Childs book

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Nothing could have worked that kind of Magic i'm afraid. A differant author and a differant narrator.

Has Theft of Swords put you off other books in this genre?

It hasn't.

Would you be willing to try another one of Tim Gerard Reynolds’s performances?

No thankyou

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really, no.

Any additional comments?

I got this book because of the great reviews. I lasted longer than normal, presuming things to pick up, but alas they didn't. It is like a children's book, and the narrator talks as though he is reading a children's book to children. My tastes are abercrombie, Martin, Sanderson. This is nothing like them and i'll be returning it i'm afraid.

8 people found this helpful

Excellent book and a joy for gamers.

Firstly, let me clarify that I rarely - if ever - give 5* reviews. I like to have somewhere to go if next week I hear a better book so four stars should be treated as an "excellent".

Michael J Sullivan's work is a joy to listen to, especially since Tim Gerard Reynolds does such a good job on it. There are a couple of errors but nothing that slightly better editing wouldn't have fixed and he has instantly shot into my list of favourite readers, alongside people such as Steven Pacey and Toby Longworth. The stories in this volume hit all the right fantasy tropes without overusing any or feeling too cliched and the characterisations are interesting and well rounded. I like the heroes and loathe the villains just as I'm obviously supposed to. The stories motor along reasonably well and there are just enough twists to stop them getting predictable and dull. Overall an enjoyable, workmanlike performance from both writer and narrator.

My review title said this was a joy to gamers and I stand by that. If there are any role-players reading this review then I urge you to buy this audiobook, you'll not find another book which feels more like a game session. The heroes act like PCs, the better PCs at least, and this is a grand inspiration to have playing while you write up plot for something like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder or even Rolemaster.

As a final note, congratulations to the narrator for not having the dwarf speak with a cod Scottish accent, I never understood that. Tolkein's dwarves were obviously Welsh in inspiration and yet there is an inexplicable trend to make dwarfs Scottish. I am very glad that doesn't occur here.

7 people found this helpful

Worked - in parts

Where does Theft of Swords rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was a decent fantasy romp with lots of the right ingredients. I liked the main characters, the plot was good & unpredictable.

However .... I get really turned off when the main characters do things I wouldn't expect after coming to know them. Or when events just fit (too) neatly together..

For example (SPOILER) .. two thieves, part of a underground hidden mysterious guild, suddenly become kings protectors (really? what about avoiding the limelight?) ... donate the financial reward to a monk (arent they thieves?) ... help a young woman for a couple of silver... It just didnt add up for me - I didnt buy into it. So whilst I kinda enjoyed the story, liked the main guys, it never really held me by the short & curlies.

What about Tim Gerard Reynolds’s performance did you like?

The narration was great.

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

No.

6 people found this helpful

An Old-fashioned Same Old Same Old

To be honest I'm only a third the way through. Nothing has grabbed me and I'm forcing myself to listen to more of it. It really is all the other books from the '70's and '80's re hashed. I think this is one to send back. Even the narrator is mildly annoying and would do better in children's books. Perhaps it grows further along but I'm not willing to grit my teeth any longer.

6 people found this helpful

Good story, aweful reading

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. I enjoyed the story, but the reading was incredibly distracting. The story pulled me along to the point where I had invested too much of my time to give the story up, although the reading often made me want to.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

No huge surprises for me here. The story is reliably (perhaps comfortably) predictable which suited my listening needs at the time.

What didn’t you like about Tim Gerard Reynolds’s performance?

Tim Gerard's performance ruined this story for me. I found his intonation/inflection hugely distracting and inappropriate. It often trivialised the point and shaped characters into something I'm not sure the author intended. I haven't checked his CV, but I suspect Tim has done a great deal of theatre work, if not perhaps he should. I feel he over played each part and as a result the characters weren't natural or believably,

Did Theft of Swords inspire you to do anything?

Not really

Any additional comments?

I suspect I would have enjoyed this book far more if I had read it rather than listened to it.

4 people found this helpful

Superbly Entertaining

My first experience of Michael J Sullivan and I will be returning for more. The adventures of Royce & Hadrian kept me entertained for hours. I really like the pace of the story and how it quickly unfolded but kept the intrigue there, beckoning me on wanting to know more. Hadrian's optimistic character is a good balance for Royce's darkness. A great adventure story with a dark side.

4 people found this helpful

Solid Fantasy

I liked this book so much I downloaded the next ones in the series to follow on with. I thought the two main characters were interesting and had room for development in further books. This is not as good as Joe Abercrombie in my opinion but that could have been the narrator. I liked Tim Gerard Reynolds narration of Red Rising, but felt that he was wrong for this book. I got used to him but I think his voice lacked the characterisation needed to carry this off well.
This is a good solid fantasy series to get stuck into but it's no Patrick Rothfuss or Joe Abercrombie. This is not going to stop me from listening to all of his stuff though!

2 people found this helpful

Fun

A well crafted story that is really fun to read/listen. The next two books only improve. Recommended.

2 people found this helpful

Brilliant!

Having picked up The Jester on Audible, simply because it was free, I had to get the full story. I was instantly hooked and loved the two main characters and had to find out more. The Theft of Swords contains the first two books of the six part series and they lived up to my expectations of a great story, and more! Highly recommended if you enjoy fantasy/action and read brilliantly. Now I can't wait to get the rest!

1 person found this helpful

Brill will be starting the next book straight away

Great fantasy book very well read would recommend ,not for a young age though has a lot of adult material . The books seems all too follow on after each other making you want too know more about the world and the events that are soon to follow .

1 person found this helpful