Luke Batchelor

Bring Back Beierle audio! I love this.

Revisado: 01-30-25

Book was great but the entire plot was like watching a story about Dumbledore and McGonagall travelling around a fantasy world not doing much with a young kid Harry Potter. It was written well enough that I enjoyed it anyway

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A GREAT new sword and sorcery from THIS century?!

Revisado: 11-03-24

SURPRISE, here's the audio to a book that's been out for a little while now, and I couldn't be more delighted.

Howard Andrew Jones, fantasy author of multiple Pathfinder Tales (check those out), the epic, *finished* Ringsworn Trilogy and more, has triumphantly returned to the weird, epic poem-like in scope, savage, militant, mystical storytelling that was once so popular back in Robert E. Howard's time known as sword and sorcery. He actually wrote a couple Dabir and Asim historical heroic fantasy novels, as well as some short fiction involving the characters as well.

Here, he brings to the forefront a character named Hanuvar, a general, or former general, who commanded the military of a once-great nation, but who has since lost everything to his name. Everything but his name, really. A name that sends a quake of fear through those who know it, especially his enemies. He's a wise leader, a grizzled warrior, and also a kind and caring person who once knew fatherhood and other kindred familiarity in a long-lost life. In comparison to other similar sword and sorcery heroes, most notably Conan, I would say it's nice experiencing a story about an older veteran of war, which we got few glimpses of with Howard's famous barbarian. We got a good look with Druss in David Gemmell's Legend, but also brief. I feel like there is an unexplored era of heroism that Howard smartly takes advantage of here. Hanuvar is still no slouch, though, in older age. He's still as fast and cunning, knowledgeable as the legends say he was in his youth. He quickly resolves genuine challenges and complex problems with stratagem and intellect. A veritable ancient James Bond of sorts. He is a well-rounded character with fascinating inner-workings that make him memorable and meaningful to read about. Howard's fast-paced and above-average prose makes it more entertaining to breezily float from page to page, and easy to understand when listening. I think if this had come out when Conan Lancer paperbacks were popular, it could have started a wildfire in founding more sword and sorcery fiction, as did Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber and others.

Kevin T. Collins was the man for the job to do the narration. He has a great cadence, knows how to handle multiple voices, brings further meaning out of already entertaining material. As the voice of the evil Griffith from Berserk, I can easily get behind his voicing war hero Hanuvar and others in this somewhat different kind of story. There is a lot of heart, a lot of tragedy, a lot of action, bonds built, bonds broken, threats and rumors of war, and one man hungry for justice--but not necessarily a classic vengeance. He just wants peace for his people.


Truly a modern gem of sword and sorcery, right up there with the Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden (another historical heroic sword and sorcery about a viking-like orc!). I recommend this wholeheartedly. Give it a whirl, and then backlog the rest of Howard's work, you won't be disappointed.

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Breathtaking Revitalization of Conan, and 2 in 1!

Revisado: 06-24-24

This made me utterly speechless. John C. Hocking, through sheer power of poetic, paced, purple, perfect prose, props up this palpable pastiche, playing to the people who paid the price of patience for so many problematic periods, whose passions this is plainly in praise of.

Aliterations aside (oops), I will start by saying one thing. Read this. Apparently the first book here was published thirty years ago, as Conan and the Emerald Lotus, a book I have been desperate to read for years but unable to find. The second book was never published, but known by the name Conan and the Living Plague.

As I only recently got into Conan and Sword and Sorcery as a genre in the past few years (around my thirties), I desperately delved into every Howard story I could get my hands on, until I finished the final page of the final Conan story (Del Rey edition). Since then my desire for more Conan has been insatiable, and I've discovered many great authors since then who still carry the torch. Howard Andrew Jones, Scott Oden, to name a few. John C. Hocking was well known within the community for having written a great pastiche, but until now I just had to take people's word for it. Well, finally I can formulate my own opinion, as I have read both books contained herein. After reading, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with the overall sentiment. John C. Hocking has made two great books. Not only pastiches, but books. Not only can he write Howard, but more meaningfully, the man can write. If he came up with a new Conan story or an original character, I'd be first in line for the next one. I can't imagine waiting decades for the deserved recognition he is about to receive. Titan has made a brilliant and calculated decision in pulling these stories out into the forefront. There are other pastiches out, and some coming, and I have nothing wrong to say about any of them, but I would posit that John C. Hocking has cracked the very particular code that is necessary to embody the atmosphere, character features, lore of the Hyborian Age, peculiarities of Lovecraft's influence on Howard's work and the weirdness that follows, knowledge of pulps and classic adventure tales, Conan's respect for innocents, for women, etc. There's quite a lot that goes into it, and most pastiches seem to forget or overplay certain aspects of Howard's work, whereas both of these stories hit the sweet spot and kept the hits coming. Hefty action, believable dialogue and characters, thrilling plots, intrigue, betrayals, suspense, it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The stories themselves are just the right length, too. The Conan the Barbarian Novelized film, also read by the brilliant Bradford Hastings, overstayed it's welcome about halfway in for me, and I mostly quite enjoyed that. In many ways it had parts that were better or worse than the film. But these two stories were just right. Conan stories should never be too long, as although his life is truly epic, it is spread out over many mini episodes and short adventures that give a refreshing restart after not too long. A new cast of characters, a new era in Conan's life, his story is almost best experience non-chronologically, as it keeps things varied and fills in the dots in an interesting way. One moment he is an old king, and then a young sailor. Emerald Lotus and Living Plague keep this tradition, as one gets the sense these episodes could be from two very different times in Conan's stories life.
All I ever wanted was more Howard, and was disappointed when people couldn't achieve it, but now I realize I don't just want more Howard, I'll happily take more Hocking as well!

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Powerful storytelling.

Revisado: 03-22-24

Based on a story by Robert E. Howard. Exceptional, well told, well performed, meaningful atmosphere and sound effects, feels like a true old radio drama. I loved every second. Howard was heavily influenced by his friend HP Lovecraft and you can tell they were equals. I was always more of a Howard fan than Lovecraft but one thing that Howard can pull off perfectly is the pulpy adventure feel of that time. Mix that with the cosmic horror and mystery of Lovecraft and you are in a VERY entertaining place. Thank you DART for adapting this and being so great.

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So cool.

Revisado: 03-18-24

I love the gruesome Robert E. Howard style ancient pagan Celtic world. overall, tons of fun

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Crazy story

Revisado: 03-18-24

This one is mind-blowing. Joseph Fiennes as Dredd is so fantastic. The story has so many twists and turns and deep political themes. No one is right, and Dredd is often portrayed as a supervillain, and rightly so in many ways. Timely, fascinating. I think oftentimes both sides of the aisle are villainous and out for power at any cost.

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Joseph Fiennes!!!!!!

Revisado: 03-17-24

My favorite actor of all time--See Martin Luther/Risen/Hercules, etc--does a spectacular job bringing gravitas to the most hardcore judge of all time. he really adds multiple layers to Dredd that I never imagined. The performances, almost all of them were amazing, and I loved all the sound effects and background music. This is one that has to be experienced.

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Something that I hope will be remembered

Revisado: 10-24-23

The four pillars of Sword and Sorcery. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Conan, Elric and Kane. Anti heroes, rogues, barbarians, thieves, magicians, without any of which we would not have such powerhouse properties such as D&D, Warcraft, or roleplaying as we know it. The level of fun and companionship shown in this and subsequent books inspired many who wanted to go on similar adventures, even if only in their imaginations. I loved the book, but I did struggle to enjoy myself until the two leads joined up together. Until then it was just character building and occasional action. Once it clicked I was able to love it for the rest of the time and hope to read more soon. There are some big twists that really blow the mind. Here's to more!

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Great as always

Revisado: 04-20-23 El oyente recibió este título gratis

You'd better believe if you are a fan of Sword and Sorcery, Conan the Barbarian or movies like Excalibur, Krull, etc., then you should already be checking these out REGULARLY. But as far as the audiobook version is concerned we have ourselves a treat as always with ol' Moose Matson, the guy who breathes gritty edgy life to just the kind of stories I imagine when I hear that voice. Dark modern western, ancient mystical sorcery, or medieval ruffians on the run, name it and we have ourselves the right guy for the job. I'm certainly satisfied by the stories on offer here as well, though the last one was less sword and sorcery and more modern which wasn't quite my taste. Regardless, this is both gold and cheap at the same time. When gold is cheap, you buy it. So buy it!

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Unbelievable

Revisado: 04-20-23

Absurdly good. I was worried that nothing could live up to the last one but this was exactly as good. And by that I mean great. I'm so impressed with these authors and this narrator.

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