The Scar

By: Sergey Dyachenko, Marina Dyachenko, Elinor Huntington - translator

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Reaching far beyond sword and sorcery, The Scar is a story of two people torn by disaster, their descent into despair, and their re-emergence through love and courage.

Sergey and Marina Dyachenko mix dramatic scenes with romance, action and wit, in a style both direct and lyrical. Written with a sure artistic hand, The Scar is the story of a man driven by his own feverish demons to find redemption and the woman who just might save him. Egert is a brash, confident member of the elite guards and an egotistical philanderer. But after he kills an innocent student in a duel, a mysterious man known as “The Wanderer” challenges Egert and slashes his face with his sword, leaving Egert with a scar that comes to symbolize his cowardice. Unable to end his suffering by his own hand, Egert embarks on an odyssey to undo the curse and the horrible damage he has caused, which can only be repaired by a painful journey down a long and harrowing path.

Plotted with the sureness of Robin Hobb and colored with the haunting and ominous imagination of Michael Moorcock, The Scar tells a story that cannot be forgotten.

©2012 Marina and Sergey Dyachenko (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Rich, vivid, tactile prose, with a solid yet unpredictable plot—and an extraordinary depth and intensity of character reminiscent of the finest Russian literature." (Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review)

Brutally Punishing Book

Would you try another book from the authors and/or Jonathan Davis?

Narration perhaps saved this book for me. I am sure that I might try another book by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko but only if it were written with a different style.

Would you be willing to try another book from the authors? Why or why not?

I am sure that I might try another book by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko but only if it were written with a different style. The prose of this book was absolutely brutal and dragged out. The authors were seemingly intent on finding new ways to drone on and on about what the fear within Egert was like. I got it by about halfway through the book yet the monotonous descriptions of the terror within him kept being beaten like a horse dead ten times over right to the very end and monopolized other aspects of the story.

Which scene was your favorite?

The best scene was when Egert was dueling The Wanderer and the immediate aftermath.

Any additional comments?

In my opinion the characters are not very deep. They are more like caricatures than anything else. The lack of character depth an the nearly inevitable ending was a turnoff.Others may enjoy this book and it was not horrible, but I think it was average at best.

got bored

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

not really.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Relistening to Towers of Midnight from Wheel of Time series while I waiting for the final book in that series.
Waiting for book 3 of the Warded Man series
Waiting for book 2 of Theft of Sword (Raira Series)
Waiting for book 3 of Shadow Prowler series

Did The Scar inspire you to do anything?

no

Any additional comments?

I'm sure this is a story of redemption but its hard to listen to the main character live like craven coward for so much of the book. I know its the curse but I was looking for more story on his transformation from cocky charlaton to humble quiet warrior. Its hard to enjoy a book about a cowardly man that's afraid of even his shadow. I probably won't finish the book unless really bored.

I <3 Johnathan Davis, also the story was good

I'm not going to lie, I pretty much bought this book because I have loved other things that Davis has narrated. He did not disappoint!

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the story. I thought the plot was pretty interesting, although it moved sort of slowly, so if you like instant gratification, you might not like this. Basically, this jerk alpha-male type gets cursed with crippling cowardice and it's the story of how he goes about trying to break the curse. I was worried that the book was going to be quite preachy, both about bullying and how your actions affect others, and about the power of self and conquering your faults. But it wasn't at all. I thought Egert's progress through his curse was very natural and believable. The writing style was descriptive and lyrical and the translator did an excellent job. Overall: excellent!

Great book!

Great book, unpredictable plot - didn't follow the standard script.

I though that the reader was great and did a wonderful performance. Enjoyed the book a lot.

AAAAAAHHHHHHH

Would you listen to The Scar again? Why?

and again and again and again.This book is by far my most soulful and beautiful read in years.I am lifted and inspired. This story hits a note within and that note resonates deeper and deeper. At random moments I think about how this story made me feel when I read it; and that moment is enriched.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It mostly made me cry. It also made me hopeful that some day there would be smiles again.

Any additional comments?

This is one of those stories that is older than the people who wrote it. Its as though they reached back in time and coaxed a precious memory to live again and explain itself.The translator should get some kind of award.I would love to hear what someone who can read both languages would say.

I was drawn in to this fantastic tale!

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

This is in my top 5 and if I really think about all the books I have listened to it is #2 for sure!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Scar?

The encounter with the wanderer at dawn and the outcome from that meeting...

Which scene was your favorite?

The knife throwing scene in the beginning of the book. There are many more.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

What scars you.

Any additional comments?

This book is so well written and Jonathan Davis deliverers each line with perfection. You will not fall asleep! The writers are very creative how they describe the scenes. I wish they would bring their other books to the US and to Audible. I want more!

Not Vita Nostra, but still great.

I found these authors through the book Vita Nostra (a must read in the fantasy genre!) and had to try this one as well. VN is better, but this book is still awesome. Taking standard fantasy and chivalry tropes and turning them on their heads! It was a great story and a truly epic journey. I highly recommend it.

Highly, highly, Highly Recommended

This was one extraordinary book, one that I could not stop reading / listening to.

While this husband and wife team have been writing and receiving awards for books since 1994, their works are, for the most part, in the Ukrainian and Russian languages. Written in 1997, The Scar is apparently the first to be translated into English and has only come to Western shores this year. While this is the middle book of a trilogy, unlike other trilogies, this installment stands quite well on its own though I hope that the remaining installments become available in English. I cannot wait to read them. These are masterful writers.

While not one for spoilers, I will only say that this is a book of the fantasy genre that, while there is sorcery and sword-fighting, none of it is gratuitous. While there is a great deal about love, there is not too much romance. For my liking, all of these were good attributes. The book is about great courage and great cowardice, self-discovery and redemption. This is a wonderfully rich and vivid story about our humanity, our psychology and the nature of both. For me, perhaps the most powerful aspect of the book had to do with the power of forgiveness. This is story-telling at its best.

When beginning to listen to this book, I was already engaged (but not engrossed) in listening to one and reading another literary work of fiction. I was becoming drained by the complexity and work that I had to put into both. The Scar’s simplicity allowed me to just relax and enjoy one of the more remarkable books I have read/listened to. While simple in its parable-, morality play-like nature, it still had the depth and richness of quintessential Russian literature. The characters are richly and completely drawn. The plot is riveting, surprising and unpredictable to the end. The prose, perhaps owing to the translation by Elinor Huntington, is engrossing, lyrical and poetically beautiful.

The narration by Jonathan Davis did justice to the book. Sometimes narrators are so good that they draw one’s focus away from the book and toward the performer. For the most part, that was not the case with this selection. The narrator disappeared and the book revealed itself in all of its beauty. I will say this, though, there are passages in which the narrator’s voice became possibly a bit too stentorian. That was a distraction for me but the passages were few and far between. I think that it was a personal thing and I will not dock him for it. He did a superb job.

Rating this book is difficult for me. Thinking out loud, I would like to give it 5 stars but I gave that number to The Brothers Karamazov. 4 stars might suggest that the book was less than stellar. I would like to rate it within the context of the rest of the trilogy because of some unmentioned comments but two-thirds of that are unavailable. So, in the interest of enticing you to rather than dissuading you from reading this masterpiece, my fine reader of reviews, 5 Stars it is. You will not be disappointed.

A Series Worth Waiting For

If you've been bemoaning the wait for the next Patrick Rothfuss book, or wondering why nothing modern ever reads like Tolstoy or Dostoevsky, read this. The Scar is epic in a personal sense, lyrically haunting, and felt on every human level. Jonathan Davis did an amazing job at narration, catching the emotional nuances. I now count this among my favorite books, and Davis among my favorite narrators.

Decent story but falls short of great

Is there anything you would change about this book?

There was a lot of wordy parts. I know that the author was trying to convey the vast changes but it droned on in many places

Would you recommend The Scar to your friends? Why or why not?

maybe, if they were not looking for something to sink their teeth into

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I enjoyed the narration. I do not think I have listened to him before. I do like him better than Scott Brick!

Was The Scar worth the listening time?

I would say a weak yes