Goldenhand

The Old Kingdom, Book 5

By: Garth Nix

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The long-awaited fifth installment in Garth Nix's New York Times best-selling Old Kingdom series, for listeners who enjoy series by Rae Carson, Kristin Cashore, Scott Westerfeld, and Cassandra Clare.

Goldenhand takes place six months after the events of Abhorsen and follows the novella Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case, which is featured in Across the Wall.

Lirael lost one of her hands in the binding of Orannis, but now she has a new hand, one of gilded steel and Charter Magic. On a dangerous journey, Lirael returns to her childhood home, the Clayr's Glacier, where she was once a Second Assistant Librarian. There a young woman from the distant North brings her a message from her long-dead mother, Arielle. It is a warning about the Witch with No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning? Lirael must use her new powers to save the Old Kingdom from this great danger - and it must be forestalled not only in the living world but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.

©2016 Garth Nix (P)2016 Listening Library

It wasn't that bad.

I have been put off buying this book by the negative reviews of the reader and the overall story. It honestly does not deserve the negative reviews it has been getting. The story was interesting enough. It was true that it does not have the carefully crafted completeness and mystic intrigue of the first books since the style splits the story between several groups of people, but every author I've ever read tends to have some books which are a little weak. The reader has a lovely voice with a posh accent, she does not make the story into a production...she simply reads it too you. I feel that Nix was using this book to more or less tie up and close off the connection between Clariel (past) and Claw Of The Mask (present) to finish off the character. IMHO Clariel was much more interesting as Claw than she was Clariel...but now her poor life decisions and misfortunes have come to an end...moving on to deeper and more clever characters like Sabriel, Lireal, and their progeny.

the narrator is hard to listen to

the book over all is a good book but the narrator just puts me to sleep

Good Story, Terrible Narrator.

While this book is not nearly as enveloping and beautiful as the first three, it is a wonderful addition that ties up loose ends.

That said, I hated the narrator. She sounded almost computer generated, her different "voices" were bad, and when she put emotion anywhere in the character dialogue it was the wrong emotion. I made it through it, but I felt like it was just Google Assistant reading to me and I didn't like it.

I loved it.

Pulled together so much and kept me hooked front to back. I want more! Great Job Garth Nix!!!

Can't wait for more!

Love this series. Performance was fine but I preferred Tim Curry.

Here's some more words.

Wish it was longer

Like Clariel, Goldenhand carries the sense of a book that is merely laying the groundwork for a more climactic or conclusive story. Yet, with events transpiring as they do, it is unclear how that could be the case.
To sum up: I found Goldenhand enjoyable and well-read, but anti-climactic.

Speed up the narration

Speeding up the narrator REALLY helps get through the book. The story isn't bad in it's own but the narrator pauses constantly and speaks fairly slow. Listening at even 1.10x makes this narrator listenable.

love the story but the reader is awful

the sing songy voice of the reader was hard to follow. it was as if she was asking a question in the middle of each sentence.

Disappointing narration

Did not like the narrator, her voice was flat and lacked excitement. The story was a bit too convoluted.

Good... But not as good as the original trilogy

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't as well written as the first 3. It lacked the rich imagery and character development that I am used to with Garth Nix. It reads more like YA romance.

Still, the world and characters are recognizable as the ones I loved, and the story is interesting... just a little flat.