Book of the Night

The Black Musketeers, Book 1

By: Oliver Pötzsch, Lee Chadeayne - translator

Narrated by: Will Ropp

In this thrilling adventure by bestselling author Oliver Pötzsch, thirteen-year-old Lukas has been trained as a swordsman by his father, a nobleman who was once a famed Musketeer. When the threat of war and accusations of witchcraft spread across the land, Lukas's life is forever changed. He flees his home and vows to find his missing sister.

Surviving as an outcast, Lukas encounters thieves and mercenaries, a strange astrologer, and a master swordsman. He also meets three other fencers - Giovanni, Paulus, and Jerome. Each brings a special talent to their team that leads them to the Black Musketeers, the best fighters in the army. But living with the black-armored Musketeers is nothing like they imagined. In his quest to find his sister, Lukas learns of a legendary book that holds powerful magic. As he fights to keep the Book of the Night out of the hands of his greatest enemy, Lukas discovers the secrets of his own family and what it really means to be a Musketeer.

©2015 Oliver Pötzsch. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Translation © 2016 by Lee Chadeayne.

Really liked this book

Overall I really liked this book. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the pace. My one caveat was that I listened to the Audible and the narrator was just a tad too quick and I could hear him take his breaths. Not sure if this was just him or the production. I still give it 5 stars as I was immersed in the story.

Spellbinding!

The author does not cease to amaze!! I love hearing about the past of the cities that were familiar to me in my childhood. But to hear of them in a different light is wonderful entertaining. I love the creation of German Musketeers intertwined with old English and other European folklore. I look forward to the next book!

Unimaginative story with unprofessional narrator

This is an uninspiring YA historical novel. Unfortunately, it also has an uninspiring YA narrator. The combination makes me recommend against this book. I suppose this narrator was chosen because he sounds young. When I listen to audiobooks, I am continually awed by the talents of narrators. But this one sounded like just an average person. He had the unfortunate sloppy diction common to millennials -- which is grating to any listener who actually appreciates the English language. That kind of contemporary vocal style works OK for conversation, but not for a professional narrator. He pronounced a bunch of words incorrectly. (At least, half way through, he started pronouncing "impudent" correctly -- too bad the manuscript uses that adjective so much.) Even if that happened, shouldn't the director notice it and do a re-take? Also, he would say lines like [whispered] "yes... he screamed." It was almost like he didn't review the book before reading it aloud. I got through to the end, but just barely.

The magic in the story is unimaginative, and doesn't invite the listener to suspend disbelief. The "four musketeer" characters are cardboard. The scenes with the child gang were disjointed from the rest of the story and should have been edited out of the original manuscript.

I have liked works from this author before, but from now on I will stay away from his YA material.

good story

as always this other keeps me bound to his stories from the first pages and has done it again on this book. I look forward to Oliver's books at every release

Good read

Enjoyed the book. But seemed targeted for the teen reader. Not sorry to experienced it however. Just expect a light read. I guess I should say "listen" rather than read😊