The Grey King

De: Susan Cooper

Narrado por: Richard Mitchley

Will is the last-born of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to saving the world from the forces of evil. And now it is Will's task to wake--with the golden harp--the six who must be roused from their long slumber in the Welsh hills to prepare for the last battle between the Dark and the Light.©2007 Susan Cooper; (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group.

This series starts out good but gets weird

What made the experience of listening to The Grey King the most enjoyable?

The discussion of Wales and Mitchley's excellent handling of the language and accent.

What did you like best about this story?

see above

Any additional comments?

At first I was hesitant to try a new narrator, as Alex Jennings handles the others in the series with aplomb, but after hearing Mitchley's Welsh I don't think Jennings could have done it proper justice. Both are good narrators but Mitchley was the best choice for this particular novel. An enjoyable listen, if a weird book.

Excellent but for the dog

Trigger warning: one of the dogs dies. It’s tragic, unnecessary (within the story world), gut-wrenching, but it’s quick. Instant. There’s no suffering.

Another amazing installment in this series, this is an incredible book, and if Cooper would rewrite it without killing the dog, it would probably be one of my favorite books of all time. It’s got everything. However I will add that from a story perspective while I don’t know if the dog’s death was essential, it does meaningfully develop the villain and his relationship to the heroes, and it makes the ending more satisfying. She also deals with the resulting grief in a way that’s realistic, resonant, and identifiable without ever succumbing to sentimentality or hallmarky feelings. She handled it perfectly.

Can’t wait to see how the bigger story is resolved in the final book.

Brilliantly read.

One step closer.

This was actually the first book of the sequence that I ever read. At that time I didn't know it was part of a series. This latest adventure begins when Will Stanton, last of the Old Ones, is sent to visit relatives in Whales while he recovers from a bout of Hepatitis. Soon after his arrival he meets Bran, an introverted, pale boy who seems to know something of Will's true nature and his business. It soon becomes apparent that even here the forces of the Dark, and indeed one of their most powerful lords, are at work, with the unwitting but not entirely unwilling aid of a disagreeable farmer with a grudge against Bran's father. Will the two boys be able to accomplish their mission before all is lost?
This is the only book in the series not read by Alex Jennings. Fortunately Richard Mitchley, Jennings' stand-in, has both a good voice for storytelling and a good ear for accents and dialects. This is a fairly short book but I couldn't put it down for long.

Another great one in this series

A little confusing but overall a great story! I'll be listening again in the future...

I’m a sucker for welsh

I just love welsh accents. Also this is the first book in the series I read as a kid.