Really Good Deal: $5.95 Hard Magic Audiobook

Audible is doing a Daily Deal Anniversary Sale. 

http://www.audible.com/mt/Daily_Deal_Anniversary_Sale/ 

Hard Magic is one of the books that was picked. If you’ve not tried an audibook, I really recommend it, and this is a really cheap way to check it out.  

 http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Hard-Magic-Audiobook/B004XMIMHE?source_code=SCLGB906LWS082913

Hard Magic won an Audie for best fantasy, Bronson Pinchot was up for best narrator, and this series is one of the bestselling audiobook series on Audible. 

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24 thoughts on “Really Good Deal: $5.95 Hard Magic Audiobook”

  1. Bronson Pinchot is magical in this series. Really brought it to life. And as much as I like MHI, The Grimnoir Chronicles are levels above those books. Highly recommended.

    1. Agreed 100%, on both counts. MH just isn’t my thing (nothing personal, Larry! 🙂 ), but the Grimnoir series is utterly awesome. And while I don’t know who won the Audie that Pinchot was nominated for, I will say that he definitely deserved at least the nomination…his narration work on this was excellent.

  2. Ok I’ll bite! Heck I’ve only listened to one fantasy novel in my life, and that only because the author runs a hilarious right wing wacko blog!

    Since I prefer science fiction over fantasy I mentally mapped the MHI monsters into aliens and the Monster Hunters into Star Ship Troopers and the whole thing worked for me.

    Because while magic and monsters are clearly ridiculous, FTL travel using giant spaceships that are exactly like contemporary aircraft carriers and aliens who will travel light years just to invade our little planet are just fine. 😉

    I’ll probably have to build some kind of mental map to scifi for this book, but for six bucks I’ll take the gamble!

    1. I don’t think you’ll have any problem with the scifi vs fantasy aspect with Grimnoir. At least not if you have any like whatsoever for steampunk.

  3. I started listening to the Baen Free Radio Hour because Hard Magic was the book they were doing. Before listening to it I wouldn’t have considered buying the audio book because I own the physical book. However, after listening to Bronston Pinchot (who I loved in Dead 6 and SOE) read Jake, Madi, Dan, Faye, and the rest I am sorely tempted.

    1. I bought and listened to Hard Magic and the sequel, Spellbound. Now listening to Warbound.

      Get them all!!!

      These are the best audiobooks I’ve listened to. I actually bought a few other books narrated by Pinchot based on how he read Larry’s books.

  4. I have to admit when I heard Bronson Pinchot was going to narrate, I cringed and could only think of Cousin Balki and Serge. Those memories were gone by the end of chapter 1, he’s done an outstanding job on every book I’ve listened to.

  5. Looks like there’s some Dan Simmons up there too… and – holy moley – James Marsters is reading at least one of the books! I wonder if he’s using his real voice or his Brit voice…

  6. An interesting series with interesting concepts. Unfortunately, I don’t ever see this getting animated or filmed because Japanese wartime atrocities play such a huge role in the plot.

    Japanese nationalists really don’t like it when that stuff is brought up, so it may well hold up production for fear of causing offense.

  7. I listened to the whole Grimnoir series on Audible, and I’ve got to say that Bronson Pinchot is a freakin’ rock star. Even if you have already read the series, I think they are worth picking up just for his performance alone.

    And if you haven’t read/listened to Grimnoir… Well you need to get on that because it’s the absolute shiznit. Mad props Larry. I was riveted the whole way through.

  8. Curse you, Larry.

    I made the mistake of seeing what else was on sale and the part of my brain that hates me said “Hey! You know what else would be good to pick up? Ulysses.”

    Stupid brain.

  9. Thanks for the link. I already had most of those that I wanted, but I grabbed a few.

    I really wish I could get on board with the Bronson Pinchot love (after all, I loved Balki when I was a kid), but I just really don’t like his style. I kinda wish Grimnoir had been read by Oliver Wyman or Ray Porter. But this isn’t the first series I’ve preferred to read rather than listen to because I didn’t like the narration.

  10. I’m going to get virtually lynched for this, but I couldn’t finish Pinchot’s _Hard Magic_. He reads clearly, but all the voices sounded like Forrest Gump! Nothing like they sound in my head, and just wrong for the characters.

    Fortunately I can just re-read the actual books and hear them they way they *should* sound:-).

    1. Odd. I have the absolutely different experience. I read fast, and the nuances and accent are often left in the rear viewing mirror as I read. Having someone that actually spend time enunciating all of the varied accents and ages really adds to the book. As I’ve mentioned before (and it was mentioned a couple of times in each of the books), I never realize just how slow and dull witted Jake Sullivan is supposed to sound like until I listened to the audio book.

      1. To each his own. I “hear” Sullivan as deliberate in his speech, but nowhere near as dull-sounding as Pinchot portrays him. Faye was especially jarring to my ear.

      2. The first time I tried listening to the book, I gave up after an hour or so largely because the speech was so slow. I felt like he was making even action scenes sound boring. I read the paperbacks and loved them, so I went back and gave the first audiobook another try. Being less impatient, I didn’t have the same problem as the first time, but I still didn’t much like Pinchot’s style or many of the choices he made for the voices. He’d got a fairly definitive style, though, so I can see why so many people do like him. It’s just not to my taste.

  11. Been there, done that, bought it on Tuesday…
    Fortunately I have only read the Christmas short story, so I don’t have any preference for readers’ voice. I love Simon Vance. But the first time I heard him interpret Lucky Jack Aubrey at Audible sale prices, I went back to paying more for Patrick Tull’s reading of O’Brien. I’m looking forward to hearing Pinchot’s take.

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