Crown of Slaves

By: David Weber, Eric Flint

Narrated by: Peter Larkin

Length: 19 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

The Star Kingdom's ally, Erewhon, is growing increasingly restive in the alliance because the new High Ridge regime ignores its needs. Add to that the longstanding problem of a slave labor planet controlled by hostile Mesans in Erewhon's stellar back yard, a problem which High Ridge also ignores.

Finally, the recent assassination of the Solarian League's most prominent voice of public conscience indicates the growing danger of political instability in the League - which is also close to Erewhon. In desperation, Queen Elizabeth tries to defuse the situation by sending a private mission to Erewhon led by Captain Zilwicki, accompanied by one of her nieces. When they arrive on Erewhon, however, Manticore's most capable agent and one of its princesses find themselves in a mess.

Not only do they encounter one of the Republic of Haven's most capable agents - Victor Cachat - but they also discover that the Solarian League's military delegation seems up to its neck in skullduggery. And, just to put the icing on the cake, the radical freed slave organization, the Audubon Ballroom, is also on the scene - led by its most notorious killer, Jeremy X.

Listen to another Honor Harrington adventure.

©2005 David Weber (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

David Weber at it again

Where does Crown of Slaves rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Somewhere in the middle this is good old entertainment not an epic story but a good read.

What other book might you compare Crown of Slaves to and why?

This is another in a long line of Weber books if you have not read all are at least some you will be missing a lot in the story although it is a stand alone book.

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

I have never listened to Peter Larkin"s performances before but his is a very can make it come alive..

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

not realy just a good read.

Any additional comments?

As always I will stop and buy a new David Weber book any time I see a new one.

I agree with others

I agree that they should have used Allison to do the story. This narrator left a lot to be desired. He ran the chapter numbers right into the conversations and when the subjects changed he didn't even leave a short period of time and just ran it all together.

As far as the story goes there was more sex and less action. It did explain more of the politics of the series though. I enjoyed the rest of the series more than this book.

Slow to start, and...

To be honest, I almost stopped reading Crown of Slaves, because it was going very slow and, since I had just finishing the 14 books of the Honor Harrington series for the third time, was not too sure I liked Mr. Larkin's narration. After listening to Ms. Johnson's portrayal of the various voices, it was hard to relate to Mr. Larkin's. However, as the story progressed, I was able to transcend the voice issues and then finally the story began to get active and I was hooked.

Although I would have preferred to have Ms. Johnson narrate, to keep the same "actors", Mr. Larkin performed very well and I look forward to the rest of the series.

unexpected twists!

Good story that lasted longer, in a good way, than I expected with unexpected heroes.

Narrator volume uneven

Peter Larkin does a very good job except that his volume frequently drops until the audio is incomprehensible, then immediately goes back up. Listening in the car is difficult.
His performance of the characters is great, and David Webber’s story is as always wonderful.

Thoroughly enjoyed the listen!

All I can say is that I liked it enough to buy the second listen in the series.

good

vocals could have been better. enjoyed the story but i believe the actor forgot some characters accents at times as they seemed to change section to section.

Never finished listening

What did you like about this audiobook?

That the story sounded like it would be interesting.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

It has done the opposite & made me very skeptical of wasting my credits on another dud.

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

The story is confusing & boring. I kept waiting for it to 'turn the corner', but it never came.

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

He was monotonous & annoying to listen to.

Good book

I enjoyed this book a lot, but the narration bothered me. There were some production issues, such as the vast differences in volume between one moment and the next, or the jarringly nonexistent pause between the last word of a chapter and the next chapter’s start.

But Pete Larkin himself was also at fault for failing to research the material. Michael Oversteegan’s slow, aristocratic drawl was instead a rapid, almost golden-age radio announcer’s voice. Anton Zilwiki’s highlands Gryphon accent was nothing more than a deeply pitched voice. Victor Cachat’s unshakable Nouveaux Paris accent also just sounds like someone talking in completely unaccented English.

A day of research or a half hour phone call with either David Weber or Allyson Johnson would have resolved this.

Awesome!...

I wanted to be there,to be part of the movement, lol An excellent and enjoyable read! Did I say I really liked it.