The Red Wolf Conspiracy

By: Robert V. S. Redick

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Already a publishing sensation in England, marks the debut of a remarkably gifted young writer. Robert V. S. Redick has been compared to Philip Pullman, George R. R. Martin, and China Miéville, among others, and like them he is a spellbinding storyteller, unafraid to sail his imagination into uncharted waters. With The Red Wolf Conspiracy he launches the first book of a trilogy destined to take its place among the classics of epic fantasy.

The Imperial Merchant Ship Chathrand is the last of her kind. Six hundred years old, the secrets of her construction long forgotten, the massive vessel dwarfs every other sailing craft in the world. It is a palace with sails, a floating outpost of the Empire of Arqual. And it is on its most vital mission yet: to deliver a young woman whose marriage will seal the peace between Arqual and its mortal enemy, the secretive Mzithrin Empire.

But the young woman in question - Thasha, the daughter of the Arquali ambassador - has no intention of going meekly to the altar. For the ship's true mission is not peace but war - a war that threatens to unleash an ancient, all-consuming evil.

As the dark conspiracy at the heart of the voyage unfurls, Pazel Pathkendle, a lowly tarboy with an uncanny gift, will find himself in an unlikely alliance with Thasha and her protectors: Hercól, a valet who is more than he appears; Dri, the queen of a race of tiny stowaways who have their own plans for the great ship; and Ramachni, a powerful sorcerer from another world. Arrayed against them are the Chathrand's brutal captain, Nilus Rose; the Emperor's spymaster and chief assassin, Sandor Ott; and the enigmatic Dr. Chadfallow, a longtime friend to Pazel's family whose kind words may hide a vicious betrayal.

As the Chathrand navigates treacherous waters to complete its mission, Pazel, Thasha, and their allies - including a singularly heroic rat - must also navigate a treacherous web of in...

©2009 Robert V.S. Redick (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Redick's debut presents a unique setting for an epic fantasy and includes memorable characters. With comparisons to George R. R. Martin and Philip Pullman, this is highly recommended." ( Library Journal)

Decent story

but as another reviewer pointed out, our main protagonist is a bit feckless. Perhaps it's just a build up to make him more of a hero when he develops more of a spine.

My review is probably colored by the antipathy I feel for the narrator. Every character bellows his lines like he's standing on a Shakespearean stage; there is no sense of anyone having a private conversation. And so many characters cackle like witches around a cauldron.

Few Moments of brilliance

I found in hard to want to finish this book. There are moments of brilliance and the story line is fresh and unique, but overall im not sure id recommend it as a good read.

Sir, May I Have More Please

Like Oliver, I am hungry for more. Need to hear the second installment which, I believe, is out in England already. A book of rare richness; in it's universe, strata of society, and characters!

Sooooo good

It is, of course, difficult to judge a trilogy by one book, but I really enjoyed this first installment. There is a lot of description of new characters - at least five are introduced at length before the story gets under way, but I found the entire listen engaging and exciting - one of those I couldn't turn off, where I ignored the rest of my life just to listen more. I don't consider myself easy to please, but this book definitely swept me away. Of course, there is lots of magic realism (and lots of plain old magic) but it didn't seem silly. The character "types," while not entirely unrecognizable (small people, "awake" animals, sorcerers), were unique enough, and felt solid and interesting. It is not fair to compare this with George RR Martin (should he EVER bloody finish the Song of Ice and Fire), since his goal is sophisticated psychological character development and intrigue. Mr Redick seems more interested in the creation of a different universe, with more description of possible/unique types of creatures and societies - makes me think more of "Eragon," and Robert Jordan. Though, certainly the rest of the trilogy could prove me wrong on this point.

The sample on the home page of Michael Page's narration is not a good one - while his basic reading voice is a bit Stiff Old Brit, he does incredible character depictions, as good as I have ever heard. I really can't wait for the next book, and hope Audible gets it, as this was one of the most enjoyable listens I've had in a long time.

The 4-Part Voyage Begins Here

Good fantasy (not great) set on a mythical medieval sea-faring world (maps at author's website). The tale is told in 3rd person perspective, and occasionally through letters and journal entries written in 1st person. It is an epic fantasy primarily featuring sorcery, humans, and sentient "woken" animals that can speak, and humanoids (glowing electrical Flickermen, tiny Lilliputian "Ixchel").

The main protagonists are young adults, but adults and woken animals also play major roles. There is a very thin thread of romance. I'd classify this as YA or adult. I liked the protagonists well enough, and I understood what motivated the villains (but not the Mage). The characters are not all they appear to be.

I was hoping for a nautical adventure, and I got that, to some degree. Clearly the author knows about sailing and seamanship. But I was also hoping the ship would be special — and not just excessively large, strong, and old. Since "The Chathrand" was designed by the long-dead best, including mages, I was hoping she would have some surprises up her sleeve. Perhaps she'd even be sentient. Alas not — at least not in this first book. Maybe I need to read book 2.

The writing quality is fairly strong, but the author could have shortened this book a little, and he does use conversations as a venue for info-dumping, or to remind the reader of plot threads.

The narration is excellent for a stage performance, but for a lengthy audiobook it's overly dramatized for my taste, so the listening experience was at times unpleasant. Some characters screech painfully for an entire conversation. Some characters sound too garbled — like they are shouting and gargling around a mouthful of gravel. Difficult to understand what they're saying.

Michael Page is a fabulous narrator, though, and I loved his lower-key portrayals of Pazel, Thasha, Neeps, Hercól, and Lady Dri.

Almost, but not quite, great

I loved this book for the first three-quarters. The conclusion left me seriously debating whether to continue the series. The writing is usually excellent, with only occasional descents into the ponderous dialect of High Fantasy. The world-building is superb and the characters are largely compelling (and Michael Page does a brilliant job of evoking them). For what I understand is an early effort, this is brilliant work. Unfortunately, Redick suffers from excessive ambition. His conspiracies are so elaborate and many-layered that he loses narrative control. At many points, he resorts to "round-table exposition" where a bunch of characters dump information on one another, to explain all the elements that were not coming clear in the normal course of events. For a while, I excused this, since Redick generally shows great creativity in narration (journals, newspaper articles, letters, letters intercepted, in addition to the usual 3rd-person narration). And conspirators need to conspire! But as we approach the ending, these info-dumps come fast and furious, sometimes in the middle of otherwise tense situations. I could feel the author frantically grasping loose threads, reminding of us of plot elements left forgotten for hundreds of pages. For the last hour, I got confused repeatedly and I still don't think I quite understand the thinking of the arch-villain at the end. I wish the editor had told Redick this was a great draft, but that it needed radical revision. Keep the length, but simplify the plot-lines to something more manageable. Then use the extra words to expand the narration. Show more; tell less. Let readers have "aha!" moments as they put things together. Make sure no important element is left forgotten too long. With another draft, this book would have been truly great. Still, I gladly finished it. When Redick sticks to his storytelling, he tells a cracking tale. I loved his characters and his world. I hope his next volume benefits from more experience.

A GREAT READ

I've been entranced with this story - can't hardly wait to continue the adventure! Book two coming up!!

Very Good

The narrator made this book for me. The story is very good--I've read the two books in the series so far--but Michael Page brought it alive in a way few narrators can.

The description of this book compares the writer with George Martin, but that is extremely misleading. George Martin is a good writer, true, but his stories have no clear-cut heroes, no good guys or bad guys, which makes it difficult to root for any of them. This disconnection between the reader and the characters makes one enjoy the story, admire the art of prose, and marvel at the characterization, but lacks a certain something that makes his books truly great.

But this isn't a review of George Martin.

Robert Redick's books are about people who recognize the corruption within their respective empires and amongst their respective peoples, and rather than submitting for the sake of solidarity, choose to do the right thing. Unlike other fantasy books, where the enemy is a demon, or someone possessed by evil magic, the enemies are people who think they have the right to rule unjustly, and treat the world like crap due to some sense of entitlement.

Robert Redick's ability to make the fight for good feel like a true struggle for the protagonists is amazing. I found a few of the good guys rather obnoxious, which can make the story difficult to get through at times, but overall, I'm very glad I purchased these books. I will warn you, though, that the series isn't complete, yet, and the second book ends on a rather extreme cliffhanger.

All the same, a definite must read for any fantasy reader.

Not Bad, not great.

This book as been compared to George R.R. Martin and Philip Pullman's works, its not as good as either. Although it has a expansive convoluted plot it lacks any of the realism or character insight that Martin has. Although many of the characters are young adults and talking animals the plot is no where near as tight and fun as Pullman's books.
There are no outright bad ideas in this book, each plot element is well thought out in itself and the cast of characters is interesting. Where this book fails in in tying together any of this. I'm not speaking of the plot twists, as the first book of a series I don't expect every element to be brought together (even though this book does this) Its more like this author didn't know what kind of fantasy he wanted to write so he tried it all. If this book had been twice as long this may have worked but instead you get the feeling that he had to rush through certain parts.
The characters spend the vast majority of the book in terrible danger but since nothing truly bad ever happens you eventually stop worrying and just wait for the deus ex machina to kick in and save them.
Despite these things this is not a 'bad' book, its just not as good as it should be. This would be a good listen for young people or sensitive adults. There is no sex or really horrible violence in this book.
For those looking for a good nautical fiction, this book isn't really about the ship or sailing, much of the action actually takes place in the various ports. The sailing isn't described with much detail although you can tell that author has done some research.
The reader does a good job pronoucing the many invented lanquages and names that this story has, a difficult task in a book like since nearly every sentence uses them.

narrator excellent..makes the book..story..wierd

Michael Page. Love him.
This story is more about a group of people telling a story about a story than it is anything else. I was never pulled in. I was unable to suspend reality and flow with the tale. It was like watching something instead of doing something.
If I listen to the other stories, it will be to hear Michael Page, not because I care about the story or characters.