The Bastard

The Kent Family Chronicles, Book 1

By: John Jakes

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Set against the colorful tumult of events that gave rise to our fledgling nation, this novel of romance and adventure introduces Phillipe Charboneau.

The illegitimate son of an English nobleman, Phillipe flees Europe and, as Philip Kent, joins the men who set our course for freedom.

The Bastard is the first volume in the Kent Family Chronicles, a series of novels that details one family's journey in the early years of the American nation.

©1974 John Jakes (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Had to stop because voice actor was so bad

I'm a huge John Jakes fan but the voice was so bad I had to stop half way in. I just finished the North and South trilogy and was hungry for more so I had high hopes for this series. I tried a number of times to get through this book but everytime I tried coming back to it, I eventually became distracted with how horrendous the voice actor was. The book was good enough though that I'll purchase it to read the old fashioned way.

underwhelming

The narrator was decent but, even though I usually love historical fiction, just couldn't hey into this story

Excellent Tale with great narration

This book was an excellent start of a historical fiction series describing the beginning of a family and the birth of a nation. It was fun listening to how legendary characters from our past were interwoven into the tale. I'm looking forward to book 2, The Rebels, after I take a short break to let details from The Bastard sink in.

Good story yet slow.

Good story but a bit slow. I like that narrator, story and characters yet it was a bit slow.

Looking forward to this series.

I was a big fan of the North and South series by John Jakes and I enjoyed this book just as much. The characters and stories are well developed and the narrator gave an excellent performance.

Awesome book!

I love this author. I have read most of his books and just started listening to them.

The birth of America

From the writings of Diderot and Rousseau to the speeches of Samuel Adams, the whole sweep of the war of independence seen from the viewpoint of a poor French lad who, by chance (and expert writing) stumbles into the path of such Names as William Pitt, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Reviere and others as he is caught between a nobleman's life in England of King George III and a tradesman (and ultimately, soldier) in the American colonies. Although I was put off by the frequent lapses into "Harlequin romancesque" porn, it wasn't enough to to take any stars off of the five star review. Although very well written and researched, that makes it less than suitable to bringing up young patriots in these morally bankrupt and seditious times that we live in. Parental guidance definitely needed.

That said, this is truly a great work of historical fiction and with patriotism and so much knowledge injected into it, a very educational read!

Great story with amazing narrator

This is a fantastic story, and well written. But the narrator is what really shined to me. He does different accents from Great Britain, different accents from America, male voices, female voices, and even sings in tune.

An Amazing Tale

I am really happy audible released this book and hope they release all the sequels I think there are 6. This book is an amazing piece of literature. It brings the revolutionary war to life from an unorthodox point of view. A wealth of great historical events and characters is included and this is really a phenomenal book by a well seasoned author.

ARGH - historical ROMANCE novel

After listening to the 3 Civil War novels by John Jakes, I was astonished at this novel. It seemed like a female romance novelist was writing it and it was principally a bad romance novel. I still have over 9 hours to go, but will not finish.

Marie, Phillipe's mother, an immoral whack job. She tried to instill stupid life goals of material pursuit and snobbery. Premise unlikely - a man publicly acknowledging his illegitimate son and bequeathing him one half of his possessions. Not happening. He might have provided an annuity or provided for the son's education. Not a huge inheritance.

Marie's refusal of 2,000 pound payoff stupid, then she wound up sick and homeless in London. Stupid.

Women portrayed as loose or nasty or teases or stupid. Author preoccupation with women's breasts.

Philippe and Alicia Parkhurst's fling totally unrealistic. Alicia another man's fiancee and she would not have risked what she had and was going to have for a fling.

Information on primitive printing interesting.

Skipped last part of Chapter's 6, 7, most of 8, then skipped to Book 2 hoping it would get better.

With over 9 hours to go, I realized it was not going to.get better. Very disappointing.