Ship of Magic: The Liveship Traders, Book 1

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Great book, Great Story, Great Writer, Pity about the narrator. It would be nice if they stuck to one Narrator for an author, I would have been very pleased to continue with Paul Bohemer, and I am disappointed with the change, I will make sure I listen to samples before I buy any more books from audible.

Would you be willing to try another one of Anne Flosnik’s performances?

No.
Anne Flosnik has an incredibly annoying voice, she seems to lisp, slur, speaks her words around the sides of her tongue and is almost sounds like she is trying to cast a spell with every sentence. I had intended to work my way through the Liveship traders series before I started the Tawny man series, but I have decided that since I read the series about 10 years ago, I will pass on buying the other two books and skip forward.

Any additional comments?

It has just occurred to me that there are other sites that do audiobooks, I have been happy having Audible as my sole provider, but I really don't want to listen to Anne Flosnik butchering any more of these books so I will have to look to see if this book is availiable from anyone else with a better Narrator.

Would you be willing to try another one of Anne Flosnik’s performances?

Hell no. Not if you paid me.
She is slow, monotone and entirely boring as a narrator

Any additional comments?

Speeding the audio up to 1.1x speed improves things significantly but this would be best fixed with a better narrator.

Would you try another book from Robin Hobb and/or Anne Flosnik?

The story is engaging, however the recording skips words continually...
It looses meaning in some sentences

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Another reader would make all the difference. Anne Flosnik tries to do I do not what. I have read and re-read the books. The stories are wonderful.

What did you like best about this story?

The narrative is very good.

Would you be willing to try another one of Anne Flosnik’s performances?

No way.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. I love the books, but Anne Flosnik's reading just kills them.

Any additional comments?

Horrible.

Try increasing the playback speed. I listened to this book at 1.10x and it made a world of difference. That is a tip to remember for any audiobook that you are not enjoying, try increasing the playback speed before giving up on the book.

As for the trilogy, I'm now well into the second book in this series, and it's ok. It's not as gripping as the farseer trilogy, but it is good enough to listen too. I look forward to returning to Fitz & the Fool, but this is proving to be entertaining enough, and the magical ships are wonderful.

It is frustrating how even when someone has been proven to be wrong in this book, they still stubbornly refuse to change their mind/opinion about something. (Very true to life though, just look at politics.) Like the whole Vestrit family, none of them ever seem to change their mind. It does make it a struggle for me to like any of the characters very much.

Anyway, give the series a go, the ships are wonderful, and if you find the narrator difficult to listen too, try increasing the speed. I honestly wonder if someone messed up the recording, and it's playing slower than it should.

I am sure the book is quite good but I will be asking for a refund for this one. The Narration is just terrible. I am really sorry Anne Flosnik but this is not your calling.

There is no depth to the characters, she is incredibly slow even at 1.25 times the speed. its very mono tone so the book doesn't develop any real feeling as to what is going on. The spacing between sections in chapters is almost non existent and its really hard to follow from one part to the next. And all the characters sound the same boy or girl, old or young.

Looking at other reviews of this narrator this is a common feeling so its really disappointing that the entire series is read by this one lady. She just doesn't give the book justice.

Will be reading this one myself thanks!

Would you try another book from Robin Hobb and/or Anne Flosnik?

I'd certainly read a book from the same author, but not the narrator unless for a very specific reason.

Was Ship of Magic: The Liveship Traders, Book 1 worth the listening time?

The story is good, the narrator almost made me give up.

After reading the Farseer trilogy, I really wanted to skip The Liveship Traders and go on to the Tawny Man Series but all the reviews I read indicated these books should be read in the order they were written because some of the characters from here are brought into the Tawny Man. While not directly connected to the Farseer story, it is set just outside the boarders of the Six Dutchies.

I liked the characters and the idea of the liveships but dont understand what is going on with the sea serpents. It has taken quite a long time to start enjoying the story as I don't care for the narrator's voice/accent. We have Trader families in debt to RainWild families for their liveships, children used as bargaining chips, pirates, slaves and politics and an interesting mix up of characters.

Excellent book, but this narrator is toe-cringingly bad. There's no way one can listen to her for 30 hours. I have no idea why anyone would hire her. Seriously.

Edit: Someone suggested setting the reading speed to 1.25 and that makes it a little more bearable.

It made me contemplate aspects of my life and how I communicate with them. I recommend!