Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City

The Siege, Book 1

De: K. J. Parker

Narrado por: Ray Sawyer

K. J. Parker's new novel is the remarkable tale of the siege of a walled city and the even more remarkable man who had to defend it.

A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all.

To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job.

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City is the story of Orhan, son of Siyyah Doctus Felix Praeclarissimus, and his history of the Great Siege, written down so that the deeds and sufferings of great men may never be forgotten.

©2019 K. J. Parker (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Full of invention and ingenuity...Great fun." (SFX)

"Parker's settings and characterisations never miss a beat." (Library Journal)

excellent book

I had trouble knowing who was who at times but that often happens in audiobooks when you cant read the names and they're made-up and unfamiliar.
This is quite the story.

Please, Audible, MORE KJ PARKER NOVELS!

Another entertaining KJ Parker read. I highly recommend Parker’s work to fans of ancient and medieval history—despite his work not being historical fiction; to fans of fantasy—despite there being no magic presented in the narrative; to fans of comedy—especially to those who prefer the dark, ironic, and clever sort of delivery that sometimes makes you uncomfortable for laughing at it.

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City isn’t my favorite novel of Parker’s. That honor goes to The Folding Knife, or perhaps Sharps... maybe Devices and Desires. Then again, his collection of short fiction, Academic Exercises, might just take the cake. I really like his work. A lot.

But Sixteen Ways is special, because it is the first of Parker’s novels available from Audible. Audiobooks happen to be my preferred method of reading. Because I like Parker so much, I’m willing to make my eyes tired and take six months to finish one of his books in print. But I’d much rather listen to one of his books in a day and a half, as I did with Sixteen. Please, Audible, give us more!

phenomenal performance, stellar book

narrator was amazing, content was quality, literary grade work that is going into my shelf of top three books I've read

This one is really amazing

This book was really great. its not for everyone I imagine, but the narrator either the narrator brought exactly the correct tone to the story or the narrator actually made his tone the correct tone when a different one would have been very different. I suspect the first one. That being said, the second book is fine, but not at good.

If you like Tom Holt's work you will love this

Why? Because it in fact is Tom Holt who wrote it.
That should be all one needs to know.

Very, very entertaining

A wonderful pseudo historical fantasy work that makes me think of Douglas Adams collaborating with Umberto Eco. “The Name of the Rose”, but cheeky and funny, absolutely entertaining, and narrated to perfection.
If there’s an audiobook term for a “page turner”, this is it. The “unreliable narrator” Orhan is so full of shit but he presents it with humble sincerity: “I just build bridges”

great performance

I really enjoyed the story and the performance. Very well done, the narrator nailed the personna.

Top quality first person narrative

The story takes place in notConstantinople and the main character is as charming as he is irritating (in a good way, mind you). The schemes the author comes up with are legitimately genius and the prose is nothing short of excellent.

Great Story for the Right People!

If you have ever fancied yourself as a tactician, strategist, engineer or just enjoyed siege games then this book is for you! This story artfully conveys the challenges of defending the equivalent of a city in medieval times intertwined with interesting subplots and creative writing. It does so with colorful characters and surprising plot twist. The narration is slower than I am used to and the limited range of character voices made it hard to follow who was talking at times. Nonetheless I looked past that to enjoy the book. Do not look for a sequel to this story. It is a stand alone story. A snapshot of an epic struggle from a distant time and far off place.

If Croaker and The Stainless Steel Rat had a love child

Fun, plausible ways to examine a city under siege. All the snarky writing you could want. Just a fun listen.