Helcura

Excellent narration

Revisado: 01-02-25

Good characters, good story. Ozzie is a compelling hero and there’s a nice mix of humor and action.

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Mispronunciation of the word “foal” is quite annoying, but a good listen overall.

Revisado: 08-03-24

Would really appreciate an updated version with corrected pronunciation. Good storytelling and an interesting world.

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A great book in spite of a poor choice of narrator

Revisado: 08-28-14

This is a riveting book. The main character is no one person, but rather the epidemic itself. At a time when there were no antibiotics, no vaccines, no understanding of germ theory, people were helpless in the face of diseases like yellow fever. The city of Memphis had weathered epidemic of yellow fever before, but this, the worst yellow fever epidemic to ever hit the city, changes Memphis both for better and worse forever. The author depicts the city, the people, the time with passion and flair. The writing flows smoothly and the various individuals who are followed through the fever season are interesting and well-depicted.

The audio version is hampered by an unfortunate choice of narrator, who has a high-pitched voice and a light tone and bouncy cadence that make her seem almost gleeful when reciting the suffering and death caused by the epidemic. The book is good enough that it's worth listening to in spite of that, but a better choice of narrator would have improved the audio edition significantly.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Interesting, but with annoying mispronunciations

Revisado: 08-06-14

The book is quite interesting as an overview of the challenge faced in eradicating smallpox in the 20th century. The book is detailed and addresses WHO efforts worldwide as well as political challenges that impeded the work.

The narrator has an old-fashioned newscaster's tone and pacing, but annoying mispronounces many ordinary words. I am willing to overlook mispronunciation of technical terms, but the narrator should be able to speak standard English.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Don't let the narrator disuade you from this book

Revisado: 07-26-14

This book is really fascinating, but it is marred by the unfortunate choice of narrator, whose ponderous tempo and patronizing tone are completely unsuited to the actual words that are being read.

This is a career autobiography, so don't expect a lot of family details and such, but the descriptions of the challenges that this passionate doctor faced as he went about pursuing his goal of helping the people who most need helping, are inspiring. The author shows just how hard it can be to be an honest administrator, and how important such people are. He shares his mistakes and failures as well as his successes and honestly discusses some of the unpleasant compromises he made in the pursuit of a laudable goal.

I was particularly impressed with the fact that throughout the book, the author gave credit to other people for achievements which are no doubt often attributed to him alone. Hearing the names of those who have since become known in their own right and those who have not achieved fame was compelling.

I originally picked up this book because I was interested in Piot's experience with Ebola, but this book is much more than a book about diseases. It's a book about human responses and human actions; it's a book about persistence and honor and I was quite inspired by it.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Don't give up on James Marsters

Revisado: 12-18-13

Don't give up on this series because of the poor start by reader James Marsters. He improves rapidly and by the fourth book is an excellent reader. In this first book, pronunciation errors and pacing problems will be irritating, but the series is worth toughing it out.

The book itself is the beginning of a great series, which has justly earned it's popularity. In this book the characters are just beginning to display their depth and definition. The story is funny and exciting, with a pleasantly complex urban magic setting.

Definitely recommended.

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Good story, poor reader

Revisado: 10-07-13

This is a good story, but unfortunately the reader is very poor. She seems to have been told to put emphasis on adjectives, which leads to an almost intolerable cadence. The only time she sounds at all natural is when she is reading the dialog as if she is an excited young teenager, which, unfortunately is only occasionally appropriate.

All this is too bad, because the story is an interesting one which gives a feel for the renaissance in a world where magic works and is an accepted part of life, regulated as were many things during that period by religion and politics.

I heartily recommend the printed book, but the recorded one is only worth listening to if you love Bujold and are quite tolerant.

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