Renaissance: Assassin's Creed, Book 1

I don't own printed books.

Sadly, I can't think of anything. Which is good. I think of this as unique in a way.

All of them are excellent.

Anxious. Ode to no more credits!

This is a great adventure. The book is longer than I'm used too but the action is constant and driven. The action is always leading to something greater. The author thankfully drops all illusion of grandeur and moves from place to place with pertinent descriptions only. This is actually fantastic to me, I grow tired of authors who describe surroundings and laundry lists that bare no meaning to the characters overall actions or results. Overall thoughts are described in actions not long winded monologues. Fantastic!

The narrator is brilliant! I enjoyed all of his representations of characters and his ability to pronounce proper Italian names and places (granted I am not Italian and have never been to Italy) but his talent helped with the immersion process. I thoroughly enjoyed his work and will buy the other books in this series partly due to him.

The only negative I found and this could be nitpicking, is the mass of Italian places and random Italian words used in place of English. I only had one year of Italian in college and it didn't always help here. Also, there are so many places involved they should hand you a map of old Italy when you buy this book.

This was originally a video game. Excellent. Since I am blind I do not have the ability to enjoy it as such. However, this is a fantastic adventure story on it's own and I highly recommend it! I only wish they would make more books out of video game story lines, it beats listening to my friends playing them. Maybe they'lll do Bioshock next!

I don't own printed books.

Sadly, I can't think of anything. Which is good. I think of this as unique in a way.

All of them are excellent.

Anxious. Ode to no more credits!

This is a great adventure. The book is longer than I'm used too but the action is constant and driven. The action is always leading to something greater. The author thankfully drops all illusion of grandeur and moves from place to place with pertinent descriptions only. This is actually fantastic to me, I grow tired of authors who describe surroundings and laundry lists that bare no meaning to the characters overall actions or results. Overall thoughts are described in actions not long winded monologues. Fantastic!

The narrator is brilliant! I enjoyed all of his representations of characters and his ability to pronounce proper Italian names and places (granted I am not Italian and have never been to Italy) but his talent helped with the immersion process. I thoroughly enjoyed his work and will buy the other books in this series partly due to him.

The only negative I found and this could be nitpicking, is the mass of Italian places and random Italian words used in place of English. I only had one year of Italian in college and it didn't always help here. Also, there are so many places involved they should hand you a map of old Italy when you buy this book.

This was originally a video game. Excellent. Since I am blind I do not have the ability to enjoy it as such. However, this is a fantastic adventure story on it's own and I highly recommend it! I only wish they would make more books out of video game story lines, it beats listening to my friends playing them. Maybe they'lll do Bioshock next!

Having ready a good number of books, this ranks fairly well. This tale is set against the rich history of the era of the Italian Merchant Princes, and if the story alone was simply historic, you'd walk away wanting to read more. It was an era of unobstructed larceny coupled with a sudden flood of wealth to fuel even the darkest ambitions. Family politics (Think mafia), clandestine societies, cults, and plans within plans within plans were the norm of this fantastic period in history. Now, couple this with a fantastic scifi premise, along with ancient artifacts, and you have a GREAT story. Of course, this is a series of books taken from the "Assassin's Creed" series, and there's always a concern about whether or not the plot, writing, substance, and flow is worthy of any good listener's (or reader's) time. Rest easy, this one is, and you'll be glad you've read it. I will NOT give the plot's detail away in this review, nor character studies, NOR key turing points in the story. That being said, I WILL definitely tell you that the assassin's guild concept is based on history, and bringing it to life is no casual thing. No it's not as deep as the DUNE novels (I love them, but let's save that kind of deep thinking right now for solving world peace.), but machiavellian plans within plans are this society's "cup of tea," and the author will thrust you into into this dark, foreboding, fascinating era with no regrets.

This doesn't compare to many sci-fi or historical books, as it actually fits into an ALTERNATE REALITY genre. I'd compare not the style, but the scope, to Newt Gingrich's Gettysberg series, where the South eventual won the Civil War, but with more emotion and definitely more machiavellian in-fighting. Also, if you like Harry Turtledove's writings, his work may be a more apt comparison, but you'll decide this, once you've read the first audiobook in the series.

Jackson' s narrations are, by the way, quite enjoyable, and set the stage for the era. The dialects used seem extremely genuine, as I have a GOOD number of Italians and Sicilians on my wife's side of the family.

There were too many excellent moments in this audiobook to focus on, without giving away key points to the story. That cripples a review, but so be it. I WILL say that it has the depth and emotional content expected of a good listen/read, and you'll walk away ready to move on to the next audiobook in the series.

Audiobook listeners, just like book readers, are both varied in opinion, yet passionate for a good listen/read that will hold their attention, leave them wanting more, and cause friendly but heated arguments around a dinner table. Well, this is one of those reads. If you like rich history, dramatic depth, a superb plot, and a scifi twist thrown in to move the story even further down the road, stop reading my review, and get this audiobook. Enjoy!

I am a big fan of the assassin's creed video games so I decided to get these books to listen to on the road and was not disappointed. The whole series is great. I wasn't too impressed with the narrator, however. There were times in the book where it was hard to tell which character is talking which was irritating at times. But, otherwise, it is a series I would recommend to anybody.

Action-packed, historical, seamless

I liked Michaelangelo!

His tonality between characters was great!

Yes

Was a nice addition to the larger Creed story.

Working in a licensed universe can be difficult. However, Oliver Bowden has done a good job fleshing out and expanding on licensed characters. If you enjoyed the Assassin's Creed universe, then Bowden's work will make you love it more.

Unexpected delight of entertainment,the story, the voice the overall was just too cool!

It was so clear to imagine and I did! So glad there are more to this series...

The quickness and precision of the acts of defending and violence of the Assassins.

I liked the description of the weapons, their precision of use and the agility and quickness of the need to act and kill!

Too many to count....

what i liked best was the usage of actual places and people of the time. from divinci to alexander iv! it has a Divinci Code feel to it and still kept an eye on the ending.

there was nothing that really stood out above all else. instead, the story stayed consistant thoughout. from training, to action, to secret codex pages... a real treat to listen to, wondering where the next turn goes!

the narrator was good. his accent matched everything well. a bit monotone throughout the entire story, which was a bit of a drag at times. he didn't do a good job in the action sequences, instead, he trodded along in the same tone as if something mundane was happening.

i knew little about the ASSASSINS CREED franchise. i never played the games but the little that i seen and heard were interesting enough to me. now, i'm the proud owner of the first 2 books in audio format! GREAT STORY!

I enjoyed how the video was incorporated into a book.

Same as above the story was simple, yet very enjoyable

The various voice and the inflections in his voice bring the story to life.

No

It a great book if you enjoyed the video game series.

I would probably listen to Renaissance again. I am a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed games so I am definitely biased.

I have to say I was very impressed with Gildart Jackson's narration of the book. The narration was a big concern of mine as I already had many of the character's voices in my head from the game. While he obviously does not try to mimic those voices he does an excellent job of keeping each character's voice unique and truly brings it all together.

If you are a fan of the games you will likely enjoy this book. I recalled most of it from when I played the game and it was a fun refresher of the storyline without having to sit down in front and play through the game again.