Warriors

By: George R. R. Martin - author/editor, Gardner Dozois - author/editor

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor, Christina Traister

Length: 31 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang of the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Red Badge of Courage have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world.

Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and best-selling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing: a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they’re best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color here, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Every story in this volume appears here for the first time. Included are: a long novella from the world of his Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, a new tale of “Lord John” by Diana Gabaldon, an “Emberverse” story by S. M. Stirling, a “Forever Peace” story by Joe Haldeman, and a long tale of humanity at bay by David Weber. Also present are original stories by David Ball, Peter S. Beagle, Lawrence Block, Gardner Dozois, Robin Hobb, Cecelia Holland, Joe R. Lansdale, David Morrell, Naomi Novik, James Rollins, Steven Saylor, Robert Silverberg, Carrie Vaughn, Howard Waldrop, and Tad Williams.

Many of these writers are best sellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable listening.

©2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.; 2011 George R.R. Martin

A varied collection

Many of the stories are over two and a half or three and a half hours, the better ones are. I found the stories by S.M. Sterling, David Weber, Robbin Hobb, Joe Halderman, David Morrell, Robert Silverberg, Diana Gabaldon, and George R.R. Martin, I found to be excellent. The rest are good and I personally found only two that I truly didn't care for. That is personal taste. There is very different and diversified views of "War" and "Warriors" (taking into mind what is the definition of each).I found that for the cost, there were many hours of pleasurable listening for me. If you enjoy a wide verity of Si-Fi and Fantasy/Horror this may be something you will enjoy. If you are looking for a unique mix I think you will enjoy this. If you see a name like Diana Gabaldon and think it will be all like her work, leave it be, you'll be disappointed. I enjoy her work, but I like Silverberg, Hobb and Martin too. .

Don't believe the haters

What did you love best about Warriors?

The stories were all very good and varied, that's what anthologies are.

What about Patrick Lawlor and Christina Traister ’s performance did you like?

Both narrators are fine. The fact that all these other reviewers commented on the poor quality of the narration took me by surprise... there are some terrible narrators out there, but these two are just fine.

Any additional comments?

There are 20 stories, if you expect to like all of them then you are a little high maintenance and you must spend most of your life very disappointed. I found the anthology very interesting and it gave me some insight into authors I will want to investigate further in the future. Money well spent in my opinion.

Good Variety of stories, sub-par narrator

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The book has an interesting variety of sci-fi, fantasy & horror short stories or novellas. The narrator is appropriate in some stories but dismal in others. His narration of Diana Gabaldon's Lord John is really poor, the British accent actually comes and goes throughout the story.The book would have been much richer to the ear if each story had an appropriate narrator chosen. The transition between stories would have been obvious and each set of characters could have been enjoyed more fully.It is still worth the time & money, it provides many hours of listening to some great authors.

How could the performance have been better?

A cast of narrators.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no. Nice to listen to different stories.

For the warmongers among us

The narrators are very good. Some of the stories were interesting and creative, but many have too much violence for my taste.

Sorry, I can't get past the reader

I can not get past narrator, Patrick Lawlor. I wanted this book for the Lord John story by Diana Gabaldon. All of the other Lord John audio books have been narrated by Jeff Woodman - I found the Lord John books before I found Jamie Fraser, and enjoyed Jeff Woodman???s way of presenting the story - he has such energy and fits the part so well he made Lord John come to life for me - I love his voice and his style. I started the first story in Warriors and after struggling through it, I stopped and went on to something else. I tried again and listened to one more story and it was just painful to listen to. I have finally picked it up again and listened to two more stories, but I am not enjoying one minute. I plan to buy the book so I can read the Lord John story. I don't want to have this narrator's voice in my mind when I think of Lord John - I will just have to imagine through reading instead of listening. For me, this audio book did not work - awful awful reader. He is not a fit for any type of Warrior story. What a waste of a credit for me. I thought I might get used to the reader, but I can???t do it - I just can???t bring myself to listen to any more of this. I listen to dozens of books each year. Some readers don???t help the story, but this is first one that ruined it to the point of giving up on the whole book.

sucks

this book sucked could not even finish it I was hoping for a good book this is the second book I did not like by George RR Martin

Short stories from varied genres; sub-par narrator

Being a fan of short stories and fantasy/sci-fi, I really wanted to like this book. Two things thwarted me in that goal: the editor made an executive decision to include stories from many different genres (to be fair, this could be a positive for some readers), and the male narrator Patrick Lawlor has an annoying, sing-song narration with a limited range of voices.

If you are a Martin Song of Ice and Fire fan like me, it may be worth a credit to listen to one great story if you can get over Lawlor's irritating voice. Unfortunately, that story was the only one that wowed me.

Don't trouble yourself

This is one of the worst books I have ever listened to.The book was touted as a book about Warriors; however, it is a collection of short stories, and only two were worth listening to. Most of the time it was difficult ti know when the reader moved from one story to the next. I believe the reason confusion existed is because most of the stories left the reader hanging. Many time the story really did not have a conclsion and left the characters unresolved.

If you are looking for stories with warriors that succeed this is not the book for you. Most of the hero's are really victims or bullies. One story is about a woman who was abused, and this woman was touted as the warrior since the story was about her, turned out to be a serial murder. I do not consider this person to be warrior regardless of the brutality done to her.

I found most of the stories boring and confusing. I do not recommend this book.

I only did it because of Diana Gabaldon

This was not a good grouping of stories. I love Diana's writings so it was somewhat worth it for that but honestly I tried to give the other authors a shot in an effort to find more authors I would enjoy. There are maybe 2 others that are decent but no-one else is a Wow.

Too much narrative by author. 1st story boring.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Less upfront narrative...much too wordy and didn't get to the point. First story had me ready for a nap. I'll skip to the Gabaldon story and see if it gets better.