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  • The Dragonbone Chair

  • Booktrack Edition
  • By: Tad Williams
  • Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
  • Length: 33 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (29 ratings)

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The Dragonbone Chair

By: Tad Williams
Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
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Summary

The Dragonbone Chair: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience!

Kitchen-boy Simon is bored, restless and fourteen years old - a dangerous combination. It seems, however, that his life has just taken a turn for the better when he's apprenticed to his castle's resident wizard. As Simon's learning to read and write under Doctor Morgenes' tutelage, forces greater than he could possible imagine are gathering: forces which will change Simon's life - and his world - forever.

Following the death of Good King John, Osten Ard is plunged into civil war as his sons battle for control of the fabled Dragonbone Chair - the country's throne as well as the symbol of its power. Simon is forced to flee the only home he has ever known, a journey which will test him beyond his worst nightmares.

With THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR, Tad Williams introduced readers to the incredible fantasy world of Osten Ard and kicked off the beloved, internationally bestselling series Memory, Sorrow and Thorn.

Booktrack is an immersive format that pairs traditional audiobook narration and complementary music. The tempo and rhythm of the score are in perfect harmony with the action and characters throughout the audiobook. Gently playing in the background, the music never overpowers or distracts from the narration so that listeners can enjoy every minute. When you purchase this Booktrack edition, you receive the exact narration as the traditional audiobook available, with the addition of music throughout.

©1988 Robert Paul 'Tad' Williams, published by permission of DAW Books (P)2015, 2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited, Booktrack Holding Ltd (background soundtrack only)
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What listeners say about The Dragonbone Chair

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

What a performance by the narrator

Very nice book and the narrator did an amazing job with it but sometimes the background music got too loud.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

very enjoyable

Read this many years ago and listening to it now is like meeting an old friend. The immersive background music only enhances the experience

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed this book just as much as reading it!

This is one of my favourite series of books so knew I would enjoy it. Plus, the backing track was actually quite nice too!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best fantasy novels

A great novel. I have read this series twice and not tired listening to it now as an audio book. True, it starts off slow, but only to paint a beautifully detailed picture of Osten Ard and the Characters. The author's language is beautiful and evocative without loosing tension in the plot. If you love fantasy books with a lot of fast action, this might not be for you. It is like drinking a well matured, complex flavoured wine instead shots of vodka.
What I found a bit frustrating (and have given therefore only 4 stars on total), was the use of music for dramatisation. First it is unnecessary in my opinion, especially if the language is so evocative, and secondly it becomes difficult to understand the reading especially at the climaxes (music gets louder and more intense). I hope, the producers have ditched it in later books, although I doubt it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Background track spoils a good performance

The story and reading were excellent, but my enjoyment was spoiled by the background sound track which often distracted me ( by being too loud).

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Ignore the negative reviews!

There are a lot of complaints about the pace of the book and the narration, very unfairly in my opinion. This is a true epic and takes time to set the stage, but it's not padding and we'll worth it. I read the series many years ago. It is wonderfully crafted and unlike a lot of fantasy releases of late doesn't try to do LOTR in 8 hours. it is rewarding and I really appreciated the narration of Andrew Wincott who matches the material beautifully. I was not a big fan of the music and sound effects but even they grew on me. this series takes some work in the same way as Erikson's Malazan book of the fallen. Though very different in tone, fantasy by numbers it is not. Please give it a chance and stick with it, you will be totally invested and well rewarded!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Distracting

I should have listened to a sample. The music is nothing but a distraction, and the 15 minutes that I managed to listen to seemed highly generic.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Background noise with story attached

This is one of my favorite books but I found myself annoyed at this audiobook since the background noises were often too loud to hear the story or even when not overpowering they were at best distracting.
Find another version without these SFX, is my advice!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I wish I could've focused better

My friend has hyped about this series for years to me and the actual books are together so long to read so I thought the audiobook could be the answer.

So when I found these books here, I was so glad I bought all the books at the same time. At first, I thought the background noises were nice additions but I soon realized I couldn't focus the story at all. I tried to find if I could've adjust the background noises but I didn't find any way to do so. Because at times the music is so loud compare to the narrator, I couldn't hear what the narrator was saying.

I think I'm just gonna listen all the books to get some kind of picture of the story and read the actual books when I get better time to get to know the story better.

In the end, I think the narrator did amazing job and I think the background music and noises weren't necessary. They were nice and they could work, if they were adjustable so I could put the music down to focus on the story.

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