The Great Game

Praetorian, Book 1

By: SJA Turney

Narrated by: Piers Hampton

Promoted to the elite Praetorian Guard in the thick of battle, a young legionary is thrust into a seedy world of imperial politics and corruption. Tasked with uncovering a plot against the newly crowned Emperor Commodus, his mission takes him from the cold Danubian border all the way to the heart of Rome, the villa of the Emperor’s scheming sister, and the great Colosseum.

What seems a straightforward if terrifying assignment soon descends into Machiavellian treachery and peril as everything in which young Rufinus trusts and believes is called into question, and he faces warring commanders, Sarmatian cannibals, vicious dogs, mercenary killers and even a clandestine Imperial agent. In a race against time to save the Emperor, Rufinus will be introduced, willing or not, to the great game.

©2015 SJA Turney (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Fantastic first entry in a promising series

I enjoyed the story immensely, and the characters were rich and well developed. Turney does a masterful job of blending action and drama, as well as laying out the political landscape in a truly compelling way.

My only gripe is with the narrator. He has a great voice, and he does the myriad voices of the characters quite well, but he speaks very quietly at times and I had to keep adjusting the volume to keep up with the changes

Narration is superb

I have listened to the nearly ended Mariu's Mules series, which also had a superb narrator. In this Praetorian series, however, with the private musings of a guardsman making up much of the book, the narrator here was more appropriate, softer and more intimate. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Good Story

It’s a good story. My main issue is with the performance. The performers whispering is interrupted by eruptions of shouting. It makes the experience almost intolerable. It makes no difference when listening on speakers or AirPods.

its really good

all sixteen books are great ,was sorry for it to end ,very entertaining , if you like Rome story's you will like this

The constant volume changes can drive you away

Why producers do not ensure a consistent volume boggles the mind. The reader is constantly moving from a quiet voice to an almost shout. He seems to vary from sentence to sentence. Often he begins the sentence loudly then fades to almost a whisper. It made listening to excellent writing and an interesting story difficult. Constantly changing the volume control to either spare my ears or to hear the story distracts from this exciting story.