• The Ships of Air

  • Fall of Ile-Rien Series # 2
  • By: Martha Wells
  • Narrated by: Talmadge Ragan
  • Length: 19 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (88 ratings)

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The Ships of Air  By  cover art

The Ships of Air

By: Martha Wells
Narrated by: Talmadge Ragan
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Publisher's summary

Known for her lush, intricate worlds and complex characters, acclaimed author Martha Wells has delighted readers with her extraordinary fantasy novels of daring and wit.

With The Wizard Hunters she launched her most ambitious undertaking yet-the return to the beloved world of the Nebula Award-nominated The Death of the Necromancer and The Fall of Ile-Rien.

Now the saga continues in a triumph of suspense and imagination. Despite a valiant struggle against superior forces, the country of Ile-Rien has fallen to the onslaught of the relentless Gardier, a faceless army of sorcerers determined to conquer all civilization.

To save the remnants of her country, former playwright Tremaine Valiarde undertakes an epic journey to stop the Gardier. Rescuing the proud ship Queen Ravenna from destruction, Tremaine and a resolute band of sorcerers and warriors set sail across magical seas on a voyage of danger and discovery. For the secret to defeating the enemy - and to rescuing the world from the Gardier's inimitable hatred-lies far beyond the walls of the world, and only the tenuous ties of friendship and honor will keep the band together.

But the Gardier are not the only evil in this tumultuous world, and an ancient terror stalks the ornate rooms and shadowy decks of the Queen Ravenna-a force so malevolent and enigmatic that even the growing power of the sorcerer's sphere may not be enough to save Ile-Rien from utter ruin.

©2004 Martha Wells (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Fascinating. . . . A vastly entertaining and refreshingly different fantasy adventure with a surprisingly satisfying conclusion." ( Locus Magazine)

What listeners say about The Ships of Air

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love this series

Love these books. The gal they have reading this series though sounds robotic at times. Kind of like the female voice you get when you call a number and you get an automated system. Other than that I'm enjoying listening to this again. The last time I listened to this series my fiance was the one reading it to me.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent follow-up to The Wizard Hunters

The rich worldbuilding and strong characters continue from the previous book. The narrator tends to over-enunciate, but the story itself is so compelling that it hardly matters.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Over annunciated narration became annoying

The story was not as engaging as the previous in the series. The main character became more annoying than likable as the story went on. The narrator's over annunciation led to to odd pauses and became distracting. One of only a few of over 500 titles in my library from the last 20 years that I've not finished listening to.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The WORST narrator ever!!!

It was painful to listen to this series, the narrator has no sense of cadence or when Not to pause in a sentence or a single word. I doubt I'll finish the series as I could barely tolerate the narrator. She has ruined the story!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, disappointing narration

The story hums along at a good clip with the protagonists facing a complex and varied series of challenges including wizards, an implacable enemy that always seems to be a step ahead, interpersonal conflicts, and self doubt.

The narration is bizarre, often to the point of being distracting. The narrator’s cadence and phrasing is extremely strange. She often adds way too many pauses within each sentence, as if the sentence is peppered with commas, and she often stresses the wrong words. For example,“when it was hit by a force too strong for it to resist” is recorded as “when it was hit by a FORCE, too strong FOR it, to resist”.

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