Thunder Oak

By: Garry Kilworth

Narrated by: Matthew Leiper

Long ago, long before Sylver the weasel was born, the humans all left Welkin. Now life for a weasel - under the heavy paw of the vicious stoat rulers - is pretty miserable (unless you happpen to be a weasel who likes living in a hovel and toiling all hours for the benefit of the stoats).

It's certainly not enough for Sylver. Or for his small band of outlaws, both jacks and jills. But slingshots and darts can only do so much against heavily-armed stoats and life as an outlaw has a fairly limited future (probably a painful one, too). That's when Sylver comes up with his plan - a heroic plan that could destroy the stoats' reign of power for ever. He will find the humans, and bring them back to Welkin! And the first step is to follow up a clue from the past - a clue that lies in a place known as Thunder Oak....

©1997 Garry Kilworth (P)2021 Mark Alan Miller

Energetically Voiced

It's not as awe-inspiring as the story or narration of Gryphon Insurrection, but I don't think I can deny this one the five star rating. This is a great fantasy story and the narrator gave each character a distinct voice, making for a very pleasurable listen that I recommend highly.

It will entertain

If you have outgrown "Wind in the Willows" because they do not fight enough, this story will supplement Brian Jacques' "Redwall" series. The characterizations here do depend on stereotyping almost exclusively, so that is a little worrisome in what we carry beyond the book into our own culture. The character interactions typically depend on a lot of yelling and screaming (I guess that is why it is called Thunder Oak?), so Leiper should not be blamed for that; Matthew enhances the story.