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The Lion at Sea

Captain Kelly Maguire Trilogy, Book 1

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The Lion at Sea

By: Max Hennessy
Narrated by: Christopher Weeks
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About this listen

A young recruit; a cataclysmic war; a baptism by fire.... A gritty adventure full of danger, blood and guts, perfect for fans of Alan Evans and Alexander Fullerton.

Confident and strong willed, Kelly Maguire knew from a young age that he could accomplish great things. A constant and abiding love of the ocean would prove to be the making of him. When the call of war is heard in the early 1910s, Kelly knows that he must answer it. Enlisting in the Royal Navy, he hopes to win both the war and personal glory. But from the barbarous battles of Gallipoli to the nightmarish action at Antwerp, Kelly, along with his young shipmates, begins to learn the trials a sailor must face, trials that will forge him from a boy into a man. As the epic battle of Jutland approaches, everything is at stake.

©2019 Max Hennessy (P)2020 W. F. Howes Ltd 20th Century Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Military Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military World War I Fiction War Royal Navy

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Good story, characters being developed nicely and the historical aspects link in well to this. Narration is a let down which is a real shame. Annoying lack of research by the narrator in pronunciation makes it a jarring listen if you are familiar with Naval locations and phrases. eg. Rosyth is pronounced Ross-ith, Harwich becomes Haar-witch?? Annoying aberrations which distract from the story.
That aside it’s an enjoyable listen and looking forward to the series continuing.

Engaging and interesting

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A good story that is historically accurate. Let down by really poor narration and the pronunciation of places is terrible...

Good and historically accurate, poorly performed.

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The story is enjoyable and covers the career of a young officer in WW1, very reminiscent of a young Lt Hornblower. However the narrator has some excruciating pronunciation of simple phrases. With a naval storyline one could expect parts of a ship to be known I.e. forecastle is not two words, as for the place names I've never heard of anywhere called E_Sher as opposed to Esher (Eesher !) And as for Har_witch, what a great shame no proof listen was done prior to publication.

Story fine narration awfully poor

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Mr Hennessy certainly knows the navy of the period, and his technical knowledge is likewise excellent. The description of Jutland is superb.
Well-read, too, apart from the pronunciation of Harwich and Rosyth, but that is a minor issue.

Great Story!

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Really enjoyable story of one young mans rise through the Royal Navy during WW1. Only one thing made me cringe every time the word was uttered by Christopher Weeks, his horrible pronunciation of Rosyth. ( It came out as "Risiff", 😂 terrible!). As far as I can tell there are another two novels in the series, cant wait to listen to the next one.

Great Story.

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Fab story, fast paced with loads of detail.

Aside from some interesting interpretations of how to pronounce some of the words it was a great experience 👌🏻

Great story, some of the pronunciation had me shouting at my phone! 😂

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This is really the first 'Meh' review i have ever written for anything. I have read the book on my kindle and when i joined audible it was a no-brainer to buy these to listen to whilst on flights (not so much now) and those early hours when i can't sleep.

The Narration for this Trilogy is fluid and smooth. My issue is with the pronunciation of terms and even place names... key examples - Matelot /ˈmatləʊ/ a sailor. Forecastle (/ˈfoʊksəl/ FOHK-səl; abbreviated fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le). Rosyth /rəˈsaɪθ/.
Christopher Weeks in all three books has missed key Naval terms. He sounds British but even towns in the UK are not correctly pronouced.

I am sorry if this is negative but Pedants will find this erksom and some Scots will find it as 'Typical' of the English.

Narration - slightly off.

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involved me in a period of history I knew little want to read this auther again

detail authentic

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It’s not great...

Apart from a really average plot and 2d characters, the narration is really spoiled by some truly dreadful pronunciation.

Get ready for Harwich to become ‘Harr-witch’, for Rosyth to be said in a way no local has ever heard, and several other clangers.

If I were aged 18 and wrote this, I’d be happy. If I were a professional writer however...

Not great.

Awful pronunciation, average story.

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