Tom Swan and the Head of St George

By: Christian Cameron

Narrated by: Peter Noble

Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

1450s France. A young Englishman, Tom Swan, is kneeling in the dirt, waiting to be killed by the French who have taken him captive.

He's not a professional soldier. He's really a merchant and a scholar looking for remnants of ancient Greece and Rome - temples, graves, pottery, fabulous animals, unicorn horns. But he also has a real talent for ending up in the midst of violence when he didn't mean to. Having used his wits to escape execution, he begins a series of adventures that take him to street duels in Italy, meetings with remarkable men - from Leonardo Da Vinci to Vlad Dracula - and from the intrigues of the War of the Roses to the fall of Constantinople.

©2012 Christian Cameron (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group

Great as usual.

I don’t like the fifteen word requirement. All Christian Cameron’s books are great. Get them all.

Well Paced, excitement throughout, great finish.

For the first time in a while, the climactic moment at the end had me holding my breath. I was genuinely anxious. There are a few hilarious insults peppered throughout the dialogue. I'm on to the next book!

like listening to a blockbuster movie

Every book by the author that I have read has been 10/10. This was so very good. I cant say it’s the best, as his books ( red knight, long war, and now tom swan) are hard to say which is best, but they are all just great. It was immersive right away, and did not want to stop listening. If you are new to the Author, this is a great book to start with.

Story and Narration Superb as Usual

We LOVE Christian Cameron audio books and will pine away when we run out of them. Fabulous story teller, wonderful historic details and particularly of daily life, lifelike characters as well as heroic ones--these attributes along with Peter Noble's fabulous narration make for a rich listening experience.

Swashbuckle Redux

This is a decent swashbuckler and I listened to a little more than half of it. Long before that, however, you'll find the author starts recycling the exact same scenarios to the point of tediousness. The only factors that change are place and time. Maybe the characters evolve in the last 8 hours, but yikes, I don't care enough to find out.

Worth it

Historical fiction at its best. “Middle-ages Indiana Jones” I think is a solid description. The narrators voice matches the story as well.

Believe the stars (tiny spoiler(?)

The people that loved it apparently didn't take the time to write reviews, since the top written reviews aren't exactly favorable.
Contrary to what has been written, the ways he gets out of each predicament was rarely duplicated. It could be charm, wit, ingenuity, skill at arms, negotation, etc.
And yes, it's mostly a lighthearted romp aboit a swashbuckling hero, but that swashbuckling hero also (tiny spoiler alert)
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develops PTSD and becomes disgusted with killibg.

No armor better than plot armor

I’m almost finished with this, but I’m finding it extremely difficult to get through. The beginning was great. Most of his books start off great. But much like some of his other books, it features a hero who is generally good at everything he tries, possesses multi faceted talents that cause other characters to fade into the background because of how useless they become, and has good luck so profound that he almost miraculously gets out of every single situation with relative ease and little change or development. I’m having good luck is also addressed in the book itself, with the characters continuously, telling him he has the devils luck. It’s like the author knows exactly what he’s doing, understands how crappy it is, and figures that if the characters mentioned it over and over that the people reading it will just be gaslit into thinking that it’s good writing. It’s not. It’s lazy writing.

Ultimately, as he does in other books, he essentially writes a bunch of short stories that amounts to a travelogue, takes a character through whatever paces he needs to in order to take him around the world and meet famous figures and to do amazing things in their company. so much of it is contrived so that his character can go from point A to point B. And, like other characters that he writes, this character is absolutely charmed with the opposite sex and never fails to get all the women he wants. He constantly falls in love, has some sort of interaction with whatever woman of the hour he has found, they always become smitten with him after a little bit of tension, then he leaves and goes on to the next.

It’s a real shame, because the narrator is absolutely fantastic. One of the best narrators I have heard, with a great voice. I think the reason I listen so long as I have is because of the narrator. If there had been any lesser narrator, I probably would have turned off the book hours ago and tried to get my money back.

Terrible book.

Reads like a collection of barely related short stories. would have been better if the author had not tried to be quite so confusingly complex. Actually seems to have no point.

Splendid

Cameron's writing translates well to an audio book format. Cameron writes at a cracking pace and the way he writes about simple practical things in the time period is just fantastic. The rhythms of medieval life are en ever present character. The narrator is also splendid.

clunky delivery and disappointing writing

A staccato, self-conscious delivery and writing that lacks richness and eloquence meant this was really disappointing.

First class adventure

Loved it. Renaissance man versus the Turkish empire. Real historical and political detail in the remains of Byzantium and it's empire .Plus characters that are sympathetic and relatable Heard it all in less than a week . Just bought the next in the series

Absolutely flamin' fantastic!

Christian's medieval novels are my favourite hisfic of all time, and this one is no exception.

I'm literally lost for what else to say, other than there was not one sentence I didn't hang on. love it!

Superb narration, too.

Superb Historical Fiction Narrated Wonderfully.

Not since I read Dorothy Dunnett have felt so immersed in the extraordinary rich complex world of renaissance Europe. The characters are deep and vivid and the settings rich and varied. Whether buying second clothes (complete with minor bloodstains) in a Venetian market or battling on the deck of a galley on the glowing Mediterranean Sea you can feel the heat of the sun on your face and the taste of blood in your mouth. Flawed heroes, complex villains, honourable foes and female characters as interesting as their male counterparts - the story reeks of humanity. Thrilling, terrifying and humorous in turn. l loved every second of it. Brilliant stuff.

And the story begins. Another epic from Christian.

Having devoured The Chivalry series I was keep to continue the era, the superb writing and equally superb narrator in the form of Peter Noble. Book 1 does not disappoint with the familiar English hero taking on and defeating allcomers.. make that most (got to leave some for book 2).
Certain phrases reappear in this book that were used in the last series to the point of thinking there is an echo in the room but the scope of the story soon makes you forget the over use of religious prays as time measurements. Maybe it was a thing in the 14th century?
Peter Noble does another sterling job in narrating the book with the odd exception but again, in the scope of the story you can forgive him.
Looking forward to listening to the next in the series.

Excellent

Does everything an Historical adventure novel should with great narration by a master. Highly recommended.

A great historical novel

This is a complex unfolding adventure written by someone with an intimate knowledge of the period and it’s customs and attitudes, as well as it’s military history. As a trained swordsman himself, Christian Cameron depicts combat of the day better than anyone… and master narrator Peter Noble brings great characterisation, with the laconic and cynical ‘voice’ that one might expect from mercenaries, thieves, spies and self interested princes of the time… superior historical fiction… more please…

Disappointing

I had never sampled Christian Cameron’s work before, and rather wish I hadn’t. There’s so much he said he said it became intrusive. The writing is mediocre, the plot a stream of sword fights linked together by rather boring sexual encounters and the characters either male or stereotypes. Peter Noble does his best but has little to work with.

brilliant

a great story well narrated. never predicterable superb I can't wait for the next adventure

4.9☆

a real boys dream of adventure in olden days, me 50yrs ago before computers or mobiles, it is very good and humorous, but not as good as tyrant, long war, or chivalry, but I will buy next in series, it's late I drift to sleep of swordfish, sailships, travels to foreign lands, and, oh, beautiful exotic women, and serving girls a plenty.