The Pursuit of Leviathan

By: C. D. Baker

Narrated by: Nick Denton

Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

In the 17th century, hundreds of thousands of Europeans endured some of the most barbarous assaults ever lost to history. Until now. As heir to the family estate, young English gentleman Christopher Clive is submissive to his grandfather's grooming, but his heart is drawn to the enchanting Irish muse, Raven O'Morrissey. When her village is attacked, Christopher makes a noble sacrifice and comes face to face with Leviathan - a godless spirit of chaos - and its world of forced slavery, jihad, and the clash of empires. Yet even as the years pass, he cannot forget the coastal mist of the sea cove he and Raven once shared as the setting of their tragic romance and of a legendary treasure that could change their fate forever. An extraordinary journey across perilous lands and a historical portrait of unthinkable evil, The Pursuit of Leviathan reveals a great monster that threatens us all - and the greater power that insures its inevitable defeat.

©2016 C David Baker (P)2017 C David Baker

The Pursuit of Leviathan

The Pursuit of Leviathan hooked me and pulled me immediately into its fast paced adventure. The story is a coming of age story for the main character Christopher (Kipper). I found Kipper to be a very real character. He goes through his moments of frustration, anger, and a bit of angst, but CD Baker has done an fine job of not allowing these behaviours to overwhelm Kipper's character or the story line, and instead making Kipper a regular guy dealing with a terrible situation while trying to stay true to himself. CD Baker is an excellent writer. His detailed descriptions of the different settings and characters were so vividly drawn that the reader really does 'see' them. He has also done an incredible amount of research. I hadn't known the history of the Corsair raids, and have since spent some hours researching the time period - very fascinating. The historical account of Kipper's adventure is spot on what an enslaved male would have experienced during the Corsair raids and his confinement. The story is brutal, but this was the reality.

(**Spoiler-ish**)
My only disappointment with the book was the ending, and it is just a minor complaint. The ending was fine and there was resolution, however I felt a bit cheated that I didn't get to be there for the 'end'. After spending ~20 years with Christopher on his wretched and arduous journey, I wanted to see the payoff instead of just hearing where he was headed. Though I was very happy about the horse;)
(**End Spoiler**)

Narration: Nick Denton did a super job on the narration. He had many accents to cover, and he handled them all with skill, and his choice for the voice of Kipper was excellent. The story was long and extremely dark, and there were some moments where I almost turned the audio off. It was the narration that kept me holding on and I got through the most horrible moments. Thanks Nick, I'll be keeping an eye out for more of your narrations!

Interesting notes: From 1530-1780 ~1,250,000+ people were kidnapped by Barbary Corsairs from ships and European coastal villages (British Isles, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Iceland) and sold into slavery. Coastal towns were abandoned or reinforced with defences due to the fear of Corsair night time raids. This chapter in history was entirely new to me. It's always super exciting to find moments in history that I have not encountered previously, so thank you author CD Baker!

For those who like to know... the book contains much violence (torture) and one situation of animal abuse, but not sex or profanity.

I received The Pursuit of Leviathan for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

Glad I took this journey

I wasn’t expecting a 20-year journey through the life of a Irish Nobleman, but I’m glad I took the trip. Well written, with deep human passion. Also, very historically detailed: from the clothing to the foods, it all felt well researched and authentic. The voice artist was good - only one questionable choice: the American man that helped the prison break was a sour note vocally. Other than that, very well done.

back to Ireland in the begging of culture

What did you love best about The Pursuit of Leviathan?

I loved the atmosphere. The language is very rich - a bit hard for nonnative speakers who listen to it while fighting the Israeli traffic jams but a delight to literature lovers

What about Nick Denton’s performance did you like?

He is very much into the atmosphere of the era

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The black cliffs of early Ireland

Fantastic historical epic

Who was your favorite character and why?

Christopher Clive, he stays true to his beliefs no matter what happens to him and stays faithful to Raven, if only her memory.

Which character – as performed by Nick Denton – was your favorite?

Christopher

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Christopher finally realizes he's free.

Any additional comments?

Loved this book, and it covered an era and subject of history that isn't often seen. The narrator was amazing as well. I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Great Book!

I thoroughly enjoy this book. This is a great story with a perfect narrator. Well worth the credit!

"This book was provided at no cost for a fair and honest review."

A dark journey through middle eastern slvery

The Pursuit of Leviathan is the story of a young British nobleman who goes into slavery for the sake of a young Irish lady that he is in love with. Covering over 20 years the story takes him from England half way around the world to be a slave in the Ottoman Empire, and into the middle of the Ottoman-Habsburg War.



It is his love of the Irish lady who get's him through the troubles, with him focusing on making sure she is okay and always hoping for a complete and free reunion. That said, the love story is almost a MacGuffin for the rest of the story - it is the reason to drag him into the world, it is something that keeps driving the plot forward, but it is not the plot. This isn't a romance story.

I picked up the book based on the cover thinking it would be a Hornblower type story with Ships of the Line. It is not that in any way, there is some time on a ship but not a significant amount. But the story is not lesser for it. It is a very interesting historical piece in a period and location I didn't know much about.

The book is detailed in it's descriptions of the historical places and events. It covers life in the Ottoman empire, and the beliefs of the Muslim occupants at the time, as well as going through a major event in the Ottoman-Habsburg War. The description of this event is detailed and all the history seemed well researched. At times it is a hard read, with the details of events and suffering of the character being significant. He certainly does not come through it all unscathed and unchanged.

The main character is a Christians and is unapologetic for it in the Muslim Turkish empire; something that gets him into a lot of trouble at times. I did not find the references to his religion in anyway overbearing or unbelievable - especially considering the 17th century context, around the height of some of the Catholic-Protestant issues in England and Europe. The religion is present, the character is religion. But it is not brow beaten and I never felt like it was proselytizing.

Nick Denton does a very good job with the narration. It is varied and interesting. The main character has a British accent, while the other characters are all varied based on their nationalities - Irish, Turkish etc. I'm no expert but they certainly sounded good to my ear. He is well paced and included acting the parts - providing emotions and varying the narration to match the action or slow points.

I look forward to reading more books by Nick Denton.

This audio book was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

New twist on historical books about slavery

Any additional comments?

There are many books about slavery but, this one is unusual in that is a story about some English and Irish people sold into slavery to Muslims. There are several likeable characters, each with their own limitations, both imposed by themselves and others. The story focuses on a young man and how he deals with his circumstances. The book touches on the essential enslavement of the Irish people by the English and so it is ironic that those who were in a position of control and power over their Irish tenants were captured and brought down to the same level as them.
I enjoy historical fiction and look forward to doing a little more research on this aspect of this time in history.
I can see how this book can be considered preachy but most "advice" given from one character to another is not unreasonable.
I think the narrator did a good job with the male characters and multiple voices. I am not an expert on various English or Irish accents, so, for me, they were comfortable to listen to. However, there were a couple accents that did feel awkward to listen to. For example, the Southern American came across to me like he kept sliding into a Jamaican accent. The narrator also had a difficult time with several female voices.. They were way too high-pitched and unnatural.

I would be willing to listen/read another book by this narrator or author.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review

I loved it!

I will admit it took me a while to get into this book, the beginning for me was very slow but I'm so glad I stuck with it! Great story and great characters. Awesome narration.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Super narration and interesting story

Would you listen to The Pursuit of Leviathan again? Why?

Maybe. I did learn some world history while listening to the story.

What did you like best about this story?

The main character's perseverance throughout the whole story. He held onto his Christian beliefs, while he was being pressured to convert to being a Turk. He hung on to the very end and it paid off.

Have you listened to any of Nick Denton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have heard of some of his demos and an animated short or two. This story made me realize he is multi talented with voicing different characters. The character Fredrick he voiced made me laugh out loud because he sounded kind of like Arnold, LOL! But to summarize, he's was very good at all of his various voices. You need to invite Nick to stick around for more of your future novels.

If you could take any character from The Pursuit of Leviathan out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The guy that trusted him that he would not run away, as he had many opportunity to do so, and because of this, he helped him leave as they were being defeated.

Any additional comments?

I know this was a love story and the struggles of his love for an Irish girl, to whom everyone frowned upon in that period. If he had the nerve to stand up for the woman he truly loved in the first place, there would be no story. Even though I wanted to reach out and smack him upside the head due to his hesitations.

It Deserves TEN STARS!!!!

This book may be the best I've listened to so far this year....and I listen to A LOT of books. The story is very well written and researched. Prior to listening, I didn't know much about this time period. The author did an excellent job of making it fascinating to learn about. The story pulled me in from the beginning and you can't help but to laugh, cry and grow with the main character. It's a very touching and emotional read/listen.
The narration is FABULOUS!!! You can tell the narrator put all his passion, blood, sweat and tears into his performance. Nick Denton brings the book to life and makes you feel as if you are right there with the character. I hope to see and hear more books narrated by Mr. Denton in the near future.
I have found a new favorite author and narrator and will definitely pick up anything I see from either one....but they make an excellent team!!

I 110% recommend this book, this author, this narrator!

I received this audiobook via audiobook boom and voluntarily reviewed.

Loved it

Fantastic performance he really took you to that point in time. Story at the end left you wanting more.

Truly amazing!!

wow the book was absolutely amazing i could not stop listening to it, some points I was on the edge of my chair and heart was beating fast!! the narrator did a great job at all the different accents and how he read the book, it made you feel like you was in the story watching it all fold out. a big 5 stars from me.

An awesome read!

What made the experience of listening to The Pursuit of Leviathan the most enjoyable?

It's an awesome historical novel! An amazing audio book!
I really enjoyed listening to this book. It is an adventure in words and characters from across the 17th world! Nick Denton’s narration was superb! He drew you into the story: you felt that you were sharing the hero, Kipper Clive’s angst and heartbreak, his friendships and love.

What did you like best about this story?

How the audio book transported you to such places as the streets of Jerusalem and the beautiful Irish countryside through Nick’s rendition of the descriptive text. There were also moments when I laughed out loud at his admirable rendition of a wide range of characters’ voices, male and female and even equine!

Which scene did you most enjoy?

There are so many! The scenes at the beginning with Raven were very romantic as were those where he made lifelong friendships during his imprisonment. The last few episodes were my favourites as I waited to see what would happen at the end of the story.

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

Yes!But life gets in the way! Through listening to it over a few weeks it made it more memorable with the main plot and a plethora of sub plots!

Any additional comments?

Now, please let there be a sequel! I am ready …