The Darkling Thrush

By: Josh Lanyon

Narrated by: Max Miller

Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Fed up with his desk duty in the Imperial Arcane Library, book hunter Colin Bliss accepts a private commission to find The Sword's Shadow, a legendary and dangerous witches' grimoire. But to find the book, Colin must travel to the remote Western Isles and solve a centuries' old murder.

Please note: This book contains gay erotic content.

©2012 Josh Lanyon (P)2012 Josh Lanyon

Intriguing and exotic adventure

Any additional comments?

This is one of the few Lanyon books that I’ve read (listen to) where I felt more would have been better. The premise of the story was interesting and the characters were very well suited for one another. However the relationship between Colin and Septimus was lacking the build up that allowed me as reader to believe the lover, my executioner relationship.

The narrator drew me in. At first I wasn’t sure his quiet lulling was going to take me to that place in which I think every good narrator has the gift to do. The place, that allows you to close your ends, and melt away to the time, place and emotion of the characters.

Lanyon came to the shooting range but missed the bull-eyes.

Amazing narrator, incredible story

Where does The Darkling Thrush rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Darkling Thrush is probably in my top 5 if I am ranking by narrators. I have several favorites (Holter Graham, Simon Vance, Barbara Rosenblat), Max Miller has immediatly put himself right up there. Not only can he read, with excellent accent's, but he can sing!! As a whole I would rank it easily within my top ten and I own over 100 audio books.

What other book might you compare The Darkling Thrush to and why?

Hard to find something to compare it to that is an audio book but it has some of the same tone/feel as some of the victorian/steampunk I have read--although in no way is it steampunk. I suppose it caters to my love of traditional British detective novels but with an m/m relationship and lots of magic!

Have you listened to any of Max Miller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first I've listened to--I will be looking for more.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes--but I made myself eek it out.

Any additional comments?

I have never read anything by Josh Lanyon that I didn't love. If he is able to keep up the quality of narration I will buy all of them in audio too!

Perfect Narrator & Good Story

The story was certainly okay, even good, but it is not erotica. Still, the story is a believable type of real life fantasy, extra human power, kind of stuff. Nonetheless, I don't know why it's listed there, as erotica. The few M/M sex scenes are far from explicit. In fact, I don't think the eventual male couple ever actually engaged in intercourse. If so, it was left almost entirely to the imagine. They clearly did "something," but so little detail was provided that I'm not sure. But, even as an erotica fan, that didn't detract from the story. This is due in large part to the exquisite voice power of the narrator. What voice could he NOT do?! Geez! So I think well worth a buy.

Riveting story

Would you listen to The Darkling Thrush again? Why?

I will listen to it again. I enjoyed this story even more then the first time I read it. Max Miller does an amazing job, bringing the characters to life. I suppose I rushed through it when I read it myself. Listening to the story in a slower pace made me savor the language, the setting and the world building in much more detail.There are still a lot of questions unanswered so I'm hoping for a sequel.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Colin Bliss is irresistible as a young, naive but very intelligent book hunter.

Have you listened to any of Max Miller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't know any other performances by Max Miller but I will look out for them. This narration is amazing, Max brings all these different characters to life and he can sing too!

Captivating narration

What made the experience of listening to The Darkling Thrush the most enjoyable?

It took me a little bit to get used to the narrator's voice, but trust me, stick with it because it wasn't too long before I could hardly bear to step away from the story, and I credit Mr Miller's narration for a good part of that. He doesn't rush through the reading of a story, and I'm a fast reader, so that was one of the things I had to get used to. But once I settled in and let him take me on the story's journey, I realized how much of the detail and nuances of the story I'd missed from my fast reading of the ebook version. He has a talent for voices, and each character has a defined 'voice' that makes the listening experience very full and rich.

Have you listened to any of Max Miller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have also listened to Max Miller's narration of The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks. And while that narration was very good, this one was even better.

Any additional comments?

This was the first of Josh Lanyon's fantasy stories I'd read. I'll admit I wasn't sure if I'd like it as much as his contemporaries. I should never have doubted. His storytelling mastery crosses all genres. A fantastic story!

Pathetic Protagonist!

Love the majority of Josh Landon’s work but this is one of two so far I’m not fond of. The book had a great premise, but it lack the time to unroll all of the potential elements successfully. I never devolved an attachment of any of the characters. Seem to me Josh was in a hurry to finish a book.

The narrator didn’t help the narrative at all. He tried to use voices that were not well within his rage, therefore, he dropped the ends of words and often seemed muddled, or at least for my ears he often did.

I was disappointed.

Cozy Enchantment

This is a different reality story; the UK and US seem to be around, with other things serving as reference points for the listener. Magic, the “terrible beauty” of Scotland, witches, and Fay make for a fine backdrop.

The Darkling Thrush

What did you love best about The Darkling Thrush?

It's a very atmospheric (urban) fantasy story, and I love the idea of book perusing, the ability to feel and see into the past of a book and the people who've read it or handled it. It's such a good story!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Darkling Thrush?

There are several 'most memorable' moments involving Colin Bliss, Magister Septimus Marx, decisions and revelations.

What about Max Miller’s performance did you like?

I love everything about Max Miller's performance! he's such an amazing narrator, with such a good range of voices, he always finds the right cadence for the book, and he makes every character come alive. For this book, i especially liked the voices he had for the "villains", very distinct, triggering an instant reaction towards the character, as i expected/remembered from the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There were definitely intense moments - suspenseful, exhilarating, moments when i held my breath, some scary moments and some heart-warming ones. It's a journey, an adventure. I highly recommend it!

Great narration of a good story

What made the experience of listening to The Darkling Thrush the most enjoyable?

The narrator's voice was very pleasant and he impersonated all the characters beautifully. He had a distinct voice for each of them and switched from male to female voices, or American to English to Scottish accents convincingly. You can tell that he probably read and really understood the book before narrating the story.

What did you like best about this story?

The subtle strangeness of the characters and the lyrical quality of the vocabulary: "veneficus", "librivinator" "vox pessimires", "Sociestas Magicke", "Faileas a’ Chlaidheimh" etc. I also liked the mystery plot and the British setting. Compared to the rest of the plot, the romance was a bit under-developed, unfortunately.

Who was the most memorable character of The Darkling Thrush and why?

Colin Bliss. The book is written in his POV and he has an amazing voice. He is self-deprecating and proud at the same time, suitably imperfect (just enough to be interesting and still appear like the good guy). He is funny without trying too hard but he is also a boring nerd. He is lucky and very unlucky at the same time, he is in love and not so in love. He is everything and its contrary. I loved it!

Any additional comments?

I recommend this book if you are looking for a good fantasy, but not if you are looking for a fully developed and fulfilling romance. If you are looking for THE great gay romance, check the Adrien English Mysteries series by the same author.

Phenomenal!

I love that Josh Lanyon's stories are full stories, not really love stories although romance is an element. This was a great story. I have no idea where these ideas come from and have never even heard of a Librivinator but this wowed me. The magic occult, the European countries, I was transported!

This was my first book narrated by Max and he was amazing. There were so many characters with so many accents and he nailed each one like they were his native speak. Each character so distinct and spoken so well, I could easily conjure an image. Brilliant work!