The Virgin in the Ice: The Sixth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael

I have listen to a lot of Ellis Peters', Brother Cadfael books and this is my favorite so far. Reader is very good. Look forward to downloading the 2 or 3 Ellis Peters i do not have.

The story is up to Peters' usual standard. Unfortunately, the reader seems unable to offer a Welsh accent, and all the male characters sound the same, which caused me a lot of confusion at times. The 13 year old male character sounded like a 6 year old. Poor narration.
Unfortunately, in Australia, we are unable to download the version with the male narrator. Pity.

Having listened to Ward narrate the previous books, I really can't listen to Benjamin's voices for male characters. She sounds as though she's telling a story to little children and using her "big bad wolf" gruff voice. I shall repurchase this title with the Thorne narration.

Surely it would make sense to use a male narrator for a novel whose main character is a man, indeed most of its characters are men. Or at least one who doesn't sound so laboured when reading 'male voices' (her own voice when reading descriptive passages was pleasant) - they were irritating in the extreme. Maybe I am just too used to Stephen Thorne. Although Joanna Ward manages it - just.

I read the book before I listened to this version of it, I also watched all the BBC series so I was exposed to the story before. I think that hearing a book gives a whole new meanings and makes it a different experience if the narrator is good. Not better or worse just different.

Well the two I liked the most was the tower scene with Eve and Olivier in the tower, and at the end with Olivier and Cadfael.

I found the narrators male voices to be comical and not realistic, it was distracting. Her regular speaking voice was fine. Some people just can't do characters and this narrator is one.

The story is good enough to get beyond the narrator who is not the worst I have listened to, but by far not the best either.

Benjamin does an adequate job of narrating this book; not on par with Ward, but adequate. There were a few odd pauses that sounded the way a misplaced comma might read and which threw me out of the story just a little. Also, the characters could have been better distinguished. Not so bad that I won't listen to it again.