A fun way to sample Authors- More Rothfuss Please!

Over all this was a good experience and I would like to see more such compilations. Here are my thoughts and ratings out of 10. Pardon my spelling - not familiar with some words/names - as it's audible:

1 Tough Times all over - Joe Abercrombie (6) Good narrator. About a stolen package that everyone wants. A bit convaluted.
2 What do you do?- Gillian Flynn (8) A unique female rougue and good female narr ator- twists in the story kept me interested.
3 Inn of the 7 Blessings- Matthew Hughes (8) Roy Dotrice is great and was good story about outsmarting wizards.
4 Bent Twig - Joe R Landsdale (7) Different modern day intrigue with fun texas accents about a PI searching for lost stepdaughter
5 Tawny Petticoats - Michael Swanwick (5) Dogman & zombies - strange tale in futuristic New Orleans. Its about a simple con game but if you like weird - this is it.
6 Providence - David W Ball (7) Long story about how painting was lost in WW2
7 Roaring Twenties - Carrie Vaughn (3) Boring and narrator is janis ian who is dull and has weird accent
8 A year and a day in old Therradain - Scott Lynch (7) Weird female characters/monsters and very wizardy. Good female narrator same as #1
9 Bad Brass - Bradley Dendon (8) Well read and fun story about down and out teacher.
10 Heavy metal - Sherie Priest (7) Odd hero story about a big imposing PI protecting us from nasty things.
11 The meaning of love - Daniel Abraham (7) Interesting and unique topic - a bit predictable - but well done.
12 A better way to die - Paul Cornell (5) Roy could not save this one. Odd story about 18th century man meeting his younger self through time travel.
13 Ill scene in Tyre - Steven Salor (6) Historical mystery genre set in Ancient times. fun story
14 A Cargo of Ivories - Garth Nicks (8) Master and puppet -strangely appealing if you accept that his sidekick is a puppet.
15 Diamonds from Tequila - Walter John Williams (9) Innovative ideas mixed into a good murder mystery. Good listen.
16 Caravan to No Where - Phyllis Eisentein (9) Gripping and good character development - I want to read more of her stuff.
17 The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives - Lisa Tuttle (8) Slow start but gets better
18 How the Marquis Got his Coat Back - Neil Gamon (9) Marquis de Carabas - Very compelling story
19 Now Showing - Connie Willis (7) Weird Movie saga
20 The Lightning Tree Patrick Rothfuss - (10) Awesome - Bast is profiled and he is wickedly lovable.
21 The Rogue Prince or a Kings Brother - George RR Martin (7) Too much geneology - Not Game of Thrones quality and Roy does not read it.

186 people found this helpful

12 great hours by Fantasy titans-Skip the other 20

Collections of short stories, especially collections with many readers and many authors, are very hit and miss on Audible. This is one of the better ones, though it comes with a caveat - the bad stories are pretty bad, and the bad readers even worse - so the four star rating requires you to skip around a bit. Others have pointed out that the chapters are a bit weird, but that is only for two or three stories, after which they serve as a useful way to skip. (I'll also provide guidance on where the stories are)

And you should make sure to catch the fantastic ones here:

Scott Lynch's (Chapters 16-33 in the Audibook) A Year and a Day in Old Therradain has all of the charm, wit, and worldbuilding of the best of Lies of Locke Lamora, but with a great new character and new setting. Oceans 11 in a fantasy world.

Joe Abercrombie (Chapter 3 in the Audiobook) offers a Ambercrombie-ish tale of an entire criminal underworld hunting a mysterious package among lies and complex plots that is fun and not nearly as dark as his other work. It is read by the same narrator as Lynch, who is great.

Garth Nix's Cargo of Ivories (Chapter 58) is a story from his latest series about a puppet wizard and a knight hunting dangerous gods. I love Nix's style, and this was a nice example of his more adult work, with some clever wit along with the action.

Rothfuss's Lightning Tree (Chapters 70-71) is the story of Bast, and his relationships and schemes in the town where Kvothe's Inn is located. Witty, fun, and, surprisingly, given Rothfuss's tendency for massive tomes, tightly written.

Gaiman's entry (Chapter 66) is a story from Neverwhere, and will appeal to you greatly if remember (and like!) that novel, but is likely be a bit confusing otherwise.

Martin's piece (the final chapter) is more of a history of some pre-Game of Thrones events, you will enjoy it if you like history and the GoT universe (which I do), otherwise it will feel like a list of names and dates.

There are others that are good. I don't usually read mysteries, but I enjoyed a couple of them a lot (Big Brass and the second story, What Would You Do?), I also really liked a couple of weirder stories - Tawny Petticoats by Swanick and Inn of the Seven Blessings by Hughes. You may have different favorites.

Sometimes the readers are terrible and the stories are good, and sometimes the opposite is true. Overall, though, it is a terrific collection, if you are willing to skip around to find the gems and aren't annoyed that some of the stories are disappointing.

90 people found this helpful

Only a couple good stories, not worth it

Two decent stories, a few endings that just make you shake your head, WTH?
Narrator's weren't great other then Scott Brick, the main narrator or MC, was awful.
I'm applying for refund on this disappointing purchase.
(I have over 400 audiobook, true crime, thrillers, mystery and literature. Next to none on sci-fi or fantasy, and this book confirms i don't care for it)

9 people found this helpful

No Chapters ????

This is an anthology. I can't believe Audible puts this out without listing chapters. If you lose your place or want to jump back or forward you have to scrub the time bar or tap the 30 second refresh. It's absurd to put out a 30 hr collection of short stories and dump it onto your device without a way to navigate through the book shame on you!

154 people found this helpful

Everyone loves a Rogue

I enjoyed the majority of the short stories; I leaned more towards sci-fi fantasy for I'm a sci-fi buff. The different narrators gave it something extra: Rupert Degras, Gwendoline Christie, and
Conleth Hill, David Greenlee, Harriet Walter - excellent. Authors: Scott Lynch, Daniel Abraham, Walter Jon Williams, Joe Abercrombie, Lisa Tuttle and Patrick Rothfuss - I must read more ....Gilian Flynn - mystery stories - you got me interested...George R. R. Martin - 2 words - More Please ...I guess everyone can spot a rogue in themselves through all these short stories... Glad I got a chance to 😉😊

13 people found this helpful

Good and Meh

Some of the stories and the narration aren't so great but there are some absolutely fantastic ones as well. I enjoyed it enough that I actually bought a hard copy for my library.

6 people found this helpful

Mostly solid collection; fun variety

Most stories & readers were excellent (5*) Fun variety of characters & genres. A couple were tedious, surprisingly including GRR Martin's prequel to Song of Ice & Fire - like reading the "begats" in Genesis. Ah, well. But many authors I now want to read more of. Happily, each story begins on a chapter break, so it's easy to skip a story you dislike. Well worth it.

10 people found this helpful

Loved It!

Where does Rogues rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10

What other book might you compare Rogues to and why?

I don't have a comparison given that it is short stories but they are largely well written and compelling stories that are entertaining and well narrated. I absolutely LOVE Gwendoline Christie's narration! Can't get enough of her!

What does George R. R. Martin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A depth of characters and fullness of story

Any additional comments?

More Gwendoline Christie!!! She is a fabulous narrator with a soothing voice, excellent diction and pronunciation, and that beautiful accent! She has a wonderful talent and brings the story to life.

12 people found this helpful

Mixed bag- most a good listen

Enjoyed most of the stories although wasn't overwhelmed easy to turn off and then on.

6 people found this helpful

It says this heading is optional, but it's not.

Very dependent on the individual stories and authors. I only liked the story by Patrick Rothfuss, because I was most familiar with the characters. Audiobook is not the best format for this anthology. I would recommend a physical copy instead.

2 people found this helpful