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The Beast of Buckingham Palace
- Narrated by: Joanna Lumley, Fiona Shaw, Andy Serkis, Lizzie Waterworth, James Goode, Nitin Ganatra, David Walliams
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
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The Beast of Buckingham Palace
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Summary
Fly into a fiery and fantastical future with number one best-selling author David Walliams, in an epic adventure of myth and legend, good and evil, and one small boy who must save the world....
It is 2120 and London is in ruins.
The young Prince Alfred has never known a life outside Buckingham Palace – but when strange goings-on breach its walls and stalk the corridors in the dead of night, he is thrust into a world of mystery, adventure and monsters.
And when his mother, the Queen, is dragged away to the Tower of London, Alfred must screw up his courage and battle to save her, himself...and the entire city.
In a future of myths and legends, join the best-selling David Walliams and venture forth into his most enthralling tale yet!
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What listeners say about The Beast of Buckingham Palace
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Eileen O'Neill
- 02-01-20
Violent and sad
Unless your child likes books where children's parents and grandparents are killed in violent circumstances by evil characters, I would steer clear. My nine year old son found it upsetting and asked me to post this review, not a thing we usually do. The only plus point was that the voices were excellent.
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26 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Lisa H
- 31-01-20
Not for younger children
Quite different to his normal books and not as enjoyable. Too dark for children but too childish for teens or adults. Quite bleak.
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- K. J. Kelly
- 08-01-20
Dark dystopia - target market may feel confused
Dark dystopia, target market may find themselves confused.
2.5 stars.
By 'confused' I mean that readers may wonder if they are in fact reading Walliams, as well as being a little confused as the story progresses. There is nothing amiss about a writer branching out, sampling new genres and moving outside their comfort zone (comedic writing is clearly a genre Walliams can write almost in his sleep).
But my nearly 9-year-old listened along with me and his assessment was roughly similar to mine upon finishing. He just didn't enjoy it all that much. He found it dark and depressing (though there is nothing wrong with this is general), and I'm not sure he followed it completely, whereas usually he is a very close listener.
Set 100 years in the future in a country where most have very little and the Royals are locked away in Buckingham Palace, sickly Prince Alfie finds himself having to step up when his mother, the Queen is taken off to the Tower of London, deemed a Rebel.
There were a few too many elements conflicting for me - a bit of a Secret Garden vibe with the sickly Alfie and another character, the dystopia (actually, very well created, but an incredibly dark world for a typical Walliams reader to be thrust into!!), and the sci-fi element of a 'beast', a griffin, in Buckingham Palace. All with the sinister machinations of a 'power behind the throne' character running the show - and some twists that children will be shocked at and possibly upset by.
As an adult, I didn't particularly enjoy this, but listening as someone who needs to be aware of children's tastes and trends, I can't see this making waves as Walliams' comic efforts have done. While Alfie of course becomes a braver hero than he starts out as, it's a genre (or mix of) that is better suited to the adolescent who can deal with the more mature themes more comfortably. There is a lot here that will puzzle and put off.
I suppose we had a taste of this in The Ice Monster, with a Victorian orphan character, but there is no outright lift of an end, and I don't think I laughed or smiled whilst listening. I did like the cast of actors brought in to voice the characters, not leaving Walliams to take on each role (he narrates). And yes, Raj makes a guest appearance though within the plot, it wasn't as much fun to 'spot' him as it usually is.
I didn't like the Audible version very much, the music used as bookends to chapters was annoying, a little 80s computer-sounding, and I think I'd have preferred to read an illustrated paper copy. I did find myself tuning out a few times, which I try very hard not to do.
While I applaud an author for broadening their range, I just didn't really like this one. While I could read Billionaire Boy or Boy in the Dress again and again, this one isn't likely to be repeated on our school runs.
I'm sure the usual age group are going to be reading this in their droves, but I would recommend an older age range of 10-13 to this title. With warnings of sad/violent scenes and dark/disturbing themes to parents.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- thedog_uk@yahoo.com
- 26-01-20
utter rubbish
got to say, this has been one of the worse books we have ever listened to as a family. sounds like it's been vomited up.
just get another book. any other book.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 17-01-20
We loved it
We listened in the car on a long journey and we didn't want the journey to finish, so we could listen to the next bit. So enjoy David Walliams books.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Doug Morell
- 07-01-20
the beast of buckingham palace
i thought it was a it strange how Alfred is a poorly boy who struggles to stand con so all that in a few days! 🙁
Over all its a great book and i would read it again in ❤️ hart beat👍🤪
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MaySnr
- 20-02-20
A...
For AMAING!
A a a a a a a a a unique and awesome lol
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Dr S E Bennett
- 26-01-20
bizarre futuristic war theme
My 7 yr old enjoyed it. I found some of the war scenes a bit adult, and the story went round in circles a bit with 12 yr old Alfred repeatedly captured and then saved by elderly ladies. found the story a bit bizarre. not as enjoyable as the earlier David Walliams books.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andrew
- 10-12-19
Great story
Loved it it was great fun to read really enjoyed it it was so much better then the other books that David Walliams wrote bye far my favourite I really recommend it to everyone who likes David Walliams books it’s really good fun to listen to and read I really enjoyed it I hope you will enjoy it too
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lisa
- 23-12-19
Wow
Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow Walliams had made a masterpiece with gangster granny but this is unique
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Candice Daniel
- 24-03-23
Nice
I like this book because it is very interesting and good
I hope other people like it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Psl
- 15-02-23
Ok
I’m so scared a bit but good luck 🧊🥹💕📢💆♀️💆🤩🤙🤔🎧👍👍🏻❤️😂😍😒👌☺️😊😘😭😩😔😏 ok but I’m sure you can get it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Julie Fecteau
- 03-02-23
Very good and entertaining
This book is amazingly interesting and the story has a very deep meaning and has several heartwarming parts
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 15-09-21
I loved it it was icsiting!
omg loved it so much so cool it was moving and icsiting and so coooool
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rob
- 02-07-21
A great story!
A brilliant book!
It is well read and highly entertaining!
The plot is good in that it is not predictable and there are a number of twists in the tale…
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