The Sword and Laser discussion

I'm about 33% through the audiobook and finding it surprisingly enjoyable. Based on the talk and hype surrounding this book I thought I'd Lem it in short order, but gave it a go for Sword and Laser. Grossman(so far) has managed to take some pokes at the Narnia books and Harry Potter without coming across as ugly to me. The impression I had going in was the book was sort of anti-Narnia. Perhaps it's the excellent narration by Mark Bramhall that's making the allusions to other works without being snarky. The profanity and sex aren't as prevalent as I expected, either. I expected f-bombs every other sentence and gratuitous sex on an HBO level, but it's tamer than a lot of Stephen King(again, so far). Q is definitely a cynical, narcissistic, immoral, angst ridden doof, but many of us were also at his age. Hopefully, he'll mature and develop into someone more noble.

If you're not enjoying the book in print, you may want to give it a try in audio, Bramhall is really making this story for me.

I'm also listening to it in audio and enjoying it so far. Only started on Saturday, so not very far in.

I've got it in audio and on Kindle. I was mostly reading it on Kindle, but using the audiobook to catch a little more reading or to refresh my memory if I had to put it down for awhile (as has happened a lot lately, silly work getting in the way of my reading...).

It's a great narration. Now that I've finished the audiobook I'd been working for a long time, I might switch to mostly audio for this one.

I have both the Audible.com audio and Nook text versions.
I got the audio version first, and started listening to the audio book while mowing the lawn, running errands, etc.
Mark Bramhall did an excellent job of narration. However, I found myself wanting to slog through the book quicker, so that's why I went ahead and got the text version for Nook from my library.

I checked out the audio book by accident from the library, so I'll be listening to it at work while I wait for the book to show up!

I've been listening to the audio version as well and I find the narration is very enjoyable. I wasn't sure how i would feel about this book but so far I'm liking where the story is going(I'm about a quarter of the way thru it) despite not like the main character much at all. Despite the constant nods to the Narnia books I don't find it much like them at all. It is more of a take on the Harry Potter idea (not to say it too doesn't have some roots in Narnia). So in short the quality of the narration alone is going to drive me to finish this book and hopefully I get a good story out of it along the way.

I love the reader's serious tone when he says the bad words and teen slang. Makes me giggle.

I think the narrator has a great tone, which turns mind blowingly epic when a certain group of characters appears closer to the end. You'll know it when you get there

I agree that listening to this book has made it a better experience. I did not have high hopes for this book after I read the premise. I figured it was going to be a Potter/Narnia retread, but I have found myself liking it despite my initial negative attitude. I credit Gorssman's writing for that which, in my opinion, has been augmented by the excellent narration.

The only thing that could have made the audio book better would have been if Stefan Rudnicki was the narrator.

I think the narrator did an excellent job, and I couldnt stop listening. I listened to both The Magicians, and The Magician King in a week! I thought these books were a mix of Narnia and The Name of the Wind. I cant wait for the third book to come out and I dont know why there seems to be so much negativity towards this book...

Don wrote: "I think the narrator did an excellent job, and I couldnt stop listening. I listened to both The Magicians, and The Magician King in a week! I thought these books were a mix of Narnia and The Name o..."

I think some of the negativity towards it comes from all the existential futility of the characters. Grossman seemed to handle this in a farcical manner, which made it more palatable to me. What would have really turned me off would have been if he'd taken all the narcissism seriously and/or exempted his characters from the consequences of their immaturity.

This book is solid gold as an audio book! I'm really baffled by all the negativity surrounding this book. It seems to me as if people have taken it as a personal affront. I get that you shouldn't screw with star wars or the lord of the rings etc, but is there really no place for an amazing book like this in fantasy? Personally I am kind of bored always knowing generally how a story is going to turn out; good guys saves the day everyone live happily ever after. Maybe this would have gone over better if we gave it a sub category. Maybe that is everyone's issue with it; to them it feels like an attack on their favorite pass time. I really don't know but I digress...
For me it reminds me a lot of Stephen King's the Dark Tower series it the way it is written. It has a very irreverent wittiness that i really enjoy. Lev understands the traditional modern way of writing and has a way of breaking the rules to make something unique and interesting. For me I don't always need to escape I just love the art of a great story telling. In a way really, all books offer a means of escape so I don't think escapism is exclusive to the fantasy genre. For me fantasy is about stretching the truth, exploring the “what if the world was this way?” question. It doesn’t have to include magic or fantastical creatures although I generally enjoy those types of stories. It just needs to get outside of the realm of the this is how the world is and stretch your imagination even if it’s just a little bit. That’s the charm of this story for me. It pulls me closer to saying maybe magic is real. It really blurs that line between reality and fiction. Maybe that’s why this story is unsettling to some. Maybe its hit to close to home and can’t be easily resat on its proverbial shelf. I just wanted to tell Lev thanks and keep up the amazing work, I'm a huge fan! Thank you to sword and laser because I would have missed out on one of my newest favorite authors with out your influence! I've been looking for a book like this for a long time.
~Thomas

I will also agree, this made a GREAT audiobook. Bramhall really captured the feel of each character. He even nailed the over all tone of the story as it progressed.

I could be a little biased though lol. I loved this story. So, I'm sure I would have loved any narrator as long as they didn't completely botch it lol.