Mary Stewart deserves better narrators...

Having read and immersed myself in the atmosphere of Mary Stewart novels so many times as to have virtually memorized most of the text, it has been a disappointment to listen to the Audible presentations of some of the best stories ever written. Why an author of her stature and obvious popularity has been inflicted with such inferior narrators is incomprehensible. Fraudulent accents, uneducated (and unprofessional) mispronunciations of words, apparently unresearched and awkward interprepretations of characters...It has been a disconcerting, uncomfortable, and often grueling experience to listen to these audiobooks. I cannot even finish this one.
I love Lisette Lecat’s interpretation and narration of Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Jane Entwistle’s Flavia de Luce (Alan Bradley) is fabulous. If Jane Austen were not a favorite author (she is) I could listen just for the joy in the performance to Juliet Stevenson.
Audible, your selection of narrators for Mary Stewart tales is an insult to the quality of the writing.

29 people found this helpful

Great book, too slow

One of Mary Stewart's best. Narrator reads too slow and is overdramatic, but overall okay. I sped up the narration speed to 1.25x, which was much better.

9 people found this helpful

Best narrator ever

Mary Stewart is one of my favorite authors, and My Brother Michael is one of her best. Jasmine Blackborow is a perfect narrator, with great enunciation, steady volume, and narrative flow, with enough differences in characters’ voices to identify them without going overboard as some narrators do. She made the story come alive.

6 people found this helpful

Another wonderful Mary Stewart audiobook

I absolutely adore Mary Stewart's sensibility, and have loved every Stewart audiobook that I have listened to. I have not read any of her novels; I first encountered her at Audible. Her heroines are easy to identify with: brave but a bit insecure, well-meaning but a bit naïve, thrust into unfamiliar (and often perilous) circumstances which, after a struggle, the character successfully surmounts.

Stewart's descriptions of landscapes and nature are always entrancing. In this novel, set in the early 1960s, the protagonist visits Lebanon and Syria, beautifully invoked. Romance helps to energize the story, adding to the atmosphere, but the plot depends on the actions- and agency- of the protagonist. There are elements of suspense, and of mystery, nicely handled. There are reflections on the ancient history of the area, as well as the conditions of the 1960s. Stewart's lush prose is enriched by suitable bits of poetry. The spoken narration is very well done. Overall, The Gabriel Hounds provides a lovely listening experience.

5 people found this helpful

tried to listen to this again, cant do it.

the narrators chosen for Mary Stewarts great books are not good. the few that i owned i can never stand to listen, should have returned them all when i realized how bad they are.

they should all be redone with qualified narrators who can read and understand the stories.

2 people found this helpful

A tale masterfully spun

This is my absolute favourite book from the author. I‘have been reading it again and again over many years - the covers tell the tale - and never get tired of it. And although I know the plot, it is every time like the first. I am there wit Camilla and Simon, the silent bystander to the plot unfolding before me.

1 person found this helpful

Wish narration had been better

I first read this book over 40 years ago and was so excited to see it offered on Audible. I wish a better narrator had been chosen. She does not do justice to the flow or beauty of the story and is simply a mediocre reader.

The book was a 5* story but the narration brought it down to a 3*. A shame because the plot and location offers the reader so much.

1 person found this helpful

A very good book and performed with excellence.

A childhood favorite enjoyed again. I highly recommend Mary Stewart. Good, solid mystery and characters

1 person found this helpful

Classic from a pioneer in romantic suspense

A snapshot of the post world war II world with the cold war looming. Set in Greece with many allusions to the classical world. Wonderful descriptiive writing. and full of suspense.

1 person found this helpful

NOT my favorite

Almost didn't finish this story... most of Mary Stewart's books have been very enjoyable but this one was missing something vital. It was very confusing & way more about Greek history than character deveopment & a clear story line. Also the main characters seemed vague, smoked all the time & there wasn't really a bringing the story together at the end... it just kind of stopped like it needed another chapter. It was also very descriptive with more gore & brutality than she usually has in her books. Very dissppointed.