• Knight of the Black Rose

  • Ravenloft: Terror of Lord Soth, Book 1
  • By: James Lowder
  • Narrated by: Danny Campbell
  • Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (502 ratings)

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Knight of the Black Rose  By  cover art

Knight of the Black Rose

By: James Lowder
Narrated by: Danny Campbell
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Publisher's summary

On the fabled world of Krynn, Lord Soth finally learns that there is a price to pay for his long history of evil deeds, a price even an undead warrior might find horrifying. Dark powers transport Soth to Barovia, and there the death knight must face the dread minions of Count Strahn Von Zarovich, the vampire lord of the nightmare land. But with only a captive Vistani woman and an untrustworthy ghost for allies, Lord Soth soon discovers that he may have to join forces with the powerful vampire if he is ever to escape the realm of terror. Knight of the Black Rose is the second in an open-ended series of Gothic horror tales dealing with the masters and monsters of the Ravenloft dark fantasy setting.

©2012 Wizards of the Coast LLC (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Knight of the Black Rose

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

ONLY For Serious Fans Who Have Read the Book!!!

Any additional comments?

I am a huge fan of this book and the story of both Lord Soth individually and of his experience in Ravenloft. I have read the book in paperback several times. As such, for the sake of a story I so thoroughly enjoy, I am able to sufficiently put up with what is probably the single worst audiobook narrator I have EVER listened to.

First problem with the narrator: the gentleman is very evidently attempting to capture the nuanced dictation style of a news reporter instead of the loose and engaging style of someone reading a story or play. His attempts to be intentionally deliberate with enunciation just shred the narrative to pieces.

Second problem with the narrator: the MISPRONUNCIATIONS and ERRORS!!! I'm not sure if this is the fault of the narrator or the editors, but WOW! The mistakes stated in previous reviews cannot be understated. They are highly distracting. Due to my enjoyment of the story, though, I am largely able to just laugh this off. But NO ONE should be laughing ANYTHING off during a RAVENLOFT BOOK!!!

Third problem with the narrator: Not only does he sound like a news reporter. He sounds like an old curmudgeon news reporter. He sounds like what would have happened if Walter Cronkite were given a lobotomy.

In conclusion, I really think this audiobook would have been a massive success if they had gotten a creepier sounding (and more gifted) narrator. So, if you have read the story before and love it like I do, and would listen to it for nostalgia, sure. bear with the narrator and go for it. (You can do it! I believe in you!) But if you have never read this story before, PLEASE, for the sake of the story and all that it's worth, AVOID THIS AUDIOBOOK LIKE THE PLAGUE!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Below average

after reading the I, Strahd part of Ravenloft novels, this came as a bitter dissapointment. Strahd was quite out of character, there was once more a villain/anti-hero/whatever you want to call Soth whose "doom" was brought on by women... I enjoyed Azalin as Strahd's enemy much more. the performance was fine, although again, if you became used to or enjoyed the above mentioned books, this can't compare and the difference is jarring. If there was a way to get a refund, I would so that I could spend my credit on a book I'd enjoy more.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story / OK narration

Good story, Good pace. the narrator could have been a bit more dramatic / invested in the telling.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Lord Soth's One Demensional Characteristics

The Character of Lord Soth doesn't seem to have any flaws, weaknesses, or draw backs to his undead condition. He has nearly godly powers and Strahd isn't even regarded as a threat. in fact, he literally patronizes the count knowing full well nothing can come of it which only dilutes the near non existent risks. This type of character is boring, and I found myself not caring at all about him, or what would become of him. the character is not likeable, nor rooted in any foundations that connect the reader with the character.

That being said, it was somewhat interesting to learn more of Barovia and the monsters within Castle Ravenloft (the gargoyle, and Black Dragon etc). but toward the end of the book, I found myself eagerly awaiting the end, to which was predictable and lack luster of any real conclusion.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Pretty great with some notable problems.

This story takes place in a fantastical world based on the Dungeons and Dragons world of Ravenloft. Before I go further, note that I did enjoy this book very much, despite some issues, one of which may be my own personal problem. James Lowder has a mixed comprehension of this world and its creatures. The performance of the Death Knight Soth is amazing and those he allies with are engaging. However, the key of the Ravenloft world, Lord Strahd Von Zarovich, was not his regular self. This Strahd was a noble host to a monster of equal horror to his own, something Strahd would never do. Despite it being unreliable to compare two authors, the work of P. F. Elrod’s “I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin” finds Strahd doing all in his power to keep the lich away from him once he discovers the creatures identity. Danny Campbell, this story’s mostly skilled and charismatic narrator sometimes stumbles over words, mixing up two similar words such as Strahd and Soth to form Stroth and made me have to rewind the chapter in a form of double take, as well as the occasional mix-up of his voices for the story’s characters. However, these problems in this Audible presentation are minor flaws in what is a rather wonderful experience. James Lowder and Danny Campbell gave me a book that I will revisit with great joy as a more permanent member of my Audible library.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

EVIL

Loved the Lore brought to this book Strahd is so cunning, Soth is a such an interesting character.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great story... the voice actor was ok

Love the story..have the book.
voice actor just ok.... seems to drone on and is mainly forgetable. flips worss around like in the. eoilogue: "... sat Soth"... it was definitely not the right order.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

An adequate story, good voice, but bad reading

If you were fascinated by Lord Soth in the Dragonlance books and are interested in his transfer to the Ravenloft setting and further fate therein, this book does the trick. The story is not surprising or impressively artful, but experiencing Soth's point of view lends extra interest and it is mostly well-paced and engaging.

Danny Campbell has a very long list of audio-book credits to his name. I am forced to guess from this that perhaps a poor producer or director pushed him in unfortunate directions for this reading. The voice he gives to the principle character, Lord Soth, is excellent, and other characters are passable, and his overall timbre is pleasing.

However, Mr. Campbell mispronounces such an array of words that his reading rattles and jangles. The possessive of the name Soth, Mr. Campbell, "Soth's" would be pronounced Soths, just like a plural, not "Soth-ez" Sharp teeth intended for tearing meat are in-size-ors, not in-scissors. Those missteps alone could easily be ignored, but the list goes on and on which made it difficult to enjoy the book.

I am usually very devoted to completing a series once begun, but I am unsure if I will purchase audio versions of the further novels concerning Lord Soth with Mr. Campbell as the reader.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

An horrible boring sleeping pill

I was expecting an epic tale, but the character Lord Soth is probably one of the most boring characters I've ever heard of. I might've been the narrator but I got the image of a fist clenched, scorning, dull and constantly angry bastard when I finished this audiobook. In the book we follow Lord Soth's journey to get back to his homeland Krynn from Ravenloft. It begins by him slaughtering a village of people for being lied to. The only interesting character is of course Lord Strahd, because Strahd is a good character - he has some virtues at least - while Soth seems to lack any and all manner of virtues and makes his character entirely one sided.

He doesn't develop at all during the story and the side characters are more or less one dimensional as well. A cowardly Vistani, an eager dwarf and the rest of the characters being personality ridden undead makes for a poor and starved cast. Especially if you concern that Soth is unremarkable in of himself.

No, don't even think about trying this horrible piece of work.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Trying not to cry

I love this story, always have. I love Lord Soth, he is such an awesome character. This Narrator however is killing him and me. Considering Soth is already dead, that is a pretty spectacular feat. I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope they find someone else to redo this and do it right.

There are 2 main issues with the narration:
First there is no emotion to it. Everything is read in The. Exact. Same. Tone.
Second the narrator is taking such pains to enunciate every word with precision it makes each sentence choppy and jarring. It feels like there is a period after every single word.

I am going to force my way through this as I do so love the story and characters, and hope that it doesn't completely ruin this story. I was so excited when they got the Dragonlance world, the Ravenloft word, and Forgotten realms into audio, but if all the narration is this painful it is going to be more of travesty then not having them was.

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