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Full cast recording featuring Stephen Mangan, Matt Lucas and many more.
I don’t generally like full cast recordings, but this was done well, more like a radio play, which, indeed, was its first incarnation. This is a revised edition, ten years on from the first one. Twelve years after the events in Dickens’ original book, Oliver Twist is back on the streets of London, penniless because his inheritance from the recently deceased Mr Brownlow, his adoptive father, has been blocked by missing papers. He meets up with Jack Dawkins, the Artful Dodger, an enters a scheme to get his rightful money, even though it means jointing a plan to steal the world’s most valuable diamond from a safe in the British Museum. There are returning characters and new ones (Nancy’s sister). Just when Oliver starts to trust Dodger, the ghost of Fagin, in Dodger’s head, twists plans. It’s not just wealth Dodger is after, but revenge – for Fagin. Things get really dodgy and twisty before the final showdown.
Audiobook narrated by Aoifa McMahon
Narrated by Christian Rodska
Narrated by David Monteath
Audio drama performed by Peter Dinklage and others
Read by Stephen Fry With introductions by Stephen Fry.
Read by Stephen Fry with introductions by Stephen Fry.
Audiobook read by Derek Jacobi. I love the Cadfael stories about the gentle but perceptive monk who has a crusading past. This one is especially intriguing as Cadfael goes to rescue the adult son he learned about in a previous story. He hadn't revealed himself previously, so this time you're wondering when/if all will be revealed. The son was fighting on the side of the Empress Maude/Mathilda in the Stephen/Mathilda war for the crown, and when a castle he was in was given over to the enemy he 'disappeared' and was not listed for ransom as other knights were. There's a peace meeting in Coventry which comes to nothing, but a murder impacts Cadfael's search. Suffice it to say there's a satisfying ending. Derek Jacobi is the perfect narrator for the Cadfael books. That’s not to say I disliked Philip Madoc narrating earlier books, but Jacobi brings Cadfael to life. He is Cadfael.
Audiobook narrated by Dennis Kleinman.
Narrated by Rosalyn Landor
Narrated by Emma Gregory
The final Hornblower book, unfinished art the time of Forester’s death. In chronological order it’s #4 following Hornblower and the Hotspur. Set in 1805, Hornblower gives up command of the Hotspur to James Meadows, leaving Lt Bush behind to support the new captain. While on his way back to England he’s called to attend the court martial of Meadows who managed to run the Hotspur aground the day after he took over. Court martial over, Hornblower and the Hotspur’s officers are returning to England in a civilian water-boat, when they are chased down by a French warship which will inevitably catch them. In a daring move Hornblower turns the tables and briefly the Hotspur officers, through vastly outnumbered, take the French ship through subterfuge. Hornblower takes an important set of despatches and on return to Plymouth and then London discovers that they are very important. Together with two Admiralty secretaries and an admiral Hornblower formulates a plot designed to draw the French fleet out of their very secure port… and that’s where it ends. I thought another author might have finished off the novel, but all we get at the end if a minute of Forester’s notes indicating the successful end of the plot which leads to the battle of Trafalgar. There are a couple of additional short stories which adds an extra hour to the reading. The narrator is the late Christian Rodska, who is perfect for Hornblower. Good as far as it goes.
Narrated by Gordon Griffin
Audiobook narrated by Matt Addis
Narrated by Matt Addis
Audiobook narrated by Steven Crossley
It's 1805. Young, eager Horatio Hornblower has been given captaincy of the Atropos, one of his Majesty's smallest ships worthy of a captain, and only carrying 22 guns. She's still fitting out when Hornblower arrives in Portsmouth after a journey from Gloucestershire on a fast canal boat. His wife, Maria, is within days of giving birth to their second child. His first order is to organise Nelson’s funeral procession up the Thames. Then he's sent to join the Mediterranean fleet, so with his new daughter barely hours old, he sets sail. His first officer is a little dull and unimaginative, and he has a European prince on board as a new midshipman. Gradually he sets everything in order. He has to retrieve treasure from Marmeris Bay off the Turkish coast, without alerting the Turkish authorities. It's a difficult and dangerous mission which he completes by the skin of his teeth. After that he rejoins the Mediterranean fleet andengages the Catillia. It's really a collection of short stories strung together, but it hangs together as a novel. Christian Rodska's reading is good, though his first Lieutenant sounds just like Mr Bush in previous novels.
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
This was sweet enough. An arranged marriage. A misunderstanding that could have been resolved if the two protagonists had talked to each other. Grace is the eldest daughter of the Rev. Shackleford, whose good sense, if he ever had any, has evaporated. He sells Grace to a duke in need of a wife for a dowry to get himself out of a financial squeeze. Sadly the author doesn’t seem to know that a dowry is the opposite of a bride-price and usually comes with the bride from the bride’s father.
Original review from 2012
Audiobook read by Michael Jayston.
Emperor Vespasian sends Falco to Germany to investigate the 14th Legion and clear up some events following a rebellion, the disappearance of a legate and the possibility of corruption. His obvious purpose is to deliver a large statue, the Iron Hand of Mars. Falco didn't want to go in the first place, but when his girlfriend, Helena Justina flounces off in a huff, he hopes she might be visiting her bother Justinius, already in Germany, so he agrees to the
Audiobook read by Gordon Griffin, not my favourite narrator, but the Falco stories are good. This time Anacrites (not Falco's favourite person) is attacked in Rome, and badly injured, and one of his young agents is killed, so Falco, together with seven-months-pregnant Helena Justina, sails off to Spain to expose a consortium conspiracy to fix the price of olive oil. Though Falco's priority is to catch the murderer and get Helena Justina back to Rome before her baby is born. Unfortunately is becomes clear that there are factions in Rome he can't trust, and another spy is operating in the same area on a similar mission.
Read by Gordon Griffin.
Vespasian's chief Spy Anacrites, is trying to arrest Falco for the theft of lead, used as plot points in both of the first two Falco books. Yes, technically he did purloin the lead, but it was done in order to track down one of the Emperor Vespasian's enemies, and is more of an error in accounting. Trying to raise the money to raise his status to middle rank so he can marry his upper-crust girlfriend, Helena Justina, Falco takes on new clients. Once again, sadly, Gordon Griffin doesn't quite capture Falco's voice, so some of the quirkiness is lost.
One of the early Falco mysteries, read by Gordon Griffin. 
Audiobook read by Christian Rodska.
Audiobook read by Christian Rodska.
Audiobook read by Christian Rodska.
Following straight on from ‘A Ship of the Line’ where Hornblower ended up surrendering his desperately damaged ship to the French, this is the story of how Hornblower, Bush and Hornblower’s very able-seaman ‘servant’ escape captivity while on their way to a show-trial in Patis and certain execution. There’s not much in the way of thrilling sea-battles, though our heroes to get a bit of sea-action towards the end. They return home to good news and bad news, but more anon. I’m enjoying Christian Rodska’s readings of these old favourites.
Audiobook.
April 1485. Sergeant Catchpoll, Under-Sherriff Lord Bradecote, and Under-Sergeant Walkeling are sent to the village of Ripple to investigate the murder of a priest and the over-precipitous hanging of Thorgar, an innocent young man. If Thorgar didn't kill the priest, who did, how and why? There are multiple potential motives, unpleasant truths, and the potential of buried treasure. This is a Medieval whodunnit, very engaging. It's well read by Matt Addis complete with convincing Worcestershire accent for Catchpoll. This is actually Book 11 in the Bradecote AND Catchpoll series, but very easy to get into despite me not having read/listened to any previous ones. If you like the Cadfael books, give the Bradecote and Catchpoll books a go.
It's taken me a while to get around to this. I listened rather than read. It's long and a bit tedious in places, but it keeps you listening. It's the story of Thomas Cromwell, much reviled by history, but shown here in a more sympathetic light. It takes us from his earliest days, briefly through his sojourn in the army and as a wool merchant, to his progression at court to be Henry VIII's right hand man, especially in the matter of dissolving Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon and his marriage to Anne Boleyn in search of a male heir. Cromwell is a complex character, a wheeler-dealer when he needs to be, and with strong ideas how to better England, one small nudge at a time.
Not my favourite Cadfael. The Welsh are taking advantage of the fighting between Stephen and Mathilda (Empress Maud) and raiding across the border. The Sheriff is taken prisoner, and as a prominent young Welshman is being held in Shrewsbury and exchange of prisoners is arranged. The Sheriff, injured, is delivered to Shrewsbury, but before the Welshmen can take their own countryman the Sheriff is murdered. Cadfael once more sorts it out while also trying to make the course of true love run smooth. Philip Madoc once more plays Cadfael, but some of the other cast members have changed since the previous two stories I listened to. It doesn’t spoil the enjoyment, but it's a bit weird.
Set during the conflict between Stephen and Mathilda (Empress Maud) this features a brother and sister fleeing the conflict with a young nun as a companion. Cadfael comes across the boy, lost and alone, and spots the naked body of a young woman frozen under the ice in a stream. He then has to untangle a series of events to find out who has killed her. This is the full cast recording, abridged for the BBC. Philip Madoc holds it all together as Cadfael
Gervaise Bonel, a guest at Shrewsbury Abbey, is poisoned with a monks hood potion and his stepson is accused. Brother Cadfael, one-time crusader and now a monk, takes on the case. Cadfael is a shilled herbalist and, indeed, brewed the potion himself for the abbey's infirmary. It's complicated by the fact that the dead man's widow, and mother to the accused boy, is Richildis, once long ago betrothed to Cadfael before they were separated by the crusades. The sherrif's sergeant is convinced that he has the killer bang to rights, but Cadfael is not so sure. I consumed this in audio book form as part of a sequence of full cast recordings by the BBC featuring the excellent voice of Philip Madoc as Cadfael. The book has been abridged for radio.
Audiobook.
I read a lot of Hornblower books as a teen, but that's a long time ago and the details have blurred. This is the second Hornblower book, chronologically, following on from Midshipman Hornblower which I recently revisited via the TV series. Forester starts off with a bang, right into the high-tension meat of the story with a paranoid Captain Sawyer rapidly sliding into madness and all the officers - including a very junior Lieutenant Hornblower - trying to follow naval regulations on a ship where the captain's word is, quite literally, law.
Elizabeth Rufford would rather avoid Regency society and manage her own estate, but a line in her father's will makes her the ward of Lord Dunham (Michael) who is determined that she’ll have a London season and find a husband. It’s pretty obvious right from the start that guardian and ward are attracted to each other but Michel (stubbornly) will not declare himself because he’s worried that he might follow his father into madness. Yes, of course they resolve it in the end, but there are a few interesting twists along the way featuring a rich suitor, and a bunch of greedy grasping relatives.
This is a sweet Regency romance featuring Russell Parkinson a well educated gentleman chemist whose recipe for boot-blacking has left him comfortably well off and thus able to follow his exploration of the early days of chemistry as a science. A friend arranges for him to be given a baronetcy specifically so that Russell can take a seat in the House of Lords where his scientific and forward-thinking attitude will help those seeking reform. As in the title, he's reluctant to do this, but is persuaded anyway.
This is a bit of historical fluff written by three authors about three, possibly four love stories. The action takes place in a few days during a snowstorm when all the protagonists are locked into a dank and chilly Scottish castle by the laird who is determined that his two nephews will marry proper Scottish lasses so that when one of them inherits his castle, their heirs will be properly Scottish. So he kidnaps three eligible girls and gets another one by mistake and also a duke who happened to be napping in the stolen coach. It’s all wildly improbable but good hearted fun. And yes, you don’t need me to tell you that everyone gets a happy ever after. It’s not Bridgerton, but it’s a light read.
I can't tell a lie, I nearly stopped reading after just a few chapters, but I kept hoping it would get better. By the time I realised it wasn't going to, I was already over halfway through. Regency Romances are my guilty pleasure. They are often formulaic, I know that, so why did this one not work for me? I couldn't find any sympathy for the characters. Anna Toussaint, in the beginning, is too naive to be allowed to live. She gets swept off her feet by Frank, the viscount’s young heir whom her mother is tutoring in French. They are both little more than children, but when they get caught in a compromising position (her hand down his trousers) Anna and her mother are promptly dismissed. Some years later, Anna’s mother having died, Anna is under the protection of The Black Widow at the Lyon’s Den and finds herself married off to a masked stranger. Yes, you’re ahead of me. Frank is the stranger, now the viscount, the one who shamed her and then let his mother dismiss her. She bears a grudge, but you can see where this is going. There are obstacles to overcome, but mostly it’s all too easy. The characters don’t show much initiative and I couldn’t bring myself to care. Your mileage may vary.
I must confess this book almost hit the wall a number of times, but, somehow, I kept on reading. Isa is a Germanic princess who runs away from her English boarding school when she’s informed that her brother is dead. She’s sure he’s not and sets off to find him. She’s completely naive, has her horse stolen and is cheated out of her money on the first day. She has no idea of manners or what things cost, and she’s thoroughly irritating. She’s led a life of papmered luxury, has never had to do anything for herself and still tries to order people about imperiously. She’s trying to blag her way on to the mail coach to Margate (her brother’s last known whereabouts) when Sam, newly come into his title and (impoverished) estate and trying to turn over a new leaf, comes to the rescue and instead of continuing on his errand he tells the chit (going under the name of Miss Gunter) he’ll take her to Margate. Shortly thereafter they acquire a recently retired lady’s maid as a chaperone. Sam makes it seem that Margate is only a couple of days travel away (and it probably is by mail coach) but over thirty days later they are still on their way, having tried to avoid men who seem to either want to take Isa back to school, or kill her. The villains are never more than cardboard cut-outs. Yes, if this seems improbably, it is. Isa does gradually learn to say thank you, and of course the pair begin to fall in love. I’m not sure whey. If I’d been Sam I’d have bought her a coach ticket and sent her on her way. It takes 35 days to reach Margate from Reading, and not much happens on the journey. Sheesh! I wanted to like this, I really did, but Isa was so damned irritating.
An offshoot of Pride and Prejudice, this is the story of Lydia Bennet and what happens after she’s married to Wickham in disgrace, and sent north to a town she doesn’t know. But it’s not a complete fresh start, Wickham is unreliable, often drunk and visiting brothels. Lydia made one mistake, aged fifteen, and now she’s paying for it. She’s a social pariah, and must claw herself into independence and respectability. Lydia is fighting for her place in the world. An engaging short story with a satisfying ending. Nicely narrated by Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn.
Marcus Didius Falco is a private investigator in Ancient Rome. These five books have been adapted for radio and I recall listening to a couple of them about twelve years ago. They were good enough that they stuck in my mind, so I jumped at the chance of getting them in one collection. Falco is voiced by Anton Lesser, who makes a superb street-wise, slightly world-weary Falco. The ongoing will-they-won’t they love story continues throughout the five books with Falco anxious to marry and settle down and Helena Justina happy just as they are.
This is the first Hornblower book chronologically, but the sixth in publication order. The series was written in the 1930s, through to the 1960s. This particular one being published in 1950. I can understand why these books made such a good TV series (1998 to 2003). Its nature is episodic and each chapter makes a good story in itself. Set in the French Revolutionary wars, Horatio Hornblower, a green seventeen-year-old midshipman is doubly green when seasick on his way to his first position, Seasick at Spithead are the words that dog his early miserable experiences of being a midshipman under a senior midshipman bully, and a weak captain. He comes into his own when transferred to the Indefatigable, presided over by the excellent Captain Edward Pellew. I read this book in my teen years, then watched the eight-episode series with Ioan Gruffudd perfectly cast as Hornblower, and Robert Lindsay as Pellew. There’s the story of the duel of honour, the cargo of rice, the fireship incident when Hornblower’s examination for Lieutenant is interrupted by an attack on the British fleet in harbour. Forester’s writing is as fresh today as it was when I read it in my youth. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting Hornblower on audiobook, beautifully read by Christian Rodska.
