Omari and the People

By: Stephen Whitfield

Narrated by: Curt Simmons

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

• Winner - AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award

The ancient city burns and a thief named Omari leads the survivors into uncharted desert to a legendary place he doesn't believe exists.

As the caravan struggles with nature and treachery, Omari must decide between love and the people's survival in this romantic tale of adventure, destiny and desert magic.

©2014 ShirleyCastle Press (P)2016 Stephen Whitfield

Critic reviews

"Every single second of this audiobook captivated me." (The Audiobook Worm)

"It feels like an old folk tale from the Arab deserts. It's filled with humanity and majestic awe of nature and just a little bit of magic." (audiobookreviewer.com)

"The narration brings this beautiful imagery and assortment of larger-than-life characters to life in a way I've never experienced. (perusingpages.com)

Looking forward to more from Curt Simmons!

What did you love best about Omari and the People?

Its a great adventure that does not follow the trite models of other stories.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Omari. Its great to see him go from thief to leader.

Any additional comments?

This review is all about Curt Simmons. You can see a review of the book itself on Amazon. He is one of the best narrators I have heard and he makes the book a joy to listen to. He uses a good deal of differentiation in voice to represent different characters and keeps a great accent throughout the whole book that keeps you immersed. Looking forward to more of his work! Great Job!

It feels like an old folk tale from the Arab deser

The thief Omari unwittingly becomes the leader of his people when they must travel on a long journey through the desert to find a new home. During this journey, Omari must make many decisions that he has no experience with. An old beggar woman, who seems to be unlike any like any other woman and is uncannily powerful, guides him with mysterious advice. Through the guidance of this old woman, Omari leads the people forward with faith that the land that they are trying to find really does exist. Throughout this journey, Omari makes mistakes, but ultimately he must learn how to trust, to love, and ultimately to lead if he wishes to bring the people safely to their new home.

I really enjoyed this story. It feels like an old folk tale from the Arab deserts. It’s filled with humanity and majestic awe of nature and just a little bit of magic. And ultimately, it’s a story about right and wrong and how these decisions can impact a person’s personality. Throughout the hardships of the journey in the unrelenting desert, the struggles and conflicts that Omari and the people face change them. And as the story progresses, he and we learn about how people change and how peoples’ responses to situations are not always singularly driven. And so, this is a story about change. Omari himself is a likable character. From the beginning, the reader quickly becomes aligned with him and hates his enemies and loves his friends. Also, I liked the addition of the magic to the story. It really added to the folklore feel of the story and made it seem just a little more magical. Overall, this is a story about people and peoples’ lives.

The narration by Curt Simmons was fantastic. His characterization of each of the characters was amazing and they were all distinctive. The changes to peoples’ accents and way of speaking were consistent. I would definitely listen to another audiobook narrated by him. The production quality was also good. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes listening to folklore and stories that are inspired by folklore.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]

Excellent adventure and well devloped characters

What about Curt Simmons’s performance did you like?

Curt Simmons does an amazing job with this audiobook. He really becomes the characters and part of the caravan. Nothing feels forced or unnatural. He does use an accent, which is appropriate, since the story takes place in a desert far away. The accent took me by surprise to begin with, but once I really got into the audiobook, the accent made the story come to life even more.

Any additional comments?

This story is reminiscent of the classic adventure stories. There is adventure, magic, romance, and intrigue and the story kept me entertained and wanting to know what was going to happen from the beginning. I loved the way the author describes the landscape in which the story unfolds. I felt like I had been transported to a Middle Eastern desert and could picture it so vividly in my mind.There is magic, but it is subtle. There are sword fights, but they're few and far between. This book is much more about the characters and their development and relationships than about the excitement of magic and battle. The characters will draw you in at times, irritate you at others, and from time to time there will a character or two that have you wondering whether those characters are good or evil.I recommend this audiobook to teenagers and adults who enjoy a tale of adventure and magic. The main characters are adults, but the story is clean, so I think young adult readers would enjoy the story as well as adults!

An exciting story that takes you away

I really enjoyed this book. It takes place in a mysterious, ancient land and has amazing and mysterious characters. I always found myself wanting to know more and came to care about them. There are lots of strong females, and the hero, Omari, is very realistic. I would probably consider this an adventure novel as it is exciting and we see the characters travelling across the land in search of a better place and fighting bandits, but there are also elements of fantasy and romance. I think this book has a bit of everything which makes it well-rounded and will appeal to readers of many genres. I listened to the Audible audio version of this book narrated by Curt Simmons. I really enjoyed his narration. He did an excellent job with pacing, accents, and character differentiation. When I first started listening, I realized right away that I want to listen to more books he has narrated. Overall, this is a really exciting book that really takes you away and puts you in the middle of the story. I highly recommend it.

Beautiful adventure and amazing characters.

Any additional comments?

Omari and the People was a huge leap outside of my comfort area. This novel did not disappoint though and it was a great introduction to audiobooks and adult fiction.

Omari and the People is a beautifully written adventure of Omari, a thief and self-proclaimed loner, and his journey not only leading a caravan of newly disenfranchised people across the dangerous, dry desert, but a journey to find himself and his purpose along the way. As the caravan makes its way across the desert seeking a rumored but never seen oasis, they have to overcome numerous obstacles from hunger and dehydration, heat, and sandstorms to war with an opposing caravan and betrayal by those unhappy within their own camp.

The narration brings this beautiful imagery and assortment of larger-than-life characters to life in a way I’ve never experienced. Curt Simmons’ steady and distinctive accent throughout the performance, coupled with Stephen Whitfield’s vivid descriptions, created mental characters and images that were as real as looking at a picture. The narration immerses you into the story and the daunting 11-hour run-time is almost over before you know it!

A beautiful, riveting story.

Omari is a talented thief, but he’s not so smart when it comes to women. He has riches, a beautiful wife, and a big house. Yet his wife becomes angry with him and heads off to the city guard to tell of his many crimes. In an attempt to erase evidence of his wrongdoings, he sets fire to his house. Unfortunately, the flames don’t stop there and the entire city is lost. Now Omari, feeling quite bad about this, tells the people a lie about a wonderful land beyond the desert sands. There the adventure begins as a discordant group of people must either come together to succeed or will fall apart under the numerous assaults they suffer.

This is a beautiful, captivating story. In very little time, I was caught up in the tale. Omari is a flawed young man with a good heart. He grew up thieving, having no one to take care of him. Yet, he also goes out of his way to see that the homeless old woman, Umal, has regular food and wine. Once he accidentally burns the city down, he knows he can’t stay with Sumosi’s group of people, for Sumosi and many of his guards would love to beat Omari to death. Yet he can’t survive in the desert on his own. Partly out of hope, partly out of desperation, he concocts a story about a far off land, rich in food and water. Others wish to leave and so they band together behind Omari.

One of my favorite things about this story is that the women were just as varied, useful, and flawed as the men. Saba is great with a bow. Jasmina was the best dance instructor in the city before it burned. Umal is a unique character who perhaps has special powers, or perhaps is just very good at reading people and lucky in circumstance. Sofia, mother of two young sons (Haroun and Zolani), teaches this newly formed caravan how to make flatbread. The men are just as interesting. Bin Aswad, a cloth merchant with two daughters, has his pride and when his pride is injured, he can’t let it go. Umbaric used to be the captain of the guards. As such, he knows about Omari’s previous life. It was great to see how Omari eventually won Umbaric over. There’s plenty more characters, and each one brings some facet to this caravan story.

As Omari’s caravan searches for this fabled land, they have to endure much. The first difficulty is in procuring camels, then in learning how to load, ride, and care for the camels. Desert storms, swarms of flies, pestilence, severe dehydration, and raiders are all things the caravan will have to learn to deal with. I appreciate that the author didn’t keep everything all roses; he threw in some thorns and not every character comes out of this story intact.

As a side note, there were oryx, which I have a fondness for. It was great to read about the first oryx hunt by these once-city dwellers. It reminded me of my first time seeing oryx in the New Mexico desert, chasing them in a Jeep. I, like some of those hunters, was not too smart in that moment.

The ending was very satisfying. Omari has changed little by little throughout the story. Other characters have also grown through their experiences. Umal eventually reveals a little more about her nature, though much is left to the reader to guess. I recommend this excellent story be paired with a strong mint tea.

I received this audiobook at no cost from the author (via The Audio Book Worm) in exchange for an honest review.

The Narration: Curt Simmons does an excellent job with this story. He had a light Arabic accent, perhaps Egyptian, for the entire book. I love it when narrators go out of their way to do this as it makes such a difference in how much I become submerged in the story. He had a great young man’s voice for Omari. He also did a great job with the female voices. Umal sounds like an old woman, Sofia sounds like a worried mother, Saba sounds like a determined young lady. I especially liked his half-joking, sometimes sly voice for Umbaric.

Great narrator choice!

Great story and a great choice of narrator as well. The narrator has just enough of an accent to add some flavor to the story but not too much that he is difficult to understand in any way.

A good afternoon adventure.

I enjoyed this book in the same way you might enjoy an afternoon matinee.

-It is a good story and a good adventure, vividly told.
-The elements and issues of the story were interesting enough that they stayed with me after I finished it.
-The characters also were interesting and believable.

However the narrator, Curt Simmons, really brought this story to life. I think I enjoyed his narration, accents, characters and inflections more than if I had read this book first. Now, if I read a part of it, I only hear him in my mind.

One tip: There are several names that are similar sounding. So, just pay extra attention until you are used to hearing them and know the characters. Not confusing as long as you do that.

Heart-warming

This is a heart-warming tale of a man who gets caught up in events surrounding him. He ends up realizing his full potential as a leader and a courageous man of passion.
This story is full of surprises and was enjoyable, though I struggled at some points as the story was bogged down in politics or the drudgery of walking through a desert.
The narration was excellent and I will definitely pick up anything else narrated by Mr. Curt Simmons.
If you enjoy stories of brave peoples doing the impossible, this is probably the story for you.
**Full disclosure: I received a review copy of this title.**

I'm recommending this to the people I know love to read and love a good story.

Brilliant story that is masterfully narrated. Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a great tale.