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  • The Queen's Gambit

  • By: Walter Tevis
  • Narrated by: Amy Landon
  • Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,145 ratings)
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The Queen's Gambit cover art

The Queen's Gambit

By: Walter Tevis
Narrated by: Amy Landon
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Summary

Engaging and fast-paced, this gripping coming-of-age novel of chess, feminism, and addiction speeds to a conclusion as elegant and satisfying as a mate in four.

Eight-year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is, until she plays her first game of chess. Her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control.

By the age of 16, she's competing for the US Open championship. But as Beth hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation grows more frightening, and the thought of escape becomes all the more tempting.

©2018 Walter Tevis (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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What listeners say about The Queen's Gambit

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

Computer voice.

The book is great. The narrator sounds like Siri or even worse a computer voice. Truly awful.

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20 people found this helpful

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

The reader deserves much more credit!

As others have already written, the story is so engaging with brilliant characters. However I wanted to also praise the reader who I feel has been unfairly criticised in many reviews.

Yes, the delivery is flat but, to me at least, that is the whole point. The story is told from the point of view of Beth who is an emotionally cold and calculating person often strung out on tranquillisers so the trance-like delivery of the reader reflects this. The worlds Beth inhabits, first at the orphanage and then within the hotels and conference rooms where the chess tournaments are held are faceless, sterile environments and the narration captures this perfectly.

The majority of the characters are also fairly distant and reserved but if you listen carefully, the reader injects more emotion when delivering the words spoken by the one truly warm character, Beth's friend Joelene.

Whilst admittedly it does take some getting used to, in my opinion, the narration is a perfect fit to a wonderful book. So please don't let other negative reviews of the reader put you off.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Like listening to Siri

Without a doubt the worst narrator I’ve have the displeasure of listening to. Like listening to a cross between Siri and a sat nav. Got through about 30 minutes, returned and credit restored.

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12 people found this helpful

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

Amazing book spoiled by an awful reading

This is an amazing book. It has always been. Unfortunately the voice is horrendous. The reader must have some issues with male characters. Why the need of using these mocking grunts when male characters speak is beyond human conception. Can't she just use a normal voice? Not all men speak like dehumanised zombie.

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8 people found this helpful

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

A lot better than I expected.

I always wanted to read this story as the title and chess interest me somewhat. I didn't expected that much from it. I was delightfully surprised. The story is a lot deeper than I first imagined it would be and the characters were alright. The main character was really good and I found her story enjoyable and believable. The chess was very interesting and Tevis kept it dramatic and never boring.
Great book.
I thought the narrator added greatly to the feeling of the story and she added a richness to it. I was impressed and would listen to more read by Amy.

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5 people found this helpful

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

A good listen

I watched the Netflix dramatisation of this book - enjoyed that and found the book even better. Well worth listening to.

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4 people found this helpful

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

Narrator is horrendous

The narrating is awful sounds like computer generated voice I’d rather Alexa read it. Waste of money

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3 people found this helpful

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

Lovely book, horrible listen

Really enjoyed the book, but the woman performing it bugged me to the point where I could hardly finish it.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Big props to the screenwriters

I enjoyed listening to this, and it is a good book. Gripping and intriguing, however, the screenwriters involved in the tv show of the same name did an incredible job of teasing out the real power and drama from the threads present in the book.

Enjoyed this, but loved the show.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Excellent! I want to improve at chess!

An excellent story. There are a couple of minor unresolved plot threads, but that's okay and the reader can imagine it however they please. The vast majority of the story resolves in a thoroughly pleasing and tight way, and I was impressed by the author's craft.
I did not expect the story to make me cry, given how cold and analytical the protagonist is, but it certainly caught me off guard at one point.
It was nice that the protagonist feels human. She makes mistakes, commits minor crimes, or makes poor life choices and the plot doesn't punish her for it which I find refreshing.

The performance was wonderful and fit the character perfectly. My only criticism is that the narrator needs to practice some of her foreign accents.

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2 people found this helpful