Shadowplay

Shadowmarch: Volume II

By: Tad Williams

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 30 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

A year ago, the March Kingdoms were at peace, and the Eddon family held the throne. Now the family has been shattered. King Olin Eddon is a prisoner in a faraway land, and Olin’s heir Kendrick is dead – slain by treachery and dark, bloody magic.

With their father and brother taken from them, the royal twins Barrick and Briony have done their best to hold the kingdom together, but now Barrick has been captured in a failed war against the immortal Twilight People and Briony has been forced to flee.

Behind the Shadowline, Prince Barrick is lost and spellbound in the land of the fairies. While Princess Briony, in her flight from the castle, finds both allies and deadly enemies in the unexpected places far from the land of her birth.

During their desperate journeys the twins discover that even a land’s rulers may know little of its true history, and that both families and nations can hide dark secrets.

©2007 Tad Williams (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

9.5/10 ign

Damm good book, if you have a scrap of patience and good taste don't worry about them naysayers.

Well written & well read

Tad Williams's writing is rich and deep, filled with detail, interesting characters and imaginative places. I often find myself astounded at the level of depth he puts into his world - the back stories, lore, mythology, politics, etc.

Dick Hill is an impressive narrator and the more I listen to him, the more I appreciate his talent.

Good story

What did you like best about Shadowplay? What did you like least?

The character development was fantastic and the story was captivating. Although, some of the characters were whiny at times which started to get old.

Would you be willing to try another book from Tad Williams? Why or why not?

Yes, I thought his story telling was great.

What does Dick Hill bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His many different accents an the suspense and excitement he brings to certain situations was fantastic.

Was Shadowplay worth the listening time?

yes

Stuff is happening but it's rather dull

Dick Hill does a fine job but the material is just poorly written. The book contains what should be really exciting plot but the author phasing and tone make it feel like it is about as exciting as reading the the coles notes of a book rather then what could be a gripping story. While Tad Williams is a big name and the actual plot is good the presentation of events is poor and unimaginative. (Unimaginative is about the worst in a fantasy that could happen.) The book seems to have a pace and not want to speed up or down. Even the unexplained magics in the book seem rathern yawn worthly not because they couldn't be interest but because I never felt that their workings would be much of a shock.

Another great piece of the Shadowmarch series

There are so many different intertwining stories but somehow it still makes sense. I love that the characters have their fears but still continue on.

good book

immediately starting the next in the series and I love that I can listen and use my has for other things. The reader was very good as we.

Good story but hard to understand

I'm a Tad Williams fan and this story does not disappoint. However, I have problems with the narration. Dick Hill is great with all of the different voices. Unfortunately, the grunts, coughs, laughs, whispers, and exaggerated accents sometimes make it very difficult to understand what he is saying. I've noticed this with some other narrators. I wish they would understand that while the acting can enhance the audiobook experience, it should not detract from the reading of the story. In this case, I will have to forgo the audiobook versions of the rest of this series and read them myself.

Voices

The readers were great when the characters were male but the renditions of Briony and other female characters should have been done by women in my opinion.

Good story and a great narration

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

I quite enjoyed the entire Shadowmarch series. It was a very entertaining story that kept me quite intrigued. The narration by Dick Hill was exceptional.

What did you like best about this story?

There was enough character details to keep me interested but no so much that it became tedious. The story kept me guessing through three books.

Weak willed characters are extremely aggravating

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

I think the book and story are pretty well done. However, the incredibly weak willed, whiny characters are almost too much to tolerate. I enjoy the story line and there are enough twists and interesting thoughts to keep it moving, albeit slowly at times. I think Williams could have cut 15-20% to make a much better book. My biggest issue is with the incredibly whiny, self-centered, feeble characters. This is the people Williams made, not poorly developed characters. I believe they are developed well, as slack, spineless, 'why me' characters. But the issue is that almost EVERY character is written this way. There is little spine in any character, with the 'inner talk' trending almost always towards the 'why does this have to happen to me... people should treat me better' kind of way. Rarely does a character dig in and show character... it is typically 'deus ex machina' forcing them to muddle through, rather than choice of the character. I think this is really brought to the surface by the very well done narration. Hill does a great job with varying voice, however, he seems to have an affinity for the whiny voice. Which, for this book is not a problem, given the sad-sack characters he has to work with. However, my only thought is that it is the combination of Hill's great narration and the overly wrought spinelessness of the characters synergistically grating against my being. I have never spoken to the radio in my car as much, telling the characters to get a grip and put in some effort.

Classic Williams, though a little heavy going

Tad Williams provides his usual solidly epic fantasy world, filled with rich lore and characterisation that is sure to entertain. Some may find the helplessness of some protagonists frustrating, and the sheer wordiness of the work can sometimes rival Dickens, but overall the depth of the characters and the sense of growing dramatic tension usually overcomes the length of descriptions if not their melodrama. The reader is excellent in his presentation, and the work has the meat you expect from Williams. Overall worth a listen.

loving it

not a moment i haven't enjoyed as much as the paperback.dick hill in my top narrators with steven pacey ,micheal Cramer, sean rune,ect