The Ships of Air

Fall of Ile-Rien Series # 2

By: Martha Wells

Narrated by: Talmadge Ragan

Length: 19 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Known for her lush, intricate worlds and complex characters, acclaimed author Martha Wells has delighted readers with her extraordinary fantasy novels of daring and wit.

With The Wizard Hunters she launched her most ambitious undertaking yet-the return to the beloved world of the Nebula Award-nominated The Death of the Necromancer and The Fall of Ile-Rien.

Now the saga continues in a triumph of suspense and imagination. Despite a valiant struggle against superior forces, the country of Ile-Rien has fallen to the onslaught of the relentless Gardier, a faceless army of sorcerers determined to conquer all civilization.

To save the remnants of her country, former playwright Tremaine Valiarde undertakes an epic journey to stop the Gardier. Rescuing the proud ship Queen Ravenna from destruction, Tremaine and a resolute band of sorcerers and warriors set sail across magical seas on a voyage of danger and discovery. For the secret to defeating the enemy - and to rescuing the world from the Gardier's inimitable hatred-lies far beyond the walls of the world, and only the tenuous ties of friendship and honor will keep the band together.

But the Gardier are not the only evil in this tumultuous world, and an ancient terror stalks the ornate rooms and shadowy decks of the Queen Ravenna-a force so malevolent and enigmatic that even the growing power of the sorcerer's sphere may not be enough to save Ile-Rien from utter ruin.

©2004 Martha Wells (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Fascinating. . . . A vastly entertaining and refreshingly different fantasy adventure with a surprisingly satisfying conclusion." ( Locus Magazine)

Horrible performance

Os Talmadge AI? She reads like a robot unfamiliar with the cadence of human speech.

Excellent follow-up to The Wizard Hunters

The rich worldbuilding and strong characters continue from the previous book. The narrator tends to over-enunciate, but the story itself is so compelling that it hardly matters.

Unbearable narrator, DNF

I wanted to return to this series after having read it many years ago. But, the narrator makes it impossible. Her narration is like having tinnitus; can't figure out a way to listen without being distracted. It took a bit of time to figure out the problem. She pronounces EVERY SINGLE CONSONANT and every single syllable. Every d, and t, and n, which is especially apparent at the end of words. Ex: the word started will be pronounced start...ed. and it just goes on and on
I know this is an older recording, but I looked, and she has narrated many books. I can't be bothered to check whether this verbal tic is still present. Of course, these 3 volumes were "free", and they are not on kindle unlimited, so not "free" on Amazon. Regardless, the narration is impossible to overlook, and I cannot appreciate this early Martha Wells. So, DNF

Over annunciated narration became annoying

The story was not as engaging as the previous in the series. The main character became more annoying than likable as the story went on. The narrator's over annunciation led to to odd pauses and became distracting. One of only a few of over 500 titles in my library from the last 20 years that I've not finished listening to.

I like to be in intricacies of the characters and the story.

I did not enjoy the narrator style of reading. She had odd breaks in the middle of sentences, which I did not enjoy.

Love this series

Love these books. The gal they have reading this series though sounds robotic at times. Kind of like the female voice you get when you call a number and you get an automated system. Other than that I'm enjoying listening to this again. The last time I listened to this series my fiance was the one reading it to me.

Great story, disappointing narration

The story hums along at a good clip with the protagonists facing a complex and varied series of challenges including wizards, an implacable enemy that always seems to be a step ahead, interpersonal conflicts, and self doubt.

The narration is bizarre, often to the point of being distracting. The narrator’s cadence and phrasing is extremely strange. She often adds way too many pauses within each sentence, as if the sentence is peppered with commas, and she often stresses the wrong words. For example,“when it was hit by a force too strong for it to resist” is recorded as “when it was hit by a FORCE, too strong FOR it, to resist”.

Great adventure story.

High quality steampunk fantasy candy. Stands alone without having to read the prior books.
I don't think the actor was a good fit. The vernacular of the story is British and sardonic. The voice actor spoke slowly in overly enunciated American. It was distracting, especially when voicing the heroines inner monologue since it was so robotic sounding compared to the obvious snark. Not a lot of variation between the characters either. If you can, read in print.

Good story, terrible narrator

I’m persevering through the series because the story is engaging and the characters well developed, but omg this narrator is distractingly bad.

The WORST narrator ever!!!

It was painful to listen to this series, the narrator has no sense of cadence or when Not to pause in a sentence or a single word. I doubt I'll finish the series as I could barely tolerate the narrator. She has ruined the story!