Slightly disappointing

Not sure I like the new narrator you get used to it for a series of books. Will no doubt get used to it if I get the next couple of books

Getting a bit samey now not much real intrigue, kill Danes argue with Alfred tangle with some Danes.. Kill more Danes get no thanks .

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Please don’t give up on this series!

Okay so I hold my hands up. When I first listened to this book I was disappointed. I thought that Matt Bates wasn’t as good Jonathan Keeble, I thought his accents were lacking, his pronunciation seemed off and overall just didn’t give the reading the passion that it deserves. I came to the review section and saw like myself many felt the same. However, some months later I’m just about the start War Lord (the final book) and I promise you it is worth every minute. Matt Bates gets better, he develops accents for each character, he brings the story to life much more and the adventure just gets bigger and better.

Please persevere! You won’t be upset if you do!

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Stick with it!

I’m listening to these a second time around and although I was tragically disappointed with the change in narrator, stick with it! The stories are brilliant, this young fellow grows into the role as he embraces the characters as the books progress. Do not let your journey end here! Give him a chance

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Took me a long time to finish...

The complaints regarding the new narrator are somewhat unfounded. Only somewhat. His mispronounciation of names and the criticism given for said mistakes are petty, when he has in fact gone out of his way to pronunce names as they should be, and not how the show did them.

He is, however, a very boring reader. It took me a month to finish this book because I couldn't stay engaged, and that's a shame. I'll still embark on the next one, though, because I want to enjoy Bernard's works.

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Why change narrator?

It has been done before, and the result is the same every time; changing the narrator part way through a series is going to be very unpopular. Jonathan Keeble has a fantastic voice, and whilst his pronunciation of Old English/Saxon may not be on key, he does give the characters flavour and depth. Matt Bates starts out by confusing the listener by mispronouncing the names we have been introduced to, I spent half the book considering who was who against what I'd already heard. That aside, I eventually got used to the change, especially as I can see he's in charge of the next 10 books in the series.
I have found myself starting to dislike the protagonist, as I am starting to get frustrated with the weakness of the character in resisting the influence of other plot members persuading Ehtred to perpetually switch alegances and cannot achieve his goal, despite the resolution being evident.
for the moment I will continue.

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Brilliant

Much better than the movie series.
After almost 10 years I'll re-listening to this series and is ass good and fresh like it was the 1st time.

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Great Series Ruined By New Narrator

Loved this series so far, three hours into this book really struggling to listen to the new narrator, what a shame.

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Adjusting to a new narrator

Loved the story, however the new narrator changes things, will adjust though Uhtred is too awesome to miss out on.

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Narration seriously struggles to bring life to the story

After listening to Keeble’s narration, this is just a major let down, I’m carrying on purely because I’m a massive fan of these stories, in hope that I’ll just “get used” to Bates narration… I just find him dull, monotone and plain boring 90% of the time, accents aren’t great and it annoys me that we now have “STEEPA” instead of “SteApa” and “Rangnar” instead of “RaGnar”. It’s just a hard switch for me personally from Keeble to Bates.

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Such a shame they changed the reader

The story is as good as the previous installments in the series, but the new narrator isn't a patch on the other. I persisted and it is possible to get used to his new style, but he doesn't add the "life" to the story or characters in the same way. Utred's sarcastic, belligerent swagger becomes watered down and unconvincing, and all of the characters lack life, as if the new reader hadn't taken the time to understand the characters' established traits and personalities before he began reading them.
The performance isn't BAD. It's just a long way short of the excellent we were used to.

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