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.

ENJOY

I believe this is one of the best if one has followed the series. I gave it and the narrator [ Peter Larkin] 5 stars.

The narration hinders a great story.

I really like this offshoot of the main Honor Harrington series, having read the books myself before listening to the audiobook. The story rips right along, and the characters, as usual, are richly developed. By the time the story ends, you're glad for the time to catch your breath, but annoyed that it's over. Thank goodness the next book is already written!

All of this makes the two major deficiencies in the narration all that much more disappointing. First, I found the narrator very difficult to listen to because he was always changing his volume levels. He often spoke so softly that I needed to turn up the volume to even hear. Then in the next breath, he would be too loud for that increased volume, so I had to turn it down again. Second, Mr. Larkin was quite good at his vocal characterizations, except for some of the female characters. In particular, his voices for Berry and Ruth make them seem very child-like throughout, even at times in the story where the characters are anything but childish. I found this detracted greatly from the story.

I would say that if you are going to be listening to this audiobook in a quiet place where the voice level shifts will not bother you, the story is still well worth the listen. For myself, I have the next audiobook in the series, but after that, I will not be continuing with it any further unless the narrator changes.

Another fine entry for the Honorverse

This is a great book that stands on its own, however, it will especially sing for fans of the extended Honorverse. Well worth the read.

Narrator might not have been the best choice

What made the experience of listening to Crown of Slaves the most enjoyable?

the story of the origin of Torch is a good one

What did you like best about this story?

It moves well

What three words best describe Peter Larkin’s performance?

concise, Narration, unfeeling

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

no

Any additional comments?

Mr. Larkin is a good narrator, but I do not think his was the correct voice for this book. I would listen to him all day in a factual book or if the book had been written as if the narrator was a newsy reporting on what was happening. He is quite believable as a news reporter but this book was written from the view of someone on the inside with all the emotion that it entailed which I do not believe Mr. Larkin was able to carry off.

Good book

The story was amazing as is the norm in this series. But it did have an unfortunate number of unneeded descriptions of sex.

Great

This has filled in some of the wholes I noticed in the original story. I’m sorry they didn’t get the same reader from the original. Not that this guy isn’t good but there’s a few different pronunciation that grab you before you get lost in the story. I will definitely be getting the next book!

Horrible narration of a Good story - Be Warned

I am bewildered why Audible let this narrator do all three of the books in this excellent spin off from the Honorverse series. I have print copies of all the books, and they are a fun read.

This story is well developed and the text is written by a seasoned pro, so a solid 4 stars and 5 if you are a generous fan ... Eric Flint breathes new life into this new little branch of an aging series. You can look forward to listening to parts of this performance several times BECAUSE THE NARRATOR IS OFTEN UNINTELLIGIBLE.

I didn't find anyone taking credit as the director. That would have to be counted as a wise career move. But I am disappointed that the Audible technicians didn't tweak their equipment to compensate for Larkin's inability to speak sentences at a uniform volume. Regardless of content, the prevailing pattern is rising volume until the fourth word and then his voice slowly dies into soft mumbling. Perhaps he constantly turns away from the mic.

BTW - If you read the reviews of other books he has ruined, you get the same message from many of the posts. (And remember that Audible doesn't let you rate a book if you try it and then ask to return it, so the posted reviews have a bias toward "I liked it".)

The Great power of Little People

This story line is a great way to fill in the details of the struggles of the slaves of Mesa. Full of great hidden messages about the struggle of the Downcast people all over over all of time.

Excellent story, but inconsistent production values

I love this story. It has many interesting characters and a thoroughly enjoyable storyline. I’ve read and listened to it multiple times.

However, the levels in the recording are all over the place. The narrator is great at all the different voices, but his voice would often get too low to hear. So, I’d turn up the volume to try to understand it and suddenly be blasted with a voice that was too loud. This happened consistently all throughout the recording.

Additionally, the “Chapter xx” parts of the narration were placed within less than a second of the last word of the previous chapter, sometimes sounding like part of the same word. There should be 2-4 seconds of pause between the last word of a chapter and the beginning of the next.

Good story, bad narrator

The story is what I'd give four stars to. As for the narrator, Peter Larkin, I'd give two and a half, maybe three.
He mutters too much, and it makes it hard to understand what he's saying at times.
They should have used either Allyson Johnson or Jay Snyder.