Poor reader detracts from a good story.

Dreadful narrator is the worst I have experienced since joining Audible. No more from him please

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Wake up Michael

Same swift plot as the rest of the books in the series but delivered in a monotonous tone. Narrator manages to make even the most thrilling parts dull. Do not play this while driving!

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Why oh why do they change narrator's

Five books in the series and three different narrators who progressively get worse. Shame as the story series is so well written. It's common in all withe Last Kingdom and Conqueror series both of which are equally as good have the issues with the narrators changing .

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Vast Colour Delivered in Monotone

If you have invested yourself in Rome and its characters from the previous books then this is definitely a story worth hearing. This book was an afterthought with a logical conclusion of the series having occurred in the fourth novel. However I fully agree with the author that this story is just as compelling and in some ways even more interesting. The naval battle scenes and the story behind the innovation that shaped them were particularly fascinating. Of course, all of the usual senate and society intrigue that we expect from this series is there plus of course the gritty reality of going to war with the legions. By the end you are left with a sense of wonder at how Rome became so great given the in-fighting.

So the story is worth hearing. The question is whether or not you want to hear it on Audible or read it for yourself. I can only recommend you listen to the audio sample. There is once again a change in narrator, coupled with significant changes to the way names and other words are pronounced, mostly reverting to the style of the earlier books. In addition I am afraid that Michael Healy is probably never going to win many awards for his narration. To me he just didn’t have the voice for these characters or the variation in tone that makes listening for extended periods as enjoyable as it could be. To each their own but I can’t recommend this personally and if I had my time again would opt for the Kindle edition.

I do wonder if Iggulden will ever be tempted to write a sixth book. From his excellent historical note it would actually be very fitting for the series title and who could resist Anthony and Cleopatra? If he does then I hope he reverts to one of the previous narrators.

As a series though this has been massively satisfying and even a little educational. The narration problems will definitely put some off but to overlook this series as a result would be a mistake in my book.

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6 people found this helpful

Exellent story and well read

Would you listen to EMPEROR: The Blood of Gods, Book 5 (Unabridged) again? Why?

Yes its such a brilliant story and one I could listen too many times

What was one of the most memorable moments of EMPEROR: The Blood of Gods, Book 5 (Unabridged)?

there were several memorablel moments that is why I will listen again.

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

excellent narrator, brings the characters to life

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

it made my blood curse through my veins several times

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2 people found this helpful

great book

great book but the narrator from the first book should have done all 4 book's.. but good overall..

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Stop changing readers!

The first books in this series were so good and engaging! Why would you change readers? I cannot listen to this, its like being at church or in class with a very bored professor.

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awesome

absolutely loved it, brilliantly written and well read . gripped from start to finish. fantastic

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Worst Narrator

After four books I felt I had to finish, but the narration ruined it for me.
I'll never listen to another book read by him!

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Great story - terrible narration

I am a big fan of the author, have read and listened to all this series, sufferring 3 changes of narrator.

The first was brilliant for the first 2 books.
The second was OK for 3&4 and at least worked hard at vocal dexterity, timbre, tone change and characterisation.
Just his tonality was jarring and pronunciation was at odds with modern listeners.

This last narrator was unbelievably bad!!
Monotonal, drone, no characterisation, pronunciation all over the place, often lost me through lack of interest and even managed to put me to sleep 3 times!!
A sincere wish to follow the story to the end was my only motivation despite an overwhelming urge to switch off and delete the audio.
Please Audible, never use this guy again or you will lose authors their sales and their fans! & you will lose subscribers!!

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