The Virgin in the Ice

By: Ellis Peters

Narrated by: Vanessa Benjamin

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

The winter of 1139 will disrupt Brother Cadfael's tranquil life in Shrewsbury with the most disturbing events. Raging civil war has sent refugees fleeing north from Worcester. Among them are two orphans from a noble family, a boy of thirteen and an 18-year-old girl of great beauty, and their companion, a young Benedictine nun. But the trio, never reaching Shrewsbury, have disappeared somewhere in the wild countryside.

Cadfael feels afraid these three lost lambs, but another call for help sends him to the Church of Saint Mary. A wounded monk, found naked and bleeding by the roadside, will surely die without Cadfael's healing arts. Why this holy man has been attacked and what his fevered ravings reveal soon give Brother Cadfael a clue to the fate of the missing travelers. Now Cadfael sets out on a dangerous quest to find them. The road will lead him to a chill and terrible murder and a tale of passion gone awry. And at journey's end awaits a vision of what is best, and worst, in humankind...in Ellis Peters's most stunning depiction yet of love and war.

©1982 by Ellis Peters (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Excellent story, narrator a bit rough

Having listened to Ward narrate the previous books, I really can't listen to Benjamin's voices for male characters. She sounds as though she's telling a story to little children and using her "big bad wolf" gruff voice. I shall repurchase this title with the Thorne narration.

3 people found this helpful

THE BEST

I have listen to a lot of Ellis Peters', Brother Cadfael books and this is my favorite so far. Reader is very good. Look forward to downloading the 2 or 3 Ellis Peters i do not have.

3 people found this helpful

Good story marred by poor reader

The story is up to Peters' usual standard. Unfortunately, the reader seems unable to offer a Welsh accent, and all the male characters sound the same, which caused me a lot of confusion at times. The 13 year old male character sounded like a 6 year old. Poor narration.
Unfortunately, in Australia, we are unable to download the version with the male narrator. Pity.

2 people found this helpful

Sooooooo boring

Any additional comments?

I've been enjoying the Brother Cadfael series but after several hours of listening, I have to give up on this one. After a promising start, the story unravels into one group of people travelling across country looking for one person, another couple heading out looking for someone else, yet another one travelling here and there. It goes on and on and on with little or no action other than riding or walking about. I suppose at some point someone will find someone else but I've reached the end of caring.

As others have mentioned, the narrator is not very good at male voices. She has a lovely speaking voice but tries a bit too hard with the male voices. She's also a bit louder with the male voices, which resulted in my constantly adjusting the volume. Life is too short for this kind of aggravation!

1 person found this helpful

Wasted money on this recording!

I am sorry to say that this recording is NOT what I am used to, when other narrators have read the Cadfael books.This narrator, Vanessa Benjamin, is making some characters too pompous (Cadfael and Hugh Beringar are not pompous!) and sometimes it is hard to understand Who is saying What, for example, when two males are talking! Only female and children are o.k. Besides that - here and there in the recording there are odd tin-scraping noices, like nails on a tin roof. Not nice at all!

5-star story, 4-star reading

I missed Cadfael's Welsh accent, as Stephen Thorne reads it. But still a good and satisfying mystery.

Bait and switch

Again. Buying thru amazon, audible set this up so you don't get the version you think you are getting. Not only that you then have to deal with audible instead of Amazon if you want it fixed. Amazon fixes problems. Audible makes excuses.

Cadfael to the rescue

Good old Cadfael does it again - a touch of forensic observation, a dose of kindness and a plateful of tolerance for the folly of girls in love. The only down-side of this audiobook was the occasional recording or production fault that left some words out or allowed a nasty electronic signal to overlay the narrator. This detracted a little from the performance and made the product seem a little shoddy. Better 'proof-reading' by editorial staff could pick up these faults before release.

Why on earth did they choose this narrator?

Surely it would make sense to use a male narrator for a novel whose main character is a man, indeed most of its characters are men. Or at least one who doesn't sound so laboured when reading 'male voices' (her own voice when reading descriptive passages was pleasant) - they were irritating in the extreme. Maybe I am just too used to Stephen Thorne. Although Joanna Ward manages it - just.

A good story odd read

Would you consider the audio edition of The Virgin in the Ice to be better than the print version?

I read the book before I listened to this version of it, I also watched all the BBC series so I was exposed to the story before. I think that hearing a book gives a whole new meanings and makes it a different experience if the narrator is good. Not better or worse just different.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Virgin in the Ice?

Well the two I liked the most was the tower scene with Eve and Olivier in the tower, and at the end with Olivier and Cadfael.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I found the narrators male voices to be comical and not realistic, it was distracting. Her regular speaking voice was fine. Some people just can't do characters and this narrator is one.

Any additional comments?

The story is good enough to get beyond the narrator who is not the worst I have listened to, but by far not the best either.

Good story, problemswith the narration.

Fans of Cadfael will enjoy the story. The only problem is the narrator. She reads the story line well but can't pull off a "male voice" and as most of the characters are male it rather sounds a bit silly.

3 people found this helpful

disappointing in parts not a clear download

Would you try another book written by Ellis Peters or narrated by Vanessa Benjamin?

no i don't think so these stories are best read my a man

What did you like best about this story?

the cadfael stories are always good

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Vanessa Benjamin?

derick jacobi

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

no reaction

Any additional comments?

i have always enjoyed books on tape or cd i found this one not as enjoyable as my others

2 people found this helpful

Great story, terrible delivery

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Bring back Stephen Thorne

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Vanessa Benjamin?

Stephen Thorne

Any additional comments?

It's always galling when the narrator mispronounces words. When VB got the name of one of the principle characters wrong, I gave up.

1 person found this helpful

Great story - poor naration

The story is the normal high quality, but the reader has Cadfael far too english

1 person found this helpful

good story / presentation could be better

despite a good story. names mispronounced and no Welsh accents made it an annoying listen.

1 person found this helpful

Disappointed

Having heard previous books performed by Stephen Thorne, I found this rendition a poor offering.

The narration was poor, tedious and flat in delivery. Will not be purchasing any more by this narrator.