Brian Boru ... King of Ireland....Loved it.

It's so refreshing to listen to Irish history instead of the dominated English history...
Excellent book, would love loads more like it.

The only problem with it is the narrator's constant mispronunciation of Irish names, town lands, etc. otherwise loved it.

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Epic

Morgan Llywelyn has here produced probably the best work of fiction relating to Irish history that I have yet come across.

I would classify this more as historical fantasy than fiction as, although she manages to produce an accurate image of Gaelic and Viking Ireland in the time of Boru, supernatural occurances and the fulfilment of prophecies make it less realist.

While Mil Nicholson gets some of the pronunciations of Irish personal names wrong (Tadhg she pronounces as Tayj), in the main she carries an Irish accent without sounding ridiculous and gets place names right.

I look forward to listening to Pride of Lions next, and if Nicholson could narrate Grania in the future it would be another credit spent.

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Whoa!

One of my greatest listens in Audible. A fabulous telling of the story of one of Ireland’s great historical figures. First book I have read (listened to) by Morgan Llywelyn and definitely not the last . The richness of her writing weaves an immersive story that is enrapturing. Full marks also to the narrator!

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Beautifully crafted story exploring Brian Ború

I really enjoyed this tale and I loved the description of characters and events. The characters really came to life and I loved how the author navigated through the story telling it from each characters viewpoint. The story gave a fascinating insight into what Brian Ború may have been like. I have a greater understanding into why the name Brian Boru is associated with that of one Ireland's Heroes. I didn't know much about home before listening to this book and thoroughly enjoyed finding out more about him. I will definitely be reading one of Morgan Llwelyn's books in the future. Although I won't be listening to it on audio. The narrator misprounced several Irish words and names throughout the story. As a speaker of the language it really grated on my ears. It's such a shame given the wealth of knowledge and research put into this book by the author.

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1 person found this helpful

A masterpiece.

Brings ancient history to life..
A wonderful insightful story. Powerfully written. And narrated excellently
5 stars is not enough for this masterpiece.

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Great story and very good marathon

as an Irish person I had heard of Brian Boru but knew little about him, this is a vivid story which is based on the life of a fascinating man, I dos find the accents a bit off putting at first because Irish accents are very distinct to Irish people but to non Irish the accents are generic. , I did war6to the narrator as she was an excellent storyteller.

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strange choice of narrator

very well researched book about an under-explored period of irish history. The choice to have it narrated by a woman with an English accent kind of soured the experience. Countless names mispronounced, and subtle quirks of speech going unnoticed.
This book made early medieval irish history feel much less distant and much more real, and is a reminder that irish history isn't all about life under the jackboot

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