Confusing order

If you want to continue this series after listening to this excellent shortish story you may want to know that the order of book publication does not match the chronological flow of the story -
After becoming completely confused and wanting to read the series in a way that makes chronological sense I found this helpful explanation online (note it suggests NOT reading in the order audible suggest):

”This is the chronological order of the stories as explained in the preface of Nightblind:

The events of Nightblind take place approximately five years after Snowblind . . . The next book in the series, Blackout, picks up the story directly after the events of Snowblind with the following two books, Rupture and Whiteout to complete the series of events linking Snowblind and Nightblind."

Therefore, the CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE STORIES is:

* * Fölsk nóta - Not set in Siglufjordur, but the first novel featuring Ari Thór Arason, as a young theology student looking for his missing father. (first published 2009)

1. Snowblind (Dark Iceland #1) (first published 2009)
2. Blackout (Dark Iceland #2) (first published January, 2011)
3. Rupture (Dark Iceland #3) (first published January 2012)
4. Whiteout (Dark Iceland #4) (first published October, 2013)
5. Nightblind (Dark Iceland #5) (first published October 1st 2014)

The original publication dates indicate the correct chronological story line. I don't know why publishers have to mess with the order of a story line.”

132 people found this helpful

Hugely atmospheric setting & palpable tension!

What did you like most about Snowblind?

The narration brought the story and setting to life for me perfectly! The reader conveys a brilliant sense of place and his slightly chilling narration adds to the tension the listener feels. I would hope this narrator continues with future books. I felt all the claustrophobia and anxiety of Ari Thór living alone in the remote fishing village and Smowblind became compulsive listening. I really could have finished this in one sitting (believe me, I would have liked to)!

A clever plot and some distinctive characters kept me thoroughly engaged and this certainly rates as one of my favourite Audible listens since joining.

What did you like best about this story?

It captured perfectly the plight of Ari Thór - rookie cop, remote posting, far away from his girlfriend and how very isolated he felt. I liked the character and the fact that I felt drawn to him certainly made for an emotionally involving listen.

Which character – as performed by Thor Kristjansson – was your favourite?

Certainly Ari Thór - he is at the heart of this story and Thór Kristjansson manages to convey every emotion he feels superbly, ensuring that I really cared how this book ended. Secondly, I did love the portrayal of Tomas as the gruff sergeant in charge of Ari Thór.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Every bit as dazzling as the title implies!

Any additional comments?

A clever plot, low on blood and gore for the more gentle listener. Without a doubt one of the crime fiction debuts of 2015 and the narration makes for a hugely satisfying listen.. Definitely one of my favourites since joining. Do not miss out - a gem!

12 people found this helpful

interesting story, maddening narrrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would change this narrator and will avoid anything narrated by him in future

How could the performance have been better?

By substituting someone else!

Any additional comments?

The story is atmospheric, and an interesting depiction of rural Iceland . The icelandic narrator, however, whispers (yes, really), and pauses so often in the wrong places that I almost gave up listening out of annoyance.

11 people found this helpful

Nice Story

It is a nice crime story - worth the time.
Unfortunately the narrator is terribly monotonous. A scream of frustration and an intimate declaration of love is narrated in the exact same tone and pitch. The second star is for the narrators excellent pronunciation of Icelandic.

11 people found this helpful

Icelandic narrator

I had hoped that having an Icelandic narrator would mean that names would be pronounced correctly, as indeed they were. Unfortunately, however, the narrator doesn't get the rhythm of English quite right and pauses in the wrong places.

10 people found this helpful

Bit slow

It's a good story with multiple threads to it, I just felt it took a while to get going - this may have been down to the way it was read however, the 'reader' had no emotion in his voice at all and didn't change his voice for the different characters. For this reason I found it hard to get into and difficult to empathise with any of the characters as it felt like they were all lacking in emotion and feeling.

8 people found this helpful

very Scandinavian.

interesting tale. Quite slow and methodical but sinister and engaging in a way that only the Scandinavian thriller can be.

5 people found this helpful

Dreadful narration

This story could have been a lot better read. The voice lacked any drama, it was sleepy, flat monotone with little expression.

4 people found this helpful

excellent narrator

loved the narrator's voice. shame there seems to be nothing more from him on audible library.
agree with other listeners tho I haven't listened to other Ari Thor stories - this narrator nailed it!

4 people found this helpful

Good nordic noir story, poor reading

The story is good but the narrators reading style was jarring. Problems with inflection meant often scentences seemed to have ended only to have a few additional words appear from nowhere at the end, on occasion changing the significance of what had been said. Read the book.

4 people found this helpful