Against the Unweaving: Shader

First Trilogy, Volume 1

By: D P Prior

Narrated by: Bob Neufeld

Length: 41 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

The entire epic fantasy trilogy in one volume and now including the totally restructured and revised book one, Sword of the Archon.

Plague strikes the city of Sarum, and the dead rise from their graves. The liche, Dr. Cadman, has discovered a long-hidden artifact and perverted its power for his own selfish ends. But an ancient evil from beyond the stars is drawn by its use and turns hungry eyes upon the Earth. These are the times of Unweaving, the times Deacon Shader has been prepared for since the day he was born. A man of prayer, deeply troubled by a contradictory faith, he is also the deadliest warrior of his generation. As events spiral out of control and creation itself hangs by a thread, the paradox at the heart of Shader's life may just be the last desperate hope of all the worlds.

©2014, 2015 D.P. Prior (P)2015 D.P. Prior

Make Me Care

If I don't actively like at least one of the point of view characters, I won't like the book. The quickest way to make me walk away from a story is to ask me to spend a lot of time following the point of view of a character I actively dislike. And I discovered while trying to read the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, that if you ever ask me to identify with the point of view of a rapist, I don't care what he thinks his excuse is, I will drop your book cold.

The first point-of-view character in this story was vaguely likable, but he was soon left behind to follow the point of view of a series of truly despicable characters. Spoiler alert: it was while following the third of these characters that I dropped the book cold.

Clearly, the author put a lot of time and thought into his world building. He cared a lot about his setting. But he didn't put any effort into making me care about the people in it.

Great world building of epic proportions

What made the experience of listening to Against the Unweaving: Shader the most enjoyable?

The different character viewpoints

What did you like best about this story?

How the characters are flawed but still good

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

The ending, but no spoilers!

Love this book

What made the experience of listening to Against the Unweaving: Shader the most enjoyable?

The narrator's characterization is first rate and the story is fantastic.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cadman because he is so brutal with his thoughts

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

Yes, Nameless Dwarf. This is one is even better

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Cadman's thoughts are hilarious

Any additional comments?

Wonderful book

just not my kind of book

i can't put my finger on it, but this one just doesn't do it for me. after 28 chapters, of which i slept through more than half of, i had to quit trying. the narrator isn't bad, the story could have been engaging, but it wasn't. this is my favorite genre, so that isn't the problem...but nothing about it held my attention.

what a load of shite

just a diatribe of nonsensical garbage with a very weak story... made it a couple of hours in but cannot recommend unless you want to be bored to sleep!

The story i wanted to write

This book is a scifi/fantasy mesh that crosses gods, templars, necromancers with a dash of high fantasy and a sprinkling of Warhammer 40k . The narrator was difficult to get used to at first as he is very monotone and chapters kind of blend to the point i was often saying "wait what, i thought we were on this character." But grew on me as the story progressed and he went from just reading words to getting a bit into character.

Overall fantastic read.

it just won't pull me in

I've tried listening to this four or five times. I've made it to hour 33... it just won't grab me. The amount of time it's taken me to get to this 33 I'd normally have done multiple books totalling 80-100+... I really want to finish it because I'm stubborn not because it's good... but I'm missing it on other great stories just because I didn't return this right away so now I'm stuck with it. So I'm going to save this for when I live in a post apocalyptic universe that sounds awesome but drags on like a carcass stuck to the bumper.

Great Series. Dark, Very Dark

Excellent series. Deep and distinct characters. Unpredictable timeline and story. Multi-realm apocalyptic story managing to weave humanities future into future tech, magic, and fantasy.

Was confused over listening to The Nameless Dwarf first. Some chapters from The Nameless Dwarf are repeated in the last book of The Shader. To find out I'm not crazy was satisfying. The Nameless Dwarf is being re-released in 2019.

Shader is an awesome character. Although, Shader is absolutely dwarfed by Nameless the Dwarf....

D P Prior has accomplished something few authors have accomplished. Dwarves are awesome under Prior's work. Homunculi (sorta Gnomes) are awesome as well. Shader is too much of a Paladin for me honestly, but well written. Great work! I hope to someday create something as unique and dynamic as Prior's work.

Hu? who and the what now?

Would you try another book written by D P Prior or narrated by Bob Neufeld?

I would need some convincing. I don't really think im smart enough for this book. There is a lot going on with a lot of long and/or weird names. Its set in one of those stupid post-apocalyptic worlds where its midi-evil land but they have "ancient" modern day technology and given it stupid names. Didn't say anything about that in the blurb. Can't be doing with that cobblers. I got it because i thought it was about a fantasy zombie story. it wasn't.

Would you ever listen to anything by D P Prior again?

Again i would need some convincing. i was tempted by the dwarf stories but one of them shows up in this book and he's dull as dish water.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Bob Neufeld?

I haven't got a clue to be honest. I don't really know any off the top of my head. All i know is that this guy God bless him wasn't one i really enjoyed.

Could you see Against the Unweaving: Shader being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

I don't really see why not. There is i think a good base story there but a lot of it just didn't make a lot if sense to me. A religion based around undoing knots in a cord? really?

Any additional comments?

Please don't think I'm trashing this book. I have never written or had a book published. I have never narrated a book or nor i do not think i could have done a better job. i will not take anything away from the author or narrator. I am just saying i did not get invested into this story and the narrator making all the characters sound the same did not help me follow it. It is what it is.

Terrible narration

I didn't get into the story as I couldn't listen to the narrator, who impressively sounded like he was both gargling water and stuffing a pillow in his mouth at the same time!

I like my narrators to have decent diction, not mumble or sound phlegmy!

I've given a neutral score for the story, but I really enjoyed my previous D P Prior audio book 'Annals of the Nameless Dwarf' so will try the book again if re-narrated.

Spectacular

The development of main character, Deacon Shader, throughout the 3 books is what really stood out for me. Alongside this is a plot so thick with twists and turns you'd be forgiven for feeling a little lost at times but perseverance pays dividends. Other characters of real interest are Shadrak the assassin, Dr Cadman and, of course, the Nameless Dwarf (I feel an honourable mention should go to Albert the Poisoner, a truly wonderful character). Book 3 is one of the most fulfilling plots I've come across in years, a wonderful weaving together of the various skeins of narrative laid out in the previous 2 novels.

Bob Neufeld's narration is at times aggravating but at other times ideally suited to certain characters. He has a soft, raspy voice somewhat like an Americanised David Attenborough and I adored his portrayal of Dr Cadman (seriously, if they ever make this into a movie he should be casted as this character). His female voices leave a lot to be desired but then it isn't easy for many male narrators either. I'd certainly listen to other works narrated by Bob Neufeld but I feel he's more suited to First Person over Third Person tales.

May be harsh starring.

This may be harsh starring, but I dropped this set, and that isn't standard practice for myself.

I'm not massivley sure why I didn't gel well with the book, however I think it may have simply jumped around a bit to much and I didn't get a liking for any of the characters.