The Outsorcerer's Apprentice

De: Tom Holt

Narrado por: Ray Sawyer

A happy workforce is a productive workforce. At the moment, the Wizard's employees are neither. The goblins are upset with their working conditions, the dragonslayer has thrown a hissy fit over his medical insurance (or lack thereof) and everyone is upset about the terrible canteen coffee.

Yet the Wizard hasn't got time to worry about revolution in the workplace - he's about to see his brilliant business plan (based on entrepreneurial flair and involving one or two parallel worlds) disrupted by a clueless young man. Side effects may include a huge hole in the fabric of reality. This is almost certainly going to be a bad day at the office.

©2014 One Reluctant Lemming Company, Ltd (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Decent

Decent read, a bit long to get into the story, but once engrossed you'll enjoy it. Seems like a complete story with no need for a sequel.

love the references

Loved the book. Seemed to be over before I knew it. They had a perfect reader as well.

Outsourced

Would you consider the audio edition of The Outsorcerer's Apprentice to be better than the print version?

NA

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Outsorcerer's Apprentice?

I liked the humor of the book. The characters have a sarcastic attitude that rings true. I especially like that the book has a message behind it

Which scene was your favorite?

The scenes with Buttercup and the wolves.

Who was the most memorable character of The Outsorcerer's Apprentice and why?

Buttercup, Her attitude and interaction was entertaining

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this book to fans of any of the comic novels or who like novels with a point. The narration,and story were excellent

Delightful

Loved this book, love the series. Wildly inventive. Bravo all the way around. It's a series that I will listen to many times over.

Very clever and new

Would you listen to The Outsorcerer's Apprentice again? Why?

I would and have done so. I listened it to it twice in a row.

What other book might you compare The Outsorcerer's Apprentice to and why?

Kind of like Jasper Fforde but more cerebral and sharp; a lot like the Johannes Cabal series; Outside of this, hard to compare because it is rather unusual.

Which character – as performed by Ray Sawyer – was your favorite?

The King of the Goblins was funny, and I loved when Sawyer performed any cockney or lower-class British character--his accent is dead-on and incredibly timed.

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

I laughed a lot and chuckled at some of the sly jokes. Throughout, it was funny and entertaining--you can easily miss some of the references if you aren't paying attention.

Any additional comments?

This is an extremely clever and fresh book. The elements of the narrative are too outlandish to try to explain here, but somehow, the author makes them work together. The writing is sharp and funny and tongue-in-cheek. It is sort of a meta-fairytale in that it constantly plays on its own references to traditional fairytale tropes; in one moment, a character wonders if the fairytale land makes money from a "four percent leverage on traditional narrative tropes." You may find the narration a little slow at first, but Sawyer knows exactly what he is doing. As the story unfolds, he voices additional characters perfectly and sets the pace well. One thing about this book: it requires your attention. There are so many little things going on, and if you are not listening attentively, you may miss them. I found myself rewinding it again and again just to catch small stuff. However, it is totally worth it because the dialogue and narration are so funny and, at times, quite smart and thought-provoking. This is the only book I've listened to twice in a row, in addition to the thousand rewinds in between. I recommend it if you like stories that collapse genres, make you think, and are a bit silly and unconventional. By the way, I think Tom Holt did some brilliant writing and storytelling here. I hope he writes more like this. It reminded me of Jasper Fforde with a bit more gravitas and slyness and subtlety. I teach literature and plan on teaching this in an Ethics and Values in Lit course. It brings up many philosophical and ethical issues that would get college students thinking. If you are a person who would prefer not to think of such things, you will still like the book--they are woven into the narrative so strategically that you can overlook them and just enjoy the silly goings on. Either way, I highly recommend.