The Sniggard's Revenge
By: Jeff Chapman / Narrated By: James Young
Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
Aha! Gore and humor delight yet again!
It always pains me beyond belief when I check out reviews before writing m’ own: I HAVE to see if they spark any memories that should be addressed and all that. Plus, sometimes the Nays just crack me up. Anyhoo—when I see the honest reviews for free copies… for outSTANding audiobooks? Dude! where’s the Justice? Certain authors, certain narrators, certain audiobooks should have wider audiences. I shake my fist at Zeus, desperately hoping not to entice a thunderbolt.
And so it is with author Jeff Chapman, whom I listened to this week because I saw this new-to-me audiobook, I bought, I devoured. Cuz, you see, Chapman writes terrifically well, has grueling tension in his plots, and he delivers the mayhem and gory low-blows like no other. All whilst being hiLARious (Think: Our hero, in a massive danger finds the tip of his finger—yeh, it’d been hacked off—just kiiiiinda soooorta slipping down his boot and is now as niggling-ish as a pebble in his shoe. DANGER!!! -and- Dang It All, all in the same sentence).
Life for young Ethan is nothing but hard labor in the fields and the occasional ha’penny game with joshing and jeering friend, Chuck. The lightest points of his days are when he sees the wealthy and fabulously arrogant Arabella in town. He can’t help it; even tho’ Chuck jeeringly advises him that he’d do better to go for a poxy girl, more in his league, Ethan is well and truly smitten.
On the way home from a ha’penny game, after yet another glance of disdain from Arabella, Ethan rises to his little brother’s bait as they walk past The Barrow—Nobody crosses into it and comes out alive. Ethan dashes in…. and barely comes out alive… ankle slashed and bleeding after an attack… and oh yeah, with a silver gorget in his hand.
He tells no one of the gorget but sees it is magical in moonlight, and thoughts of Arabella beaming in delight at such a gift sets him out to gift it to her.
Uhm, problem. Just one itsy bitsy problem. The protector of The Barrow is the Sniggard, a supernatural kinda sorta monster-ish entity who’s been charged with overseeing the treasure of The Barrow. Magic leads him to the gorget, and gory mayhem ensues, complete with ax-wielding and split skulls (See? Chapman goes there!), and Arabella is taken prisoner to The Barrow.
Ethan gets into sooo many scrapes, there are jaunts in to Faerie, there’s magic, mysticism, one Dunno-If-She-Can-Be-Trusted mute witchy woman who speaks through her cat. And then there’s the Sniggard, doomed to guard The Barrow for eternity, all lonesome, all blood lust-y.
Narrator James Young is absolutely new to me but I’m ALWAYS up for a story performed by a Brit (Gives it a sorta gravitas, ya know?). He managed EVERYthing here from hard cider-fueled mobs, to a Squire who’s keen to mete out the direst and most gruesome of punishment for slights and perceived slights, from Arabella who’s innocent and untried until she’s thinking on her feet, to the denizens of Faerie. And of course, Young does a perfect Ethan who struggles with right and wrong, good intentions juggled with ignoble purposes, all whilst getting finger digits lopped off and whacking the Undead with his magic-strengthened walking stick. Bravo, sir.
Once again, the story ends in a MOST open-ended manner, suggesting sequels. And we all know I do love a good series as it stimulates m’ Flunked The Marshmallow Test sensibilities.
No, twasn’t a Merliss Tale, but dude! there was still a cat in it… and BLOOD! And an Undead governess who trots around with a headscarf to keep both halves of her cleaved head together.
What’s not to love, I ask you?
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