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War Lord
- The Last Kingdom Series, Book 13
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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After years fighting to reclaim his rightful home, Uhtred of Bebbanburg has returned to Northumbria. With his loyal band of warriors and a new woman by his side, his household is secure – yet Uhtred is far from safe. Beyond the walls of his impregnable fortress, a battle for power rages. To the south, King Æthelstan has unified the three kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia – and now eyes a bigger prize.
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Fantastic story interweaved with history.
- By Paul on 17-10-20
- War Lord
- The Last Kingdom Series, Book 13
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
Sad to come to the end of the story.
Reviewed: 07-05-24
When you've lived with the story of a great character's life for 13 books, it's really heart breaking to know you aren't going to get any more.
I have loved it from beginning to end.
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Outland
- Quantum Earth, Book 1
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
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When an experiment to study quantum uncertainty goes spectacularly wrong, physics student Bill Rustad and his friends find that they have accidentally created an inter-dimensional portal. They connect to Outland - an alternate Earth with identical geology, but where humans never evolved. The group races to establish control of the portal before the government, the military, or evildoers can take it away. Then everything changes when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts in an explosion large enough to destroy civilization and kill half the planet.
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Bright young things
- By Adam on 22-05-19
- Outland
- Quantum Earth, Book 1
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
Famous Five visit Jurassic Park.
Reviewed: 07-05-24
Did they have a great time? The heck they did.
They lived on pizza and coffee and were all home in time for Stargate.
I never got to the end of actually, I never got past them all worrying about who has the torch and arguing if they need rope or not.
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Heaven's River
- Bobiverse, Book 4
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
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Civil war looms in the Bobiverse in this brand-new, epic-length adventure by Audible number one best seller Dennis E. Taylor. More than a hundred years ago, Bender set out for the stars and was never heard from again. There has been no trace of him despite numerous searches by his clone-mates. Now Bob is determined to organize an expedition to learn Bender’s fate - whatever the cost. But nothing is ever simple in the Bobiverse. Bob’s descendants are out to the 24th generation now, and replicative drift has produced individuals who can barely be considered Bobs anymore.
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Going to be short and to the point.
- By justin ford on 28-09-20
- Heaven's River
- Bobiverse, Book 4
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
The weakest in the Bobiverse.
Reviewed: 20-04-24
I thoroughly enjoyed the other 3 books in the Bobiverse but I was severely disappointed with this one.
The performance is excellent as always, but the book itself seems to consist of people popping in and out, giving reports and holding meetings, and interminable descriptions of yet another VR library, cup of coffee or latest whisky they've come up with.
Almost nothing actually happens- at least for the first 30 chapters and I gave up after that. There's also a lack of purpose that was in the other books. There was a sense it was leading somewhere and it did in fact come to a conclusion. This give you no idea where it's heading and indeed, gives the idea that it is in fact going nowhere.
Also, this is one very much for the Trekkies. There were always a lot of Star Trek references but here they were off the scale and it really started to grate with me.
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Don't Look Back
- By: Jo Spain
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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For one week, everything in Luke Miller's life is perfect. Surprised with a belated honeymoon by his wife, Rose, he's had seven days with her in a Caribbean paradise. It's more than he ever thought he'd deserve. But as they pack their bags, Rose breaks down, confessing that on the day they left London, a violent man from her past tracked her down and broke into their home. He wasn't expecting her to fight back. And, in her terror, Rose killed him. Now there's a dead body in Luke's apartment, and only one person he can think to turn to.
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Disappointed
- By Amazon Customer on 13-05-23
- Don't Look Back
- By: Jo Spain
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
Disappointing.
Reviewed: 27-03-24
This is the eighth Jo Spain novel I've bought and by far my least favourite.
It was incredibly slow and it was also very disappointing for another good reason which I can't mention without spoiling it for someone.
I wasn't even convinced by Aoife's performance as some of her accents were not up to her usual standard.
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All These Worlds
- Bobiverse, Book 3
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The epic and highly anticipated conclusion to the listener-favorite series that had countless Audible listeners (and employees) hooked from the very first Bob - featuring, as always, a flawless performance from the inimitable Ray Porter. Being a sentient spaceship really should be more fun. But after spreading out through space for almost a century, Bob and his clones just can't stay out of trouble. They've created enough colonies so humanity shouldn't go extinct.
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Loitering in the stone age and missing opportunity
- By ISee on 30-08-17
- All These Worlds
- Bobiverse, Book 3
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
Astonishing.
Reviewed: 08-03-24
It's a very long time since I've been as emotionally invested in a book as this one.
It started off as an interesting idea but it's developed so brilliantly.
The science is excellent, it's beautifully performed, it's riveting and so moving.
I am truly astonished at how good a series this has turned out to be.
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The Burning Land
- The Last Kingdom Series, Book 5
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In the last years of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in failing health, and his heir is an untested youth. The Danes, who have failed so many times to conquer Wessex, smell opportunity.... First comes Harald Bloodhair, a savage warrior leading a Viking horde, who is encouraged to cruelty by his woman, Skade. But Alfred still has the services of Uhtred, his unwilling warlord, who leads Harald into a trap and, at Farnham in Surrey, inflicts one of the greatest defeats the Vikings were ever to suffer.
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Disappointed..... gave the book back!
- By stephen on 12-11-19
- The Burning Land
- The Last Kingdom Series, Book 5
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
As good as ever.
Reviewed: 17-12-23
It takes a little while to get used to the change of narrator but eventually you do and Matt Bates does an excellent job.
Another cracking good story from Cornwell.
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Dune
- By: Frank Herbert
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, and others
- Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Shortlisted for the Audiobook Download of the Year, 2007.
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.
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A superb production of a sci fi classic!
- By Peter on 21-07-07
The cast almost spoil it.
Reviewed: 13-11-23
The book is a classic which has stood the test of time and needs no review, but I would like to say something about the performance in the hope the people who make these things can avoid the same mistakes.
The book is read by Simon Vance who does a great job so no complaints about his performance.
However, there is also a cast who act out some of the dialogue and this is pretty sloppy at best.
It isn't there too much of the time thankfully but that is in itself a puzzle. Why have a conversation between two people that starts being performed by Simon and then morphs into the cast who have entirely different voices?
I tried but I couldn't fathom why the cast perform parts of the dialogue and not others.
It's bizarre and as Simon has English accents whereas the cast are mostly American, it's quite a jar.
Plus, as they come in occasionally it's quite hard to remember who is supposed to be whom.
Furthermore, some of the cast aren't very good. They give a very bland, almost wooden performance where they are very obviously reading and unforgivably, they can't agree how some things are pronounced.
Bene Gesserit, Kwisatz Haderach, Sietch and Atreides all have multiple pronunciations. This is not a quality production from them.
It isn't quite ruined by the terrible cast because they aren't there enough but it's something you are going to have to accept and deal with rather than enjoy.
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Berserker!
- An Autobiography
- By: Adrian Edmondson
- Narrated by: Adrian Edmondson
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Ade Edmondson smashed onto the comedy circuit in the 1980s, stormed The Comedy Store and, alongside Rik Mayall, brought anarchy to stage and screen. How did a child brought up in a strict Methodist household – and who spent his formative years incarcerated in repressive boarding schools – end up joining the revolution? Well, he is part Norse. Could it be his berserker heritage? With wisdom, nostalgia and uniquely observed humour, Ade traces his journey through life and comedy.
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Fantastic.
- By Kindle Customer on 28-09-23
- Berserker!
- An Autobiography
- By: Adrian Edmondson
- Narrated by: Adrian Edmondson
An autobiography that stands on its own merits
Reviewed: 26-10-23
Before you decide to buy this it’s well to remember it’s an autobiography and not a script for The Young Ones or Bottom.
It is laugh out loud funny at times, it’s witty and humorous in the main but there are parts that may well make you want to cry and there’s cruelty and sadness in there too.
It is, after all, the story of a man’s life which is never going to be an unending peal of laughter.
What Adrian has chosen to tell us are the things that made him who he is.
Not the anecdotes which make him look smart or important or even the anecdotes that are funny -although there are some- but the events that led to changes which defined him: and sometimes even scarred him.
It’s an honest book and he has great clarity about those events which he describes with some simplicity- and I mean that as a compliment. It’s unpretentious- one might say anti-pretentious if there is such a thing-there’s power in his simple, honest writing and I being of a similar age and a somewhat similar background found myself identifying strongly with a lot of the early experiences to the point it was slightly uncomfortable.
It’s a terrific autobiography which would stand alone on its merits no matter who had written it.
Adrian is as always, full of surprises.
It's also beautifully performed with that voice and delivery some of us know and love so well.
Good luck to you Adrian and thanks for what you've managed to achieve being so incredibly important to me over all these years.
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The Running Grave
- Cormoran Strike, Book 7
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 34 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The Universal Humanitarian Church is, on the surface, a peaceable organisation that campaigns for a better world. Yet Strike discovers that beneath the surface there are deeply sinister undertones, and unexplained deaths. In order to try to rescue Will, Strike's business partner Robin Ellacott decides to infiltrate the cult and she travels to Norfolk to live incognito amongst them. But in doing so, she is unprepared for the dangers that await her there or for the toll it will take on her.
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Love them more than ever
- By Abra Brash on 27-09-23
- The Running Grave
- Cormoran Strike, Book 7
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
like panning for gold...
Reviewed: 13-10-23
...you are going to find nuggets but you are going to sift through a lot of gravel.
When she sticks to the investigation then this book is excellent. The people they interview are beautifully drawn characters, the dialogue is natural and some of the situations are amusing.
The plot of the crimes they uncover is also very well conceived. It's intricate and imaginative. All very enjoyable.
The performance of Robert Glenister is excellent: I think the best of the series.
But sometimes I wonder if this book hasn't been written by two separate people because a lot of the rest of it is dull and un-necessary.
Interminable conversations about the rota, descriptions of the inside of pubs or what Strike is eating. Conversations of the sort 'Have you arrived yet?' or 'Would you like a coffee?' and the soap opera which is the relationships of all the protagonists including the main one which has been going on for 6 years now. 6 years!!!
The story is about a cult and far too much time is given to the workings of the cult and cult members. It means a lot of the time you are listening (I have the Audiobook) to massively deluded people spout utter tosh and descriptions of people doing everyday chores. Another problem with the writing about the cult is it comes across as documentary and I got the feeling the idea was to educate rather than entertain. I wanted to be entertained.
Some have suggested there's need of an editor and I concur. +34 hours listening is a lot to ask when much of the book is really unnecessary and quite dull.
If she could have stuck to the investigation- and what really mattered in the investigation- then it would have been much tighter and more exciting.
Finally, there are 136 chapters which means you've got to listen to nonsensical and irrelevant quotes from the book of I Ching 136 times. This adds nothing and takes a lot away. It takes you out of the story, like a prompter in the theatre and no matter how long you try to understand the quotes, there's never any reason for them.
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The Reckoning
- DS Lucy Golden, Book 3
- By: Martina Murphy
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In an isolated house by Dugort pier a body is found. DS Lucy Golden is shocked to discover that the victim, Sandra Byrne, is a sister of one of her old school friends. To further complicate matters, Ben Lively, one of Lucy's colleagues, is the chief suspect. Lucy must put aside her bias in order to uncover the truth. But the deeper she digs into Sandra's life, the more the past starts to unravel and the less she seems to know. How do you solve a murder when all you have are lies?
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Excellent book
- By Brian Burke on 25-05-24
- The Reckoning
- DS Lucy Golden, Book 3
- By: Martina Murphy
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
Excellent
Reviewed: 22-09-23
Really superb novel.
The whole series is developing beautifully and I can't wait for the next one
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