The Warlock in Spite of Himself

Warlock of Gramarye, Book 1

By: Christopher Stasheff

Narrated by: Dennis F. Regan

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Gramayre - where witches, warlocks, elves, and gnomes are real; where a spoiled girl-queen and an army of teenage witches, and ragtag beggars battle an overwhelming force of rebel knights and time-travelling anarchists for the future of the most unique, and perhaps most important, planet in the galaxy.

This is what cynical, hard-bitten, intergalactic spy Rod Gallowglass faces when he and his robot horse, Fess, try to bring peace and democracy to this magic-ridden Renaissance-age society. Rod's mission is threatened at every turn by anarchists, communists, and double-dealing royalists playing vicious political power games. Things are made even worse when Rod's advanced technology gets him labeled a warlock despite his constant denials. Help comes from the most unexpected sources when he meets an ancient ghost, the King of the Elves, and the most powerful witch on the planet.

This classic science-fantasy novel has been completely remixed to address issues with uneven volume some readers have experienced.

Gramayre comes to life in 11 hours of dramatic sword-and-sorcery, featuring well-known narrator Dennis Regan and a full cast.

©1969 Christopher Stasheff (P)2012 Geoffrey T. Williams

Garbled

The premise is intriguing. I don't like all the sound effects, horses clopping and doors slamming, and some of the voices are too guttural and, thereby, difficult to understand. I listen, mostly, in the car so there is already a lot of ambient noise. Not finished yet, so we'll see.

An Amusing Juxtaposition of Olde and Futuristic

What I enjoyed most about this book was the production. It had a radio dramatized feel with diverse voices and fun sound effects. Dispite the Audible description, there are actually many voice actors on this one. The story was clever and the humor was constant. It contrasted anachronism with futurism to amusing effect, as well as magic with super-science.

Great story

I wish they would do more of the series, Stasheff created a great story with these books!

Very good book

It was hard to read on paperback. Listening to it was allot easier. The ending was perfect!

Could've been better...

What made the experience of listening to The Warlock in Spite of Himself the most enjoyable?

I love this series, and Stasheff's sister series' as well. The writing, storytelling, etc was the most enjoyable for me.

What other book might you compare The Warlock in Spite of Himself to and why?

I suppose there are some similarities to the Dresden Files, for a modern choice. The same premises abide in both, lead character thrust into dangerous situations partly of their own devising.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I was a bit surprised that this was done in a multi person/radio drama sort of style when it wasn't billed that way. Dennis Regan isn't a bad narrator, but it lacked some of the depth that the old cassette recordings had. I think probably crediting the other voice actors would be nice unless Regan really does do a soprano.

Why not more?

Great story, mediocre performance. When the story calls for voices at a distance the performers chose to go for “Lollypop Guild” voice. Brom O’Berin’s voice is described as an oaken timbre, but sounds like a willow in the breeze. This is a series of around 15 books (all but one of which are excellent). I hope more become available, but with better performances.

First book with foley!

This is a classic science fiction book, always a favorite, but it's the addition of foley effects in the performance that I really enjoyed!

Overproduced but excellent story

I read this story as a kid and when a chance conversation reminded me of it, I went and bought the entire series for my Kindle. A wayward thought sent me here and when I saw it'd been turned into an audio book I just had to give it a listen.

The ensemble cast did a good to excellent job, but as the title of the review suggests, there are parts where the ambient and/or voice FX make portions of the dialogue all but unintelligible.

Beyond this, the story shows it's age somewhat given the tech as imagined in '69, but overall this is a good story with a nifty combination of adventure, romance, and just a dash of political intrigue on a world that still sparks the imagination.

It is uplifting high fantasy, and I heartily recommend it.

Blazing Witchery

If you like Mel Brooks and Get Smart, you will probably like Rod Gallowglass and his cohorts. I do and I have. I particularly loved the voice of Tuan (very Gene Wilder in Sliver Streak) and the high farce of the sound effects (like the Goons meet Holy Grail) that was brought to life by this production. Sure, the sound quality is not great at times (it drops out like someone recording stereo from one speaker), but this is such a small defect in an otherwise great fun production it would be wrong to over blow it. Regan provided great continuity, but Rod's voice stole the show (as it should). Big Tom was great too, as was Fess. Gwen was as fruity and spicy as the author intended. I thought this a great piece of radio theatre. It reminded me of sitting by the radio on Sunday evening with my Dad laughing out loud at the antics of Hancock, Milligan, Sellers and Co. It's not for those inclined to literature, or when you want something deep, but just fine any other wise or time. I only hope they do a few more in the Series.

Good Old School Sci Fi Fantasy

I love the subject matter. Its a view of Old School Idealism that are in some ways noble (for there time) and complete tripe. But just remember while reading it, that the hero and heroins do "grow up" eventually in the series. But in this story they're very cookie cutter. The men are "MEN" heroic, smart, stoic, etc,,,, and the women are "women" Submissive and emotional, despite how much I like the series and its kinda blunt that the author thinks that men should be dominate and the women submissive. It gets kind of rubbed in your face a lot. I would note that the series is a long one that follows Rod Gallowglass and family for at least the next 2 generations and all the characters grow and flesh out into believable and likeable people and with a lot less male chauvinism.

But as for comparing it to say The Game of Thrones or the like... Its about a fifth of the length. Of course the characters are shallow in comparison. Its more or less a romance novel for young adults with odd bits of political activism thrown in. (Or more accurately a young adult political novel with bits of romance thrown in)

But in the end if your looking for a good swashbuckling hero with snarky wit who is chivalrous and 'manly'. Where the good guy wins and the bad guy loses. The damsel may not be in distress but shes worth rescuing anyway. The goals are noble. The villains are evil . The futuristic Science is some times old school. The philosophizing is thick. The inside jokes are in Iambic Pentameter, and you don't mind that this was written as in the mindset of typical non-hippie male in the late 1960's. This Is a good book for you.

And if you don't like this book don't give up on the author altogether he has a couple of other series that are all really good and less confusing. And to top it off you can normally find a used amazon copy for most of them for less then a dollar.
They are quite frankly Dime store paperbacks.