The Walking Drum
Written by Louis L'Amour
Narrated by John Curless
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Louis L'Amour has been best known for his ability to capture the spirit and drama of the authentic American West. Now he guides his readers to an even more distant frontier-the enthralling lands of the twelfth century.
Warrior, lover, and scholar, Kerbouchard is a daring seeker of knowledge and fortune bound on a journey of enormous challenge, danger, and revenge. Across Europe, over the Russian steppes, and through the Byzantine wonders of Constantinople, Kerbouchard is thrust into the treacheries, passions, violence, and dazzling wonders of a magnificent time.
From castle to slave galley, from sword-racked battlefields to a princess's secret chamber, and ultimately, to the impregnable fortress of the Valley of Assassins, The Walking Drum is a powerful adventure in an ancient world that you will find every bit as riveting as Louis L'Amour's stories of the American West.
More audiobooks from Louis L'amour
A Man Called Trent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Louis L'Amour Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trail Mix Volume One: Riding for the Brand, The Black Rock Coffin Makers, and Dutchman's Flat Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Showdown Trail: A Novel of Wagon Train Days Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trail Mix Volume Two: Mistakes Can Kill You, The Nester and the Piute, Trail to Pie Town, Big Medicine. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Desert Death Song & Trap of Gold Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Rock Coffin Makers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5His Brother's Death & Trail to Pie Town Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to The Walking Drum
Related audiobooks
The Vet's Daughter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Short Fiction (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEdgar Allan Poe - Selected Tales Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Murder by Candlelight: The Gruesome Slayings Behind Our Romance With the Macabre Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bear Woman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Innocence of Father Brown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vampyre: The Origin Of Dracula A Tale 1816 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heart of Darkness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When Lightning Strikes Twice: A Classic Murder Mystery set on the Northumbrian Coast Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Children of the Night: The Strange and Epic Story of Modern Romania Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Retroland: A Reader's Guide to the Dazzling Diversity of Modern Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bridge of San Luis Rey: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bloody Crown of Conan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Secret Life, Vol. 7 Chapter 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Vicomte De Bragelonne Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBibliomysteries Volume 4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGlory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Poem at a Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMessalina: A Story of Empire, Slander and Adultery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great White Queen Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Carbo and the Thief Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thrilling Cities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Mountains of Madness: The Life, Death, and Extraordinary Afterlife of H.P. Lovecraft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wolf-Leader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Born in the USA - Exploring America in Poems - The New York City Poets: A celebration of American poetry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prisoner of Zenda Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Western Fiction For You
Deadwood: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Rabbit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dance Hall of the Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5T. H. Elkman: A Western Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Raylan: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Serpent's Tooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another Man's Moccasins Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Depth of Winter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rider of Lost Creek Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trail Driver: A Western Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Where Coyotes Howl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sing Her Down: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Crossing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Distance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Grit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5West of the Pecos: A Western Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5News of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Where the Lost Wander: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Pretty Horses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That Dark and Bloody River: Chronicles of the Ohio River Valley Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Son Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book One Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Streets Of Laredo Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chenneville: A Novel of Murder, Loss, and Vengeance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5River of Teeth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death Comes for the Archbishop Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Strange Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry Bones Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Walking Drum
281 ratings12 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5No.(Too much of the "noble Arab" fallacy, and other wonky scholarship. I like L'Amour's westerns, but this is seriously subpar - couldn't finish. Not one of his brighter heroes, either.)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Always the lover of action this book met my keener interest in history! Lamours research provides colour lacking in readily sourced material. It could however, been stretched into a longer story for it lent itself to that. Bob. 27/5/2019. NZ
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5great story
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Although (or maybe because) I grew up in the west, I have never been a great fan of L'Amour. So when my grandfather gave me this book, I was a little skeptical, even though he and I usually have similar tastes. But as I started to read it, I found that I really enjoyed it. The setting was 12th century Europe/Central Asia rather than 19th century America, and the characters were engaging. I couldn't wait to see what the the protagonist, Mathurin Kerbouchard, did next. That said, some of the scholarship was a tad wonky. You could tell that Mr. L'Amour had done research, but he'd done it out of outdated books. And Mathurin comes off as a bit unbelievable... Sort of a medieval James Bond. He travels from one end of the known world to the other, he defeats all challengers, romances all ladies, is a born leader, natural scholar, brilliant orator, etc, etc... after a while you start hoping he'll fail at something, just to see if he CAN. Still, I like the book quite a lot, and every so often I get the urge to re-read it, which is a good sign. Recommended for armchair historians, L'Amour fans, and people who like engaging narratives about super-humans. ^_~
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the finest books I've ever read! Adventure in 12th century Europe with plenty of educational facts thrown in and an epic story with a larger-than-life hero. I've read it at least 6 times and will read it many more times before I die. You genuinely feel the story. A must for your go-to reading list.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An expansive look at Muslim/Celtic/Eastern Asian cultures in the 1200's. It felt like I was reading non-fiction with a little plot thrown in along the way. There were a few interesting characters and glimpses into different lifestyles. Thoroughly researched and meticulously written, I almost got lost in the detail several times. The overall storyline was okay, it just took a lot of words to get there. I really enjoyed The Lonesome Gods by the same author but this one dragged a lot. I did finish it and learned several "life lessons" with the main character Mathurin Kerbouchard.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love this book! I've read it at least 10 times. One of the best main characters in historical fiction.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is not a western, it's about medieval middle east. Ali Baba and the forty thieves kind of thing. Interesting. L'Amour did his research. Also filled with more idiotic testosterone than one book should be able to hold.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Honestly, it deserves closer to say, 2 and a half stars on that "literary" plain. But on the "too much fun" scale, this story blows anything written for a pulp audience out of the water. One liners abound, there's swords, explosions, good lookin' gals, horses, exotic lands, nuggets of historical details, a hellova classical bibliography if you go through each book mentioned. The only snag is the ending - L'Amour meant to write a trilogy and died before he could finish it. May god rest his soul and Kerbouchard ride again.WHY IS THIS NOT A MOVIE YET?
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This novel is set during the period of the Assassins in Europe (The word assassin comes from the drug hashish check your dictionary etymology or an encyclopedia), when this group drugged and hypnotized young men and sent them off to knock of heads of countries if they didn't get what they wanted in terms of money or policy.
The hero in this takes them on. Will he be the first to escape unscathed?
Good story. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5As a Louis L'Amour fan and medieval history buff, this novel disappointed me. I love reading his westerns, and his mysteries are just as good. Going into them, I know they're going to be formulaic, cliched, with predictable characters. But they're a great escape from my academic reading.It's obvious he did a lot of research and reading for the novel, and he clearly must've visited most of the locations where the story takes place. However, many of the facts in the book are based on outdated scholarship, even during the time he wrote it. I don't blame him for not being able to keep abreast of new developments in Crusade and medieval history. Many current college textbooks have the same problem.The protagonist is simply too great for one human being. Not only is he a matchless warrior and a scholar, everybody can't help but be impressed by him–especially the ladies. His athletic ability, skill with weapons, ease of learning languages, good looks, and yes, Druid-trained photographic memory, allow him to go from rags to riches–several times. In situation after situation, he somehow loses everything, only to slowly rise up again to hobnob with the rich and powerful.One of the most annoying aspects of this book is the constant, often pretentious, name-dropping of ancient and medieval writers. He describes several well-known and less popular works, but many times, he does no more than list their titles. The only saving grace of this novel is L'Amour's masterful storytelling ability. For all its flaws, it was still a fun read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the times of the Dark Ages, a man named Kerbouchard travels from his Druid land in search for his long lost father, presumably dead.Soon, Kerbouchard realizes that his quest is a most dangerous one. He makes counltess friends, but several deadly enemies and meets women of all kinds. He becomes many things including a scholar and a merchant. But what lies ahead will push him to the limits in this epic tale from Louis L'Amour.