Villains by Necessity

By: Eve Forward

Narrated by: Daniel Nicolai

Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

A twist on the classic fantasy novel.

©1996 Eve Forward (P)2018 Eve Forward

Great story, poor performance

I think this is one of those rare books that I will eventually pick up in a different format and reread it. The world, characters, and overall story were great. I enjoyed the conflict, the resolution, and the ending. I do feel that this could be done better presented as a light vs dark conflict instead of good vs evil. Most of the villains were more dark than evil, and the actions of some of the heros are not what I would consider good.

The performance of the narrator was sub-par. It felt as though I was being read to, poorly. I was never able to slip into the story and forget I was listening to an audiobook. Concentrating on the story was difficult between mispronounced words, microphone interference, and lack of tone.

great story, terrible narration

I love the book, I read it several times and was thrilled to find it here. sadly the narration is the worst I've ever encountered. very distracting.

26 years ago.....

When I was 16 years old my local library had a new release section displayed at the front door.

I spent many years walking by this stand and never looking at it (I was more interested in the comic books and CDs). One day I looked at the stand and saw a book that intrigued me. There was a knight running down a dragon with a lance. Out of sheer curiosity I grabbed it and checked it out of the library. As I sat at my parents dining room table I read the prologue and the first 130 pages without stopping. I eventually finished the book 2 days later, since I still had 12 days left on the check out, I read it again.
Then again.
Then again.

I finally had to return the book and In about 2 months the library was selling it in their used section. I was so happy I bought the book and I can say I read it over 70 times and it still entertains me.

I have not been able to read it over the last few years only because I and afraid the binding may go. I have been waiting for the digital and audio versions for a while now and I am happy to see they are available.

I have bought them and I am planning on wearing out my IPad with this book.

Horrible narration

The story might be worth reading, but the narrator is soooo bad I ended up hating it all. The narrator does voices and accents worse than any dad with a kids book has ever done. And his "normal" voice is so monotone I drifted away from the story repeatedly. Zero stars if I could. Such a bad reading.
Amazon, pay someone else to record this. There seems to be a following for the book.

Classic fantasy ruined by delivery

This book was out of print and availability, so I was excited to finally get a version of it again. It's a nice parody of overdone fantasy tropes, with plenty of easter eggs and nods for genre fans. Unfortunately, the narrator is trying hard to be overly dramatic, which made it almost painful to listen to.

When good goes to far, villians must become heroes

The tale of a time when the scales of goodness and evil tipped so much that villians were needed in order to shift the balance back and stop the light from destroying everything. A group of six villians team up and use their unique gifts to save the world from the unwitting good guys! This is the story of their quest to collect the pieces of the key and open a portal to darkness and save everything! I couldnt get enough of this book! The writting brought the images in my head to life and brought me on the journey of a lifetime! It was a beautiful mix reminiscent of lord of the rings and dungeon and dragons! I loved the twist in the plot making the villians the good guys and the heroes the bad guys! And yet... they were still villians in every sense of the word! And Daniel Nicolai did an amazing job narrating, truly bringing this book to life! Truly a marvolous experience and tale!

Wow!

this book is incredibly unique and wonderfully written. If you've ever played Dungeons & Dragons or intend to run an evil campaign, it is a must-read. it is imaginative and exciting.

Ruined by bad narration

I love this book. I've read it many times since high school. I simply CANNOT get past the first actual chapter. This audio book is being returned in the middle of the first action scene...35 minutes into a 10+ hour book.

This audio performance is absolutely **abysmal**.

He's simply reading the script, he fails to tell the story.

Dry, monotone, mispronounced words... I've listened to more entertaining documentaries about algae.

I have no doubt this particular performer is skilled somehow, just NOT for fantasy/adventure. Sorrynotsorry.

Audible, if you're reading this, I beg you...PLEASE recast this. This story DESERVES an actual storyteller.

Excellent story.

Excellent story. Narrator is dry at times. Story moves nicely. Intriguing characters and fun story.

wonderful story that brought me into D&D

I found the paperback in a library sale . I read every page like it was a gift. I gave the copy to a friend who was feeling down. within 2 months we were playing D&D together . my Samander assassin and his Robin centar bard. when I saw this in the listings on Audible. I knew I had to go to the 6 lands again.

been waiting a long time for this.

Good book. written for what I feel is a younger audience and seems to me someone's d and d game put to pen. performance.ance wasn't as bad as a lot of reviewers say but have heard better. humorous and interesting story. definitely worth a listen and chuckle at. likeable characters.

Decent story, ATROCIOUS narration

Poor narration completely ruined this book, I've never heard a worse voice actor. Struggling to comprehend why he was chosen.