The Old Gods Waken

The Silver John Series, Book 1

By: Manly Wade Wellman

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

The first Silver John novel.

In the wilds of Southern Appalachia lies Wolter Mountain - a sacred place for the Indians and their predecessors. But the land atop the mountain, taken over by two Englishmen, Brummitt and Hooper Voth, is undergoing frightening changes.

©1979 Manly Wade Wellman (P)2014 Skyboat Media, Inc.

I loved this!

This is my first adventure with Silver John and I loved it! My friend Ronald recommended this author to me a while ago. I saw this title as one i could listen to for free with my audible membership and I added it to my list. I'm so glad I spent the day with Silver John up on Wolter Mountain. I love, love the dialect. I'm from north east Tennessee and I can vouch for it accuracy. The story was engaging and very entertaining. Stefan Rudnicki reads this. He does a very good job. His voice is very deep and I loved it. He was a perfect match to read this southern tale of horror.

Brilliant new version of a true classic

What did you love best about The Old Gods Waken?

Stefan Rudnicki brings Wellman's wonderful Silver John to vibrant life with this new performance. Please...PLEASE tell me Stefan will be recording the rest of the John the Balladeer stories.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Old Gods Waken?

First time I'd heard these stories on audio, and Stefan infuses each character with individuality and authenticity.

Which scene was your favorite?

When we first meet John I cheered because I've been a fan of these stories since I was a kid and it was a delight to 'meet' Silver John in this way.

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

I sat on the beach with headphones...watching the waves and the whales and listened to the whole thing on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Any additional comments?

Please record the rest of the Silver John stories. Now.

Awesome horror story

Awesome horror story, great narration and the story (originally from 1979) still holds up well today

Old stereotypes

Same old story. I get this came out right before the " satanic panic" of the 80s but some stories are as old as time. Pagans are "evil" ,the villain's of the story with their blood thirsty Gods. The Christians are the hero's, all knowing and righteous. Complete nonsense to the point of being offensive. Not much of a story. The narrator did the best he could with what he had. Glad this was free.

I might could say I enjoyed this rightly

Lemme just say that Wellman has such a way eith characters that it is impossible to not know each of who these people are. Such great detail eith characters, telling who they are in such a fluid way that doesn't feel like a character sheet read off. Nicely done. Its a simple story but I still found myself really enjoying the journey.

Loved Stefan's performance here. I got a buddy from rural Alabama and has a habit of saying "Might Could" so I kept thinking of him each time i heard it said. This was a fun listen thanks to the writing and performance.

here's the required, not optional at all, headline

This was an awesome find. I have always enjoyed stories of the mountains & the old ways but this was excellently blended with supernatural elements so as to make it awfully difficult to have to stop listening. I only wish that there were more of the Silver John books on audible as seems only to be one of the 4 books has been made available.

Meh

The ending was good. The middle seems like it couldn't fully commit to a genre and it spent waaaay too much time on exposition. I think I might have enjoyed this in October if it has a different narrator and was 1/2 the length.

Speaking of narrator: I've enjoyed Rudnicki on several other books. He's a very good narrator but was the wrong pick for this book. This book was meant to be an oral tale with an Appalachian accent. His clean crisp speech was a terrible fit for the colloquialisms and mountain slang.

Fantastic!!

I’d never heard a thing about this book and only came across it on a chance search. I absolutely loved the story... was gritting my teeth and sitting the edge of my seat. Freaked me out in such a great way for a book! And I just cannot say enough great stuff about the narrator Stefan Rudnicki... heard his voices for the first time just weeks ago and he has quickly become my absolute favorite!!! Thank you so much for such a wonderful production!

A solid pulp adventure

I gave this 4 stars but I see it as more of a 3.5 star book. The Old Gods Waken has a simple, straightforward plot, some genuinely eerie moments and a good sense of humor. Wellman does a particularly nice job with the Appalachian setting and dialogue. If you're new to this sort of material, this book might have more impact. As a long-time reader of pulp writers like Lovecraft, Howard (and Wellman himself), I found myself entertained but in familiar territory.

Stefan Rudnicki's deep, expressive voice isn't the perfect match for this material but he always does a good job and this book is no exception.

Beautiful Southern Style

The confederate states tend to STILL get a rather bad reputation for being....sore losers among other things. However this story includes not only a college educated woman but also a Cherokee scholar in positions of great respect, classic southern manors, and the uniquely archaic elements of southern vocabulary and grammar that make the dialects south of the Mason-Dixon line distinctive. While the story does contain some concepts from theological study that have been CHALLENGED since the 70's, the writer was well informed on his source material before spinning a tale of his own. I liked it so much I'm planning to look for future books form the same author.