Shardik

By: Richard Adams

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 23 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

A gripping tale of war, adventure, horror, and romance, Shardik is a remarkable exploration of mankind's universal desire for divine incarnation.

Richard Adams' Watership Down was a number-one New York Times best seller, a stunning work of the imagination, and an acknowledged modern classic. In Shardik, Adams sets a different yet equally compelling tale in a far-off fantasy world.

Shardik is a fantasy of tragic character, centered on the long-awaited reincarnation of the gigantic bear Shardik and his appearance among the half-barbaric Ortelgan people. Mighty, ferocious, and unpredictable, Shardik changes the life of every person in the story. His advent commences a momentous chain of events.

Kelderek the hunter, who loves and trusts the great bear, is swept up by destiny to become first devotee and then prophet, then victorious soldier, then ruler of an empire and priest-king of Lord Shardik - messenger of God - only to discover ever-deeper layers of meaning implicit in his passionate belief in the bear's divinity.

©1974, 2014 Richard Adams (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

amazing epic

i loved watership down and plague dogs, but i was not prepared for the masterful work with a very different story style. it is my favorite book ever to date.

Another Masterpiece by Adams

Richard Adams uses his magic to create another in depth, chaotic, and beautiful world. A work that travels through time and space with beautiful lyricism. Adams ability to create complex and interesting situations thrives in the Beklan Empire, a world reminiscent of Ancient Mesopotamia. Every character is wrapped in the rolling complexity of the world, where the best intentions can be soured and the the most evil result in good. The themes of power dynamics, religion, and ethics are cunningly interwoven into a bounding and intriguing fantasy epic.

The narrator, David Lee, does an excellent job and brings the world, and the people in it, to life with exuberance. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone, wether they are looking for a delightful epic, or a moralistic lesson, as they are one in the same with Richard Adams

Thoroughly Enjoyable

Even better than Watership Down! A delight to listen to, both on account of Richard Adams writing and John Lee’s narration.

Good, but not as good as I hoped.

I absolutely loved Watership Down, and I was hoping that I would enjoy this as much (on hearing the author say it was his best work). I was a bit disappointed. It was a very different type of story, and it was missing some of the warmth and camaraderie that characterized Watership Down. The story was quite dark in many places, and there was little lightheartedness to be found anywhere else in it. As an agnostic, I suppose that some of the story's religious allegories were less important to me than they might have been to someone who was deeply religious. I could see the points he was making, but the questions he spent so much time trying to answer were not ones that occupy my mind much. Still, it was a well told story.

I have really liked some of the reader's other work (his reading of China Mieville's work for instance), but his reading of Shardik seemed in some places to be tonally at odds woth the work itself. A bright, clipped, cheerful English accent seems out of place when the subject matter involves depression, battlefields, or other kinds of darkness. I would have liked the reading more if the tone of the reader had more closely tracked the tone of the work as it was read. With that said, I enjoy this reader very much in general, and I think he does a very good job overall.

Captive story

Enjoyable story. Great author. Would recommend. I have his book in paperback, but I found reading the names difficult. Listening to the audiobook version made it walker to follow along. I enjoyed the narration but I sped up the pace.

I thought this was a tremendous story and a great job on the narration

I don’t often write reviews for books but this one really deserves my appreciation. I had first read Watership down and really really enjoyed that story and so I decided to try this book out by the same author. I am really glad that I did. I have put this in my favorites category and have listen to it twice already with the intent of listening at least a couple of more times. There is just so much depth and thought put into this story line. I hope that this author considers a sequel for this book.

Another very good book by Richard Adams.

Any additional comments?

While I was hoping for another Watership Down, this book does not disappoint. The novel follows a hunter belonging to a savage nation cast out of their homeland generations ago. On a hunting expedition he encounters a monstrous bear, who he believes to be Shardik, the physical incarnation of God. With the appearance of Shardik comes hope to his people. He later realizes that the worship of Shardik may just be detrimental to his people.

Amazing performance

There will never be a better reader than John Lee...At least as far as I have heard yet.

Dry and rich at the same time.

Richard Adams proves himself a fantastic story teller with this book. Unfortunately the story itself is very lacking. It was like listening to a poet describing the subtleties of a paper bag. I kept waiting for him to finally give some grand revelation of what was in the bag, only to find that the bag was empty all along.

good, but long

the narrator is fantastic. the story long. it is an impressive tale, but sadly for me the book taught all it has to teach them went on another 5 hours, similar to the ending of LoTR movie 3, RoTK.