Dodger

A Printz Honor Winner

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Stephen Briggs

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Best Teens Category, 2013

A storm. Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he's...Dodger.

Seventeen-year-old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he gleans a living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl - not even if her fate impacts some of the most powerful people in England.

From Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens and the calculating politician Benjamin Disraeli, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.

Beloved and best-selling author Sir Terry Pratchett combines high comedy with deep wisdom in this tale of an unexpected coming-of-age and one remarkable boy's rise in a complex and fascinating world.

©2012 Terry and Lyn Pratchett (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

A Fun Listen

Lovers of Charles Dickens will enjoy this. Briggs did a brilliant job. Great characters, although I found the story a little long.

It’s Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs

Anyone that appreciates language (English or otherwise) should read this. And Stephen Briggs gives it all a wonderful life. I feel honored to get to enjoy the talents of these two gentleman combined.

another great adventure

it's always a pleasure to go into Terry Pratchett 's worlds. they are my escape places.

Dicken's Would Have Liked It

This was just fun...nothing complicated just an enjoyable listen. I hope to see more of this from Mr. Pratchett.

This was just a lot of fun.

This honestly has been one of my favorite books to listen to by Terry and I LOVE his work. It just had a great humor and wit to it, and some really touching moments, too. That part where Onan waits to see if Dodger will let him in the bed reminds me so much of my dog... I teared up a bit. Check it out! For yer health.

As good as any discworld novel

Terry Pratchett had a talent for sardonic writing and attention to little details that are witty and side splitting. Dodger is no exception to this rule. The descriptions of such things as Mr Dodger's "little friends" are very much in keeping with the objects that Von Lipswig holds dear. Stephen Brigg's narration is second to none and the perfect reader for all of Terry Pratchett's novels.

Classic Pratchett

What did you love best about Dodger?

As always, Terry pratchett novels catch you right from the start. Dodger is no exception. The Narrator is great with the variety of voices and the story-line itself is so different from what you may expect. Oliver springs to mind, but, you can discard that idea straight away.

Grubby, but enchanting! :)

Where does Dodger rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was one of the best, for sure. I have always loved Terry Pratchett, so when this showed up at audible, it was an obvious next choice for me. This honest (but often hilarious) look into the desperate situation in London during Victorian times is quite a departure from the Discworld books, indeed. I found it entertaining, insightful, painful and so very heartfelt. All while continuing to be slightly sneaky, bawdy and grimy. It is a fantastic, amazing, wonderful book / narration and I highly recommend it!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Who could resist dear Dodger himself? An almost-honest urchin with a heart of gold and the wisdom of a scholar. He will stay with me for a long time.

Have you listened to any of Stephen Briggs’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first Stephen Briggs performance, but it won't be the last! He was brilliant with all of the voices, male and female, and with the general narration overall. He is an extremely talented narrator.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were So many moments in the book that moved me. I think the 'after the end' part, where Stephen Briggs is reading a note from Terry Pratchett himself might have been most moving for me. In the 'afterword' the author talks about his research for this book, and how the conditions depicted were based on factual references from the time, particularly a work by Henry Mayhew (also a character in the novel).

Delightfully different Mr. Pratchett

I really enjoyed Dodger. It was a fun story and Stephen Briggs did a great job with the narration.

For fans of Discworld, it is not the same type of humor. But is definitely worth a listen (or read). In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to Dodger as I quite liked the main character.

Another Great Pratchett

I put off reading this, since I had only read his Discworld stuff. But I was not disappointed. Pratchett did great.