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Albion: The Legend of Arthur: An Audible Original Drama
We arrive in Albion, AD 490. Once spirits of both light and darkness ruled the land, now tribes of Britons stand alone as Saxon invaders threaten the vulnerable shores. But that’s the least of their worries, the Old Gods are returning from the shadows, bringing their magic with them.
Albion: The Legend of Arthur pushes friendships and family loyalties to the test in a world of warlords, witchcraft, heroism and betrayal as we join Arthur on an adventure like no other and witness the birth of one of our greatest legends.
This Audible Original drama stars Owen Teale (Game of Thrones), Aimee-Ffion Edwards (Peaky Blinders) and Craig Roberts (Submarine) alongside a full cast.
Performed by: Scott Arthur, Edward Barry, Caroline Berry, Jake Burgum, Simon Carlyle, Lois Chimimba, Christopher Dane, Gareth David-Lloyd, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Owen Findlay, Gruffudd Glyn, Michael Golab, Smari Gunn, Daniel Hawksford, Michael Hillberg, David Holt, Gerran Howell, Guy Lewis, Kyle Lima, Damian Lynch, Anette Martinsen, Neil McCormack, Neve McIntosh, Sam Morgan-Davies, Richard Reed, Richard Rees, Craig Roberts, Hugh Ross, Joel Saxon, John Scougall, Lewys Taylor and Owen Teale.
Albion: The Legend of Arthur pushes friendships and family loyalties to the test in a world of warlords, witchcraft, heroism and betrayal as we join Arthur on an adventure like no other and witness the birth of one of our greatest legends.
This Audible Original drama stars Owen Teale (Game of Thrones), Aimee-Ffion Edwards (Peaky Blinders) and Craig Roberts (Submarine) alongside a full cast.
Performed by: Scott Arthur, Edward Barry, Caroline Berry, Jake Burgum, Simon Carlyle, Lois Chimimba, Christopher Dane, Gareth David-Lloyd, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Owen Findlay, Gruffudd Glyn, Michael Golab, Smari Gunn, Daniel Hawksford, Michael Hillberg, David Holt, Gerran Howell, Guy Lewis, Kyle Lima, Damian Lynch, Anette Martinsen, Neil McCormack, Neve McIntosh, Sam Morgan-Davies, Richard Reed, Richard Rees, Craig Roberts, Hugh Ross, Joel Saxon, John Scougall, Lewys Taylor and Owen Teale.
7 pages, Audible Audio
First published May 4, 2020
6 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 14, 2021
What a crock of shit this was story wise. Honestly one of the worst Arthurian retellings. It was all over the place, especially at the end
August 24, 2021
I can’t dispute the fact that this was brilliantly narrated. Seriously, amazingly performed. It was a fantastic production with some great actors it’s just… the story was meh. Or rather, the lack of story.
It didn’t seem to have much of a plot, at least, not that I could follow and I just didn’t enjoy it that much. I loved the performance and the voice actors were what kept me listening but I don’t think this was the greatest adaptation of the Arthurian legend. It was a bit underwhelming!
I had high hopes for this and as it went on it just failed to hook me. I didn’t know where the story was going but at least the actors were good. Great sound effects and it was very immersive. But I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as I thought it would!
It didn’t seem to have much of a plot, at least, not that I could follow and I just didn’t enjoy it that much. I loved the performance and the voice actors were what kept me listening but I don’t think this was the greatest adaptation of the Arthurian legend. It was a bit underwhelming!
I had high hopes for this and as it went on it just failed to hook me. I didn’t know where the story was going but at least the actors were good. Great sound effects and it was very immersive. But I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as I thought it would!
September 3, 2022
Meh. An interesting story, and if they hadn’t passed it off as an Arthur tale it would have been better.
May 18, 2020
A pretty good audiobook. The story is quite short and succinct. I appreciated the sound effects of the battle sequences; they are very immersive.
The listener is immediately thrust into the world with no explanation of characters as there is no narration, and therefore there is a bit of a learning curve to establish the characters, although I am familiar with the Arthurian legend from other works.
Happy reading!
The listener is immediately thrust into the world with no explanation of characters as there is no narration, and therefore there is a bit of a learning curve to establish the characters, although I am familiar with the Arthurian legend from other works.
Happy reading!
May 22, 2020
For some reason, and I don't know why, but modern stories about Arthur, the once and future King, always seem to miss the mark with me. Maybe it's because little can compare to T.H. White's The Once and Future King?
(That's not to say that there are enjoyable stories set in and around the same period - Giles Kristian's Lancelot, for example.)
Still, I live in hope.
It was that hope that led me to pre-order this Audible exclusive, described as somewhat akin to Bernard Cornwell's The Winter King: A Novel of Arthur trilogy (incidentally, the authors favourite, and that I couldn't really get into that much the last time I tried: might be time for another re-read!).
Now I've read (listened) to it, and I feel it could probably best be summed up in one word: "M'eh".
This Arthur, I found, was thoroughly unlikeable. Yes, I know he could be at times in the originals, but the key phrase there is 'at times'; not for the entirety of the story! Never the less, I persevered throughout to see if it would improve: I have to say, however, that the other recent Audible original (Assassin's Creed: Gold) was far better, in my opinion.
(That's not to say that there are enjoyable stories set in and around the same period - Giles Kristian's Lancelot, for example.)
Still, I live in hope.
It was that hope that led me to pre-order this Audible exclusive, described as somewhat akin to Bernard Cornwell's The Winter King: A Novel of Arthur trilogy (incidentally, the authors favourite, and that I couldn't really get into that much the last time I tried: might be time for another re-read!).
Now I've read (listened) to it, and I feel it could probably best be summed up in one word: "M'eh".
This Arthur, I found, was thoroughly unlikeable. Yes, I know he could be at times in the originals, but the key phrase there is 'at times'; not for the entirety of the story! Never the less, I persevered throughout to see if it would improve: I have to say, however, that the other recent Audible original (Assassin's Creed: Gold) was far better, in my opinion.
June 20, 2020
This was not worth the listen. The best part, I will say, was the acting and immersive sound effects. However, this wasn't always a good thing, either as there were 2 sex scenes that I definitely could have lived without.
There were very few female characters, and fewer still were actually developed. Indeed, 2 were love interests of Arthur, 1 was immediately killed for no reason, and the last existed purely to show what a jerk the king's son is, so as to make Arthur look better by comparison.
Both Arthur and his uncle (the king before him) are weirdly obsessed with emulating great Ancient Roman heroes, to the point where they're both part of the Cult of Mithras, and Arthur's horse is named Bucephalus (a nod to Alexander the Great's beloved horse).
Arthur's friend Awaine is set up as a Patroclus to Arthur's Achilles.
However, the only thing Arthur has in common with Achilles is a propensity to sulk. Arthur is a flat character with 0 sympathetic points. The parts that follow his exploits are the least interesting.
He proves himself dishonorable and prejudiced. In fact, the only way you could find Arthur less than morally reprehensible is if you truly believe that following a traditional religion (as opposed to Christianity) warrants the death penalty, to be meted out by any sword-bearing Christian passing by.
I absolutely would not recommend this book.
There were very few female characters, and fewer still were actually developed. Indeed, 2 were love interests of Arthur, 1 was immediately killed for no reason, and the last existed purely to show what a jerk the king's son is, so as to make Arthur look better by comparison.
Both Arthur and his uncle (the king before him) are weirdly obsessed with emulating great Ancient Roman heroes, to the point where they're both part of the Cult of Mithras, and Arthur's horse is named Bucephalus (a nod to Alexander the Great's beloved horse).
Arthur's friend Awaine is set up as a Patroclus to Arthur's Achilles.
However, the only thing Arthur has in common with Achilles is a propensity to sulk. Arthur is a flat character with 0 sympathetic points. The parts that follow his exploits are the least interesting.
He proves himself dishonorable and prejudiced. In fact, the only way you could find Arthur less than morally reprehensible is if you truly believe that following a traditional religion (as opposed to Christianity) warrants the death penalty, to be meted out by any sword-bearing Christian passing by.
I absolutely would not recommend this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2023
Hi, I’m J, and my toxic trait is that I will consume anything Arthurian and probably enjoy it. Just a fair warning.
At first, I thought this was going to bomb. I thought it was going to make a hash of appealing to a 21stC audience with more liberal elements (which I’m here for, when done right), whilst being set in early post-Roman Britain. But, after a couple of chapters, it really warmed up and it turned out it struck the perfect balance in that department and didn’t jar with the setting. I thought it was a very fresh take. Interestingly, Arthur was not very likeable, but that seemed to work okay within the context of this particular plot.
The acting was fantastic (although, to begin with, I struggled to work out who was speaking between Arthur, Owain and Cynan) and I liked the twist on the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot love-triangle, with Arthur, Gwenhwyfar and Owain, but wish they’d made a bit more of it.
All in all, although it lacked a bit of depth, which meant it didn’t *quite* live up to my anticipation, this was an enjoyable enough origin story.
At first, I thought this was going to bomb. I thought it was going to make a hash of appealing to a 21stC audience with more liberal elements (which I’m here for, when done right), whilst being set in early post-Roman Britain. But, after a couple of chapters, it really warmed up and it turned out it struck the perfect balance in that department and didn’t jar with the setting. I thought it was a very fresh take. Interestingly, Arthur was not very likeable, but that seemed to work okay within the context of this particular plot.
The acting was fantastic (although, to begin with, I struggled to work out who was speaking between Arthur, Owain and Cynan) and I liked the twist on the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot love-triangle, with Arthur, Gwenhwyfar and Owain, but wish they’d made a bit more of it.
All in all, although it lacked a bit of depth, which meant it didn’t *quite* live up to my anticipation, this was an enjoyable enough origin story.
October 3, 2020
Extremely interesting listen, through and through!
First of all, this exposed me to a WHOLE different side of Arthurian legend that I had no idea even existed. This was a far more mature version of the classic legend of Arthur, but with a whole new cast of people I hadn't even heard of before. This is making want to research more into various interpretations of King Arthur. The cast was amazing, they really embodied every character quite perfectly, especially Merlin and Owain. It's really played out like if you're listening to a movie, rather than watching it - there's no narration, just dialog and sound effects to give you context, and a wonderful soundtrack sprinkled among the scenes. I seriously recommend this to any fan of fiction, and especially to those wanting to get into audiobooks.
First of all, this exposed me to a WHOLE different side of Arthurian legend that I had no idea even existed. This was a far more mature version of the classic legend of Arthur, but with a whole new cast of people I hadn't even heard of before. This is making want to research more into various interpretations of King Arthur. The cast was amazing, they really embodied every character quite perfectly, especially Merlin and Owain. It's really played out like if you're listening to a movie, rather than watching it - there's no narration, just dialog and sound effects to give you context, and a wonderful soundtrack sprinkled among the scenes. I seriously recommend this to any fan of fiction, and especially to those wanting to get into audiobooks.
January 31, 2021
The King Arthur tale with a twist; one part being that Arthur is an utter b**terd. Also, the cliched idea of 'the truth may be different from what you know', that does take some interesting and unexpected turns.
What else?
Well there are epic battles (that don't quite work well in audio)
Merlin is quite interesting, but then again he usually is.
It can be sometimes compelling when it doesn't go into soap opera-ishness. I think it has one of the most compelling versions of Gaiwan, but then again the story does revolve around him, more so as it goes on.
It's quite well performed, however, and the production levels seem high.
For fans of the genre who are starved of audio content, or would like a bit of a different take on a much-used (rightfully so) tale.
What else?
Well there are epic battles (that don't quite work well in audio)
Merlin is quite interesting, but then again he usually is.
It can be sometimes compelling when it doesn't go into soap opera-ishness. I think it has one of the most compelling versions of Gaiwan, but then again the story does revolve around him, more so as it goes on.
It's quite well performed, however, and the production levels seem high.
For fans of the genre who are starved of audio content, or would like a bit of a different take on a much-used (rightfully so) tale.
August 25, 2021
Absolutely amazing audio book, the sfx sounds were truly awesome, Robert Valentines take on the Legend that is Arthur, Arthur is a bastard, a general and next in line to to take the throne from his uncle King of the Britons, after the Romans have left, a civil war that will bring all the Britons together to fend the saxons that keep invading there land, a jealous Heir after being over looked by the King to replace him, plans on assassinating his cousin Arthur, Merlin brings humour to the story with his eccentric ways and will give you a little giggle, lots and lots of battles and a bit of dark magic will keep you entertained throughout, I absolutely love when Authors take a legend of a story and turn into their own master piece, highly recommended....😁
October 9, 2021
I enjoyed the story, an interesting variation on the Author mythology where Arthur is both more and less than you might expect.
However, the audiobook was just “okay”. It’s dramatized not narrated, and while the actors delivered a solid performance I found it hard to track what was going on at times. I also had a tough time recognizing the voices of several different characters, which didn’t make it any easier to follow along.
However, the audiobook was just “okay”. It’s dramatized not narrated, and while the actors delivered a solid performance I found it hard to track what was going on at times. I also had a tough time recognizing the voices of several different characters, which didn’t make it any easier to follow along.
January 3, 2023
The performance was amazing! I wasn’t as keen on the retelling of the story of Arthur.
It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. I had hoped for much more.
Interesting about Hannah, but other than that, I really just didn’t get it. Sadly, but it did while away a couple of hours, while not feeling well. And the performance was incredible! The actors definitely got the three stars. The story, maybe about one.
It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. I had hoped for much more.
Interesting about Hannah, but other than that, I really just didn’t get it. Sadly, but it did while away a couple of hours, while not feeling well. And the performance was incredible! The actors definitely got the three stars. The story, maybe about one.
November 24, 2020
This was not what I expected and consequently not my cup of tea. A different version of the legend. Far too many “sides” it was hard to follow who was on what side and who all the characters were. Far too many fighting scenes where you simply had no idea what was going on. No romance to it particularly either. All very dull and disappointing.
January 11, 2021
I thought this was a bit disappointing. I liked the idea and the idea of the characters, but it was too fast-paced for audio (maybe would work as a stage play with added visuals), and too shallow - there wasn't enough character development and it assumed too much of a prior historical knowledge of British history during the dark ages and prior to that.
December 13, 2023
The audio book itself is done very well. The sound effects, music, etc. are what really make it.
The story itself is enjoyable, however, most of the names of the classic characters are different. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it did take a little longer for me to get my bearings with the storyline because of this.
The story itself is enjoyable, however, most of the names of the classic characters are different. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it did take a little longer for me to get my bearings with the storyline because of this.
January 16, 2024
I read other reviewes before I listened to this, and despite my expectations I didn't hate it.
Could have used a bit more narration as it was hard to follow at times. All in all I found it enjoyable. Its only a few hours long and had plenty of action (which I would have preferred with more narration)
Could have used a bit more narration as it was hard to follow at times. All in all I found it enjoyable. Its only a few hours long and had plenty of action (which I would have preferred with more narration)
March 3, 2024
Book 219 - Robert Valentine - Arthur : The Legend of Arthur
If you are looking for a classic telling of the Arthurian tales of sword and sorcery…magic and mayhem…brothers and betrayals…well this isn’t it
Utter tripe from beginning to end as it tried and it really did try…to bring the ‘legend’ into the ‘real’ world…utterly fails.
Just no…no thanks
If you are looking for a classic telling of the Arthurian tales of sword and sorcery…magic and mayhem…brothers and betrayals…well this isn’t it
Utter tripe from beginning to end as it tried and it really did try…to bring the ‘legend’ into the ‘real’ world…utterly fails.
Just no…no thanks
June 29, 2025
I'm clearly in the minority here, but I really enjoyed this. This is a take on slotting the Arthurian legend into what we have recorded. So the action takes place after the Britons' defeat at Catraeth (Catterick) - a story told by Aneurin in The Gododdin (the oldest poem from Britain). And so it mixes the legend and the history and comes up with something enjoyable and rather clever.
December 30, 2025
Listened to this during a work shift.
As a lover of Merlin the TV show thought I would like this.
An alternative story telling of Arthur, not sure if it's my favourite and nowhere near the quality of Merlin.
This was just fine, not bad to pass the time but not groundbreaking, some of the accents weren't very good.
As a lover of Merlin the TV show thought I would like this.
An alternative story telling of Arthur, not sure if it's my favourite and nowhere near the quality of Merlin.
This was just fine, not bad to pass the time but not groundbreaking, some of the accents weren't very good.
January 15, 2021
The story is pretty basic but the main problem is that is basically a theatre play on audio. It's a story without narrative in which the dialogues and sound effects tell you what it's actually happening. A disappointing movie that you can't see.
July 7, 2020
My fiance and I loved this. A retelling of Arthur that differs much from the cannon, which makes it interesting. Very well acted and produced. Highly recommend.
January 5, 2021
I just couldn't get into this one at all. it wasn't what I was expecting, either. Definitely not my style.
February 22, 2021
An impressive audio adaptation of Arthurian legend, ALBION will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.
November 30, 2021
This audio book is dramatised as a full radio play with sound effects and multiple voice actors. It's an interesting take on an old tale!
January 27, 2022
Dynamic listen with great, immersive audio. However, the actual story is rather succinct and lacking.
March 7, 2022
A complete re-imagining of Arthurian times. Very little to do with Arthurian legend other than names. I suppose it is a more "realistic" version of it. Very little supernatural to it.
March 28, 2023
An outlandish, but well acted audiobook!
June 27, 2023
Well produced. A bit confusing at times. An interesting take on the Arthurian legend. Probably wouldn't listen to it again
June 3, 2025
was ok
February 4, 2021
The story is not the best King Arthur's story I have ever come across, but the performance of the narrators is really good: a different voice for each character and plenty of nice accents.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews