Wrath of the Furies

A Novel of the Ancient World

By: Steven Saylor

Narrated by: Stephen Plunkett

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

In 88 BC, it seems as if the entire ancient world is at war. In the west, the Italian states are rebelling against Rome; in the east, Mithridates is marching through and conquering the Roman Asian provinces. Even in the relatively calm Alexandria, a coup has brought a new pharaoh to power and chaos to the streets.

The young Gordianus is waiting out the chaos in Alexandria with Bethesda when he gets a cryptic message from his former tutor and friend, Antipater. Now in Ephesus as part of Mithridates' entourage, Antipater seems to think that his life is in imminent danger. To rescue him, Gordianus concocts a daring, even foolhardy scheme to go behind enemy lines and bring Antipater to safety. But there are powerful and deadly forces at work here, which have their own plans for Gordianus. Not entirely sure whether he's a player or a pawn, Gordianus must unravel the mystery behind the message if he's to save himself and the people he holds most dear.

©2015 Steven Saylor (P)2015 Recorded Books

Terrible reading hurts the story

I have been a fan of Steven Saylor for years, and have enjoyed the Gordianus books, but Plunkett's reading is so bad, it has ruined the story. His impressions of Antipater are the only highlights, any dialogue by Gordianus pauses like a kid reading in front of the class. I was really disappointed.

Intriguing

Again, an engrossing story, many nuances. Also fun to return to a young Gordianus and Bethesda. The massacre scene was hideous; even more hideous is that modern humans still regularly commit such atrocities.

Whoa...nope.

I love most of Saylor’s Gordianus book series, and story-wise what I did listen to seemed about on par with the others, but this reader was ill-cast and is not suited to this book, the subject, or the characters. His reading and the way he pronounces the names is cringeworthy for me - I’ve heard seventh grade book reports with more inflection.
Perhaps find somebody who at least sounds familiar with Latin, or even just modern Italian... or, heck - any non-American accent? It is a novel about ancient Rome, after all.
Tried to start a couple times, because I was really in the mood for a Saylor book and was hoping I hadn’t wasted my money, but couldn’t stomach it.

Why in gods name did he have this man read his book

The story was pretty good. Perhaps not up to his usual standard. But Steven plunket was truly terrible.

Horrible narration.

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Nothing wrong with the reader

It may be that his American accent is unfamiliar or uncomfortable for our British and Australian mates. His cadence is good, as is his intonation, and his reading is clear and intelligible. I don’t understand all the hate for the reader.

Some great chapters some not so much.

I like the Finder character however, I found the story to convoluted. I almost gave up on this one early on. The performance was distracting in the early part of the book but I stuck with it I was like there were two different people reading as I enjoyed the reader 6 or 7 chapters in. Unless you’re like me and have to have a book going almost full time especially books with a roman time line this book is way down my list. Almost 90 books first 10 months of 2019 this one is in my lower 10%.

I often listen more than one time I’ll need to forget what this one was before I listen again.

Good but my least favorite of the prequel series

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would edit down some of Antipater's diary. It seemed to bog down the story at times. I also thought the ending was a bit of a let down. And, a minor thing, but I was bothered by one minor character, who Gordianus had met in the first prequel, The Seven Wonders, whose development in this book seemed to me to be wildly incompatible with her character in the first book. I didn't think this was necessary at all.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I love how Saylor provides the rich cultural and historical context as such a natural part of the story. Least interesting was how Saylor sort of overdid some of this context at times in Antipater's diary.

Did Stephen Plunkett do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

He did some of the characters well, but others not so well.

Was Wrath of the Furies worth the listening time?

Definitely, yes. Saylor is a great storyteller.