Download The Road to Samarcand: An Adventure Audiobook

" An exciting read - very well written and absorbing in a true story telling fashion. "

" A nice adventure story in the "old school" manner. A tad too "swashbuckling" at times with the language, but an entertaining read anyway. "

" Wonderfully enjoyable read by O'Brian. Strong ties to his Aubrey/Maturin series and common thematic elements abound. However, it is unique to works in that it is what I would call a "Young Adult" novel in its quick pace and simple, action-packed plot. Very fun and refreshing read from O'Brian. "

" A fun quick read. Great original story. "

" When I was cruising the New Book shelves for vacation reads, I saw this and thought "A new Patrick O'Brian? Cool!" After I checked it out I remembered that O'Brian died in 2000. Hmmm... Sure enough, this book was originally written in 1954 and never published during the author's lifetime. Not promising. Still, I loved his Aubrey/Maturin series and so decided to give this one a shot. At first it was a little off-putting because it is so completely different in style, tone, and voice than the seafaring series. But soon I realized that this is a basic boy's adventure story, not a serious adult novel. Once I accepted that, I enjoyed this book tremendously. It has sea voyages, foreign travel, archeaelogy, fights, hunts, snowstorms, dangers galore, and Yetis! Hoo boy! "

" loving this old fashion adventure tale. "

" want to reread soon... my absolute favorite ending to any book, ever. "

" This is a perfect summer read - fairly short, action-packed scenes, lots of emotional depth, and fascinating characters. This is my first Patrick O'Brian novel, and I plan to pick up a few more. The book was published in England in 1954, but is only now being released in the U.S. "

" This is the first book by Patrick O'Brian I have read. So far, so good. Much adventuring and memorable characters. A fun read. "

" This book gave me hope as a writer. It is one of O'Brian's earlier attempts and had millions of flaws but still carried me away. It showed me that even the masters had to start somewhere. And O'Brian is a master. "

" After you get used to hearing words like "Gee" and "Swell guy" come out of the mouths of O'Brian characters, this was an excellent book. All the adventure, drama, social commentary, and humor of his Maturin and Aubrey books, but this time set (mostly) on land. "

" This turned out to be a bit younger than I'd anticipated. A pretty good boy's adventure story. "

" This is an early effort by Patrick O'Brian, published about 16 years prior to his first Aubrey/Maturin novel. It is clearly a work by an author just discovering his talents. It is not up to the standards of his later work. I'll recommend it to an O'Brian completist, but to nobody else. "

" Not Patrick O'Brian's greatest. It takes place on land. "

" I am genetically programmed somehow to enjoy Patrick O'Brian's books, especially this one. My favorite of his so far. "

" It was pretty exciting and fast paced although the end was rather sudden and not too well explained. It made me realize how little I know about Asia -- maybe it's time to learn. "

" This light-hearted adventure story was great fun to read. "

" Not nearly as engaging as his other works. However, I think this would make an excellent novel for middle school and high school readers. Dogs, yetis, Mongol hordes... I was amused to find a 'new' book by a dead author at the bookstore. "

" Adventure story of an American orphaned boy, his ship's captain uncle and crew and his professor cousin who make their way through China and Tibet in the 1930s. "

" What was once called "a ripping yarn." Characters that initially seem cliched show depth, and a callow boy becomes a man. Great fun if you like this sort of thing, and I rather do. "

" Fun good book by the writer of the Aubrey Maturin series. It makes me want to pick up some of his other works. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and it was story telling much like you'd get reading about Jack and Stephen. "

" An excellent adventure story. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was that the ending seemed too abrupt to me. Otherwise, a great book. "

" This is the sort of book Kipling would have written if Kipling had been a little more open-minded. Like Kim, only better. In fact, I almost wonder if O'Brian's questioning of imperialism didn't contribute to the fact that, when he wrote in in the 1950s, it wasn't published. "

" Ripping yarn for boys. "

" This light-hearted adventure story was great fun to read. "

" This turned out to be a bit younger than I'd anticipated. A pretty good boy's adventure story. "

" An excellent adventure story. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was that the ending seemed too abrupt to me. Otherwise, a great book. "

" This is the first book by Patrick O'Brian I have read. So far, so good. Much adventuring and memorable characters. A fun read. "

" Fun good book by the writer of the Aubrey Maturin series. It makes me want to pick up some of his other works. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and it was story telling much like you'd get reading about Jack and Stephen. "

" loving this old fashion adventure tale. "

" This is an early effort by Patrick O'Brian, published about 16 years prior to his first Aubrey/Maturin novel. It is clearly a work by an author just discovering his talents. It is not up to the standards of his later work. I'll recommend it to an O'Brian completist, but to nobody else. "

" A nice adventure story in the "old school" manner. A tad too "swashbuckling" at times with the language, but an entertaining read anyway. "

" Not Patrick O'Brian's greatest. It takes place on land. "

" Not nearly as engaging as his other works. However, I think this would make an excellent novel for middle school and high school readers. Dogs, yetis, Mongol hordes... I was amused to find a 'new' book by a dead author at the bookstore. "

" What was once called "a ripping yarn." Characters that initially seem cliched show depth, and a callow boy becomes a man. Great fun if you like this sort of thing, and I rather do. "

" It was pretty exciting and fast paced although the end was rather sudden and not too well explained. It made me realize how little I know about Asia -- maybe it's time to learn.
"

" This book gave me hope as a writer. It is one of O'Brian's earlier attempts and had millions of flaws but still carried me away. It showed me that even the masters had to start somewhere. And O'Brian is a master. "

" I am genetically programmed somehow to enjoy Patrick O'Brian's books, especially this one. My favorite of his so far.
"

" After you get used to hearing words like "Gee" and "Swell guy" come out of the mouths of O'Brian characters, this was an excellent book. All the adventure, drama, social commentary, and humor of his Maturin and Aubrey books, but this time set (mostly) on land. "