The Wizards of Once

By: Cressida Cowell

Narrated by: David Tennant

Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

In the first book of a new series by the best-selling author of How to Train Your Dragon, the warring worlds of Wizards and Warriors collide in a thrilling and enchanting adventure.

Once there were Wizards, who were Magic, and Warriors, who were not. But Xar, son of the King of Wizards, can’t cast a single spell. And Wish, daughter of the Warrior Queen, has a banned magical object of her own. When they collide in the wildwood, on the trail of a deadly witch, it’s the start of a grand adventure that just might change the fabric of their worlds.

With Cressida Cowell’s trademark wit, and the same stunning combination of action, adventure, heart, humor, and incredible artwork that made How to Train Your Dragon a beloved best-selling franchise, The Wizards of Once will transport and enchant listeners.

©2017 Cressida Cowell (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A narrative rich in dragon muck...genuinely fierce [and] intelligent." ( Kirkus)

"Cowell crafts two believable and lovable main characters...[a] strong new series starter." ( School Library Journal)

Fantastic new series

Was wondering if it would live up to her earlier works and it shines all on its own. David Tennant brings the world to life and gives substance to all the characters in the book. I highly recommend this to readers of all ages.

Entertaining family performance

David Tennant is excellent! So many character voices. Nice to have a book the whole family can listen to. Highly relatable characters.

Captivating Performance

This is easily my favorite book so far this year.

The story is charming, lively, delightful story. The only thing better than the story itself, was the performance.

Of all the audio books I've listened to so far, this was hands down the best performance.

Loved everything about it.

Conflicted, but entertained

Interesting. I'm unsure how to feel about this one. I enjoyed it and listened all the way through, but found I hated most of the main characters. Most of them had few good qualities. Wish was the only one I could root for. I was definitely left wanting more, so I'll check out the next book.

The performance was great. I could have done without the sudden, loud sound effects, but David Tennant was fantastic. His attention to detail and expressive character voices reminded me a lot of Jim Dale's narration of the Harry Potter series.

David is a delight too listen to!

I'm very surprised this had not been produced into a major motion picture! a very cute, kid friendly tale read excellently by David! He's so good at voices, no wonder he was cast to play the same part in both the English and American productions of Broadchurch!

Definitely a young adult book

I will generally have a few YA books in my library that I really enjoy. But there is a line (for me anyways) where the dialog becomes to childish. In this particular book, I think it had a lot to do with the narration. In fairness, the narrator was good... maybe excellent. But the narration style was strongly geared towards very young readers. Overly silly, filled with stereotyped voices. I found the story engaging, and wanted to listen to it, but finally gave up.

Wonderful!

Such a delightful book! I’m a huge fan of Cressida Cowell and of David Tennant’s narrating. This is yet another wonderful book that all kids should read; there are so many great lessons and morals. I really enjoyed this!

Cute, but Not for Me

The story was cute, but it wasn’t something I enjoyed reading. There were a lot of characters introduced in the beginning and I mixed several of them up or forgot about those who continued on in the story until the end. I did not care for Xar throughout most of the book. There was so much in this book, yet I felt like it was too long.
As far as the performance, David Tennant was fine and I appreciate the character voices, but I wasn’t into the music cues or sound effects. I think I would have enjoyed this production and story more if I were much younger.

Fun read

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. very entertaining. looking forward to more from this author and characters.

I can't wait to introduce my nieces to this book

I loved the story, the characters, the fact the the story began immediately with no long background and how could you top David Tennant with his fluid transitions between voices and delightful Scots accent.