Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's a little slow at the beginning, but after the first 30 pages the story starts getting complex and reeling in the reader. I really enjoyed Valentine Strange, he was an interesting character. A bit of an opportunistic cad, reckless and with the heart of a lion. It was beyond rewarding watching him fall in love with the complex, seemingly fragile Aleisteir Grimshaw -- I could spend a long time just peeling all the layers of this character alone. And the details! I enjoy that Josh gives us enough information to understand the universe in which the story is developing, but manages to avoid drowning the reader in useless minutiae.

If you like epic fantasy, then I'd recommend you give this book a try. :)

Vivian, thank you for starting this topic! I can't believe no one noticed it was missing.

It's a wonderful book, and it has also a beautiful cover. I just wish they hadn't written too much on the front. Somehow it takes one's attention away from the gorgeous illustration by Dawn Kimberling.

Yes, I agree, Antonella. The writing in the front takes away from that beautiful illustration. I do like that dark blue background with all the gold. I wonder if the book is still available in print.

And you are welcome. I was also a bit surprised no one had noticed there wasn't a discussion thread for this book. :)

My travel week starts today. I am looking forward to the driving. I get to listen to Strange Fortune as I drive!!!! I loved what I heard on the sample. Loved the voice, the pronunciations. Great stuff. =D

Reggie wrote: "My travel week starts today. I am looking forward to the driving. I get to listen to Strange Fortune as I drive!!!! I loved what I heard on the sample. Loved the voice, the pronunciations. Great s..."

Enjoy your trip, Reggie! You'll love the narration. I'm half way through and I'm enjoying it a lot. Great stuff, indeed! ;-)

The narration is great! It took me a couple of minutes to get used to it and now i absolutely love it! It's like somebody is telling me a story, i love the cadence and i'd forgotten just how cool everything in that story is - setting, world, characters. This morning i was listening to it while packing, what a great distraction it is! and got to the part where they're shot at! The suspense! :-)
I do hope Josh will write a sequel some day.

Reggie, enjoy your trip! :-)

Reggie wrote: "My travel week starts today. I am looking forward to the driving. I get to listen to Strange Fortune as I drive!!!! I loved what I heard on the sample. Loved the voice, the pronunciations. Great s..."

I think this is the advantage of having a real Englishman read the narration. That accent is just so great. I chose him from a narration of Kipling's Just So stories.

KC wrote: "The narration is great! It took me a couple of minutes to get used to it and now i absolutely love it! It's like somebody is telling me a story, i love the cadence and i'd forgotten just how cool e..."

One day I'd like to. I don't feel it requires it, though, unlike The Darkling Thrush which I know I HAVE to go back and finish the second story.

Reggie wrote: "My travel week starts today. I am looking forward to the driving. I get to listen to Strange Fortune as I drive!!!! I loved what I heard on the sample. Loved the voice, the pronunciations. Great s..."

I love audio books for long drives.

Josh wrote: "KC wrote: "The narration is great! It took me a couple of minutes to get used to it and now i absolutely love it! It's like somebody is telling me a story, i love the cadence and i'd forgotten just..."

Yay! about both :) True that Strange Fortune doesn't require a sequel per se, but it would be great fun to have those two letting loose (with the magic, for example) on a new adventure, in the distant future ;)

KC wrote: "Josh wrote: "KC wrote: "The narration is great! It took me a couple of minutes to get used to it and now i absolutely love it! It's like somebody is telling me a story, i love the cadence and i'd f..."

That's what I think too. It would be fun to explore what happens next.

Sammie wrote: "ii got a $10 coupon from audible and am already a member, so that made the out-of-pocket cost was mush better (less than $8). With all the recommendations for it, i figured i would try the audiobo..."

That was good shopping. :-) I hope you enjoy it!

Johanna wrote: "Reggie wrote: "My travel week starts today. I am looking forward to the driving. I get to listen to Strange Fortune as I drive!!!! I loved what I heard on the sample. Loved the voice, the pronunci..."

I finished Strange Fortune. Wow, the experience was like going to a movie theater. I love being able to submerge myself in a story and just be carried away. The narration took the story experience to a new level of awesome. 8)

Great for us fantasy fiction lovers!!

Reggie wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Reggie wrote: "My travel week starts today. I am looking forward to the driving. I get to listen to Strange Fortune as I drive!!!! I loved what I heard on the sample. Loved the voi..."

That makes me so happy. I think the traditional style narration really works beautifully with fantasy stories. I love how this one turned out.

I just started Strange Fortune audiobook this morning. I have not read it yet, so the audio will be my first experience of it.

Nice narration so far! Alistair was just ordered to go along with the expedition.

I was just wondering which audiobook to order, maybe this should be it! I would like a re-read of the book anyway :)

Sammie wrote: "I much preferred the audiobook.the narration is excellent"

This just always cracks me up. But I think the added dimension of narration does make certain stories more accessible for readers. Fantasy in particular I think works really well with narration.

Josh wrote: "Sammie wrote: "I much preferred the audiobook.the narration is excellent"

This just always cracks me up. But I think the added dimension of narration does make certain stories more accessible for readers. Fantasy in particular I think works really well with narration...."

Yes it does. When I first began listening to audiobooks it was so different to me that I sought out classics and fantasy, since it sounded better in audio for me. I had to really get used to listening to a contemporary after a while. Now I can listen to anything.

I grew up with Grandparents reading Grimm fairy tales to me, so I was used to that sort of listening experience.

Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Sammie wrote: "I much preferred the audiobook.the narration is excellent"

This just always cracks me up. But I think the added dimension of narration does make certain stories more ac..."

I think that's exactly right. Many of us grew up having fairytales and mythology, even Bible stories read aloud.

Josh wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Sammie wrote: "I much preferred the audiobook.the narration is excellent"

This just always cracks me up. But I think the added dimension of narration does make certain..."

Yes, I agree. I have lots of cozy memories of being read to.

Somewhere I commented that the accent of this narrator was helpful. It made the story more 'other', set apart from my reality. Now I guess this depends on the listeners background, but for me it just drew me into the story world. Great choice for the narration. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Fantasy stories read by Americans don't work for me unless it's urban fantasy. To me the have to sound some sort of European.

Susinok wrote: "Fantasy stories read by Americans don't work for me unless it's urban fantasy. To me the have to sound some sort of European."

Oh, Okay. Good to know I'm not the only one. =)

I just bought it, it was on a special offer, so very good price. I look forward to listening to it this evening.

I guess for a non English speaker, any other voice other than Norwegian ones will make it 'other' for me :)

Susinok wrote: "Fantasy stories read by Americans don't work for me unless it's urban fantasy. To me the have to sound some sort of European."

Ha! Interesting. Of course in The Darkling Thrush the narrator is American, so that's a different sort of thing.

Josh wrote: "Ha! Interesting. Of course in The Darkling Thrush the narrator is American, so that's a different sort of thing. ..."

Right, plus the setting was modern. I mean epic fantasies, like Tolkien or sword and sorcery reads. They don't sound right in an American accent.

I listened to SEVENTY TWO hours of Joe Abercombie's First Law fantasy trilogy. The narrator Stephen Pacey was one of the best I'd ever listened to. He did a HUGE variety of accents.

Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Ha! Interesting. Of course in The Darkling Thrush the narrator is American, so that's a different sort of thing. ..."

Right, plus the setting was modern. I mean epic fantasies, like T..."

Funny. But True. I recommended the film The Eagle to a number of people and they almost all said the same thing, they couldn't get past the first five minutes because of the American accents.