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

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.

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.

Volume issues

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

always amazing

I can't stop listening! I look for activities to do to keep the audio book playing!

A Saga of Cliffhangers continued

I very much enjoyed the continuation of the story however the author has an unfortunate habit of writing books without any kind of feeling of resolution. While it is effective in making the reader want to continue, it leaves a taste of dissatisfaction and frustration in the mouth. I hate cliffhangers. My other compliant is in regards to the narration. I have enjoyed the narrator throughout the series but this time there was a jarring moment when the narrator made some mistake or other and said “sorry.” Mistakes happen and I might not have even noticed if not for the “sorry” but it made the usually excellent narration seem sloppy. There were a couple of moments of audio oddities where things sounded a little fuzzy. Other than those two things, I’m really enjoying the characters and the story and I am looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.