EMPEROR: The Field of Swords, Book 3 (Unabridged)

By: Conn Iggulden

Narrated by: Paul Blake

Length: 17 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Julius Caesar has taken his legions north into mighty battles with the Gallic tribes. But as his successes mount, overwhelming ambition and new alliances begin to threaten his friendship with Marcus Brutus, brother-in-arms and fellow warrior. Although the conquest of Gaul has made Caesar a hero all over again, his victories on the battlefield cause still more rivalries at home. And ultimately Caesar and Brutus will have to choose whether to cross the Rubicon - together or singly - and to take the fight to Rome itself.

©2005 Conn Iggulden (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Overacting

Would you try another book from Conn Iggulden and/or Paul Blake?

I will never listen to another book from this narrator

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narration was terrible. It was so distracting. There was so much overacting and emphasis on words that did not need to be emphasized. It sounded like like someone was doing a parody of a Reading. Also he could not pronounce the characters' names properly. It Is Servilia not sewilia and Octavian not Octawian. I stopped listening after an hour because I couldn't take it anymore.

Potato, PotAto, Tomato, TomAto, I almost called the whole thing OFF!

Horrible narration! Firstly, the narrator sounded pompous and arrogant which I could have lived with. But... the pronunciation of key characters names was infuriating!! He pronounced 4 characters names totally different then the first 2 books.

Another fantastic book in the Emperor series

As with all of the Emperor books by Conn Iggulden, it was thrilling, entertaining and a pleasant way to listen to historical fiction.

narration is hard to get past

the way the narrator says name drove me insane.
Cereilia--> "Sir-williAm" . Thames-river "Thomases River"

More Roman Glory

Conn Iggulden continues his epic take of the life of Ceasar and it is fascinating. being in the Army myself, it's amazing how he describes the organization and operation of the ancient Roman legionnaires like they are modern soldiers. Paul Blake's narration isn't as good as the previous narrator of the last two books.

I am close to giving up on this series

Again, the same performer with several mispronunciations and irritating tone. I am not usually critical of performers but this person just did not do his homework. If he was reading the next volume, I would be stopping here. The story is generally good though I felt it was disconnected at times, and again the historical inaccuracies were bothersome.

3rd in the Julius Cesar series.

If you could sum up Emperor in three words, what would they be?

I cannot recommend this series often enough!! Conn iggelston is one of my favorite authors. He makes history come alive. You are there. It is a great read!!

What did you like best about this story?

History comes alive.

Which character – as performed by Paul Blake – was your favorite?

Julius. And everyone.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I had the time, yes. I did listen for hours at a time.

Any additional comments?

Read Iggelston's series on the Kahn's also.

Dramatic, exciting & fun historical fiction.

I'm not an expert in this area of history, so I am content to have kicked-back & to have thoroughly enjoyed this thoughtful, passionate & robust work of historical fiction portraying the early years of Caesar's political career & his time as General during the first conquests of Gaul & Britannia. The author effortlessly merges the history & the legend to grab your attention & to hold it.
The author changed to a different narrator for this book, volume three, & for volume four, which I am looking forward to starting very soon, from the person that narrated volumes 1 & 2. Very early on into this book, I was disgusted by this change & I stopped listening. Luckily, I gave the narrator another chance. After hitting his stride, he presented the characters wonderfully. He had a couple of mispronounciations of names of major characters & he he had an affinity for correctly pronouncing the Latin "v" as a "w" which sounded awkward at first. When in Rome...

Where's the consistency?

Would you try another book from Conn Iggulden and/or Paul Blake?

I'm a big fan of Conn Iggulden, but this is the second series of his (Genghis Khan is the other) that I've abandoned after a narrator change. Paul Blake may be a great narrator, but the lack of consistency between books 1-2 and 3 (and apparently 4) is unbelievably jarring. Blake, when reading dialogue, is bearable; his overracting during text is unreal.

Would you be willing to try another one of Paul Blake’s performances?

At this point, probably not.

Was Emperor worth the listening time?

The series itself is wonderful, and the first two books were performed very well. I'll just be going paperback for the last two.

ridiculous narrator. ruins great story.

the story is captivating but the person reading it on audible manages to make every word grate on my ears. he also pronounced "V" with the "W" sound. for example Octavian was read "octa-wee-an". this was especially terrible because this is the 3rd book in the series so as readers we already know how the characters names should sound. please re-record this book with the same narrator as book 2!