Water Sleeps

By: Glen Cook

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

For years, Glen Cook's Black Company series has built a major audience among fantasy fans. Told from the "worm's-eye" view of the soldiers and functionaries who fight in the trenches of vast sorceress wars, this epic has riveted a generation of readers. If the Joseph Heller of Catch-22 were to tell the story of The Lord of the Rings, it might read like the Black Company books. There is nothing else in fantasy like them. Now Cook brings the latest cycle of the Black Company saga to a major climax, as the survivors of the disaster at the end of She is Darkness regroup in Taglios. Determined to free their fellow warriors held in stasis beneath the glittering plain, they journey there under terrible conditions, arriving just in time for a magical conflagration in which the bones of the world will be revealed, the history of the Company unveiled, and new worlds gained and lost...all at a major price. Wry, tough-minded, brilliantly imagined, and told with enormous flair, Water Sleeps is Glen Cook at the top of his game.

Listen to more in the Black Company series.

©1999 Glen Cook (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Extraneous Mouth Noises

Would you try another book from Glen Cook and/or MacLeod Andrews?

Glen Cook is fantastic. MacLeod Andrews has been great with other books, but this one, the recording distracted from his voice acting and the story.

What did you like best about this story?

This far into the series, pulled away from the protagonist that started the story, there was a challenge to make the reader care about these people. Glen Cook managed to keep me going, which is saying something.

How could the performance have been better?

Lick the roof of your mouth while opening your mouth. Here that popping, clicking sound? The subtle, moist smacking? At almost every pause in the narration, and several times in the middle of sentences, I could hear that sound.

Imagine 18 hours of that sound, and that's what the experience was like listening to this book.

My guess is that the microphone was too close to MacLeod's mouth, or something along those lines. Whatever the reason, it made listening to this book extremely difficult, because it was a constant distraction from the story being told.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Great

Story was amazing per usual.

Performance
While he might not be my favorite Narrator in this series, there is no doubt he is the most talented. His voices for one eye and the new character Suverin(sp?) are amazing works of art.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fantastically Narrated

It had been a while since I had read the Black Company series, and this audible re-introduction was a pure delight. McLeod Andrews is one of the best narrators I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. The sheer dexterity of his voice allowed the diverse characters to fully come to life in this tale.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

entertaining

little drawn out but i still love the characters. was interesting to see how the group stays the same even when there is only one original member from the first story.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

shouldn't have switched readers

i get that there is inherent bias once you get used to a good reader but this guys accents are over the top and his cadence is bad

Cook thrills—yay! Andrews underwhelms—ugh!

Macleod Andrews is worst reader of the series—he makes a lot of errors that took me out of the story by way of awkward breaks, dry mouth, ambient sounds, and mispronunciations. Also haven’t been a fan of the accent work since Mark Vietor was replaced. Andrews simply cannot distinguish characters without an absurd accent, and his preponderance of Indian-style accents seems uncomfortably exaggerated and even vaguely racist at times. Vietor’s Soul Catcher is so much more vivid and alive than Andrew’s Protector—it’s painful at times. Same goes for the ongoing Scottish brogue of One-Eye—previous narrator’s misstep that stays & remains the most nonsensical artist choice of the series. Still this is the best story of the Glittering Stone series so far, so the quality of the narrative overcomes the shortcomings of the narrator. Easily the best story since Shadows Linger, and a much more deft handling of a woman-centered fantasy narrative than Dreams of Steel. I only wish Rachel Butera or someone with her abilities had been brought back for this one.

MacLeod Andrews is a narration genius

Mr. Andrews brought this book to life possibly better than many readers I have listened to in over 100 titles on Audible. This is another great addition to the Black Company. I am anxious to complete the series, but alas only one book remains.

But your enemies don't.

What made the experience of listening to Water Sleeps the most enjoyable?

Water Sleeps is an excellent addition to my library. Although it is not one of my favorite books it is an excellent addition to the series.

What other book might you compare Water Sleeps to and why?

Goblin. This character has been key through the entire series but had mostly been used satirically. Now the character is given depth which made me fall in love with him anew.

Have you listened to any of MacLeod Andrews’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Should be female. I know this seems a little unfair but his voice made it hard to imagine the character.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. Of all of the series the suspense of this title held me throughout the story.

Any additional comments?

MacLeod did a great job narrating but being male and narrating a female characters perspective. Previously, when narrating The Lady's perspective a female voice had been added which added to the overall experience.

If you are a fan of mouth noises, listen here!

Every swallow, smack, and mouth opening can be heard.

The book itself was great, and so was the reader's ability to make multiple voices and carry the story. However, the audio itself was almost unbearable from chapters 23-99. I dont know if the microphone was too close or the reader was eating literal slime, but I could hear every sound his mouth made and it was so distracting I couldn't focus on the story. I had to lower the volume to almost inaudible levels to complete the book. I would say this is more on the editor than the reader as he is very experienced in reading, especially for audible.

Worst

Worst one so far Sleepy is a character that lacks what the other two before her had, she has no humor and its tedious having to listen to her jammering about god constantly. She is a killer but doesnt tolerate swearing 😐

Back to form

I very much enjoyed Water Sleeps after not quite the same enthusiasm for Bleak Seasons and She is the Darkness. It is not the best paced story but it generally rattles along and builds out significantly the Company, Kina and Glittering Plain back stories.

There is some good character building - we learn much more about some former bit part players (not least because one is the annalist).

While some new characters come to centre stage there is a sense throughout that others are lining up for their final curtain call.

It could have been an ending - but it isn't - and it sets things up nicely for the last book.

Good narration.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful