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The King's Hounds

The King's Hounds

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The King's Hounds

By: Martin Jensen, Tara F. Chace - translator
Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
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About this listen

The year is 1018 and the war with England is finally over, but the unified kingdom ruled by Cnut of Denmark is far from peaceful. Halfdan has lost everything to the war but his sense of humor. Once a proud nobleman, now he wanders the country aimlessly powered only by his considerable charm and some petty theft. When he finds an unlikely ally in Winston, a bookish former monk, the two set out together for Oxford, the seat of the new king. The pair's arrival in court coincides with news of a murder, and Cnut has an idea only a king could get away with: Why not enlist Halfdan and Winston - the Danish womanizer and the upright Saxon intellectual - to defuse a politically explosive situation? They're given just two days to solve the murder and they set off to uncover the truth, on the order of the king and with the reluctant assistance of the agitated townspeople.

©2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.; 2013 Martin Jensen Historical Literature & Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense King Royalty Fiction Denmark Witty War Comedy

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All stars
Most relevant  
Really don’t understand why the narrator felt the need to drawl all the way through the book. I sped up the narration to 1.25 and was still too slow 1.5 was too jumbled. Spoilt the whole book.

Terrible narration

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the characters are believable...the story line tight and logical....the historic detailed explanation adds to the story giving it context..I have listened to all three books in the series that have been translated into English...more please really goood

love this story

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I gave this book 3 stars, which is what I give most books that are interesting without being particularly compelling. The whole idea of the Saxon / Dane clashes during the reign of King Cnut is worth a read. The only problem with this audio is the very slow delivery by the narrator, particularly when voicing Winston. I tried speeding it up, but found I couldn't keep track of the plot at a faster speed. None-the-less, I will probably give book 2 a go.

Interesting era

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What disappointed you about The King's Hounds?

There is nothing to recommend this audio book. From the instance the narrator starts his horrible drawl you know you've made a mistake. Was it just the awful narrator spoiling an otherwise good book? No, the story line is weak and flawed, the characters are poorly developed and quite frankly repulsive in parts, the pace of the book and narration, tortuously slow. All-in-all this book was a tremendous disappointment. With the wealth of fine historical mysteries and dramas out there ...give this one a very wide berth!

What will your next listen be?

SGMcLean or Hilary Mantel or CJ Sansom or Rory Clements

What didn’t you like about Napoleon Ryan’s performance?

He had a ridiculousy forced accent which rapidly became extremely annoying and his character interpretation was often inappropriate and sleezy, doing nothing to enhance the story-line.

What character would you cut from The King's Hounds?

None of these characters gained my interest.

Any additional comments?

Gave up several times, listening to other books hoping that when I returned I would see the whole book through. I failed. A book I definitely regretted purchasing.

Don't buy! Truelly dreadful!

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