Evil is a Matter of Perspective

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Courtney Schafer, Mazarkis Williams, Alex Marshall, Jeff Salyards, Shawn Speakman, Brian Staveley, Teresa Frohock, Marc Turner, R. Scott Bakker, Michael R. Fletcher

Narrated by: Greg Patmore

Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Villains take center stage in this collection of 19 dark and magical stories. Listeners will be cheering for all the wrong heroes as some of the most fearsome, devious, and brutal antagonists perform savage deeds towards wicked ends. And why not? These characters are the champions of their own stories - evil is a matter of perspective. Contributors also include Mark Adler, Bradley P. Beaulieu, E.V. Morrigan, Peter Orullian, Matthew Ward, Kaaron Warren, Deborah A. Wolf, and Janny Wurts.

©2017 Adrian Collins (P)2019 David N. Wilson

Evil is a Matter of Perspective

1.R. Scott Bakker (The Second Apocalypse)
2.Adrian Tchaikovsky (Shadows of the Apt, The Tiger and the Wolf)
3.Michael R. Fletcher (Manifest Delusions)
4.Shawn Speakman (The Annwn Cycles)
5.Teresa Frohock (Los Nefilim)
6.Kaaron Warren (The Gate Theory, Mistification)
7.Courtney Schafer (The Shattered Sigil)
8.Marc Turner (Chronicles of the Exile)
9.Jeff Salyards (Bloodsounder's Arc)
10.Mazarkis Williams (The Tower & Knife)
11.Deborah A. Wolf (The Dragon's Legacy)
12.Brian Staveley (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne)
13.Alex Marshall (Crimson Empire)
14.Bradley P. Beaulieu (The Song of the Shattered Sands, The Lays of Anuskaya)
15.Matthew Ward (Shadow of the Raven, Coldharbour)
16.Mark Alder (Banners of Blood)
17.Janny Wurts (The Wars of Light and Shadow, The Empire Trilogy)
18.E.V. Morrigan (Glyph War world)
19.Peter Orullian (The Vault of Heaven)

Great stories
I think my fav was Teresa Frohock (Los Nefilim)

Absolutely brilliant

Baker’s open comments are something that everyone should read or hear. As a PhD scientist and engineering and lover of all sci-fi and fantasy I have never heard such a more powerful opening as this book. The case for grim dark and the rules for story tell are powerfully explained I was left with my jaw on the floor.

I will be recommending this series for the the next ten years if not more. This is a classical exposition on the moral dilemma we call humanity in a fun dark, intellectual, brilliant, set of stories that we as lover of fantasy should read. This will open your mind and blur the boundary of what we conceive as evil and good. You will relate and hate that you relate to the characters given because it is who we are in nature.

I want to thank all the authors who made this brilliant piece of work. This is true grimdark at its finest. Real people real feelings real actions real story telling. They don’t not shy away from the true good and evil in the human soul.

Please enjoy this exciting journey into the dark you will not regret it!

This is a failure that had so much promise!

First I will admit that I haven't finished this anthology. I really wanted to enjoy this but the reader/narrator does such a terrible job combined with the excerpts being poorly chosen and disorganized that this book is just no good.

I enjoy the genre featured in this anthology and I have read and enjoyed many of the authors featured in it, however the execution is terrible. Each selected excerpt or chapter from each selected piece does not stand alone so they hang out in space with no anchor and are confusing to listen to. They don't really tie in the concept represent by the books description.

Pair the disjointed chapters with really poor reading and the chapters are completely confusing or uninteresting. Greg Patmore's cadence and inflections are destructive to story and very difficult to listen to. I have listened to other audiobook versions of a few of the books featured in this anthology read by much better narrators the scenes and chapters were completely different when read by a more skilled narrator.

Save your money or your credit. This anthology is a disaster and complete waste.

the performances were good...

but the stories varied wildly. the first I almost returned the book over it was too twisted and dark.
A couple were amusing and several had surprise twists to the end but, no, I cannot recommend this book.

Some Absolute Diamonds

A few are 10/10 gems- discovered some new authors! Even bothered to write this review!

hit or miss

I can't say that this is my favorite way to listen to audio books as a collection of short stories, but some of these stories were really good and it was unfortunate that they ended the way that they did because I'd like to hear more. then again some others were so dull that I unintentionally spaced out...

Are you one who wants the bad guy to win sometimes

I have always been one to occasionally want to see the story differently than the author wants you to. I always want the hero to win and the villain to lose. Sometimes the villain is the hero.
If any of the above describes you: this was made for you. I won’t get into plots and spoilers, but this group of short stories will satisfy your dark side. I won’t say all of the stories are 5 star but production, narration, and overall storylines are well worth the five star rating. Stories told from the dark side, and making the villains relatable what more can you ask for. I will be listening to these short stories more than once. Love it.
This audiobook was provided by the publisher, author(s), or narrator, for an honest review.

Worth repeated listening

it took me awhile to get into the story structure but once I overcame my initial misgivings about the value of the content I have found pretty much every story worth listening to more than once, for the entertainment value. Many of these stories are worth multiple listens. I definitely feel that I got my credit's worth!

Evil is a Matter of Perspective

This is an interesting collection of stories told from the villain’s point of view. Each story brings the listener into a new and engaging places. As with most collections there were some that I enjoyed more than others. This book has numerous worlds and characters that will grab your attention. Each story brings you into another world and adventure. I enjoyed the idea behind these stories, and it was interesting to see these kinds of stories told from the villain’s viewpoint. This is a nice way to try out the various authors works, and I have found a few that I will be looking for more from. Narrator Greg Patmore does a good job of bringing these stories to life and pulling the listener in.

I received this audiobook at my request, and I voluntarily wrote a review.

Expert Story-Crafting

Our host of talented authors bring us tales of from worlds where the morality of our leading women and men is anything but a simple binary, and in this way reminds of us home more than the fantasy of the genre's forebears, as brilliantly mused in the forward. If complexity keeps you turning the page, you've arrived at your destination.

Different narrators would add a lot...

I really liked the first story, and felt the narrator was perfect for it.

However, after reading 2 more stories, I grew tired of the sameness of the narration. He didn't have the voice to keep me engaged for those other stories.

Perhaps the following stories would have been better with a different narrator, perhaps not, in any case, I dropped the book after the 3rd or 4th story as they were no longer interesting.

Expected a little more

I really like the concept for this anthology, so I jumped at the chance to review it. It did take me a little extra time due to unpredictable life events.

In any case my main issue with this anthology is that I felt like the characters sort of ran together between stories, maybe because it was audio, a short story collection, but only had one narrator. It made me sort of lose steam with this title because characters did not feel distinct enough. The narrator does do a range of voices but seemed to have one way to convey that a character might have an accent (and I wasn't sure if they all did or should?) It made the stories run together for me.

I received this audiobook in exchange for a fair review.

‘Comfort is a distraction, happiness is a lie.’

Such a great collection of short stories. I wished every single one of them was longer and I’d quite happily listen to full length novels of them all.
Sometimes it was difficult to adjust to the next story after leaving a particularly great one, but that’s no great burden.
Greg does a brilliant job with narration. Can’t fault him at all; he is a brilliant storyteller and has some great voices for the characters.
I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more from Greg!
This is my honest opinion of a free review copy.

Wonderful Collection Of Stories

What Can I say. The stories are many and varied and not a bad one amongst them. The narration is top notch. I particularly enjoyed "The Darkness within the Light" by Shawn Speakman
about a wizard who extorts his way to the holy grail to get his revenge on god. I also enjoyed "Black Bargain" by Janny Wurts which features Dragons who want to end our world.
I was given a code for this book , whereby I promised to leave an honest and voluntary review on audible once read.

Entertaining

Short fantasy stories, most with dark themes. Entertaining and interesting storylines. I liked all of the short stories. The narrator did a fantastic job with providing unique voices for each character and appropriate tone inflections for each scene. I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.