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Staying the course

Revisado: 03-21-18

Good over all... a little Deus Ex-ey. Great performance. Fun action. Shocking finish. Had no idea this was a 7 book series... so long! But it stays interesting so no complaint

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4.5 stars, 5 for the ending

Revisado: 03-10-17

Glad I toughed it out through the middle books. Good ending. Some parts I didn't understand which left me confused rather than lost in reverent mystery, but I'll look them up and see what I think of what I find.

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The magic is back

Revisado: 12-20-16

With the new author comes new life to this wonderful series. The last few books were a legitimate struggle to get through but this one brought back the excitement, intrigue, and intensity from earlier books. Honestly my favorite of the series so far.

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Few shining moments amid a challenging slog

Revisado: 10-11-16

I've heard this is the low point of the series, and I hope that's true. Seems to be. Very boring and slow throughout, with very few memorable moments. The most important, exciting moment in the book was sort of glossed over. Questions were answered, promises delivered, but in a lackluster sort of way that left me saying "...oh." Even the voice talent seem fatigued by the monotony of this volume. I toughed it out because I heard the next book is better, and Sanderson's finale is expected to make the middle slog worthwhile.

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Still good but beginning to drag

Revisado: 03-30-16

Title says it all. Some parts are feeling a little repetitive, unnecessary, and tough to get through, but it still has lots of parts that shine.

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Excellent story plods along slowly

Revisado: 01-14-16

The fantastic story, featuring excellent characters and a beautiful setting and interesting people, is a grind to get through. Some parts are frustrating, but in a way I think it's important to be frustrated because it drives home the qualities of the characters acting out the frustrating scenes. Still, I think this could have been a 35 or 30 hour book instead of 40 and change. I understand why others are frustrated by the length of this series. Still, I'm loving it, the performance of the readers is exquisite, and I plan to finish the series. Some quibbles, but thumbs up.

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Dragonball Syndrome

Revisado: 08-17-15

Great continuation of a great serious. Shining performances from both narrators. My only complaint is the length. Took a really long time and some of the chunks didn't seem very necessary. Easy to forget where characters are, what they're doing, much less remember their goals, any subtle motivations, etc. You almost need a reference handy to keep abreast of what's going on. But worth it all at any rate.

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Off to a good start

Revisado: 04-24-15

I liked it a lot. I was worried that after all the hype it wouldn't hold up, but for me at least, it did. And it held up well. Male narrator has a unique style, and it feels right for this story. He has a way of adding to the story in a subtle way. He sets the tone for a scene, whether intense or calming, without drawing attention to himself. Masterful, IMHO. The female narrator had only a couple of scenes so can't judge her yet, but she seems equally good so far...? It's a little distracting that the two narrators have different pronunciations for some character names, wish the director would have caught that. So overall a great "read," only a few criticisms. Some elements feel excessively familiar, maybe borrowed, in an unsubtle way. And certain parts dragged on unnecessarily. The main plot seems to be its own, but it's interesting how Tolkienesque some parts feel, coming from an author who, in the afterword by Jordan himself, tries to contrast his work against Tolkien's. But these gripes are not enough to hinder a five star review. Left me wanting more, more, more!

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Something's awry but I remain cautiosly optimistic

Revisado: 04-02-15

What did you love best about The Shadow Throne?

I love the characters. Not all of them, but the vast majority. Well developed, consistent, appropriately likeable/hateable. Well written, great prose helped to keep me hooked where the story was necessarily slow. Some of the best fight scenes of any writer/book I've read. Vivid, clear, delightfully brutal. The epic moments, the crescendos in this book are, like in The Thousand Names, miniature masterpieces in themselves. There are very few books with scenes so potent that they actual give me physical shivers or bring tears to my eyes, but both books in this series have given me that experience.

What other book might you compare The Shadow Throne to and why?

It's the second in the series and similar in style to the first, obviously. The Shadow Throne took a few turns that I didn't like, did a few weird things, but over all I still liked it and will without doubt be snagging the third book as soon as I can get my hands on it. I have to know what happens to Janus and Marcus, my favorite characters.

There are some differences I didn't like in the performance and editing as well, but they're forgivable.

What about Richard Poe’s performance did you like?

Richard Poe has a great voice for this line of work, and I think a great voice for this genre in particular, as well. I give him an overall thumbs up. His character voices are good, I can often tell which character is speaking just by Poe's voicing. I'm not sure whose responsibility it was, but I did notice that the voices were not consistent from book 1 to book 2. I'd expect the director to catch that sort of thing. And there are a few places throughout book 2 where the voicing is inconsistent even among the dialog of the same character. Again, Poe's voicing itself is wonderful, but he applies it inconsistently in this reading.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

If you read the first Shadow Campaigns book, it's no surprise to you that there is a guy in this book named Janus. He does things in this book that bring tears to my eyes. Manly tears of manly awesomeness. Not even kidding, I started crying as I was driving down the freeway listening to stuff about Janus.

Any additional comments?

I don't know how what went wrong, but toward the end the editing just got really sloppy, trashy actually. You can hear dialog and multiple takes and background studio noise, the reader clearing his throat and trying multiple readings / voicings, etc. The Thousand Names was flawless in this regard. In fact, the first 90% of Shadow Throne was flawlessly edited as well. So I don't know what happened, but the last few chapters here had a half dozen or more editing errors. It's distracting and entirely avoidable, quite a shame. Not a deal breaker though, I still recommend the series.

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Great book having loved the movie, well performed

Revisado: 04-02-15

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you liked the movie, you'll like (or love) the book. I have felt Fight Club was one of my favorite movies since I first saw it, so the book was of course familiar in many ways, but different in many others, enough to make it interesting and worth reading. Without any major spoilers, I was surprised (pleased) at the book's ending, let's just leave it at that. I'd recommend it to any of my friends, definitely. Lots of great ideas, and very well written, besides.

What did you like best about this story?

It's hard to pinpoint a single thing I liked best about Fight Club. The socio-political statements and observations, the examination of the human condition and the perception of self, it's a masterpiece in my opinion. Even from a literary standpoint, the characters and the story are well developed, interesting, there is depth to every aspect of the book. Everything down to the prose is masterful. One of the best books written in and about the modern epoch. Struck and resonated with me on every level. One of few books I plan to invest time in revisiting.

What does Jim Colby bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jim Colby nailed the tone of the book, in my opinion. He made me feel the emotions of the characters, both at their best and their worst. My one negative note is that he doesn't do the best job of giving distinct voices to each character, so it's hard to follow dialog in some places. This is partly a shortcoming of the format of audiobooks, but some performers do a better job at this than others. Overall, I give him a big, big thumbs-up though. I would be more likely to pick a future book knowing Jim Colby put it to voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?
When you wake up in a different place at a different time, can you wake up as a different person?
Losing all hope is freedom
Mischief. Mayhem. Soap.
Works great even on blood stains.
[i cheated here]

Any additional comments?

If you don't like Fight Club, you're probably one of 'them.' Honestly, this book was a critical part of my formative years and helped shape the person I see myself as today.

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