Brad Bramblett

More Than We Were Expecting

Revisado: 03-25-17

Which scene was your favorite?

It's difficult to pinpoint an exact favorite scene, though it was rather amusing as everyone, including Secoh, began to chastise Gorbash when he regained his body and started speaking ill of James and tried to act as though he hadn't any horde to pay the innkeeper.

Any additional comments?

This is one of the books I bought on Audible as a gift for my wife to listen to, as the 1982 Rankin Bass movie "Flight of Dragons" is *one* of her favorite childhood movies. At first, I didn't think I could find the book that inspired it, until I discovered that it was a combination of this book and another. She's pointed out that there are several noticeable differences between the book and movie, such as James having been renamed to Peter in the movie, Angela replaced by Princess Milisande, Danielle and Jiles having no relation, nor Smrgl and Gorbash, for that matter. Even Sir Orrin Neville-Smythe's (excuse me, Sir Brian's) role in the book and his relationship both with Milisande/Angie and Danielle is completely different from that of the movie. Certain characters who meet an untimely fate in the movie are still alive at the end of the book, as well, and the method in how James arrives in Gorbash's body is completely different from how Peter lands in this world. Carolinus was also characterized rather differently. And, hey, look at that, there are characters (Secoh and Dafydd) that never got any notable screen time (unless Secoh was supposed to belong to the Blue or Yellow wizard and just wasn't name dropped)! None of these changes actually detract from either embodiment, however. It instead makes them both a unique entity of their own, well worth looking into. Now that we've finished this book, we eventually may well move on into the next book of the series and see if any of the other wizards actually existed.

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Enjoyable listen to

Revisado: 03-25-17

Who was your favorite character and why?

Curdie and Princess Irene. They complement each other well enough, even when they (quite litterally) don't see eye-to-eye on a subject. Curdie's strong and smart from working in the mines his whole life, and thus much more informed on the situation they're dealing with. While Irene, having been kept safe in her castle is a little more naive, but learns quickly.

What about Brooke Heldman’s performance did you like?

Her voice is very soothing to listen to, and she does a great narrative on attempting different voices for each character and it sounds like she's actually nestling down to read the book to a child before bedtime.

Any additional comments?

Having attempted to read a copy of this book and misplacing it shortly after the animated film was released years ago, it's nice to be able to finish it, having found it available on Audible.The story is every bit as entertaining here as it was when I was first introduced to it, though I still have questions involving Irene's grandmother that never truly get answered by either version.It's also interesting to notice the differences between the book and movie; Irene's name having been pronounced as if the "E" at the end were a "Y" or "Ie" in the movie, Hairlip's name being Froglip and the Goblin Queen his real mother rather than a stepmother, the actual ages of Curdie and the Princess being given, Curdie's song is completely different, everyone knows the goblins exist except Irene, rather than only the miners, etc. These didn't detract from my enjoyment, but gave me a moment of pause, realizing how different they were. I half expected to learn that Hairlip's mother and the grandmother were somehow one and the same, but I'm glad they didn't take that route, though she remains the most mysterious character in the story; is she real, a dream, a ghost, a witch, an enchantress? We don't know! Clearly the princess isn't going mad, because her father and Curdie's mother have both seen the old woman. This just adds to the confusion of who or what she really is.Finally, the story is fun to listen to. Curdie meets a couple of women out on the road after dark, notices the Goblins are out and about, and scares the goblins off, learning the younger girl is the princess, he leads them home to safety, taking notice that the Goblins aren't happy with his interference, he finds his way into their domain to discover what they were really doing. His adventures, and those of the princess's bring them to a point where their paths cross once more, this time, she rescues him. They soon find they're both in over their heads with a common enemy. It's your standard "boy-meets-and-rescues-the-princess" fair, but when you've got characters that you can invest in, that never gets old, no matter how many times it's told.

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