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A well-written and perfectly crafted story that is pure Gaiman. I loved it. It was lovely and haunting and sad and suspenseful and just all around a great story. As usual, Gaiman also did a fantastic job reading it. I always feel like I'm curled up listening to a creepy bedtime story whenever I listen to any of his audiobooks. A fantastic reading experience.

My only complaint, and what forced me to give it 4 stars instead of 5, was the music. Overall, I enjoyed the music and at times it really added to what was happening in the narration. However, I don't usually listen to music when I read. At times, it was horribly distracting for me. There was a few times I got lost in the intense music and realized I hadn't been listening to the spoken words. I had to go back and listen again. Also, sometimes the music was way more intense than what was actually going on. It added a strange suspense to events that weren't very suspenseful, which was a bit odd.

Don't get me wrong; the music itself was great. It's just that sometimes it was a little too good and distracted me from the actual story.

The story itself is for sure 5 stars, but the audiobook listening experience was a little too intense at times with the music, which is why I bumped it back to 4 stars. Still a great read.

This is a graphic story telling of a dwarf who asked a man to be his guide.

As the story progress, the conversation grew darker. The man wanted to go into a cave, known to have treasure. 

Now, the intention of this guide is to kill the man when he brought out the gold.

There is no good person in this story. The dwarf has also killed men before for different reason.

Unsettling story. 

This is read for the Dark Dark Wood square. 

The string quartet that accompanied this audio added depth and drama to the narration as author Neil Gaiman read this novel to me. I really enjoyed the sounds that came forth from their instruments: the eeriness of the unknown, the rush of the feet over the dry plains, the fortitude of certain individual’s presence and the many other sounds that I was blessed to hear.  After listening to this short audio, I listened to it once again and things really started to click. I was able to make more connections the second time through and I believe that this is a novel that should be read a few times through to fully understand it.   I enjoyed this novel much more the second time through.   I feel the book is about revenge and about greed, how these can get the best of a person. I liked listening to Neil as he read, I felt wrapped up inside his story, I wanted to know why each person was important to this novel as there weren’t very many people involved in this story.   I would love to see Neil in person, to have him read part of a novel to me, for there is something about his voice, it takes on a deep, dark, sinister style and I am mesmerized.

He had been searching for his daughter for 10 years and yet he did not find her. He then left his wife in search for a treasure. He was a small man with big dreams. There was a cave on the Misty Isle that was legend to have gold but he needed a guide.   Some say the gold was cursed but he will take his chances. Finding his guide, they set off. Not much is spoken between them as they make their journey but as they meet others on their way, the small man is boastful about his trip. There are rules about the cave in the black mountain and his guide reminds him multiple times on their trek about these rules.   As they get closer to their destination, the men discuss their plan of action. It was not what I had expected, but it was fun, exciting and it portrayed their character exactly.

This is the second audio book I have listened to via Scribd on the iOS app, while the app could use some work, the story and the narration were awesome.  I now want to get the e-book so I can see the illustrations that go with the story.  I've said it before and I'm saying it again.... Neil Gaiman is an amazing storyteller and after listening to this I want to go back and relisten to Neverwhere, Stardust, Ocean at the End of the Lane...pretty much all of his stories that he narrates.  My review of this is short as is the story (but it still packs quite the punch), an evocative story of revenge and death with fabulous narration that is accompanied with a string quartet playing in the background.

This quote from the story as it really stood out to me 

"Sometimes I think the truth is a place, In my mind, it is like a city: there can be a hundred roads, a thousand paths, that will all take you, eventually, to the same place. It does not matter where you come from.  If you walk toward the truth, you will reach it, whatever path you take"  ..................... "You are wrong.  The truth is a cave in the black mountains.  There is one way there, and one only, and the way is treacherous and hard, and if you choose the wrong path you will die alone, on the mountainside"

Kindle Enhanced e-book edition w/audio/video

Audible