Lovely book but narrator missed the mark

Devil's Cub is one of my favorite Heyer books and I anticipated with pleasure the audio version. However, it felt like the narrator didn't grasp the humor, period or characterizations as he should. Humorous comments were misinterpreted and historical insights and characterizations undermined by his rendering. At one point I wondered if he had read the book before recording -- or perhaps the genre just didn't click for him.

Production values were excellent and the narrator is easy to listen to, but the interpretation left a lot to be desired. You can't miss with Heyer and this is a fun book, but it deserved a better narration.

57 people found this helpful

Amusing but tricky

Like all Georgette Heyer's work, this book is LOTS of fun, but unlike many, it brings up issues that the modern world considers seriously un-funny. Heyer's hero starts the book as somone who drives (horses) too fast and plays too hard, and since he is wealthy & athletic & has a high social position, he gets away with it. Heyer, though, never excuses his behavior. She shows you characters, and their behavior, from their own view-points, and in their own settings. It is up to the reader to decide whether their behavior can be excused (completely, somewhat, or not at all). So, although her hero's behavior, when he assumes that the heroine is a "lightskirt" who (he assumes - incorrectly) is trying to trap him into making her his mistress, is inexcusable by modern standards, it was all too acceptable by the standards of the mid-late 18th century. He does not actually assault the heroine, but not through lack of intent. Heyer does not excuse, and she doesn't, when brought to the point, shy away from telling you a few ugly truths, either.

20 people found this helpful

Great book, truly awful narrator

Would you consider the audio edition of Devil's Cub to be better than the print version?

No

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Voices were overly dramatic and don't seem to correspond to the characters. Especially grating is Vidal, who sounds like an old man instead of a 24 year old.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book that deserves to be re-recorded by a different narrator who truly understands it.

18 people found this helpful

quite funny

I enjoyed this book, which is a delightful mix of outright farce and romance novel cliche. It works because Heyer never gets too arch or over-the-top about it, and always plays it straight. My only quibble is with the narration. The reader's own voice is fine, but the vocal characterization he chose for Vidal is distinctly grating - and unfortunately, not in a good way.

17 people found this helpful

Sigh...

This isn't steamy, if that's what you are hoping for, but what do you expect from Georgette Heyer? It is romantic, though, and remarkably so for her. Vidal is a perfect leading man: slightly villainous, but good at heart and respectful of respectable women. And the characters are so well written, you'll laugh out loud.

14 people found this helpful

Well done!

This was a very well done narration of Devil's Cub. I first discovered Georgette Heyer's novels over 20 years ago and have read most of them. This was the first time I had ever listened to one and it was very enjoyable. My two quibbles: 1) The narrator's choice of Vidal's voice (as was noted by a previous reviewer). I thought that the voice he used sounded much too old. More like a world weary man in his 40's or 50's rather than a young man in his 20's.
2) The accent of Mary Challoner's mother was also a bit of a stretch. It seemed too broad and coarse an accent. If Mary's father was a nobleman how could he have possibly married let alone meet a woman so far beneath his social status? But the other charecters were "spot on"!
Well done indeed!

14 people found this helpful

Not as good as "TOS"

Narrator not as good as one for "TOS." Avon sounds petulant, not purring. And Vidal sounds angry, not sinister. But still a good listen.

11 people found this helpful

toxic premises

I've enjoyed several of Heyer's novels as well-crafted diversions in which the 18th-19th century implicit classism, sexism, and "myth of the sensible women reforming a rake" were all a part of the tongue in cheek tone---BUT this novel's set up is downright offensive in both 2009 or during the author's career period (mid 20th C): The kidnapping mentioned in the product blurb is not a cliched elopement as in other of her novels, but an actual forced abduction with threats of domestic violence. Murder is taken a little too casually as a misdemeanour of the rake-to-be-reformed. It's not that such crimes didn't happen in spades during the late 18th century, but this novel presents them so lightly and so unnecessarily as romance.

Download one of her other novels! We don't need any product that takes domestic violence lightly, even in a soon-to-be-reformed rake. That may only further the illusion that keeps some contemporary women and their children in dangerous domestic situations.

Brain candy is fine - but as in a real world sweet, avoid consuming it if it contains toxins.

8 people found this helpful

She is so quotable

I loved this book. It was so enjoyable I couldn't stop listening. Georgette Heyer has such great vivid characters with lines that are so quotable. This book is a must.

8 people found this helpful

#2 in the Allistair trilogy and one of her best

What did you love best about Devil's Cub?

My 14th Heyer (I'm consuming them at a gallop), with an abundance of classic elements, including: adventure, abduction, elopement, two duels(one with pistols, one with swords), a classic rake (actually 2 including the father), a level-headed heroine, humor, and farce. Leonie and the Duke are back, but mostly in the background, as parents. It's the duke's son Dominic now who's the center-stage rake, to be tamed this time by a sensible bourgoise, Mary.Very well-plotted, light, and complete fun!

What other book might you compare Devil's Cub to and why?

All Heyer's books seem to be of a piece, really, despite different plots. They are simply delicious fantasy-romances, and it hardly matters what they're about, though Heyer takes time over the plotting, however light. Our hero Dominic resembles many of her classic nobleman-rakes, including notably his father, Justin, Duke of Avon, Heyer's "uber-rake" of These Old Shades. Once you start reading Heyer it's hard to stop--it's addicting escapism that leaves you feeling quite satisfied and rushing back for more. You're propelled along by the clever dialogue and the interesting period details. For example,I find I now know how to distinguish a curricle from a phaeton from a barouche. Though what good that may do me, I'm sure I don't know. And I am not "queer in my attic!" as her characters are wont to say...

Have you listened to any of Michael Drew’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've listened to several other narrators of Heyer's books, and I do think Michael Drew does very well indeed with this unabridged version.--He is actually quite good at capturing a sort of nasty, nasal drawl you might expect of our rakes-both-father and son. He is also very adept in his handling of all the women characters. He has several fine narrative moments; one of the funniest bits is the valet's discourse on the marquis's fashionable figure. Drew clearly milks this little scene for maximum laughs. Simply not to be missed!

Any additional comments?

Read and listen to as many as you can get your hands on--a healthy way to revive good spirits! I've heard it called mannerpunk; I'd say regency-crack.

7 people found this helpful