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  • Master of Formalities

  • By: Scott Meyer
  • Narrated by: Luke Daniels
  • Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (479 ratings)

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Master of Formalities

By: Scott Meyer
Narrated by: Luke Daniels
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Summary

Even when finding oneself engaged in interstellar war, good form must be observed. Our story is set thousands of years after the Terran Exodus, where two powerful, planet-dominating families - the elegant House Jakabitus and the less refined Hahn Empire - have reached a critical point in their generations-long war. Master Hennik, the Hahn ruler's only son, has been captured, and the disposition of his internment may represent a last and welcome chance for peace.

Enter Wollard, the impeccably distinguished and impossibly correct Master of Formalities for House Jakabitus. When he suggests that Master Hennik be taken in as a ward of the House, certain complications arise. Wollard believes utterly and devotedly in adhering to rules and good etiquette. But how does one inform the ruler of a planet that you are claiming his son as your own - and still create enough goodwill to deescalate an intergalactic war?

©2015 Scott Meyer (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved
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What listeners say about Master of Formalities

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

it's interesting subject

So the book is from the view point of "masters of formalities" almost like aid's to royal families. Scott has a great way of writing characters and they do make me chuckle imaging them. Luke does a great job of bringing them to life.

If I had a negative is that there is a storyline that runs through it that really doesn't need to be there in that much detail. but other than that i enjoyed it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

I bought this because I have enjoyed the Magic 2.0 series. The narration was great, although towards the beginning I couldn't help but hear the voices as characters from the Magic books! I found this story quite enjoyable. It has a fairly slow pace and some interesting characters, I'm glad I gave it a chance.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great dry humoured fantasy sci-fi

Fantastic book very well read. Easy to follow story line with lots of evolving characters and an interesting story line. This is exactly my kind of dry humour so really enjoyed it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent fun

Absurd, bizarre and totally crazy - but laugh out loud at times and a great story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant!

The story was so different and unexpected. Very funny and narrated brilliantly. Loved the Sports!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

absorbing

excellent story, strong characters and funny situations.hey enjoyable and well worth a read if you make the time

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Definitely worth reading - really enjoyed this!

Took a while to get going, and isn’t really the type of book I would usually read - but I really enjoyed it. Interesting plot, and great character development. I Definitely recommend.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect story and amazing naration

But I wouldn't expect anything else from Scott Myers and Luke Daniels :)

Something something extra words.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Odd pronunciation slightly spoils a great story

It's interesting that Luke Daniels is an audiobook narrator. I find his way of reading somewhat offputting and distracting. Some words he outright mispronounces (shone like "shown" rather than "on" - maybe that's an American accent thing, however; I'm British) but the most distracting is that sentences like '"Alright," he grunted.' are read as if two distinct sentences: '"Alright." He grunted.' as if the character said "alright" and then followed that with a grunt. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but it was certainly distracting to me.

On the plus side, the characters' voices (and accents) are pretty consistent and distinct (or similar where appropriate).

I quite enjoyed the story. It's a bit of a slow starter, but I did get into it and found it enjoyable. I won't spoil the story but I must admit I saw a different outcome coming towards the end. Still, the one I got was also fun and interesting.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not Scott Meyers best.

I had to check that this was the same Scott Meyer as wrote his other books. Master of Formalities is very slow to start and neither the A story nor either of the B stories is particularly engaging or has a satisfying end. There is a lot of alien-world-building and the differences in the society presented are interesting if that's what you like, but I just found this to be a 15 hour snooze.

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