Ash and Quill

By: Rachel Caine

Narrated by: Julian Elfer

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

The unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone and Paper and Fire unite to save the Great Library of Alexandria from itself in this electrifying adventure in the New York Times best-selling series. Hoarding all the knowledge of the world, the Great Library jealously guards its secrets. But now a group of rebels poses a dangerous threat to its tyranny.

Jess Brightwell and his band of exiles have fled London, only to find themselves imprisoned in Philadelphia, a city led by those who would rather burn books than submit. But Jess and his friends have a bargaining chip: the knowledge to build a machine that will break the library's rule. Their time is running out. To survive, they'll have to choose to live or die as one, to take the fight to their enemies - and to save the very soul of the Great Library.

©2017 Rachel Caine LLC (P)2017 Recorded Books

too quiet

My only complaint is that the recording was unusually quiet compared to my other audible books. there were several moments that were too quiet to hear.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Narrator messed up! Bad editing!

The only reason I followed this book until the end is because I was already invested in the characters from the previous 2 books. Do yourself a favor and just read this one. Don't buy the audiobook. Narrator pronounces characters' names differently AFTER narrating the first TWO books. That just blew my mind. The sound is terrible. One minute he sounds like he was across the room and the next it was as if he had his mouth pressed to the microphone. Towards the end of the book you can actually hear him say "SORRY" for messing up a line. What is going on?!?

Great story absolutely ruined by terrible narration/editing.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

worth a listen

Any additional comments?

The characters built in book 1 and 2 make this story worth a listen, but be aware the audio is not up to par. The narrator is great, but who ever put the audio together did a poor job.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

volume is horrible on this

it's really difficult to listen to because of the volume. it goes from soft to softer even at full volume. if you're listening with headphones maybe it would be bearable, but while driving down the highway or with any background noise it's almost impossible when the narrator is speaking low. I'll just buy the book and read it when i get time.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Volume issues

Volume was very inconsistent. Some moments I couldn't hear it at all while others were blowing out my car speakers.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Weird narration, book 3 of 5

The narration job is sloppy. The first two books were excellent, but this one has some stuff I haven't heard in the 250+ books I've listened to. I have never EVER hear an big blatant error, but in the middle of a sentence the narrator stops talking, says "Sorry!" and cuts off, then abruptly starts again on what I can only hope was the next sentence.

They clearly had to go back and re-record many words or phrases, and it is impossible to miss. Suddenly a sentence will echo, or be much louder, or have crummy sound quality.

The narrator has trouble keeping track of whose accent he should be using at various times. The result in some scenes is a mishmash of accent switching mid-sentence as he realizes who is talking. That one is on him, not the production.

I liked the book, but thought it was the end of a trilogy. Surprise! It's apparently going to be a five book set. I'll be happy about this years from now when I've read them all, but right now I'm just in the agony of thinking I would get resolution and learning I have another two books to wait for.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Disappointing

Another great installment in the Great Library series but very disappointing it wasn't the last. The book ended like a cliff hanger, and if I remember correctly, it was advertised as a trilogy. But still a great tale.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Going in circles

I like the characters in this series, and was looking forward to this book. I still like the characters, and the world around them, but I would like to see the good guys in control for once. At this point they remain victims and react instead of act. SPOILER ALERT: In the beginning of the series some characters were imprisoned. But everyone was rescued - only to be imprisoned ... again? But they were able to escape out of that situation - only to be imprisoned ... again, really? But they know how to get out of this, it is to escape and volunteer others to be imprisoned ... please, please not that again. It was OK the first time, and barely OK the second, but by the third time it became a bit tiresome. And now onto a fourth time in captivity - so not looking forward to it. I will stay with the series, but the characters being captured again and again and again is getting old. The story seems to be going in circles instead of moving forward.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Such a Fantastic Series Thus Far

Spoiler Warning for book one and two! This review may have spoilers for the first two books in the The Great Library series, if you are interested in starting the series I recommend checking out my review of that book instead.

This binge read of the series has been so much fun! It is rather unlike me to consume more than one book of a series in the same month, let alone three but here we are and I’m eager to keep going.

Ash and Quill picks up after another stellar cliffhanger and the fight has gotten even more desperate. Jess and the group are in Philadelphia, the heart of the Burner movement, and they have a long arduous road ahead of them in their goal to reshape the library. I really wish I could pinpoint all the things I loved about this one without ruining the series for anyone, but alas I can not. I will say that I am loving where Caine is taking us on this journey! I enjoyed getting to see more of the Burners, and while I understand the ultimate cause the fanaticism is utterly terrifying. This world has two major thought groups and both can seem ideal when glanced out, but they both contain a multitude of unsettling ideas and practices…and then there is Jess and his group, stuck between two giants clashing and steadily gaining the ire of both. Ash and Quill gives us an even wider view of the madness happening in the world, and also the reach of the Library. Paper and Fire brought the country to country turmoil to the forefront with Wales and England, and this one shows us what happens when the Library finds itself dealing with dissension from once allies.

I am so glad that this book puts those odd grey areas in the spotlight. There is no good and bad movement, both have incredible goals marred by sickening practices. Our group isn’t full of people with sparkling pasts who make decisions to stand in the line of fire without a single thought, they are people who have fear and anger. They mistrust each other all while protecting each other. I think these sort of complex interworkings are why I adore these characters so much. They have all grown so much and I find myself loving characters I once felt somewhat indifferent to. Jess understands what having a family means, Dario is still an ass but incredibly loveable, and Kalila has become the quiet power of the group. And Morgan…Morgan is shaping up to be something else entirely. Her story is growing in ways I never expected and I’m both super excited and apprehensive to see where it all takes her. The relationships that have formed make me almost heartsick especially Santi and Wolfe, I absolutely live for the small scenes where we see them sharing a moment.

As usual, he narration for this one is absolutely excellent! I am almost saddened by the fact that I have an early copy of Smoke and Iron because it means I’ll miss out on Julian Eiffier reading it to me.

I am super excited to be moving on to book four!

Love this series

This book fits in well with the series and takes the conflict to new and higher levels. The narration enhances the mood and and kept me glued to my phone throughout the day (and night!). I couldn't put this down and I can't wait for the next installment in the series.