Bradamant

The Iron Tempest

By: Ron Miller

Narrated by: Kathy Garver, Full Cast

Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Before Xena, before Wonder Woman, fiction's first major Warrior-Woman was Lady Bradamant, the heroine of the epic 16th century story, Orlando Furioso. Now, enjoy Ron Miller's stunning new novelization of Lady Bradamant's story!

In a 7th century Europe of myths, gods, and monsters, Lady Bradamant (a maiden knight) vanquishes evil knights, rescues the unfortunate, fights black magic, and destroys entire armies in her adventurous quest for her lost lover, Roggero, an enemy knight she once rescued at the risk of her own life. Roggero, in turn, must battle monsters, giants, and seductive evil sorceresses in his quest to be reunited with Lady Bradamant.

For Mature Audiences Only: Explicit language and situational violence. Must be 18 years of age to purchase.

©2000 Timberwolf Press (P)2000 Timberwolf Press

Critic reviews

"Ron Miller is unfairly talented." (Sir Arthur C. Clarke)

This might surprise you

I actually liked this. It's not a romance, it's a deliberate parody of romance. To be more specific, it feels more like a 17th/18th century heroic adventure with modern sensibilities and irreverence - something like Don Quixote meets The Princess Bride. The dialogue, situations and interactions are all seriously over the top, with tongue firmly in cheek. The narrator is perfect, and the other characterizations are good. The characters themselves are pretty two-dimensional, but in this idiom, they'd almost have to be.

I was a little aprehensive after reading the previous reviews, but was pleasantly surprised to find I was thouroughly enjoying the story after listening to the first couple of chapters. About the only thing I wasn't happy about was the ending, which felt rather abrupt. Apart from that, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this audio book. If your taste runs toward more contemporary fantasy writing, this might not be your cup of tea. This is not Xena. If on the other hand you enjoy more classical adventure stories, such as Alexander Dumas, you might dig this.

Bradamant

What a bizarre and quirky story. I found myself continuing on to see how it ended dispite the classic radio story design , which I did not care for.

Is this a romance novel?

I expected this to be a bit cheesy, but I did not expect a romance novel. I finally had to stop listening after Bradamant's body was described (lusterous hair and strong supple this and that) for the hundredth time. There is no character development and very little adventure and the full cast audio must have been pulled from a community theater group. Don't just avoid this book, run away!

Long and wordy

Not a bad story, but should have been shortened by half, deleting the excessive descriptions of scenery.

Bradamant, the lady has been loved since 1516

This book is an exerpt of a Romance Epic written in Italian by Ludovico Ariosto (1474 - 1533). It is called Orlando Furioso (Orlando Enraged), first published in 1516. The portion here at Audible, Bradamant, is close to the tanslation by William Stewart Rose (London, 1910). That is not my favorite translation, and Ron Miller has made it much more enjoyable for us. If one listens to it, just for the naughty spirit of it, and suspends his disbelief, it is good fun. Ron Miller has succeeded in giving us a version that is much more to our modern day tastes.

There was a young gentleman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir John Harrington who translated one of the bawdiest sections of Orlando Furioso, for which Elizabeth banished him from court, having given him the task of translating the entire book. It took him four years, at the end of which he was welcomed back into Elizabeth's Court. Elizabeth read fluent Italian. She saw the wit and talent of Harrington and by "punishing" him in requiring the full translation, she did a great service to Harrington and those of us who can still enjoy his witty version today.

A. Bartlett Giamatti, the former Commissioner of Baseball. did a third translation of Orlando Furioso that is more to the taste of the modern reader. Baseball and a translation of Orlando Furioso from the Italian? You bet! Before Giametti became involved with baseball, he was one of the great scholars of Renaissance Literature. If you don't believe me, check it out.

Now, I'd suggest that you try listening to Bradamant again with all that in mind. If you just take it in the spirit of fun as was originally intended five hundred years ago, you might get into the swing of it and want to try reading more of the original in either the Harrington or the Giametti translation.

Outstanding

On of the best audio books I've listened to since joining. If you liked the Three Musketeers or Princess Bride you are sure to love this. Well done and hilarious.