Rogues

By: Neil Gaiman - contributor, George R. R. Martin - editor, Gillian Flynn - contributor, Gardner Dozois - editor

Narrated by: Janis Ian, Gwendoline Christie, Roy Dotrice, Ron Donachie, W. Morgan Sheppard, Molly Quinn, Rupert Degas, Iain Glen, Various

Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

A thrilling collection of 21 original stories by an all-star list of contributors - including a new A Game of Thrones story by George R. R. Martin!

If you’re a fan of fiction that is more than just black and white, this latest story collection from number-one New York Times best-selling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois is filled with subtle shades of gray. Twenty-one all-original stories, by an all-star list of contributors, will delight and astonish you in equal measure with their cunning twists and dazzling reversals. And George R. R. Martin himself offers a brand-new A Game of Thrones tale chronicling one of the biggest rogues in the entire history of Ice and Fire.

Follow along with the likes of Gillian Flynn, Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Cherie Priest, Garth Nix, and Connie Willis, as well as other masters of literary sleight-of-hand, in this rogues gallery of stories that will plunder your heart - and yet leave you all the richer for it.

INTRODUCTION: EVERYBODY LOVES A ROGUE, read by George R. R. Martin
TOUGH TIMES ALL OVER, read by Gwendoline Christie
WHAT DO YOU DO?, read by Julia Whelan
THE INN OF THE SEVEN BLESSINGS, read by Roy Dotrice
BENT TWIG, read by Phil Gigante
TAWNY PETTICOATS, read by Ron Donachie
PROVENANCE, read by W. Morgan Sheppard
ROARING TWENTIES, read by Janis Ian
A YEAR AND A DAY IN OLD THERADANE, read by Gwendoline Christie
BAD BRASS, read by Gil Bellows
HEAVY METAL, read by Scott Brick
THE MEANING OF LOVE, read by Conleth Hill
A BETTER WAY TO DIE, read by Roy Dotrice
ILL SEEN IN TYRE, read by Gethin Anthony
A CARGO OF IVORIES, read by Ron Donachie
DIAMONDS FROM TEQUILA, read by David Greenlee
THE CARAVAN TO NOWHERE, read by W. Morgan Sheppard
THE CURIOUS AFFAIR OF THE DEAD WIVES, read by Harriet Walter
HOW THE MARQUIS GOT HIS COAT BACK, read by Roy Dotrice
NOW SHOWING, read by Molly Quinn
THE LIGHTNING TREE, read by Rupert Degas
THE ROGUE PRINCE, read by Iain Glen.

©2014 Random House (P)2014 Random House Audio

A fun way to sample Authors- More Rothfuss Please!

Over all this was a good experience and I would like to see more such compilations. Here are my thoughts and ratings out of 10. Pardon my spelling - not familiar with some words/names - as it's audible:

1 Tough Times all over - Joe Abercrombie (6) Good narrator. About a stolen package that everyone wants. A bit convaluted.
2 What do you do?- Gillian Flynn (8) A unique female rougue and good female narr ator- twists in the story kept me interested.
3 Inn of the 7 Blessings- Matthew Hughes (8) Roy Dotrice is great and was good story about outsmarting wizards.
4 Bent Twig - Joe R Landsdale (7) Different modern day intrigue with fun texas accents about a PI searching for lost stepdaughter
5 Tawny Petticoats - Michael Swanwick (5) Dogman & zombies - strange tale in futuristic New Orleans. Its about a simple con game but if you like weird - this is it.
6 Providence - David W Ball (7) Long story about how painting was lost in WW2
7 Roaring Twenties - Carrie Vaughn (3) Boring and narrator is janis ian who is dull and has weird accent
8 A year and a day in old Therradain - Scott Lynch (7) Weird female characters/monsters and very wizardy. Good female narrator same as #1
9 Bad Brass - Bradley Dendon (8) Well read and fun story about down and out teacher.
10 Heavy metal - Sherie Priest (7) Odd hero story about a big imposing PI protecting us from nasty things.
11 The meaning of love - Daniel Abraham (7) Interesting and unique topic - a bit predictable - but well done.
12 A better way to die - Paul Cornell (5) Roy could not save this one. Odd story about 18th century man meeting his younger self through time travel.
13 Ill scene in Tyre - Steven Salor (6) Historical mystery genre set in Ancient times. fun story
14 A Cargo of Ivories - Garth Nicks (8) Master and puppet -strangely appealing if you accept that his sidekick is a puppet.
15 Diamonds from Tequila - Walter John Williams (9) Innovative ideas mixed into a good murder mystery. Good listen.
16 Caravan to No Where - Phyllis Eisentein (9) Gripping and good character development - I want to read more of her stuff.
17 The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives - Lisa Tuttle (8) Slow start but gets better
18 How the Marquis Got his Coat Back - Neil Gamon (9) Marquis de Carabas - Very compelling story
19 Now Showing - Connie Willis (7) Weird Movie saga
20 The Lightning Tree Patrick Rothfuss - (10) Awesome - Bast is profiled and he is wickedly lovable.
21 The Rogue Prince or a Kings Brother - George RR Martin (7) Too much geneology - Not Game of Thrones quality and Roy does not read it.

12 great hours by Fantasy titans-Skip the other 20

Collections of short stories, especially collections with many readers and many authors, are very hit and miss on Audible. This is one of the better ones, though it comes with a caveat - the bad stories are pretty bad, and the bad readers even worse - so the four star rating requires you to skip around a bit. Others have pointed out that the chapters are a bit weird, but that is only for two or three stories, after which they serve as a useful way to skip. (I'll also provide guidance on where the stories are)

And you should make sure to catch the fantastic ones here:

Scott Lynch's (Chapters 16-33 in the Audibook) A Year and a Day in Old Therradain has all of the charm, wit, and worldbuilding of the best of Lies of Locke Lamora, but with a great new character and new setting. Oceans 11 in a fantasy world.

Joe Abercrombie (Chapter 3 in the Audiobook) offers a Ambercrombie-ish tale of an entire criminal underworld hunting a mysterious package among lies and complex plots that is fun and not nearly as dark as his other work. It is read by the same narrator as Lynch, who is great.

Garth Nix's Cargo of Ivories (Chapter 58) is a story from his latest series about a puppet wizard and a knight hunting dangerous gods. I love Nix's style, and this was a nice example of his more adult work, with some clever wit along with the action.

Rothfuss's Lightning Tree (Chapters 70-71) is the story of Bast, and his relationships and schemes in the town where Kvothe's Inn is located. Witty, fun, and, surprisingly, given Rothfuss's tendency for massive tomes, tightly written.

Gaiman's entry (Chapter 66) is a story from Neverwhere, and will appeal to you greatly if remember (and like!) that novel, but is likely be a bit confusing otherwise.

Martin's piece (the final chapter) is more of a history of some pre-Game of Thrones events, you will enjoy it if you like history and the GoT universe (which I do), otherwise it will feel like a list of names and dates.

There are others that are good. I don't usually read mysteries, but I enjoyed a couple of them a lot (Big Brass and the second story, What Would You Do?), I also really liked a couple of weirder stories - Tawny Petticoats by Swanick and Inn of the Seven Blessings by Hughes. You may have different favorites.

Sometimes the readers are terrible and the stories are good, and sometimes the opposite is true. Overall, though, it is a terrific collection, if you are willing to skip around to find the gems and aren't annoyed that some of the stories are disappointing.

Only a couple good stories, not worth it

Two decent stories, a few endings that just make you shake your head, WTH?
Narrator's weren't great other then Scott Brick, the main narrator or MC, was awful.
I'm applying for refund on this disappointing purchase.
(I have over 400 audiobook, true crime, thrillers, mystery and literature. Next to none on sci-fi or fantasy, and this book confirms i don't care for it)

No Chapters ????

This is an anthology. I can't believe Audible puts this out without listing chapters. If you lose your place or want to jump back or forward you have to scrub the time bar or tap the 30 second refresh. It's absurd to put out a 30 hr collection of short stories and dump it onto your device without a way to navigate through the book shame on you!

Everyone loves a Rogue

I enjoyed the majority of the short stories; I leaned more towards sci-fi fantasy for I'm a sci-fi buff. The different narrators gave it something extra: Rupert Degras, Gwendoline Christie, and
Conleth Hill, David Greenlee, Harriet Walter - excellent. Authors: Scott Lynch, Daniel Abraham, Walter Jon Williams, Joe Abercrombie, Lisa Tuttle and Patrick Rothfuss - I must read more ....Gilian Flynn - mystery stories - you got me interested...George R. R. Martin - 2 words - More Please ...I guess everyone can spot a rogue in themselves through all these short stories... Glad I got a chance to 😉😊

Good and Meh

Some of the stories and the narration aren't so great but there are some absolutely fantastic ones as well. I enjoyed it enough that I actually bought a hard copy for my library.

Mostly solid collection; fun variety

Most stories & readers were excellent (5*) Fun variety of characters & genres. A couple were tedious, surprisingly including GRR Martin's prequel to Song of Ice & Fire - like reading the "begats" in Genesis. Ah, well. But many authors I now want to read more of. Happily, each story begins on a chapter break, so it's easy to skip a story you dislike. Well worth it.

Loved It!

Where does Rogues rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10

What other book might you compare Rogues to and why?

I don't have a comparison given that it is short stories but they are largely well written and compelling stories that are entertaining and well narrated. I absolutely LOVE Gwendoline Christie's narration! Can't get enough of her!

What does George R. R. Martin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A depth of characters and fullness of story

Any additional comments?

More Gwendoline Christie!!! She is a fabulous narrator with a soothing voice, excellent diction and pronunciation, and that beautiful accent! She has a wonderful talent and brings the story to life.

Mixed bag- most a good listen

Enjoyed most of the stories although wasn't overwhelmed easy to turn off and then on.

It says this heading is optional, but it's not.

Very dependent on the individual stories and authors. I only liked the story by Patrick Rothfuss, because I was most familiar with the characters. Audiobook is not the best format for this anthology. I would recommend a physical copy instead.

Just ok..

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Only a few stories that were worth the listen, it felt like George R.R Martin threw a lot of them in as filler.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Best thing about the book was the Lightning tree story by Patrick rothfuss, which is all about Bast from the kingkiller chronicles. Which was awsome by the way!
Which to be fair was one of the main reasons for me buying Rogues.

Did George R. R. Martin do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

George R.R Martins spin off story from the world of game of thrones felt more like a timeline then an actual story, rather disappointed.

Do you think Rogues needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I feel it was a good idea, but the majority of the stories didn't quite cut it. Maybe if it was all spin off stories from a particular genre it could work.

Any additional comments?

Yes more Patrick rothfuss stories please

Could do better

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

Probably suit someone eager to get some sleep,

Would you ever listen to anything by the authors again?

Nope

What three words best describe George R. R. Martin’s performance?

Heavily accented American

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Rogues?

Most of the first few stories, too rambling with too much unnecessary swearing and mysogeny.

The promise of a game of thrones/ice and fire side-story did not make up for the long winded and irritatingly performed stories. I don't need to hear a biog of the author, or the constant reference to the prizes they've been awarded. The stories should speak for themselves and not raise expectations.

Any additional comments?

I had hoped that the 30 hours of audio would last me a month or so but ended up skimming through them to try to find something to justify buying it.

All the best in one place, what's not to like!

What a lot of content for 1 credit :) I have not listened to all of this yet and I have skipped to my Favourite authors so far, but will definitely listen to all. The main draw for me was to get a chance to hear some more from Kvothe and Bast from the King Killer series (books 1+2 only) which I have just finished and was left wanting more. Then Joe Abercrombie & Neil Gaiman who I love to listen to and George R R Martin & Scott Lynch who I will now go on to listen to more of! If you are curious about any of these authors/stories or already know and love some of them what a fantastic chance maybe find something new or expand on an existing series. Well worth 1 credit even if you don't like it all. - P.S the Bast Story is very good :)

A good, long and varied listen.

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

Varied, consistently good.

What other book might you compare Rogues to, and why?

I'd compare it to Dangerous Women, as it's the same idea of an anthology, but I'd say Rogues is actually the better of the two books.

What does George R. R. Martin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Well he only reads the Introductory section, but to be fair I would probably have skipped that if I'd read the book, instead of listened to it.

As for the other narrators, a separate one for each story, they vary from acceptable to really good. Conleth Hill is probably the best, his skill at reading the different voices outstrips the other, still talented, readers.

Any additional comments?

I listened to this on my walk to work every morning, a situation it is very well suited to. In purchasing the one book you get access to a whole host of stories from different authors in sometimes wildly different genres, but all with the connecting thread of the Rogue. Definitely worth the listen.

Varied and generally good

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rogues?

It's a really nice mix of different stories and narrators, the narrators have been chosen well for the stories. Because the stories are all starring a rogue, the rogue can be anything or anyone and this gives some interesting variety I did not expect. I purchased this for the Patrick Rothfuss story mainly but have ended up purchasing books from several other authors also featured.

Some of my favourites

What did you like most about Rogues?

This has three amazing short stories from my favorite authors - Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss and Mr Martin himself.

What did you like best about this story?

All three of those are stories that expand upon those that I've been waiting for a sequel for: Neverwhere, The Kingkiller Chronicles and The Song of Ice and Fire

Have you listened to any of George R. R. Martin’s other performances? How does this one compare?

The final story has a much better narrator than George's other works. Personally I don't take to short stories that much, but the quality of these makes up for it.

the best of the stories - the lightening tree

there were a few good stories, some of which I skipped after listening for 20-30 mins. the best one being the lightning tree which I would have rated at 5*, which if I'm honest was the reason for purchasing this book.

Mostly good stories

Most stories were enjoyable though a few duds. The Scott Lynch and Patrick Rothfuss stories were particularly enjoyable.

some good some bad

some stories are great, some are hard to follow, especially liked the Patrick Rothfuss addition of Bast, the innkeepers fae friend, but only because I'm awaiting the 3rd book to the kingkiller chronicles. a great cinema conspiracy too.

Very good,.

an excellent collection of short stories, such a variety. going to listen again. well done.