Jon is brilliant

One of my favourite stories and Jon Culshaw adds a new depth to characters. Could not be happier!

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I’ve read the books. I’ve listened to the books

Audiobook Reviews

Guards! Guards! Sir T P New Penguin release 2023

I’ve read the books. I’ve listened to the books the original recordings made digital for our dumb phones. Spoiler if you’re new to Sir Terry Pratchett’s books i) welcome ii) where in the hells have you been? and iii) stop reading this review I don’t want to spoil the magnificence of all the Discworld books and audiobooks.
Still reading? Well don’t blame me. Jon Culshaw has a gift of changing his voice. What he’s done here is awful. A bad Les Dawson impression does for Captain Sam Vimes. What!? (Don’t know Les Dawson? try that place for videos of everything you know youThingy)
Cpl. Nobby Nobbs is at least twenty years younger than Sgt. Fred Colon but sounds 20 years older. Is Mr Culshaw a fan of the Discworld? It doesn’t appear so. Age difference proof Nobby and Fred? Try Night Watch Nobby is a grubby little street urchin and Fred is in the Watch having served in the military already. Carrot’s voice is okay. For a thin wiry tall man Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician his voice sounds too deep and slow he’s swift of hand and swifter in the mind and would speak quickly enunciating clearly and sharply as his mind.
Based on this outing I won’t preorder any other books until I can hear a sample. I’ll stick with my original collection for now.
It’s an opportunity missed or misguided.

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New reader is fantastic

The watch series is my favorite of all the discworld series and these new audios really do the story justice, it's like listening to them for the first time again which is high praise from me as I'm a die hard Stephen Briggs fan. I can't wait to listen to the rest of them.

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Absolutely Phenomenal

I have been a lover of pratchetts work and previous audio books (particularly about the watch) for decades. I was concerned this new take by penguin wouldn't live up to the very High bar previously set. I have to day though that i absolutely love this version and would highly recommend. Narration and performance are both extremely high quality.

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Love the new audio

I always struggled with the old audio version of the books. I’ve been really happy with the new voice actors chosen to narrate. Agree with others that the footnotes intro sound is a bit jarring, but otherwise super happy with narration and have finally been able to listen to audio versions of Discworld with enjoyment!

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Excellent rendition of the book

Really great story. Pratchett had a good handle on what the Discworld was by this point in the series and the book is beautifully written.

I found it very odd the voices the Narrator chose for the characters (Sean Bean as Vimes, for example) but after the initial transition, as always with a book when you have a voice in your head, it was great. He manages to have clearly different voices for each character which makes it easy to follow.

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The first, and one of the best City Watch novels

I love this one because it introduces the principal characters of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. Captain Samuel Vimes, Lance Corporal Carrot Ironfounderrson, Sergeant Fred Colon, and of course the indomitable Nobby Nobbs. The storytelling is one of Terry Pratchett's best. You can't help but get caught up in the story and those pages (or audio chapters in this case) just turn themselves. It leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy all over with a smile on your face. And you immediately reach for the next novel in the series.

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Love this!

I really enjoyed this new version of Guards! Guards!, especially with the gruffness of Vimes, and the Patrician as he is in my head. Thank you! The little extra at the end by Ben Aaronovitch was a nice inclusion too.

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Love Discworld

The discworld series is and always will be my favorite world. The unique and diverse characters, the humour, the subjects that will always be relevant and the world itself. I don't have the necessary skills to write how much this world means to me.

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Rescued from a first impression.

I have this story in all its iterations. I was disappointed to see all my Briggs narrations gone. I got this and almost gave up on it, due to what I felt was stilted narration. I gave it another grudging go and just grew into it. It was a joy. A new spin on it, with the footnotes beautifully delivered and my getting used to the pacing making for a very pleasant and entertaining package. I miss my Briggs narrations, but this is a pretty decent successor. The story hasn't changed and that is the perfection of the piece. Yeah, give it ago and properly immerse as I failed initially to do.

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