Through the Wildwood

The Legend of Vanx Malic

By: M. R. Mathias

Narrated by: Gregory Silva

Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

A half-zythian bard named Vanx is in chains for bedding the Duchess of Highlake. The Duke wants him dead, but his wife secretly sends their daughter to buy his freedom from the slave markets. This is bad news, for bad things can happen to an ill-guarded caravan in the mountains. When the Duke's mercenaries attack to kill the adulterous prisoner all hell breaks loose. Now, the only way Vanx and the Princess of Highlake can escape the Duke and his men is to somehow make it through the Wildwood, a place that no one has ever returned from….

©2012 Michael Robb Mathias Jr. (P)2013 Michael Robb Mathias Jr.

don't get the narration Poor

The narration on this book is Poor. I returned it. The story is OK to good.

Decent story, horrible narration.

Would you listen to Through the Wildwood again? Why?

No. The narrator has issues pronouncing simple words, like "liege," "cicada," and "Wyrm." It's like the narrator has read the words, but doesn't know how they sound like. This, in turn, ruins the experience for me. There are no real differences between the characters voices.

Would you be willing to try another book from M. R. Mathias? Why or why not?

Sure. These seem like small books and I'm okay with that as they're fun to read.

How could the performance have been better?

Have the narrator learn what the words are so that he can read them properly.

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

Not really, but it's a decent book.

Any additional comments?

I would appreciate it if people would listen to these and vet that the audio is correct. Unfortunately that throws off the experience so much.

Not recommended

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I am afraid I would ask it to be completely revamped. The author had a great concept but lacked the writing maturity to present it in a cohesive manner. The fact that the main character does many flashback type scenes that are not clearly defined as such leaving the reader wondering. The writing seems to be chaotic and not well planned out.

Would you be willing to try another book from M. R. Mathias? Why or why not?

I do not think so. I hope this author continues to write and learn from his mistakes. I think he has good ideas, he is just lacking the talent to layout a storyline in a manner that does not leave the reader confused. Also, I found it unnecessarily crude in spots.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

No not at all, The reader could not change his voice a whit to help distinguish the change of character speaking or thinking. Also, his inability to pronounce words correctly was very irritating. It is shameful to my way thinking for someone to take on a production such as this with such a minimal grasp of the language and its usage.
In all fairness, he was very good showing emotions and adding sound to the description as he read them.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It might be easier to discern what is really going on and who is doing what to whom in film form. However, I would probably be offended at many of the more x rated scenes LOL

Any additional comments?

I would be helpful if the author could use something other than sexual liaisons as motivation for every single thing that goes on in his stories.

Struggle to listen to

I really wanted to like this book. The author set up some great cover art I love the 'haul cats'. I want to support new talent in the genre. This narrarator ruined it for me. I can't even finish it.

Words are mispronounced which is forgivable. However, he has a monotonous sing-song phrasing: he escellates up then descends in pitch almost every time. This really interferes with genuine emphasis and emotion. There are times when it sounded like all punctuation was simply lost. Also there is poor distinction between characters.

The intro is misogynistic even though it's a dream sequence. For many this will be off putting.

Awful narration

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I love the series, but the narration was awful. I will always download a sample before buying from now on.

Would you be willing to try another one of Gregory Silva’s performances?

No

Horrid Narration

I couldn't get more than a few chapters into the book because the narrator was so bad. His reading was inconsistent and his pacing is really bad. He mispronounces words constantly. He has no change in voices. I'd miss that someone actually talked because he didn't pause in the right place and the voice was the same. He rushes through a lot and it's just irritating.

The book looks like it has a lot of potential so if I ever have the time I'll just read it. It was really disappointing as I was looking forward to discovering this new to me author.

Not bad story, not good narrator.

I think the author needs to do a little research into the nobility and titles, but overall I enjoyed the story.
The narrator, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. I can get past him sounding like he has something in his mouth that he doesn't want to lose. I can live with him not having a range of voices for the different characters, although, it would have been better if he was able to follow the flow of punctuation. When phrases such as he said, or she joked are tacked onto the beginning of another character's dialogue, it becomes hard to follow. Add to that his inability to pronounce words properly (lopping instead of loping, snarle instead of snarl, carry-on instead of carrion), and not just once or twice, but repeatedly, it becomes painful and irritating.

Fun book, terrible narration

I never like to write a negative review; most especially when it's about a book I really enjoy. I read this book before buying the audio (I do a lot of driving from time to time, and familiar books are a nice thing to have along the way), and I enjoyed it.

It's not one of M.R. Mathias best, he's still learning the craft. But he has nothing to learn in creating fun characters, fleshing them out, making us care about them, and throwing in twists that make one's head spin.

Sadly, the narrator chosen for this book is the worst I've ever experienced. The pace is incredibly uneven (enough so that it actually changes the meaning of the text at times), the voicing is childish and irritating, and the pronunciation of many words is incorrect.

As much as I love this story, I can't see my way clear to buying any others that feature the services of Mr. Silva. Sorry, sir, but you really need to change careers or find some coaching before you do another book.

As I said, I'll just re-read these books on my Kindle, or wait for a new narrator before buying another.

Thrilling from start to finish.

Enthralling fantasy. I listened to the audio from start to end, and only stopped because I forgot to eat. I'm looking forward to the rest.

could be better

What did you like about this audiobook?

I love the book I love the author he is fantastic

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

Yes he is very descriptive and I always feel like I am in the story.

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

Everything all he did was read the words every character had the same voice. He sounds like he has cotton mouth, I wish they would have someone else narrate this book and all the others that follow.