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A Dance of Cloaks
- Book 1 of Shadowdance
- Narrated by: Elijah Alexander
- Series: Shadowdance, Book 1
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy
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What listeners say about A Dance of Cloaks
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J. Munro
- 16-07-14
Ruined by the narrator
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I would recommend the physical copy. The story has some nice parts to it but the narration is so offensively bad that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. This is the first time in several years as an Audible member that I've abandoned a book.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Accents are awful, attempts at voices are indistinguishable from one another most of the time and no tension, emotions or anything else that you'd want from a book come through in the reading.
8 people found this helpful
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- ruth
- 11-03-14
Cover design is great
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
The various accents used by the narrator were unauthentic and very hard to listen to. I was unable to finish the book because of the quality of narration.
Has A Dance of Cloaks put you off other books in this genre?
Not at all. I love this genre but this particular book did not have an individual voice.
What didn’t you like about Elijah Alexander’s performance?
His attempts at different accents with no clear voice for any particular character. The bits that were not dialogue based were fine.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
I was really disappointed with this book. Both in the performance and the content.
Any additional comments?
Unfortunately, neither the plot nor the characters were sufficiently strong enough for me to fight on and after the first 7 hours, I threw in the towel. No humour and a hackneyed plot sealed it for me. Apologies, but unable to recommend to the normal crew as I did not manage to finish it. I would like my money back!
5 people found this helpful
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- Osagie
- 24-05-15
Shame about the narrator.
While the story was okay, I still had some issues with it. The main issue was that I wasn't made to care about the fate of any of the characters. There seemed to be like depth to any of them. This may have been in part to the shocking performance of the narrator. Seriously at some points in the book when these ridiculous ascents where flying around unchecked I had the most uncharitable feelings towards the man inflicting this pain on me.
So overall okay book, made nigh unlistenable by the performance.
2 people found this helpful
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- anthony
- 23-02-14
Great listen for fantuscy fans
Where does A Dance of Cloaks rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
In the top 20 and I have over 700 audio books.
What other book might you compare A Dance of Cloaks to, and why?
To brent weeks's night angel trilogy. This book has the same sense of adventure and catches hold and doesn't let go until the end
Which character – as performed by Elijah Alexander – was your favourite?
I found all of the characters were pro formed well and could listen to them time and time again
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes it took me 2 days though.
Any additional comments?
I enjoyed this book so much that I went and downloaded the next book in the series straightaway
2 people found this helpful
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- Ian A Campbell
- 22-03-21
Good story if you can live with the narration
The narrator's use of accents is very off putting, but also somewhat hilarious.
I think some are attempts at Scottish, Irish, Russian and maybe German during dialogue. Difficult to distinguish between some characters to the point he might as well not have bothered.
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- Mrs K Antix
- 30-10-19
still a favourite
I love this book and thought I would also enjoy the narrated version too, which i did - the accents were hysterical though and a little off putting !!
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- Amazon Customer
- 26-09-19
bad narrator
didn't like the narrator at all.
couldn't get past the fist minute or so.
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- Mr Philip A Lamb
- 12-03-19
Shocking narration!!
I have read this series of books on several occasions and really enjoy the characters and how the storie builds across the series of books and so decided to add them to my Audible library so I can listen to them in the car whilst at work - I ordered the first 2 of the series despite some of the reviews I read hoping it wasn’t as bad as they said - HOW WRONG could I be!! - I Managed too get to chapter 9 of the first book wincing all the way as the narration was so BAD and the accents...... well I have never heard anything so bad in all my life, it made Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent in Mary Poppins sound realistic - the narrator absolutely destroyed these books for me on audible and I now wish I had only bought the first one as I will never continue with the series on Audible now and bother listening any further - this is the first time I feel really let down by the production and narration when using Audible.
I sincerely hope Audible do these books justice and re-list with someone else reading the books - anyone else’s!!
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- CrazyKenayn
- 28-04-17
loved the narrator's take on characters
loved it, and can't wait to read the next novels. Great story enhanced by great narration.
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- Nik
- 06-12-16
Voice acting made it impossible for me to finish
The story seemed good enough. The voice acting is the worst I've ever encountered! Ruined
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- JO-ANNE C MARTIN
- 30-01-14
Who told Mr Alexander he could/should do accents
What would have made A Dance of Cloaks better?
Maybe but the narrator of this trilogy has put me right off
Would you be willing to try another book from David Dalglish? Why or why not?
yes but not if Elijah Alexander is the narrator
How could the performance have been better?
Elijah Alexander should have done a straight read. His accents are atrocious and inconsistent. I really missed most of the book because his style of reading just made me tune out.
Any additional comments?
Really disappointed. Sounded okay from the sample
4 people found this helpful
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- David guthrie
- 02-01-14
if you can't do accents DONT even try
Is there anything you would change about this book?
the voice acting
Any additional comments?
the English Scots and Irish were truly dreadful. but id read the book again. worst voice acting iv come across in over 250 audio books.
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 28-09-19
what accent is that?
the narrator has an alright "British" accent but what ever that other is supposed to be,it is VERY annoying and ruins the rest of his performance.