Winds of the Steppe Audiobook By Bernard Ollivier, Dan Golembeski - translator cover art

Winds of the Steppe

Walking the Great Silk Road from Central Asia to China

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Winds of the Steppe

By: Bernard Ollivier, Dan Golembeski - translator
Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
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Taking listeners from the snows of the Pamir Mountains to the backstreets of Kashgar—a Central Asian city that could be the setting for One Thousand and One Nights—to the Tian Shan Mountains to the endless Taklamakan and Gobi Deserts of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Bernard Ollivier continues his epic foot journey along the Great Silk Road hoping to make his way to Han China and reach, at long last, the legendary city of Xi'an.

After traveling through a region dotted with former Buddhist shrines, Ollivier finds himself craving the warm welcome of Islamic lands, where, regardless of their culture or nationality, travelers are often treated as esteemed guests. Beyond the occasional vestige of the old Silk Road, Ollivier comes face to face with sites of religious significance, China's Great Wall, and of course thousands of everyday people along the way.

As Ollivier tries to make sense of his journey and find connections between these people's daily lives and the so-called "modern" world, he does so with a sense of humility that transforms his personal journey into a universal quest.

©2003 Bernard Ollivier; English translation copyright 2020 by Dan Golembeski (P)2022 Tantor Asia Travel Writing & Commentary China
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This was my least favorite book of the three. First of all, I really disliked the narration. Especially going from the first two books where I absolutely enjoyed the narration by Nigel Patterson, to this one where I almost decided to not listen to it at all. Not sure if this was some type of mix of human reading and zombie/AI narration... but OMG...the nasal, breathy, chopped up, hard stop and sigh after every word....it absolutely drove me insane. I couldn't focus on the book nor listen to it at the higer volume as it amplified all these nuisances. Especially the first few chapters. Eventually I managed to tune it out, but it's just an awful narrative.
The story itself, although I found more humor in this one than the first two, I also found it somehow dull at times. It seems that people (and some events) the author encountered on this journey were not as likeable or as hospitable as in his prior journeys, so most likely this contributed to dullness and perhaps less enthusiasm and excitement in this book.
In spite of all this, I'm glad I listened to this to this book and traveled vicariously through the author on his long walking journey to the end. What an accomplishment!! Both in terms of physical endurance and mental strength to undertake such a journey on foot, but also fearlessness and sense of adventure that made this absolutely a lifetime accomplishment.

Awful narration, good story

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This is the last of a three book series.
I thoroughly enjoyed all three of them.
All his adventures and the people he met along the way. All the friends he made and all the help he got when needed.
In this crazy world, you realize that all people are in essence the same.
This is something we all have to hang on too. In the process we might even make this earth a better place to live in for the short time we are here.
Needless to say that I recommend listening to all three books.
This book is narrated by a different narrator than the first two, but after a few chapters you get used to his style and he is equally good.
My thanks to all involved, JK.

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