The Wizard Hunters

Fall of Ile-Rien, Book 1

By: Martha Wells

Narrated by: Talmadge Ragan

Ile-Rien is in peril. A mysterious army known only as the Gardier has surrounded the country, attacking in ominous black airships. Hope is not lost though, for a magical sphere created by Ile-Rien's greatest sorcerer may hold the key to defeating the faceless enemy. But the sphere is unpredictable and has already claimed several lives. When a magical spell goes disastrously awry, young Tremaine Valiarde and a brave band are transported to another world-a world of rough magics, evil mages, honorable warriors, and a secret Gardier base.

©2003 Martha Wells (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The subsequent story seems intended to combine elements of high fantasy and cross-time travel, as if it were a collaborative work by Andre Norton and S. M. Stirling. Thanks to Wells' narrative skill and considerably above-average characterization, it largely succeeds in those intentions." ( Booklist)

Great story, awful to hear

I love this author and this series and was looking forward to listening to this book instead of just enduring interminable rush hour traffic. Unfortunately the narrator has made sitting in rush hour seem even longer with her over enunciated and oddly emphasized reading. I an trying to finish this but don't know if I can.

Good story, dense world

It took me a while to get into the story enough that I stopped hating the narrator, whose need to pronounce every terminal consonant added syllables and delays all over the place. “He couldntuh try again”. You’ll know if this is a thing that bothers you.

Wells has created another fascinating world with peoples and magics we don’t understand. I guess there’s a sequel to justify all the world-building, because it stopped a little abruptly, although the short-term goals we’re accomplished…

If Siri read a book, this is what you would get

I think this is a good story, but it is difficult… to get over… the narrator’s horribly timed… pauses mid-sentence. Every scene (be it dramatic or general information) and all the characters are read with little differentiation or inflection. Then there is the mispronunciation of words- names of places and people that were featured prominently in the 2 preceding novels. I cringed every time the narrator said “Ile-Rien”. I can only hope for improvement in the next novel, because the reading can’t get much worse!

Fast paced but not lacking in anything

A great start to a gripping trilogy. Well crafted, interesting characters and fascinating world building.

And it never fets boring.

Terrible narration, decent story

I wish I had bought the actual book instead of the Audible version. I have already gotten the Audible versions of other books in this series with the same narrator, and I sincerely wish I had not wasted the credits on them. There is no way I'll suffer through another book read by this narrator. Weird over-pronunciations, uneven pauses, bizarre word emphasis, and snail's pace of speaking ruined the experience of this book for me. It's like the narrator was reading a single word at a time without regard to how spoken language is supposed to sound. I finally sped it up to 1.5x, but even so, the narration was jerky, halting, and just plain strange. No one speaks like this in real life. No one.

I would have liked the book better if the narration had not jarred me out of the story so many times. Despite an undercurrent of a completely unnecessary romance, the world-building and magical system were interesting. The plot moved well, and the characters were well-developed.

The narration absolutely ruins the book, though.

The narrator ruined the audio version.

I have enjoyed the book so far DESPITE the narrator's best efforts. Her blocked-nasal tone and odd enunciation, intonation and pace are bizarre, distracting, and bad enough that I will actively search for her in future to avoid her.

Great story, narrator sounds drunk

Martha Wells is an amazing author. This narrator is not. She slurs, pops, sputters and has horrible sibilance and mushy pronunciation despite over-enunciating. She generally sounds drunk and maybe like she has a lot of post-nasal drip. She’s not as bad as John Lee, but that’s not saying much.

reader over enunciating.

at first I thought the narrator had never read a book before, but after a bit I realised she was just over enunciating. a bit annoying in the long run

Good story but the narration is not good

The timing between some words or phrases is too long. It disrupts the flow of the story. Too bad that the same narrator did the next book in the series. I will probably listen to The Gate of Gods because of the story line.

One of my favorite books

What made the experience of listening to The Wizard Hunters the most enjoyable?

I love this story. The books in this series are three of the most worn-out books on my shelves, and I was excited to get it on audio book. The worldbuilding is rich, and done so effortlessly by the author. The characters come alive, and will often surprise you - the characters and plot keep the story moving at the perfect pace.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Wizard Hunters?

I don't think I could pick a single moment. The best element of the book - it's a toss-up between the way the various culture clashes are navigated, and the unfolding secret of the Damal sphere.

What three words best describe Talmadge Ragan’s performance?

Decent. Warm. Over-enunciated.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! I've read it countless times, but I still had to force myself to save it for my work commute instead of listening to it all in one go.