The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez

The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez, Volume 1

By: Ann Swinfen

Narrated by: Jan Cramer

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

It is the year 1586. England is awash with traitors, plotting to assassinate the Queen and bring about a foreign invasion. The young physician Christoval Alvarez, a refugee from the horrors of the Portuguese Inquisition, is coerced into becoming a code-breaker and agent in Sir Francis Walsingham's secret service. In the race to thwart the plot, who will triumph - the ruthless conspirators or the equally ruthless State?

©2014 Ann Swinfen (P)2016 Ann Swinen

A bit of a disappointment

This book was a bit of a disappointment, especially after reading the Oxford Medieval Mysteries series, which I loved. Not only that, but the narrator read so fast, that my head was spinning. It was almost like she was literally just reading from a book. Also, it gives the game away because she has such a girlish voice that I thought that Christoval was a girl right from the beginning, The story is OK, it has its interesting parts, but overall it dragged along quite a bit. I probably won’t read the second one.

Good Story, Somewhat Distracting Narration

The story is good. It takes a bit to get interested in the main character but once it gets well established is interesting. The setting is well detailed and researched. The inclusion of actual events and historical figures was fascinating. Nice subplots.

The narration was overall a B- for me and I had to keep the sound turned down below what was comfortable because of the mouth noises (saliva and audible swallowing etc) of the reader. Otherwise I would not have been able to listen. That's something that REALLY bothers me. The narrator did an excellent rendering of English and other dialects in a subtle and believable way.

Very disappointing narration

The story would have been good, I think. The narrator finally got on my nerves so much that I’m giving it up. Narrator was not believable as a young boy. I thought the character was a girl at the beginning. A waste of a credit and time.

Off to a good start.

This was an interesting book. The plot was well written with plenty of"elephant traps" to fall into in the series to come. I like the characters and their sincerity, how they want to do well for themselves and those around them but can't seem to get past their hand-to-mouth existence.
I think the narrator is good at doing both male and female voices equally well. She does an excellent job at conveying the author's thoughts and ideas.
I will proceed to the next book.

Great storyteller. Great narrator.

I love this series. This is my 2nd time through it. Interesting plot and it gives a believable glimpse into life in the 1500's in London. Just hoping that Audible will offer the books that are available after #7 in the series.

More please ...

When are the rest of the books coming to Audible? Very good and looking forward to the rest.

First Impressions

I am not in a place that allows me to write a very complete review. But I think it is easy enough for me to say that I very much enjoyed this book and that I do plan to find the next installment and read it. I truly loved the narrator and plan to look into any other work they have done. I also think it's worth noting that part of what I loved might be a bit of a turn off for others. Namely that the novel contains quite a bit of history and there is quite a bit of placing the reader in the world of the protagonist with small details and the descriptions of Kit's sensory experiences of the world.

Boring

I have never written a review before but I found that this book is incredibly boring. Not only is the story a rehash of the one that has been told ad nauseum, but the monotone of the narrator adds to the problem. Don't waste your credits.

Mediocre story ruined by poor narration

Agree with other reviews. Narrator is overly singsong and doesn’t fit the character at all. Also, she doesn’t even read very well. I can’t stand it when the narrator starts and stops sentences in the wrong places. It’s hard to follow the story, even though I’ve listened to hundreds of audiobooks. For anyone reading this, The Seeker book series by SG Maclean is excellent.