The Warlock in Spite of Himself

Warlock of Gramarye, Book 1

By: Christopher Stasheff

Narrated by: Dennis F. Regan

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Gramayre - where witches, warlocks, elves, and gnomes are real; where a spoiled girl-queen and an army of teenage witches, and ragtag beggars battle an overwhelming force of rebel knights and time-travelling anarchists for the future of the most unique, and perhaps most important, planet in the galaxy.

This is what cynical, hard-bitten, intergalactic spy Rod Gallowglass faces when he and his robot horse, Fess, try to bring peace and democracy to this magic-ridden Renaissance-age society. Rod's mission is threatened at every turn by anarchists, communists, and double-dealing royalists playing vicious political power games. Things are made even worse when Rod's advanced technology gets him labeled a warlock despite his constant denials. Help comes from the most unexpected sources when he meets an ancient ghost, the King of the Elves, and the most powerful witch on the planet.

This classic science-fantasy novel has been completely remixed to address issues with uneven volume some readers have experienced.

Gramayre comes to life in 11 hours of dramatic sword-and-sorcery, featuring well-known narrator Dennis Regan and a full cast.

©1969 Christopher Stasheff (P)2012 Geoffrey T. Williams

Blazing Witchery

If you like Mel Brooks and Get Smart, you will probably like Rod Gallowglass and his cohorts. I do and I have. I particularly loved the voice of Tuan (very Gene Wilder in Sliver Streak) and the high farce of the sound effects (like the Goons meet Holy Grail) that was brought to life by this production. Sure, the sound quality is not great at times (it drops out like someone recording stereo from one speaker), but this is such a small defect in an otherwise great fun production it would be wrong to over blow it. Regan provided great continuity, but Rod's voice stole the show (as it should). Big Tom was great too, as was Fess. Gwen was as fruity and spicy as the author intended. I thought this a great piece of radio theatre. It reminded me of sitting by the radio on Sunday evening with my Dad laughing out loud at the antics of Hancock, Milligan, Sellers and Co. It's not for those inclined to literature, or when you want something deep, but just fine any other wise or time. I only hope they do a few more in the Series.

Good Old School Sci Fi Fantasy

I love the subject matter. Its a view of Old School Idealism that are in some ways noble (for there time) and complete tripe. But just remember while reading it, that the hero and heroins do "grow up" eventually in the series. But in this story they're very cookie cutter. The men are "MEN" heroic, smart, stoic, etc,,,, and the women are "women" Submissive and emotional, despite how much I like the series and its kinda blunt that the author thinks that men should be dominate and the women submissive. It gets kind of rubbed in your face a lot. I would note that the series is a long one that follows Rod Gallowglass and family for at least the next 2 generations and all the characters grow and flesh out into believable and likeable people and with a lot less male chauvinism.

But as for comparing it to say The Game of Thrones or the like... Its about a fifth of the length. Of course the characters are shallow in comparison. Its more or less a romance novel for young adults with odd bits of political activism thrown in. (Or more accurately a young adult political novel with bits of romance thrown in)

But in the end if your looking for a good swashbuckling hero with snarky wit who is chivalrous and 'manly'. Where the good guy wins and the bad guy loses. The damsel may not be in distress but shes worth rescuing anyway. The goals are noble. The villains are evil . The futuristic Science is some times old school. The philosophizing is thick. The inside jokes are in Iambic Pentameter, and you don't mind that this was written as in the mindset of typical non-hippie male in the late 1960's. This Is a good book for you.

And if you don't like this book don't give up on the author altogether he has a couple of other series that are all really good and less confusing. And to top it off you can normally find a used amazon copy for most of them for less then a dollar.
They are quite frankly Dime store paperbacks.

A classic of science fantasy, expertly performed!

... staged & read to come alive with all the excitement of a classic radio drama.

Wizard has arrived!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I read this book when I was in high school. I enjoyed it very much. Since I love to read, I kept a look out for Mr. Stasheff's books. I accidentally found this book while browsing. I liked the way a little drama was done. The time I spent listening to this book and the many, many others is time well spent. Depending what I listen too, I can relax, turn my mind off, plan things, and more.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I have lived Sci & Fantasy since I discovered them in the 6th grade. This author is one who has reenforced my decision. Fess the artificial intelligent brain disguised as a horse was my favorite character.

Which character – as performed by Dennis F. Regan – was your favorite?

Fess, the artificial intelligent brain is my favorite.

Was The Warlock in Spite of Himself worth the listening time?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I hope to see more of this author's books audio.

when science fiction meets fantasy.

even after the third time going through this book series and listen to it this time around, I still love the series. A very fun book to listen to , just wish I could find the rest of the series in audio format!

Great book, Great narrarator but with a warning.

Would you listen to The Warlock in Spite of Himself again? Why?

yes, I read this originally as a child and it was great to revisit the series.

What other book might you compare The Warlock in Spite of Himself to and why?

They don't write sci-fi like this much anymore. I might put some of Harry harrison's stainless steel rat series as the closest to this series.

What does Dennis F. Regan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does a great job with the voices and helps bring the characters to light. Like much of the sci-fi of its time the story is more concept driven than character driven. The characters aren't terribly well developed and the narrarator does a great job of fleshing them aout with his voice acting.

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

yes.

Any additional comments?

The warning I mentioned is that this is the first in a very long series of books. It seems they only made the first one into an audiobook. So, if you only want audio format you are out of luck. the good news is that this is a very old series and you can get it for free at just about any local library.

I had some issues with the acting and mixing

Unfortunately I felt that the accents used sometimes kept me from being able to make out the words the actor was attempting to say. The canned sound effects also were tedious to me.

A Classic, well executed.

As I said, the story is a classic. the voice acting is good. production values are sometimes sketchy, but that's minor in my mind.

Fun

Well done, I hope for more from this group. cast was great, story was good hope for more.

Hard to listen to

I've loved this story for years. I almost couldn't make it all the way through because of all the background sounds. especially when certain voices are engineered to be quieter than normal (Fess for instance).