Artful

A Novel

By: Peter David

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Oliver Twist is one of the most well-known stories ever told, about a young orphan who has to survive the mean streets of London before ultimately being rescued by a kindly benefactor.

But it is his friend, the Artful Dodger, who has the far more intriguing tale, filled with more adventure and excitement than anything boring Oliver could possibly get up to. Throw in some vampires and a plot to overthrow the British monarchy, and what you have is the thrilling account that Charles Dickens was too scared to share with the world.

From the brilliant mind of novelist and comic book veteran Peter David, Artful is the dark, funny, and action-packed story of one of the most fascinating characters in literary history.

With vampires.

©2014 Second Age, Inc. (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Twist on a character from a Charles Dickens novel

I listened this book after having let it languish in my Audible library, It was fun, once I got started it was difficult to stop. I went to Amazon to see if the adventure would continue, but found that it was serialized in as a six part graphic novel. I was hoping the story would continue as a sequel. I'm disappointed normally I avoid vampire and zombie stories but this was a lot of fun.

A must read ! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

what a great book! A fabulous combination of Victorian England & science fiction. I listened to it from start to finish in 2 days!

Charming and entertaining.

Fun listen. no blood and guts here, just a jolly old English tale of mischief, mayhem and vampires.

Fun romp

I usually like things that are played more seriously, but this blended some favorite characters and a high flying plot in a fun mix. Don’t take it seriously and you’ll have a great time with Artful.
I’ve always thought the artful dodger was way more interesting than Oliver Twist and I’m glad to see others agree!

Delightful book

This book was entertaining, in content and presentation. It is always a delight to follow a side character into their own story— well done!

Oliver sequel, with a vampire twist!

Thank you, Peter David. I didn't realize how much I missed your writing, since way back in your Hulk days. I introduced myself at Galaxy Con a few years back, and learned about this book. I listened to it on Audible...what an experience! I love the way you so artfully brought back the iconic characters from Dickens' classic in this rollicking, clever, funny and scary adventure. I look forward to continuing revisiting your work, and I'm sorry I've been dodging you for so long! Mike, Chicago.

Masterfully done

I don't know if this came before or after the comic book but together they are amazing. Long day of Peter David and I hope he gets to write the sequel.

The Artful Dodger and the Vampyres

I'm not really a fan of classic literature but I do enjoy "alternate history" and this is sort of an alternate history of a classic fictional story. As such, the language and writing style took a little while to get behind and it was quite a few chapters before I felt "invested" in the story, but overall I feel the author did a good job capturing the classical feel in his writing, although I do agree with some other reviewers that he thinks himself a bit too clever at times. That feeling usually came across the strongest when the author was expressing the thoughts of a certain horse or of himself as the narrator of this tale.

I received this book from Amazon as part of their Kindle First program so I didn't actually read the entire synopsis before I started reading the book. Had I known initially that this was a vampire tale I wouldn't have picked it up. However, to me, the vampires are really just a sub-plot (even though they are presented as the main plot) and are presented as the foil against which the true character of the Artful Dodger and company are revealed.

The story isn't groundbreaking. It isn't really even anything new, but it's well told and ultimately enjoyable. I highly recommend adding the Audible narration to your purchase if you are into that sort of thing. This is the first time I have switched back and forth between reading and listening to a book and the narration by James Langton is truly fantastic and added a lot to my enjoyment of the book.

Very creative spin off from Oliver Twist.

Very creative spin off from Oliver Twist. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. I am a heavy listener of audio books and this was one of the best I've listened to in quite some time.

Unexpected & Excellent

Loved it; purchased on a whim, but it’s a fun, adventurous tale & I’d recommend giving it a listen. Superb narration, too!