The Philosophical Strangler

Joe's World Series 1

By: Eric Flint

Narrated by: Tristan Morris

Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Mighty Greyboar, the world's greatest professional strangler, is dissatisfied with his lot in life. The work is steady and the pay is good, but what, he wonders, is the point of it all.

But when he learns that there is a Supreme Philosophy of Life, Greyboar the Strangler is born again! Still, just how can a professional man in good standing pay the bills with all this philosophical exploration getting in the way.

That's what his hard-headed agent and manager Ignace wants to know! And Ignace's skepticism turns quickly into outright horror when Greyboar's philosophical preoccupation leads to one disaster after another...Before you know it, Greyboar the Strangler and his disgruntled manager find themselves embroiled with an abbess at odds with her deity, heretics on the run, dwarves needing to be rescued, and then - worst of all!

Greyboar's long-estranged sister Gwendolyn, political activist and revolutionary, comes back to town asking Greyboar's help in an insane mission to the underworld. It's purely a noble cause, one which no self-respecting assassin would touch for a moment. But in the pursuit of enlightenment, anything can happen.

Contains mature themes.

©2001 Eric Flint (P)2020 Tantor

Great, if bizarre, fantasy story

I love all Eric Flint's books.
This one is so bizarre and witty and humorable and...
OK. Imagine a "Gargantua" type of exaggerative satire in a classical fantasy world. With a strangler - that is to say, an assassin who murders his victims by strangling them with his bare hands - for a hero, together with other no less strange characters. All not just done to perfection, but utterly overcooked.
Is it good? No. It's incredible.

The only issue with performance is when Morris does the narrator -- suddenly he becomes sonorous. He delivers great dialog, all distinguishable voices, but during the narrator's parts his voice goes up and down in each sentence. Oh well.

been waiting for this too long

this crazy story of a strangler and his shill has long been one of my favorites. having finally found it here on audio is a wonderful blessing. I first read this on a plane to Europe and it has remained in the overused section of my bookcases. I have eye issues now and can't read as well so have been searching out many old favorites in audio form. thanks for making older stories as well as the new stories.

not my cup of tea

before you buy the book, before you listen to the little tiny snippet that audible gives us, go to Kindle and read the first chapter. then if you enjoy that, listen to the audible rendition to see if you can tolerate the reader. he reads with a cadence and a sarcasm that makes the humor of the actual book inpenetrable. so you need to know if you can get past him before you pay any money for this.