The Magicians

By Lev Grossman

   The Magicians Trilogy is American Harry Potter goes to Narnia and does drugs and women. I wanted very badly to like this series because it was recommended to me by a friend whose taste I respect. I listened to the series in its entirety with an open mind and when I was done, seriously don't know if it was good or not. This review is one of the hardest I've ever had to write. The good: It wasn't the worst series I've listened to and it had some unique aspects that I enjoyed. The Bad: The author isn't a great writer. The story line feels very scattered at times and I just wondered "WHY" with some of this side story choices.

   I would recommend trying out the first book and see if you want to go any farther. I also want to see what other people think of the series. I made the mistake of watching a couple of episodes of the TV show. It kind of tainted my feelings of the books.

   What more than I say about the book without spoiling it.. Its a guy who has magical potential and gets a somewhat mysterious invitation to a school called Brakebills, they help him develop his skills, with many misfortunes and poor choices along the way. He graduates before the end of the first book, if memory serves, then is out on his own making more bad choices. He ends up discovering Narnia (basically) and becomes an important part of said "Narnia". I can't say much more.

   I cannot recommend this book, but can recommend trying out the first book to see if it piques your intestest enough to continue to books two and three. Would I listen to a 4th book if one comes out? Probably, only because I've invested this  much time.

★★☆☆☆ 2/5 Stars

Audiobook Length Apprx: 48 hours

Suitable for Ages 17-35

As You Wish

By: Cary Elwes

The Princess Bride is one of the greatest stories of all time, as well as one of the greatest movies. It has romance, action, fantasy, comedy, and lots of adventure. This book entitled "As You Wish" written by Cary Elwes aka Farm Boy aka Westley aka Dread Pirate Roberts is the story behind the story. It is a lovingly written memoir from the making of the movie and the amazing people involved.

Elwes tells all in a behind the scenes sneak peak on how cast came together, stats performed, misfortunes, successes, friendships and much more. There is a lot that you didn't know about Andre the Giant, Inigo Montoya, Princess Buttercup, Vizzini, and the actors stories behind the characters. 

This book was amazing. If you have a love for the movie you will love this fun look behind the scenes. If you haven't seen the movie there is something wrong with you, if you don't like the movie.. you should see it again, or a doctor.

I very much recommend this book to all lovers of The Princess Bride. Give it a listen.

Princess Bride Book is authored by William Goldman

★★★★☆ 4/5 Stars

Audiobook Length Apprx: 8.5 hours

Suitable for All ages

Book to Movie Rating: A+

Game of Thrones

By George RR Martin

You’ve heard of game of thrones, all your friends watch it, you either are avoiding it because it sounds lame, or you’ve watched them all and can’t wait for new episodes. I land somewhere in-between. I started the series but got disconnected along the way. Some of the television choices were a little much for me. Since I sit at a computer all day, I decided to give The Game of Thrones audiobooks a try. Each book was about 30 hours so that is why Audiobooks at Work has been suffering a bit in recent months.

Game of Thrones the books were actually pretty good. They are less extreme than the tv show, and I found this to be a good thing. The TV series tries to hit too many demographics and tries to make it very, well immoral, to capture the minds of our blood and sex thirsty generation. The books however were written on a slightly more even keel, while still entertaining George Martin’s perverted mind.

All that being said, Game of Thrones is about Kings, Queens, Dragons, Knights, Pacts, Betrayal, Deceit, and everything else a good medieval style book is expected to have. Each book is several stories inside of  one great bit story, with lots of characters to love and to hate. For my own personal tastes, the only book that feel short of interesting was A Feast of Crows, I kind of felt like nothing happened. It’s when the chapters and stories switch up because it’s a different story tied into the bigger story. You can forget about some story lines then be reminded of them several chapters later.

I would recommend these books to Medieval Fantasy lovers, or someone looking for a long entertaining book series. If you can listen to the audiobooks before watching the series it will be even better for you.

★★★☆☆ 3/5 Stars

Approximate Length:  14+ Days

Suited for ages 16 and up.

Book Listing:

A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings

A Storm of Swords

A Feast of Crows

A Dance with Dragons