The Great Eastern

By: Howard Rodman

Narrated by: Peter Noble

A dazzling, inventive literary adventure story in which Captain Ahab confronts Captain Nemo and the dark cultural stories represented by both characters are revealed in cliffhanger fashion.

A sprawling adventure pitting two of literature's most iconic anti-heroes against each other: Captain Nemo and Captain Ahab. Caught between them: real-life British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, builder of the century's greatest ship, The Great Eastern. But when he's kidnapped by Nemo to help design a submarine with which to fight the laying of the Translatlantic cable—linking the two colonialist forces Nemo hates, England and the US—Brunel finds himself going up against his own ship, and the strange man hired to protect it, Captain Ahab, in a battle for the soul of the 19th century.

Fantastic Imagination!

A terrific mixture of fact and fiction. A true ripping good yarn filled with unforgettable characters and breathtaking adventure. Whatever the audio book version is of impossible to put down. Beautifully narrated, including the juggling of multiple accents. I haven't felt this absorbed and excited listening to a book since I listened long ago to The Count of Monte Cristo.

I regret wasting a credit on this

An implausible story that drags on. A story about just the Great Eastern would have been better than this silly pastische.

A great listen... if a little long winded.

I got this book on a whim due to the premise, and to be honest I was not disappointed! I thought it was a great book with a cast of great characters that all were flawed yet extremely interesting.
The main plot was great with many great moments that kept me on the edge of my seat.

However, I must admit that while the story was great there did come a time near the end where the story just went a direction that did put me off a little.
And while that is a personal gripe of mine, I have to also mention that the story did seem to over stay its welcome. The storys seemed to find it's end... and then it kept going.
And while the back end of the story was just as well written as everything that came before, it just felt like too much.
I do realize that the version of The Great Eastern I listened to was the unabridged version, or so the narrator claimed and I can't help but wonder just how much was actually cut.

But overall this was an amazing story that I am happy to have gotten the chance to hear. And once the last line had been read I found myself wanting more of the world that Howard A. Rodman was able to build.

I highly recommend this story to anyone who wishes to hear a story that can only be summed up as a grandiose epic!

Not for me

I'm sure this book is for someone. That person isn't me. 19th century dialect paired with a story that progressed like frozen molasses. I couldn't get interested in it and it made me tired just hearing it. Synopsis sounded cool, just didn't pan out.