marnie mazzola

Smart people being stupid

Revisado: 06-03-24

Still enjoying the series, esp the performance by Travis Baldree. Despite his excellent reading, the characters - particularly Clay (the MC) are inconsistently dull witted. It would be fine if he was always the same level of smarts, even allowing for moments of brilliance or stupidity. The reality of the story, however, has him be unreasonably dumb when it serves the plot no matter how it distorts the characterization. As the MC, things naturally work out in the end which leaves this reader more annoyed than thrilled.

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Fun & Well Paced, But...

Revisado: 06-03-24

Generally well written and excellently performed by Travis Baldree. I do have a MAJOR complaint though: The "Yeager Squad" consistently ignores loot drops.

In the first book, they were looting as befits the genre. Now, they completely ignore both major loots (e.g., from dungeon bosses) and minor (e.g., a wand dropped from a Plague Doctor's hand as they fall to the floor, dead). And, like salt in the wound, after ignoring "piles of gold & silver" along with "a host of magic items" the Squad is then strapped for money. WTH - If a trope is to be so violated, there must be an explicit justification. So far, not in this story line.

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Not Worth the Calories

Revisado: 11-03-22

The first book was mediocre - stilted dialogue, drab descriptive prose, something of a Gary-Stu. Even so, I slogged on, hoping that the author would improve - at least enough to compensate for an oddly choppy narration (I think it was the editing that was irksome, less than the reader).

Regardless, book two was no improvement. Despite this, I held hope that book three would "magically" turn things around (it's where the MC developes as a mage vs. rogue or warrior). Sadly: Ala-Ka-Fizzle...

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So very disappointing

Revisado: 07-22-22

Poorly written and generally UN-imaginative (predictable plot, flat characters, dull dialog, repetitive language, character head-hopping, and very weak science / technical thinking). Also, poorly narrated (bad pronunciation, choppy flow with confusing half-beat pauses, and character voices with little differentiation or hackneyed accents).

I was already sour on this story after only a few hours into the first of the trilogy, but since I has bought all three as a set I decided to see if things got better in the second book. They did not. By the beginning of the third, I kept going purely in "completionist" mode.

The only saving grace of the whole experience is that I only spent a single credit for the lot. (AND, I now have an author and narrator to add to my black list.)

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Well read, but that's not enough

Revisado: 10-30-20

Something of a post WW-II nuclear war anxiety apocalypse fantasy. Sadly, most of the characters are flat and the technical aspects of the story feel poorly thought through. The narrator almost saved the show, but even his great performance wasn't enough to salvage a very ho-hum and amateurish writing.

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Give this a try.

Revisado: 09-19-20

It turned out better than my expectations. It makes me think about writing again. Enjoy!

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A great series goes sideways

Revisado: 07-06-20

I have been enjoying the series so far, in fact slurping them up one after another. Before, the stories had slight repetition of narrative elements with a bit more of the "RPG info" inserts. This one increases both debuffs and introduces a great deal of "game mechanic explication" at the severe cost of plot. If this were the first one I had listened to, it would also have been the last...

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Top notch stuff. Great story, superb reading.

Revisado: 05-16-19

I read this one myself years ago. Listening to Simon Jones' excellent reading was wonderful. He makes the fun of Stroud's writing come vibrantly alive. (Can I give it 6 stars?)

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Required reading. Nothing is more impactful.

Revisado: 03-23-19

Training and developmet for both personal and professional areas of our lives. Real case studies, not parables. Real people, not puppet characters. Usable guidance, not idealised pap. ABSOLUTELY TOP RECOMMENDATION.

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Classic themes, with several surprises

Revisado: 03-05-18

Maybe not the original Man vs Computer sorry, but an excellent one. Much more thoughtful than the movie version AND tells a whole story, not just the first act. Only slightly dated in terms of its technical details - but that doesn't matter in the context of strong plot, well drawn characters, and delightful surprises.

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