The Merchant of Death (Unabridged

This is a fast paced book. It is well narrated. We listen to these in the car and it kept the whole family entertained and wanting more. The only bad part was when it finished and we did not have the next book to go on with. Fantastic for all ages.

13 people found this helpful

Alex Ryder MEETS John Twelve Hawk's The Traveller

Definitely more fantasy than sci-fi.

After listening to this, (for you dads out there) the storyline reminded me of Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" - whereby the main character is transported to a less advanced civilisation - using their wits and brains they save the day.

For the kids, this was more like Alex Ryder crossed with "The Traveller". The boy is a "choosen one" who unknown to him, is being mentored, travels with his "uncle" through different worlds to fight on behalf of good against an evil foe that is present in worlds.

The narration by William Dufris has light and lively pace that is definitely young adult. Something for both father and son to enjoy together..

11 people found this helpful

LOVE these books!

DJ MacHale takes you on a wild ride with Bobby Pendragon. William Dufris does a fabulous job reading these books. I really got into the entire series and enjoyed them thoroughly. I do recommend reading them in order, but each could stand alone on their own merits easily. The pace is fast and furious and the plot twists keep you interested 'till the very end. I highly recommend ALL the Pendragon books!

7 people found this helpful

Not pleased...

Corny, with annoying and stupid characters, had to struggle to finish it. The narrator was whiney (is that a word?) and annoying as well. Sorry, just my opinion, but I could have spent 15 bucks on a better book. Read some Jim Butcher instead...

7 people found this helpful

Series is Awesome. Narration not so awesome.

I am re-reading the series because I enjoyed it so much. I thought I'd add the audio to my collection. The story is still exciting and unpredictable, but I don't think the narration adds much. Dufries is good with adding vocal excitement to his narration, but there is a whine-factor to his style that takes away from the story. He did the same to the Enduring Flame Series. I know Pendragon is a teenager and they are supposed to whine, but his translation is more of a two-year old's.

Stay with the book, unless audio is your only option. If you have a Kindle, buy it first, and then get the audio for $3.99.

5 people found this helpful

My First Review

The story develops a young self-centered boy into a great adventurer and hero. Every boys dream. Excellant read.

5 people found this helpful

Interesting story, but the writing is annoying

What did you like best about The Merchant of Death? What did you like least?

I found this to be an interesting story line, and reasonably well developed. I am interested in how the series turns out. Unfortunately, the main character tends to go on and ramble far too much about analogies, and past experiences. In the middle of an exciting time in the story he will take 10 minutes to relate something back to an earlier childhood experience. I was often left with the feeling "when will he just get on with the story"I liked the performance for the most part, but my wife thought the narrator had problems with women's voices and he made them very breathy.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Less rambling narrative by Bobby.

Did William Dufris do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes, but the women were a little unrealistic in their breathy voices.

4 people found this helpful

Mediocre writing made worse by a mediocre narrator

What disappointed you about The Merchant of Death?

There are quite a few things I didn't like about the book. Most of the characters are whiny, unbelieving and in need of a kick in the pants. The plot is predictable. The contrived friends reading a journal narrative framework distracts from any tension or energy that the plotline could have worked up. The fact that the entire book is written as a journal assures the reader that the idiot protagonist is never in any danger of actually being snuffed out by the baddies. The baddies are also tragically incompetent. Note for future authors, if you paint a antagonist as intelligent, ruthless and more than willing to destroy something in his way without thinking about it... DON'T abandon this when he learns of your hero.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The idea of the two frameworks... story time... and the real world... is an interesting idea. It could have worked. It didn't. But that might be the fault of the narrator. Least interesting... Yet another whiny 14 year old.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

*sigh* It's hard to describe... He detracts from the writing in so many ways. His voice grates. I could probably stand his voice in conversation or in a work environment but for HOURS straight in my ear? His delivery of Bobby makes it sound like a stereotypical oppressed geek trying to deliver the lines of a nerd jock who is awesome. It's just hard to swallow. This also makes Mark, the geeky sidekick, even more of a stereotype.

Also, several times I would lose track of who was talking in conversations due to the narrator not differentiating enough between the characters. When they are of different genders... this is kinda sad.

Yes, voice work is hard. Especially in large cast situations. But YEESH!

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

Annoyance.

Any additional comments?

If you can get it free and are out of other books... Sure, might be worth a read or a listen. Spending a credit on this or real money... no way. Jim Butcher, Orson Scott Card, Heinlein's Juveniles(for the kids), late Heinlein(for the adults) or a number of other excellent authors would be better choices.

4 people found this helpful

Rough start for a great series

Read these books as a kid and am re-reading as an adult, I adore this series and know it gets better and better as it goes. This first book is a bit rough though. Bobby is not a very sympathetic protagonist in this book, he’s a whiny privileged white boy jock, nothing to be done about that. Keep reading deeper into the series to watch his character growth, but more exciting is that you get to know more about all the wonderful other worlds and travelers, that’s more than enough incentive to push past the first book!

There was an excessive amount of fat shaming, which I didn’t expect going into this re-read and was really disappointed to see. The character in question had many negative traits (she’s a villain), but all descriptions of her (from Bobby’s perspective) hyper fixated on her weight and how disgusted he was by it. It was super not okay! This kind of casual fat shaming is the stuff that gives kids weight complexes for the rest of their life. It truly frustrates me to see this kind of thing in young adult books, booms should inspire confidence in young readers not take it away.

Not a huge fan of William Dufris’ narration, but I listened to a lot of these books as a kid and can confirm you get used to him a couple books in.

2 people found this helpful

mediocre

Is there anything you would change about this book?

oddly slow and non griping

What was most disappointing about D. J. MacHale’s story?

didn't grab my interest

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

be a better voice actor or go to a full cast

Did The Merchant of Death inspire you to do anything?

no

2 people found this helpful