzan conceives love for her. When they are unexpectedly rescued before Tarzan can find a way to reveal his feelings to Jane, he determines to become civilized and follow her into the world of people – to find her and wed her, though he must cross continents and oceans, and compete with two other suitors for her hand.

My Review

Everyone knows who Tarzan is. Or at least we think we do! When I finally got round to listening to the actual book I found out things that had never been hinted at by the saturday morning Tarzan films.

Tarzan is raised by the Apes, and the book reveals what that means. It means Tarzan doesn't have a lot of the human feelings and sensibilities. Humans at first scare him, then he becomes a murderer and a canibal. He doesn't know any better of course and so doesn't even consider it as doing anything wrong.

The story evolved a little slowly, and started with Tarzan's parents going on a trip. However once the parents pop-their-clogs the story becomes a lot more interesting. The auther develops the Apes as real characters and we as listeners are not bored by their interactions.

The story jumps another notch once humans move into the apes part of the jungle. So we have a story that speeds up and gets better as it goes and therefore draws you in and keeps you interested.

The reader is this case is fast becoming one of my favourite Librivox readers, Mark Smith. He also read Mysterious Island which I reviewd a while ago.

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 7/9

You can find the book at Librivox.

In the Service of Samurai

The Official Blurb

The choice: Serve the undead or become one of them.

Toshi never expected the strange visitor who one evening stepped foot inside his master's shop. A samurai smelling of the sea, dripping on the ground, algae strung from his armor. For the first time in his life, he discovers that monsters do roam the earth. And this one has been specifically looking
for him.

Dragged from his home and all he has ever known, Toshi must now use his acquired skills in foreign maps to help the creatures who have taken him. Yet at every turn there are problems. There are even those seeking to terminate his very life, not wanting his new master to succeed in his assigned task. And when they do find it, Toshi discovers his new master's enemies have prepared for their eventual arrival, leaving him the only one capable of recovering what has been lost. Can he do what even the undead cannot? Or will he fail and be forced to wander the world as one of them?

My Review

The word Samurai leapt at me when I first saw this podiobook. I'm a bit of a fan of the old Samurai movies and love the conflicts caused by honour and service.

I was not disapointed in this novel. Samurai, undead Samurai, ceaselessly traveling even in death to complete their duty and restore their honour. All the stuff I like.

The story follows the boy Toshi as he gets dragged into the middle of the events he couldn't even imagine. He's lost, alone, friendless and scared. The story follows him as he rises from beaten boy to manhood.

I absolutely loved this story. In a couple of places the story seems to slow down a little too much for my preference but then I shouldn't expect every writer to be a Matthew Reilly. There was however enough action and adventure to keep me listening.

I also felt that the mystical aspects were played out without the explanations that I would have liked to hear. I expect they are perfectly straight forward if you have the background in the Japanese culture but alas I do not.

It felt like a young adult novel and the fact that the main character appears to be in his teens would seem to go along with that. The content seemed appropriate.

In summary, I really enjoyed listening to this, and it throughly enveloped my mind during long cycle rides.

Reading 1/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 5/9

Available from Podiobooks

Max Quick 1 : The Pocket and the Pendant

The Official Blurb

WHEN TIME mysteriously stops, young Max Quick must travel across America to find the source of this 'temporal disaster'... Along the way, he and his companions encounter ancient mysteries, quantum Books, and clues to the riddle of stopped Time. But the more Max learns, the more it seems that his own true identity is not what he once believed...

My Review

I first heard this story as it was being originally released a year or two ago, back when it was simply called "The Pocket and Pendant". The author has since written a sequel which is now entering the podosphere, and so I'll take to the time to tell you want I thought of the original.

Well simply put, I loved this story. It started out a... shall I say depressing! the tone and pacing of the stories opening is quite negative, especially for a young adult story. This is however part of the story, the lead character "Max Quick" is in a very bad situation, and the tone portrays that.

This situation and the stories tone soon change, when time stops. The world freezes in an instant, but not for Max Quick.

The story then rushes on with loveable characters, both villians and heros and we start investigating the mystery, even the mystery of who Max Quick is.

Great story, good pacing, fantastic characters, and now, a sequel to look forward to.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3

Total score 7/9

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Noggle Stones

The official blurb

Shunned by his people and tormented by nightmare visions, Bugbear, the mad goblin scholar, ventures into the wilderness with his ne'er-do-well cousin, Tudmire, to seek out an ancient ruin and the lost wisdom it holds.

Soon the cousins find themselves embroiled in cosmic events as their magical world of Annwfn is merged with 19th Century Earth after an accident concerning a mysterious scroll Tudmire acquires in a crooked game of Noggle Stones. While fleeing the enraged ogres they cheated, Bugbear and Tudmire happen upon Martin Manchester, who appears to be a creature of mythology known as a human. Bugbear takes Manchester as his apprentice, agreeing to teach him the empowering ways of Non-Logical Thought. The trio soon discovers that dark forces have aligned against them, and the two worlds may have been merged only to be destroyed!

My Review

This is a light hearted fantasy that has it's darker moments.

It's journey of discovery and enlightenment. The main characters are appealing and engaging and their relationships develop as the story progresses from adventure to fight to prophesy fufillment.

Always entertaining and read by a distinct voice that is perfect for the tone of the story, Noggle Stones was an eagerly listened to story.

This a family friendly story that could easily be listened to as part of family time.

Reading = 3/3
Production = 3/3
Story = 2/3

Total = 8/9

You can find this at Podiobooks