Almost a Prequel To Cornwell's King Alfred Books.

What did you like most about The Serpent Sword?

I think people may expect a lesser copy of Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom series, thankfully that isn't the case. For a start the books are set a couple of hundred of years before the events in Cornwell's books. The history of Dark Ages Northumbria is really interesting and a time that I know little about, Matthew Harffy builds a dirty, cold and cruel world, well. Plenty of fast paced action scenes, political skullduggery and a hero you can root for.

Who was your favorite character and why?

A great lead character in Beobrand. A young man on a very real hero's journey. Over the course of the book he goes from being a young innocent searching for his last living family member, to a warrior who's survived several battles and seen the evil that men do.

What does Barnaby Edwards bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

A good narration. A large cast and they all seemed to stand out.

Any additional comments?

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this book. The enticing £2.99 price is what drew me in. I'm glad that I took the chance, its a really good listen. A great lead character, thrilling battles, and a few story strands that aren't tied up completely, enough to make you want to delve into the world of Bernicia some more! A good start to a series. I've already purchased the second book for a holiday read on my Kindle.

14 people found this helpful

A Real Bone-Cracking Skin-Splitter of a Book!

Over Christmas I fancied the audiobook equivalent of a box set, a bit of a binge and after some deliberation settled on this gem of a series from Matthew Harffy. I’ve gone through all three of the books available on Audible at the time of writing and by golly this is a good one. I see it has been compared to Cornwell’s Dark Ages adventures and the similarity is certainly there. Both authors describe a world where life is frighteningly cheap for the majority. The upper strata of society is held together by an almost primeval belief in Gods and oaths all backed up with the bloody effectiveness of the warrior class and haunted by superstition. I wouldn’t say that Harffy goes for quite the level of sophistication and depth that Cornwell does but to me that’s not an issue. There are strong Lords and Kings, vicious battles, much drinking and feasting, strong women weaving their own intrigues and heroic speeches and feuds galore. It’s a glorious adventure but our hero Beobrand never has it easy.

Harffy doesn’t spare his characters hardship or misadventure. You will see characters you thought would last fall both in battle and to the evil desires of Beobrand’s enemies. It’s a tale of a young man’s struggles as a warrior and we get straight into it. There is no coming of age tale here! That’s history by the time the first book starts as he stumbles through his first bitter experience of the shield wall. With the excellent narration from Barnaby Edwards the atmosphere and harsh character of the period is conjured in thrilling fashion. Maybe Edwards doesn’t quite have the booming tones of a Brian Blessed so he can’t do some of the great warriors and kings full justice but few do and with his variety of voices he gives each protagonist nuance and character.

This looks like being an ongoing series and I can certainly confirm that for the three books so far published on Audible the quality is kept up throughout. I don’t often listen to books in a series back to back but this turned out to be the perfect choice for me. From the author’s website there is clearly more to come! Bring it on!

13 people found this helpful

Best Audiobook I have read to date,

If you could sum up The Serpent Sword in three words, what would they be?

Gripping, Battles, Emotion

Who was your favorite character and why?

Beobrand ofcourse, the main protagonist who defeats his enemies with the power of youth and determination after the loss of his loved ones. A great character to follow.

Have you listened to any of Barnaby Edwards’s other performances? How does this one compare?

First performance I have heard from Barnaby Edwards but his performance is fantastic.

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

I listened to it over 3 days at work! =)

Any additional comments?

Fantastic read.

8 people found this helpful

Excellent

Excellent performance, great characters, very much in the essence of the saxon chronicles. Looking forward to the next one which is already downloaded

7 people found this helpful

Entertaining enough but predictable

I enjoyed listening to it and was really looking forward to a prequel to Bernard Cornwell's Last Kingdom series but unfortunately this isn't it. The time and places are interesting from a historical point of view.
Unfortunately the story is very predictable. The author spends too much time recapping the feelings and worries of the main character to the point where you start to wonder if he is describing the mind of a 21st century teenager rather than those of a 6th century young warrior.

5 people found this helpful

Narrator

I enjoyed the story very much. Authors move things around with impunity and this is ok, if you are interested you would look for the facts yourself which I have done and it does not diminish the book.
With audio you are listening to a voice that is being used to give us something extra to the book, with this book I did not have extra compared to some books I have listened to. To explain I would invite you to listed to The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell . It is the best book I have listened to, but it does not make it a better story. The narrator almost puts a face to the minds eye or topography as well as a map.
I will listen to more of these books, I did enjoy it. Thank you.

4 people found this helpful

Bloody & Brilliant

If you could sum up The Serpent Sword in three words, what would they be?

Bloody, Emotional, Gritty

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Serpent Sword?

The main scene for me is when Beo learns the men he is travelling with aren't nice men at. Emotional charged and something not easy to forget once you've read it.

What does Barnaby Edwards bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Grittiness, his voice suits the tone of the story perfectly

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

No, I guess you could but I prefer to split the tale in the chunks so I can reflect before moving on

Any additional comments?

Bloody Brilliant!

4 people found this helpful

This is no Cornwell...

Caveat: Made it 4 hours in before giving up...

Not for me this one. I found the narration to be very lacklustre as if someone was just reading it out loud rather than injecting some enthusiasm into it. Sadly it's not helped by the overabundance of description and lack of dialogue which means it comes across as more of a history book reading than a heroic fantasy novel.

The characters are all bland and feel very tired and cliched. The story labours ponderously along and after 4 hours I found myself wondering why I was listening. Would rather relisten to a Cornwell or a Gemmell book than continue.

I like my fantasy pacey, gripping, exciting and with a well written story. Sadly this audiobook manages none of these.

3 people found this helpful

Dark Ages enlightened

A regal story with intrigue, great characters and action.

Take the long way home to listen.

3 people found this helpful

bad story, bad narration

one dimentional characters, appalingly predictable plotline, repetitive stereotypes, every character that is not the hero is rendered with an accent being one shade or another of constipation... tedious

2 people found this helpful