Mr Wizard

Thirty four years later

Revisado: 06-22-20

After more than sixty years of avid reading ... of being an inveterate reader ... it's WONDERFUL to find that some of the old-time masterworks still exist.

It's been thirty-four years since first I read this book. Longer than most people's careers. The story of the mixing of two worlds ... our world, and a world in a different universe, where magic ... TRUE magic ... despite that worlds quest for technological advancement ... really exists.

And despite the ONE unfortunate aspect of this recording--a nearly inaudible high pitched whine that permeates the entire book--this work is still as good as I remember it from more than thirty years ago. And now it is available in a format that adds the aspect of old-time radio to modern books--where one has a disembodied voice TELL us a story.

If fantasy has any appeal to you, and you are unfamiliar with Barbara Hambly, then you are in for a treat. In this day and age, when the work of self-published authors, (a LOT of ot trash ... just real garbage ...) makes it to public availability, Barbara Hambly is one of those paragons of SciFi/Fantasy that truly DEFINES these genre's ... that gives them the appeal that they possess ... the appeal that makes them WORTH YOUR TIME to listen to. Most of her work is Real Artistry (when was the last time YOU ever used the word "necrotic" in a sentence?) ... and NOT like most of what we most unfortunately bear witness to in this modern age of self publishing. You know ... there's a valid reason why editorial efforts and publishing houses exist. Part of it is to week out some of that trash.

Oops ... my apologies ... this recording has TWO unfortunate problems ... the second of which is the unprofessional nature of the narrator. Despite years of complaining, I STILL find narrators that egregiously mispronounce words that they are unfamiliar with. This book is not what I would call RIFE with these mispronunciations, but they do exist. Not perhaps enough to ruin the book, but they DO detract from it in my opinion. I find mispronunciations to be extremely irritating. It is a professional narrators job to pronounce these words and to do it correctly. If I can find out how to pronounce a word that I am not certain of in less than 20 seconds, then narrators can do so too. But do they? Noooo ... and NO ONE is willing to do the first stinking thing about it. Oh well ... just live with them, like I do, and don't let the few mispronunciations scare you away from this author.

Take a chance ... you will NOT be sorry ...

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

If you saw the movie Lonesome Dove ...

Revisado: 11-08-19

... then you will despise the narrator of this Audible Book. In the movie, the character, Captain Augustus McCrae, was performed by the actor Robert Duvall, while the character Captain Woodrow call was played by the actor Tommy Lee Jones. In this audible book, the voice of the character Captain Woodrow Call sounds exactly like the voice of the actor Tommy Lee Jones so that you are continually having to exert a positive effort in order to remember which character is being played by what voice. Which makes it nearly impossible to enjoy the marvelous story represented by this book. Not saying that you will be, but I was irritated by the portrayal of the loud-voiced Augustus McCrae. The narrator shouted nearly every line of the character, which is not consistent with the portrayal of the character by the movie.

Other than that, my only complaint is that the volume level of this audible book is lower than almost every other audible book that I own, which at this point consists of nearly 600 books.

So ... bad narrator, and volume too low... who could complain about any of that, and do you think I should recommend this book? Well, if you can get by the problems iincurred because of the narrator and the low volume, then this is one of the most enjoyable, entertaining, heart-breakingly beautiful stories of mid 1800's Americana that you will EVER find. The book, in its scope, its length, and the power of its story, is one of the greatest Western novels ever achieved by any author anywhere. The power of this story to touch your heart is just unbelievable.

If you haven't seen the movie, and therefore not prejudiced by the perception of the reversal of the main character roles by the narrator, then do yourself a favor, and RUN, not walk, to your cart and acquire this book before anything happens that could even POSSIBLY cause it to become unavailable. This is one of the greatest stories ever written.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

If you saw the movie Lonesome Dove ...

Revisado: 11-08-19

... then you will despise the narrator of this Audible Book. In the movie, the character, Captain Augustus McCrae, was performed by the actor Robert Duvall, while the character Captain Woodrow call was played by the actor Tommy Lee Jones. In this audible book, the voice of the character Captain Woodrow Call sounds exactly like the voice of the actor Tommy Lee Jones so that you are continually having to exert a positive effort in order to remember which character is being played by what voice. Which makes it nearly impossible to enjoy the marvelous story represented by this book. Not saying that you will be, but I was irritated by the portrayal of the loud-voiced Augustus McCrae. The narrator shouted nearly every line of the character, which is not consistent with the portrayal of the character by the movie.

Other than that, my only complaint is that the volume level of this audible book is lower than almost every other audible book that I own, which at this point consists of nearly 600 books.

So ... bad narrator, and volume too low... who could complain about any of that, and do you think I should recommend this book? Well, if you can get by the problems iincurred because of the narrator and the low volume, then this is one of the most enjoyable, entertaining, heart-breakingly beautiful stories of mid 1800's Americana that you will EVER find. The book, in its scope, its length, and the power of its story, is one of the greatest Western novels ever achieved by any author anywhere. The power of this story to touch your heart is just unbelievable.

If you haven't seen the movie, and therefore not prejudiced by the perception of the reversal of the main character roles by the narrator, then do yourself a favor, and RUN, not walk, to your cart and acquire this book before anything happens that could even POSSIBLY cause it to become unavailable. This is one of the greatest stories ever written.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

I LOVE this story

Revisado: 10-07-19

I've been a fan of this story since the movie with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan was made. The power of a "Right vs Wrong" story is profoundly appealing. Everybody loves to see the bad guy get what he so desperately deserves to get. So buying this book was a no brainer. Especially since there were two additional stories attached to the book. Immediately after purchasing this book I downloaded it and began listening to it. Never have I run across a story where the narrator was SO instrumental as to whether or not the book was listenable to. I didn't last five minutes, and was back on Audible exchanging this book for the version narrated by Tim Danko.

I can kinda understand why a female narrator was chosen for this book, as one of the two main characters is a female. But this was a mistake in my opinion. The other of the two main characters Is male, and his role was, by far, the bigger of the two parts. They should have used a male narrator from the beginning. And not only was the choice of a female for a narratora mistake, but this woman's voice is enough to tempt one to suicide. Not a good choice for a profoundly dramatic Western.

I tried 6 or 8 different versions of this audible book, and Tim Danko is, by far, my favorite of all the narrator's that have done this book. As well as liking Tim the best, his version also includes an additional half-hour length over the other versions. So if you are thinking about buying this book, go listen to the one done by Tim Danko first. I don't think you will regret having done so. If you have already bought this book, and are as dissatisfied as I was with the female narrator, then I suggest again that you go look that versionthe up, and give it a try.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

I don't do a lot of audible reviews, but this ...

Revisado: 06-13-19

... story just demands that I share my opinion about it with everyone else that reads Audible. I thought the narrator was rather pointedly suited to do this particular type of story. I couldn't put it down, though I couldn't quite give him five stars as I felt there needed to be a little wiggle room left for something better. That being said, I just couldn't stop listening to it. This author/These authors are are the Best Western writers to have come about since Larry McMurtry, Louis L'Amour and John S McCord (the author that wrote "The Baynes Clan" series of stories). Excellent storytelling, with enough tragedy to pull at your heart strings, and just enough hint at romance to make you think that something just might happen in the not-too-distant future. With something constantly going on ... with a whistling bullet just beyond the next turn of the page ... you too will find it intensely difficult to determine a good place to stop. Overall, it's been a number of years since I have enjoyed a western as much as I have enjoyed this book. I didn't any more than finish it than I went off and bought the second part and I'm downloading it as I write this review. What you'll find in this book is the profoundly poignant satisfaction that every decent, moral, law abiding man finds in seeing the living shit shot out of the bad guy who so desperately needs to have it done to him. If you like westerns, BUY THIS BOOK. You WON'T regret it!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

I wept bitterly and openly over this book.

Revisado: 08-06-18

I have never read but one other book that I thought came close to being as sad as the end of this book Is. I've listened to this book maybe a half a dozen times, and weep bitterly and openly over the way the story ends. But as sad as the book ends, it is told so well that it pulls intensely at one's Heartstrings. I put this book on my list of the top five best books I have ever read. That means something when it comes from a man 65 years old that has been reading continuously for the last 60 years.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Lazy, incompetent narrator

Revisado: 10-14-17

This is THE most distressing tendency that the narrators of audible books fall prey to, and the one that irritates me the most ... their unwillingness to look up how to pronounce words that they are not intimately familiar with.

There exists a Russian aircraft manufacturer that makes cargo planes that goes by the name of Antonov. The narrator insists on mispronouncing their name as 'anna-toff' ... when in fact the correct pronunciation is, and please forgive the lack of dictionary style characters, 'an-tahn-ahv'. Which SHOULD be obvious by its spelling. This is nothing short of incompetence, and laziness. And displays a total lack of regard for the quality of his/her performance. And the name of this Russian aircraft manufacturer is only exemplary of this narrators disregard ... it is NOT the only mispronunciation I've found in this book.

Here’s another example. On the arctic ice, there are small areas of open unfrozen water called a polynya. This word is a Russian word, and is pronounced 'po-leen-yah' and it is also egregiously mispronounced by this narrator. By the way, I was not familiar with the way this word was spelled, but it took me less than 20 seconds to look this word up on Google and to find out how to spell it correctly. So the narrator absolutely cannot tell me that this information was not readily available to him too.

I’ve contacted Audible on multiple occasions regarding these kinds of errors, and their response has been singularly less than supportive, calling these egregious mispronunciations, and I quote, 'an acceptable error rate'. I heartily disagree with this unprofessional stance and I ask each and every one of you that harbor discontent with this odious practice to let Audible know your opinion and to boycott books performed by narrators that produce these substandard performances!

Does anyone remember the days when the only available books, which were paperbacks, had professional editorial services provided, producing books that did NOT have spelling and/or formatting errors in them? I do, and I truly detest the present day tendency to produce Ebooks and Audible books that are rife with errors that contribute nothing to the production of quality material.

I really hate to provide such disagreeable review positions on books that are otherwise very good productions by way of author quality and storyline. I like this author, and truly enjoy the other books he has written that I have bought and listened to. The amount of research that he has engaged in to produce these books is quite evident, as the books storylines are well detailed, and quite believable to people who have any knowledge at all of the subject. And the characters whose personalities have been carefully crafted are delightful.

Wonderful, enjoyable books overall. But it is my opinion that these irritating mispronunciations by uncaring, unprofessional narrators simply ruin the overall quality of an audible book. Don’t put up with this kind of garbage. Demand the quality that you so obviously deserve by forking out your hard-earned bucks for these books.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

I almost NEVER write a review, but ...

Revisado: 09-10-17

Minor spoilers contained here.

Seldom have I fallen so in love with a character in a book as I have with this books character, the AI Skippy that looks like a beer can and is millions of years old. And I cannot begin to tell you how many years it has been since I have burst into uproarious laughter over something a character in a book has said.

"It will be as easy for me to do as a two piece puzzle would be for you ... hint, hint ... the tab goes in the slot and the plain cardboard side goes face down".

Who says an AI has to be a dry, analytical, emotionless computer? How about a lonely but funny Artificial Intelligence that is as big a smartass as you could ever hope to find?

"I'm reconsidering whether or not your species deserves to be compared to bacteria ... monkey boy".

After he is chastized by his only friend (the books protagonist) for hacking into the NSA's computer system, the AI tells his only friend that "I just released a FDA study that says vegemite worked better than viagra." His only friend then wonders if he has time to invest in the company that makes vegemite before he has to report for duty.

The book, like many others, develops characters that you will have no compunction against liking. And like many books, there are battles in which the excited voice of the narrator will heat up your earphones. But never have I run across a character as funny as Skippy and his interactions with humans in which he variously asserts that we are no smarter than monkeys, and no more advanced than bacteria and paramecium. Have you ever seen a paramecium with an eyepatch? Wait till you run across this!

Buy this book. Seriously. You will love the main character who is as dedicated and moral a sergeant as you will ever find, who is forcefully embroiled in an interstellar war that he is powerless to affect. And you will wish you could actually meet his friend Skippy, the lonely AI who is seriously loyal to him as he is the only entity in his existence that has treated him as a person and not just a machine. The book starts a tiny bit slow, and things very rapidly reach points in the beginning that are never explained, but once Joe reaches his first extraterrestrial planet, very early in the book, things never really slow down.

I cannot for the life of me believe that there is anyone who could seriously say that this book was a waste of their time. If you love SciFi that is more than all the cookie cutter science fiction that is out there, that is innovative and different enough to grab your attention and KEEP it ... then buy this book. And be prepared to laugh!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

This is what "audible" should be

Revisado: 06-04-16

I have not enjoyed an audible book THIS much in quite some time. The "performance" by multiple narrator/actors gives this audible book a level of entertainment heretofore unachieved by almost everything I've gotten from audible so far. And I've been a member since 2010 and have over 400 audible books. The story was good ... and although I liked it very much, I only gave the story 4 stars as I feel as though there are better stories out there. But it was the "performance" level rather than the normal plain "narration" that I appreciated so much. For it to be any better, there had to have been pictures to go along with the performance ... but I believe that they call those "movies". Or so I'm told. If SciFi is your thing, or simply just Adventure or Suspense, then I truly believe that you will enjoy this particular Audible Book. I greatly look forward to finding more "performance" level books at Audible.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

High on my list of "Best Military Science Fiction"

Revisado: 10-19-15

I am 62 years old (at the time of this writing), and I would like to tell potential readers that this is some of the best military SciFi that I have ever read. SO MANY of the Alien Invasion stories are of a cookie cutter style ... they are ALL the same. And with the plethora of "self published" books out there, so much of what is available electronically is just absolute trash that would never have found it's way to print had the authors submitted them for paper publishing.

But the storyline here is SO unique, SO innovative, that I was immediately hooked. I was fascinated by the basic premise. The character development is comprehensive enough to sculpt characters that the reader can care about (or hate as the case may be) withhout going back to the characters bad experiences in kindergarden. And the author's style is one that i surely believe that I can stand more of.

So if you are looking for a uniquely fresh storyline in the "Alien Invasion/Military SciFi" genre, written in a style guaranteed to capture your attention and keep it, written by a fantastically successful writer who is bout to make it up there with the ranks of the great SciFi writers, then this is the book for you!

My ONE SINGLE COMPLAINT, is that Audible has as yet to publish the other two books of this series in an audible format ... so I'm off to Amazon to buy the other two books for my Kindle!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña