Must read this review

I feel I have to mention this to save others from dissapointment. Please however, listen and make your own judgements.

So, having really enjoyed the first two books in the series narrated by Matt Wolf. the decision to change narrators for book three is an epic fail. Mr Wolf brought feeling to the characters in line with some of the best narrators that I've had the pleasure to listen to. However, Mr Dickson lack that ability to provide a good range of voices so all the characters sound pretty much the same. Like angry pirates. I use the word angry as he shouts most of the dialogue and makes everything sound aggressive and confrontational when it's not supposed to be. This in turn means that all characters lose the emotion that was built brilliantly by Mr Wolf in the first two books.
Unfortunately, this is so bad and annoying this book will have to be returned and the 60 hours invested in what was turning out to be an epic knight’s tale wasted.

10 people found this helpful

Epic!

What made the experience of listening to The Red Knight the most enjoyable?

It's the marriage between authentic detail, subtle humour and a range of different and carefully wrought story-lines that makes this one of the best books I've listen to in a while. It's a rather novel take on the fantasy genre, too. It's a fantasy/historic novel cross-over and not the worse for it.

What did you like best about this story?

It's really engaging and the characterisation avoids stereotypes. There are heroes dressed as anti-heroes and vice-versa. There are as many powerful women as men, which always gets my vote. Equally, there are vain and shallow women but just as many men sharing the same unflattering characteristics. There are a range of interesting themes such as the class-system, dysfunctional relationships and the rights and wrongs of other cultural, moral and social constructs. The story-lines are carefully constructed and despite the length of this book, they never seem laboured.

What about Matthew Wolf’s performance did you like?

Wolf's performance is another highlight. He has to cope with a massive range of characters and the variety of accents he manages are believable and generally well maintained. Yes, there are a few accent inconsistencies but there are so MANY characters this minor criticism hardly seems worth mentioning.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

King Arthur meets Patrick Bateman

Any additional comments?

The best value for money I've had in a long while.

12 people found this helpful

Outsharps Richard Sharpe

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a great story, well written and well read. I bought the second book because the first was so good; roll on number three.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Red Knight as the central character was written in such a way the other characters played off him and brought out their own personalities.

Which character – as performed by Matthew Wolf – was your favourite?

Thorn, even as an evil character was played in a way that you wanted to know how far he would go despite the material he had to work with.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This book was too long to read in one sitting but it was finished within a couple of days; in time to get right into the Fell Sword.

Any additional comments?

I object to having to wait patiently for Book three.

13 people found this helpful

Couldn't get into it

This book just wasn't for me. I found it hard to listen to, and the characters were not interesting enough to make it worth persevering.

2 people found this helpful

baffling

made it to chapter 4, but already there are too many characters to keep track of.

1 person found this helpful

Too many povs and too much of hema

Didn't finnish. The world itself seemed interesting, but it was too difficult to get a hold of it because points of view jumped too much to care about characters or story. It's clear that writer knows his medieval martial arts, but unfortunately other aspects of description lack the same detail.

1 person found this helpful

Complicated

base story was ok but too many characters viewpoints made it over complicated and hard to follow. there are better siege stories out there.

2 people found this helpful

a masterpiece

Miles/Christian has really hit this one our of the park. His books show a remarkable depth of scholarship and a deep understanding of the history of medieval Europe, the medieval European mind, faiths, traditions, life, military, church and commoner.
this book is fantasy but is done brilliantly. The best stories have a core of truth and linking the magic system to Hermetic Esotericism was very very clever because it dovetails with real world religions.
he's done his research here as well, as he has obviously studied the rites and philosophy of Hermetic Esotericism.
as always his understanding of period combat is superb, having been heavily involved in 14th C reenactment myself and western martial arts through Lichtenauer and Fiori, HD describes the forms of sword, axe, sword znd buckler, and what it is like wearing full harness.
this is because the author has 30 years experience of the same.
if you like Abercrombie you'll love this.

Great story, terrible editing

Great story, really enjoyed it but the editing was horrendous
So many sentences cut off randomly, at first I thought it was meant to be that way
Doesn't take away from the story too much, still recommend it
Sort out your editing, ruining good authors books

Brilliant ensemble piece

I loved it from beginning to end. The ending manages to set up for more without leaving a cliff-hanger.