Great story but...

Enjoyed the story as I am a fan of the books , however the narration was poor with terrible pronunciation. Shame they didn't use the same narrator as the other necroscope books.

6 people found this helpful

Why<br /><br />

A great book, ruined in large part by poor voice acting and inability of the narrator to read the words put in front of him Both narrator and producer should hang their heads in shame

6 people found this helpful

Oh Dear, what have they done!

As a long-term fan of Brian Lumley, I really felt I needed to write a review for this one.

Firstly, the good: This is another great story, the whole series of Necroscope books are truly exceptional and well worth a read, or listen (in the case of the prior 3 books).

The bad: This is the 4th in the series and brings in a new publisher and with it a new narrator. It's never good when narrator changes part way through a series, but in this case, it is a total disaster. I quite like Michael Troughton as an actor, but his voice is completely wrong for a book as dark as this. The whole tone of voice, inflection etc really just doesn't fit. At times I thought I was listening to the narration of a famous 5 book. Trust me, Necroscope books are not Famous 5! If this was a lighter book or a “youth fiction” book he’d be great.

Pronunciation: The narrator really has some issues here, I get it for some things but when you are mispronouncing the name of the main protagonists (Wamphyri) of the book you have a problem (surely you would check with the author). 5 minutes on the Brian Lumley web site would show how it is pronounced (it is in the FAQ!), and it certainly isn’t “wamfry”, which sounds (and was pronounced) more like something you’d call your cute pet goat, rather than the most evil, blood thirsty race in creation!

Voices: Some truly horrible ones here, which really don’t fit the book (probably partly down to the narrator’s tone of voice). Starts on a low with some gypsy women which sound like bad Yoda impressions. Most of the ‘female’ voices end up as the worst ‘comedy old lady’ you’ve heard, and the main vampire (remember, evil blood sucking demons) sounding more like a kindly Gandalf.

Sound effects: Wow, were these overused. Less annoying that the above issues, but again they didn’t fit or where of poor quality. Wolf calls that sound like someone shouting “owwwwww” into a tin can, echo on some things being "thought" (but not all!), the list goes on.

I hope the publisher takes this, and other reviews on board and switches narrator for the future books in the series (and re-record this one… PLEASE!). They have some good narrators reading other Brian Lumley books (such as Simon Vance), so why not use one of those, at least they’ll be familiar which the style.

I can’t see myself purchasing others if they don’t.

5 people found this helpful

Why !!

The narration has changed from the previous books. This has a big impact on what are already established characters. There is also added effects that are completely unnecessary,I feel like it's been done due to the lack of depth In the voice actor. On current form I doubt I will move forward with the next book/books..

5 people found this helpful

Having a hard time with this one!

Firt of all I should say it's not because of the story because thats great! As other reviews have said, the new narrotor is totally unsuitable for this title, the voices are all wrong and the pronounciation of many words such as Wamphyri is completley wrong which really distracts you from the story. The original narrator for the series was a 1000 times better, please audible suggest to the publishers that they bring him back for the remaining titles or at least get someone more suited, as another reviwer sugested Simon Vance would be good I think.

Heres a little tip for Michael Toughton: HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE WAMPHYRI?

"Vam" as in vampire – "phyr" as in fear – and "i" as in eek! Vam-fear-ee, with a hissed, slightly extended emphasis on the fear bit!

4 people found this helpful

Great story however the narration let's it down.

If you can put up with ancient evil vampires sounding like Father Christmas then this books for you!!

2 people found this helpful

At this point not sure I’ll finish

I read this book long ago so I know the story is as great as the previous however the narrator is so bad along with the awful sound effects that has been added at this point I’m not sure I’ll finish this book and I’m only on chapter 2!

1 person found this helpful

overall, just frighteningly excellent.

After reading all of the books, listening to them have given a whole new level of fear and excitement. A bit like Jackanory for the twisted.

Suck it and see!

These stories are great. Scary, imaginative and entertaining. They bridge the gap between horror and scifi, weaving in the age old myths and legends among the physics.

I have listened to all the others in the series and thoroughly enjoyed. However, this one has a new narrator with different voice characterisation. Not a problem really, but for a few weaknesses. The main one for me is the way the reader pronounces the word Wamphyrie. This name is meant to strike terror and cry POWER! In previous audio books it was spoken as Vamfeerie! A war cry. Shout that aloud and you'll see what I mean. A vampire lord comes through the gateway and shouts it as a challenge in the last book. It conveys a sense of, "bring me your daughters and a bucket of blood! and not necessarily in that order!" In this version the narrator keeps saying Wamfrey. What's a Wamfrey? If one of those came over from star side I would be more inclined to offer him a pimm's and copy of The Guardian! Takes some of the fear out of it for me. But I mustn't be too harsh. this edition makes really good use of some sound effects and voice characterisation. Gives good atmosphere. All in all, great story and a good production. they have not produced the final book in the original five part series which is a blow. Hope it's on the cards.

deadspeak

as awesome as when I read it 24 years ago can't wait for the next book.