The Sword and the Dragon, Revised

The Wardstone Trilogy, Book 1

By: M. R. Mathias

Narrated by: Chris Dorman

Length: 24 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

When the Royal Wizard of Westland poisons the king so that his puppet prince can take the throne and start a continental war, a young squire is forced to run for his life carrying the powerful sword that his dying monarch burdened him with from the death bed.

Two brothers find a magic ring and start on paths to becoming the most powerful sort of enemies, while an evil young sorceress unwillingly falls in love with one of them when he agrees to help her steal a dragon's egg for her father. Her father just happens to be the Royal Wizard, and despite his daughter's feelings, he would love nothing more than to sacrifice the boy!

All of these characters, along with the Wolf King of Wildermont, the Lion Lord of Westland, and a magical hawk named Talon, are on a collision course toward Willa the Witch Queen's palace in the distant kingdom of Highwander. There the very bedrock is formed of the powerful magical substance called Wardstone.

Who are the heroes? And will they get there before the Royal Wizard and his evil hordes do?

Whatever happens, the journey will be spectacular, and the confrontation will be cataclysmic.

©2010 Michael R. Mathias Jr (P)2012 Michael Robb Mathias Jr

Love the story but not the narration

What did you love best about The Sword and the Dragon, Revised?

The story and characters. They are really good, as is the plot. I usually stay away from dragon fantasy but this one is not the same.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narration is truly terrible. He's ok when applying voices to 'other' characters but his general narrative is terrible. He's monotone and every sentence ends in an upswing in his pitch, almost like he's asking a question or leading into something else. It's kind of hard to describe but anyone who has listened to this knows where i'm going.... It actually ruins the story.

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

please...

Any additional comments?

You'd get a lot more listens if you re-recorded it with a new narrator.

Great Book, But Will Book 2 and 3 Be made in audio

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes Great story

What did you like best about this story?

Everything

What does Chris Dorman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Character

Any additional comments?

I really like the book. At first the style of Mathias writing confused me. He would go from one persons view point to anothers in a blink but I cuaght on quickly. The story was great and if you like fantasy you will like this book. I hope they don't do what has happened with a couple other books. Put out the first one and then no more are made. For a person who gets 2 credits a month and buys more one top of that I feel cheated. Please bring us the next two books!

Terrible narrator

About as exciting as a Chem lecture. The authors inflection or lack thereof made for very hard listening.

Unbearable

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I was unable to listen to the first chapter of the novel because of the narrator, he put all the wrong inflections in all the wrong places in the sentences, and was completely monotone. It was unbearable. Worst of all I won't be able to listen to the other 2books in the series until I get around to "reading" book 1 now, cause I refuse to jump around in a series. And if the same narrator is on the others I won't be able to listen to them either.

What could M. R. Mathias have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Used a different narrator.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Chris Dorman?

Alexander Edward Trefethen would have been a good choice as narrator.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Sword and the Dragon, Revised?

Unable to get past first couple paragraphs to find out about any scenes.

Richly imagined characters in an epic world

What made the experience of listening to The Sword and the Dragon, Revised the most enjoyable?

Clearly narrated with good diction. The narration could have been more dynamic at times but fortunately the character's voices shine through. Dialogue is a definite strength in this book and it comes across strongly in the audio version.

It was great revisiting this story and being able to lie back and listen to the narration. Love the opening cliff scene.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sword and the Dragon, Revised?

Without giving away spoilers, the Loudin kite scene.

What three words best describe Chris Dorman’s voice?

Clear. Paced. Versatile.

Any additional comments?

Sprawling epic fantasy written with a deft hand and an eye for the little details that make the characters -- even the non-humans -- recognisably human. Mathias has a knack of surprising the reader with twists and turns and character foibles.

the narrator is mind numbing

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I dont know if the story is good or not, I just cant get past this narrator. He speaks with a monotone that is mind numbingly boring.
If it had a snippit of audio from this book on the order page I would have never bought it!!!

Would you be willing to try another book from M. R. Mathias? Why or why not?

only as long as it is another narrator

Would you be willing to try another one of Chris Dorman’s performances?

No way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

dissappointed over the lousy narration

Any additional comments?

use a different narrator!

Narration is horrid

Any additional comments?

I couldn't even listen for more then 10 minutes. I skipped through the book and it was terrible narration throughout.

Absolutely unlistenable

What would have made The Sword and the Dragon, Revised better?

Another person reading it without the stilted, monotone voice

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Chris Dorman?

Anybody would be better than this!!!!!

What character would you cut from The Sword and the Dragon, Revised?

I wouldn't know. I couldn't listen to more than 15 minutes of this audio due to the lousy narrator.

One of Top 10 Indie Fantasy stories in audio! Yes!

Yes, FINALLY - the great M.R. Mathias is in audio form! I can understand why he wanted the talent of Chris Dorman, an animation voice artist to narrate this story - Mr. Dorman can certainly do great character voices.

However, the narrator parts were alittle stiff - but being this is Mr. Dorman's first audiobook, he will hopefully get better as he goes along :-)

But even so, the strength of the story and its many wonderful characters made this still a great entertaining experience for me, just like reading the book did.

Horrible Narration!!

What would have made The Sword and the Dragon, Revised better?

New narrator.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I was starting to get interested in the story, but I just couldn't get over the narration. I will have to read the book instead.

What didn’t you like about Chris Dorman’s performance?

I could not finish listening to this book. The narrator literally made me sick to my stomach. It was just something about the tone of his voice and how he dragged out the last word of every single sentennnnccceeee..

Any additional comments?

Try out the sample audio before you download! Play it a few times in a row. It won't get any better than that!