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The Falcons of Fire and Ice
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- mollymoon1
- 30-09-13
Incredibly Impressive
Karen Maitland is, in my opinion, one of the most impressive and satisfyingly one of the most best informed of writers there is, she writes informatively intelligently and knowledgeably and puts her obtained knowledge into impressive and great stories. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was aided by the great reading and interpretational spin placed in the story by David Thorpe who's brilliant accents brought every character to life. This is a great historical story, full of wit and wickedness, taking you on a journey from Portugal to Iceland. There is a unique aura around Karen Maitland's stories which although, factual in their telling, have a unique mystic to them giving them a fantastical ambience and I loved this story for all of the above reasons. This book is worth every penny of your money.
14 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 21-08-13
Brilliant as always
Another brilliant story very well read. If you liked the other books you'll like this.
8 people found this helpful
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- Kim
- 08-11-15
Slow starter but worth it
Slow to start but brilliant once it picked up, loved the historical content, great performance by the narrator.
6 people found this helpful
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- Helen SJ
- 23-11-17
Superb!
This is the first audible title of Karen Maitland's that I have listened to. The rest I read. The story was so well read that I shall definitely get the rest to listen to now.
4 people found this helpful
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- TrickstersDaughter
- 20-04-17
Took a long while to get into
I loved the other Karen mainland books and am listening in order of them being written but this one took me longer than the others and yes, I almost gave up. Almost. But it was worth it.
Slow to start but a good story and I love the historical references
Going to listen to another now... but hoping it will grip me like the first two rather than this one !
3 people found this helpful
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- Oisille
- 15-06-16
An eccentric combination of voices
What disappointed you about The Falcons of Fire and Ice?
I got this audiobook because i had really enjoyed the reading of Company of Liars. The story here starts out with the interweaving of different stories two characters in Lisbon at the time of the Inquisition. However, (PLOT SPOILER) the story becomes completely mad at the point when they arrive in Iceland - we're talking necromancy, magic and volcanoes - not really my cup of tea at all (but if it is yours then you may well love it).
What was most disappointing about Karen Maitland’s story?
It's implausability - but then i hadn't realised it was kind of magical, so that's not necessarily a fair criticism.
What didn’t you like about David Thorpe’s performance?
The reading is really very odd - done in various portuguese accents throughout, the young portuguese woman read by David Thorpe is ridiculous, possibly only to be rivalled by the reading of Dona Flavia. For me, it became more or less unbearable. that's not to say he does a bad job, but the style is just not one I could enjoy personally.
What character would you cut from The Falcons of Fire and Ice?
All the ones that had risen from the dead, and probably valdis as well.
6 people found this helpful
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- Laurelle
- 13-04-17
Dark, intriguing and, at times, funny.
A brilliant performance by David Thorpe of a terrific story. Loved the open ending too.
2 people found this helpful
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- Eleanor Cowley
- 21-08-19
David Thorpe Rocks!!
One of my absolute favourite narrators for one of my favourite authors...this audiobook is just brilliant!
1 person found this helpful
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- WG
- 01-07-19
Fabulous narration.
Excellent story, and sense of place. I really enjoyed it. The narration is really fantastic.
1 person found this helpful
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- Megan E Hardy
- 30-08-21
Takes a long time
Takes a long time to get into...but worth it in the end. interesting story.