EMPEROR: The Blood of Gods, Book 5 (Unabridged)

By: Conn Iggulden

Narrated by: Michael Healy

Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Julius Caesar has been assassinated. A nation is in mourning. Revenge will be bloody... Rome's great hero has been brutally murdered by his most trusted allies. While these self-appointed Liberatores seek refuge in the senate, they have underestimated one man: Caesar's adopted son Octavian, a man whose name will echo through history as Augustus Caesar.

Uniting with his great rival Mark Antony, Octavian will stop at nothing to seek retribution and avenge his father's death. His greatest hatred is reserved for Brutus, Caesar's childhood friend and greatest ally, now leader of the conspirators. As the people take to the streets of Rome, the Liberatores must face their fate. Some flee the city; others will not escape mob justice. Not a single one will die a natural death. And the reckoning will come for Brutus on the sweeping battlefield at Philippi.

The epic fifth novel in Conn Iggulden's bestselling 'Emperor' series.

©2013 Conn Iggulden (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

why change the narrator?

this is the last book of the series...and with a new narrator? with a worst narrator...almost couldnt finish the book....but the story is great

Terrible narrator made me wince

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I'd recommend it to anyone who had read the previous books, or anyone wanting to jump in (as the death of Caesar makes a good starting point). However, I would NOT recommend this Audible version, as the narrator ruins the book completely.

What didn’t you like about Michael Healy’s performance?

Everything. It was terrible. But let me try to list my main objections:

- Healy has a strange lilt to his voice that is either an accent or terrible reading skills. The upshot is that every full stop, he lifts his voice the way you sometimes do when reading to young children.

- His reading pace hardly ever changes, meaning even in tense, action-packed moments, it's as if he's reading "My dog Spot" to a room of 5-year-olds.

- He doesn't differentiate between characters as far as I could tell, meaning that when one character interrupts another, it gets reeeeally confusing.

- I don't think he's read the book beforehand; Imagine how you'd say the sentence "I think I'd quite like a sandwich and a nice cup of tea". Now imagine Healy saying, in the exact same way "You're a disgrace to Rome!..." (the exclamation point silent), and then continuing, completely obliviously (and still just as ploddingly) "...shouted Octavian and slammed his fist into the table." The disconnect between how Iggulden claimed Octavian said it and how Healy reads it would be funny, if it wasn't ruining my book.

Any additional comments?

I had to finish this book in hard-copy. Worst narration I've experienced since "Rendezvous with Rama".

Get a narrator who knows a little history

What a wooden narration! Made worse by an obvious complete lack of knowledge of the subject matter which led to annoying miss-pronunciation of names & places. Please, Mr Iggulden - a good narrator is almost as important as you! Try Humphrey Bower to see how it is really done.

Terrible Narration

It was an absolute struggle to listen. What a dreadful narration. Wooden delivery and constant rising inflection at the end of sentences. It was like listening to a list, A list with numerous mispronunciations of common English words.

Not Bad

weakest of Iggulden's books on the period, but satisfactory wrap up to the series. Worth listening too

Disappointing

The story is a weak end to the series all in all. I loved and still love the Emperor series, but the book felt odd and slightly disconnected from the others.

Octavian spent a lot of time with many of the other characters in previous books, but that seems to have been forgotten in large part. But all in all I enjoy the story.

It must however be mentioned that the narrator sounds as if he wishes he could do anything but read the book. I almost didn’t finish the audiobook for that reason. It is unfortunate, he has a comfortable voice but I don’t think he was the right choice for this book.

Not Iggulden's best work

I am a fanatical historical fiction reader. And while the historical components were interesting, plot and character development were mediocre. I enjoyed the narrators' voice, but he wasn't much of a performer. The earlier Caesar were compelling and this one didn't measure up.

A terrible reader spoils a godd story

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Actually, the story IS interesting, although less enjoyable than the previous two volumes of this great series on Rome and Caesar.

Would you be willing to try another one of Michael Healy’s performances?

No, not at all. He reads stiltingly, making pauses more appropriate for small children. I didn't finish listening to the book because of his irritating narration.

Any additional comments?

I wish I could listen to this book with a different narrator.