I loved every minute of this reading, and I'd encourage anyone who struggled with the written word to listen to this. Fascinating and vibrant...dark and sinister.

This book won the Booker Prize; which should indicate serveral things to the potential listener, as will the long play time. This book will require time and some effort to fully appreciate. It is not a thriller or historical romance in the usual sense. I personally found this reading utterly gripping and wonderful; the reader is just to my taste; young enough for the character, dynamic, intelligent, funny and well rehearsed. Historically you may find it useful to know something about this era of English history, but the book could have been written about the Blair Government and still have the same core power, tension and driving pace. The historical context is important but not the only thing this book is about.
Giving it less than 5 stars as other reviewers have is being hyper critical, when so many books on this site have 5 stars that are less deserving. My Audible Library is mostly filled with thrillers and crime fiction, but this is in a different class; not better than some of them, just different. Like comparing the best Parma Ham with a cheese burger, both great in their own way, but different!

I made the effort and read four Booker candidates this year - The Litte Stranger (4*), The Quickening Maze (3.5*) and I bought both the audio version and the book, the Glass Room (4.5*) and this, and for this I bought both the audio and the novel, and listened to/read both. And it's worth it. A solid, rich, deep and detailed book, well read, but I would recommend reading it as well in order to put flesh on the bones and pick up the detail. It's as gripping as any thriller, and kind of contradicts all the preconceptions, whether garnered from 'the Other Boleyn Girl' or 'A Man for all Seasons' - or even CJ Sansom!
For the other readers who weren't convinced, I would really recommend reading it as well as listening, and yes Mantel plans a sequel, to take us up to Cromwell's execution, I assume.

Sorry...might be a wonderful book but I can't stand the narrator, and unfortunately I do not have enough specific historical background to really follow what is going on. In particular because it jumps forward in time and assumes a current knowledge of historical events I studied 25 years ago...

I've struggled with Mantel before, specifically with her re-imaginings of the protagonists of the French revolution, but this time I was entranced. This is a fascinating imagining of a unique man. I loved the narration and, unlike some reviewers, enjoyed the characterisation. All in all I relished every moment though I do agree with a previous reviewer that the book just peters out.

I'm not certain whether one would need to have a passionate interest in history to really enjoy this Audible recording, whatever was necessary was missing for me. I can't really fault the reader who has a warm and pleasant voice and a certain facility for accents and cadences (which helps to identify which character is speaking). I felt throughout the recording that the author has an untapped (in this book) resource of passion which was promised but not fulfilled - which may just mean that I'm an incurable romantic - but for me it was a long haul which promised more than it delivered.

I found the narration irritating and the story tedious - I could not finish it. Sorry, I would not have given it a prize.

I was left a little underwhelmed when I had finished listening to his book. Having heard some very positive reviews and read the summary, I was eager to listen. The subject matter and the historical aspect really appealed to me. However, I found the writing very confusing, it was difficult to tell who was speaking at any one time. Perhaps this would be easier in a printed version of the text. I found my attention wandering while listening, which meant I lost the thread of the story, which didn't help with my enjoyment. I can't help feeling like some editing would have made the whole story progress much more quickly and add some impetus to the plot.

A very good feature was the excellent narration, which was very clear and easy on the ear, with some good use of accents.

I much prefer the stories featuring Shardlake written by C. J. Sansom, which are set in the same period of English history.

Overall, a good read but underwhelming.

I have a couple of hours left until I complete this book and have to admit I have found it fairly hard going. The narration is good by Simon Slater, but I really don't know why this won the Man Booker Prize.

The biggest mystery to me at the moment is why it is called Wolf Hall and not Thomas Cromwell or after his home Austin Friars. I'm sure all will be revealed soon.

As I approach the 8 hour mark and realise that there are at least 16 hours to go, I feel the need to rest and ventilate my frustration and disappointment at this unremitting tosh.

The tedious gimmick of 'he says - she says' present tense dialogue, the absence of dramatic impetus and the obession with irrelevant trivia combine to make this an infuriating experience. I listen for 20 minutes and reach a point that sounds familiar. I listen for another 10, become confused and backtrack till I am on solid ground. 30 minutes later I am no further on than when I started the session, but I realise I have listened to the same passage many times. It is an aural maze. It?s a greasy pole. It?s a slippery incline. Sisyphus would be begging to return to his boulder if one invited him to rest awhile with Wolf Hall on his iPod.

I admire fellow listeners who have managed to reach the end and I am baffled that some of them have found the experience pleasurable. If you enjoy 5000 piece jigsaws of nothing but sky, Wolf Hall may appeal to you. If you like the sound of hollow boasting from swaggering sixth formers, this narrator?s delivery is your cup of tea.

If you take pleasure in an intricate historical plot, where the writing is less self conscious and the narrator does not spoil the atmosphere, try Ken Follett. His 2 massive tomes are a bit on the steamy side and the language is accurately Anglo Saxon but they are a wonderful antidote to the pretentious meanderings of Ms Mantel.