I started listening to this a million times and can’t stay interested. It me and not the audiobook. The narrator should get a 5 star review for this.
I’m not going to post this.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.

My thanks to W.F. Howes for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Silver Wolf’ by J. C. Harvey in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook is narrated by Peter Noble.

I found ‘The Silver Wolf’ an extraordinary work of historical fiction. It is Harvey’s fiction debut and Book 1 in the Fiskardo's War trilogy set during the Thirty Years War in Europe. It is the story of Jack Fiskardo, as he grows from boy to man against the backdrop of these turbulent years.

Jack is an orphan who is seeking to unravel the mystery of his parents’ deaths. Jack wears around his neck a token of a silver wolf, which is his only clue to the identity of their killers. Yet Jack is unaware that he is being hunted by the same killers.

The novel opens with an Authors’ Note providing the historical context of the novel and follows with a map and a very much appreciated Cast of Characters, divided into the three parts of the novel and their locations.

This was such a pleasure to read. It features numerous memorable characters, plenty of action and adventure, thrilling battle scenes. Yet there is also plenty of lively dialogue and earthy humour. Jack Fiskardo is an engaging hero, fierce and intractable yet with a kind heart when dealing with animals and the vulnerable.

I applaud J. C. Harvey’s skill in terms of storytelling and conveying a sense of the time and place. After such a wonderful experience I can hardly wait for the rest of the trilogy.

With respect to its audiobook edition, Peter Noble is the award-winning narrator of hundreds of audiobook titles. I have enjoyed a number of his audiobooks. He has a rich voice and I felt that he brought a great deal of skill to his narration, bringing the novel’s characters vividly to life.

This is the kind of novel that evokes the classic adventures of Alexandre Dumas. Fantastic reading.

Very highly recommended and an unreserved 5 star rating.

I requested this title not realising that I’d previously read the ebook. I really enjoyed this romp through an historical period I know little about. What really surprised me is that Peter Noble’s narration adds a whole new dimension to the story. He’s brilliant at different character voices, making it very easy to follow who’s speaking and in places, it almost sounds like a radio drama as the narrative switches between characters.

This is a story filled with detail and it feels really well researched in terms of historic accuracy. I’ve enjoyed following Jack’s development as a character who feels like a real person. He’s on a quest to find who killed his parents and the journey around Northern Europe is filled with intrigue and adventure. Unusually, I preferred the audio version; in parts the plot is slow, but somehow it rolls along really well when listene too. Very highly recommended if you enjoy well written historical sagas.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

I really appreciated the chance to read/listen to this book as I love historical fiction - the cover, with its striking red seal really drew me in and I was really keen to learn more about the Thirty Years War, a period of history about which I knew very little.

The story follows Jack Fiskardo who we first meet as a boy in the opening chapters of the novel. He is then drawn into a quest to find out the truth about his father - a quest that puts him in danger.

This is a huge book and one that covers a lot of ground, from the docks of Amsterdam to various parts of France and Germany as Jack embarks on his journey. While this is beautifully done and each setting explored well, it is a bit overwhelming in scale. Just listening to the book made it tricky to remember who was who - I'm glad there is a cast list in the printed copy!

There is a lot of brutality in this book and I did struggle a bit with Jack's aggressive nature - while this can be seen as admirable in terms of fighting for his own survival, I did find it took a while to warm to him after his actions at the start of the novel.

The brutality is somewhat tempered by some warm and sometimes humorous characters and events along the way. I really liked Cornelius at the start of the novel and the exploits of his cat, Catarina, and was quite sad when Jack left Amsterdam (and them) behind.

Personally, I found that the book was on too great a scale for me to really get to grips with the characters fully - I think I'm really motivated to read by insights into various characters, their motivations and emotions. While Harvey does this well, I found the cast too big and varied to really engage with as I wanted. I think this book would be better suited to readers who are more interested in plot as there is no shortage of that!

I did enjoy the narration, although I wondered at the choice of a male voice for a book written by a woman. Maybe the subject matter - a boy, war, fathers and sons - felt stereotypically 'masculine'. Either way, it was well read and engaging to listen to, although I did have to speed him up a bit (I often find audiobook narrators very slow).

I'd recommend this to those who like their history with lots of grit, violence and pace. It is well-written and researched, but ultimately was not really for me - although that shouldn't deter anyone from trying it for themselves.