Eve

Love the performance, but book is not for me

Revisado: 10-10-19

I deeply regret having started this series. The basic story was good at the beginning, so I purchased volumes 2-5 of the series right away. The basic premise of the series is nothing special, but it is ok and entertaining enough to relieve the boredom of driving or gardening. What I can't stand is the constant theme of seduction and infidelity in a series I bought for the fantasy aspect. Volume 5 is the worst so far. I usually complete a whole book within a few days, but I have been trying to get through volume 5 for months now. The "lessons" Tindall is trying to give Rondall on how to seduce a woman is driving me crazy. I have no idea whether the author is a man or a woman, but if I had to guess I would say it is a man who has psychological problems and enjoys treating women as test subjects. I may or may not finish the book and listen to volume 6 which I have already paid for. I will, however, stop there and avoid this author in future.

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Interesting insight into the 2016 Pres. campaign

Revisado: 06-04-17

After watching a recent interview with Kasich on Youtube I spontaneously purchased his book without reading any reviews of it or really knowing what to expect beforehand. The book centers around Kasich's 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination while providing a lot of background information about his origins, beliefs and character. It touches on the divisions within America today and the sad reality of how a great many of politicians place party loyalty above even their own principles. As someone not affiliated with any political party, I found it to be very interesting reading, and it left me with a very positive impression of Kasich as a man of integrity.

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Great narration but totally illogical

Revisado: 07-23-16

Any additional comments?

I am halfway through this first volume of the trilogy and the excellent narration of Simon Vance makes it entertaining enough to want to continue. However, if I were reading this in printed form, I might have already put the book down.

The prose itself is fine, but so far the plot is dependent on the illogical (and basically stupid) behavior of almost everyone. I find nothing believable about the whole situation or how the characters react, and this makes it impossible for me to become immersed in the story.

It seems to me that the author had an overarching idea of an interesting plot, but didn't make an effort to think of and add details that would sufficiently account for many of the happenings. Some examples of things that irked me because they weren't explained or made believable:

* Why would an emperor send his two sons off to training for years and years where their lives would be in constant danger and where they would learn nothing about the empire or how to rule it?

* Why would the "classmates" and "masters" of these boys, knowing that they may become the next emperor, want to treat them with special scorn and derision?

* Even accepting the fact that one of the lads has to learn a special ability from the monks that will protect the empire, why is this such a big secret?

* When one prince discovers 2 murders, why doesn't he report them? (The sole explanation given is "oh dear, I can't trust anyone".)

* Why do the monks withhold information from the prince that would prevent him from putting his life in danger?

I think that with a little more thought and effort on the part of the author, this story could have been improved upon immensely.

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Who's talking please?

Revisado: 06-05-16

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I really enjoyed this series, and I love Steven Brand's voice.

However, all characters, male and female, speak with exactly the same voice, and it is often impossible to tell who is speaking. I find myself going back and listening to the same conversations 2 or three times in a row before I figure out who is saying what. Not only are the voices the same, but Mr. Brand doesn't make any use of pauses to indicate that a speaker has changed. One sentence in a conversation runs right into the next one, and only when the conversation stops making any kind of sense do I realize that someone else is talking.

This was a problem for me in books one and two, and in book 3 it didn't change. I think a different narrator could have breathed more life into the cast of characters, making them more memorable and believable.

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A solid new series - now waiting on the 3rd book

Revisado: 03-12-16

If you could sum up A Crucible of Souls in three words, what would they be?

Solid new series.

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to Oliver Wyman read the entertaining Monster Hunter series, which is one reason I bought Crucible of Souls. When I like a narrator, I always search for other books he/she has read and buy any that are of a genre that I like. I was not disappointed with Wyman's performance of this book. I think he did a great job using different voices and accents for the different characters, and I could always tell who was speaking just from the voice. Wyman often puts a lot of drama into the final cliff-hanging sentence of a chapter/section, but I like that.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The story was suspenseful, but there were many parallel story lines, so there were many natural breaks in the narration of each story line that gave opportunity to put the book down.

Any additional comments?

I have listened to the second volume Blood of Innocents, and am looking forward to the next book in the series. I have been puzzling about the title "Crucible of Souls". The only aspect of the story I can think of that fits the title is the shopkeeper (I won't say more because I don't want to write a spoiler), who is a minor figure in the first volume.

I don't consider this series a masterpiece that will survive the ages, but I am enjoying it and consider it to be solid entertainment that is worth listening to.

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Brilliant Narration by Tim Gerard Reynolds

Revisado: 01-14-15

Would you consider the audio edition of Theft of Swords to be better than the print version?

Yes, because the narrator brings the characters to life in a brilliant way. Each character has their own voice, and you can recognize who is speaking just as you would recognize the voices of family members in a tape-recorded conversation. Characters from the same geographical area have similar accents, but not the same voice. I am now ordering other books narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the relationship between the unequal "partners in crime", Hadrian and Royce, but I also loved how the story line kept moving forward and remained suspenseful. I'm almost finished with the last book in the series, but I know now that I will listen to the entire series again just to enjoy the characterizations by T.G. Reynolds.

Which character – as performed by Tim Gerard Reynolds – was your favorite?

I have two favorite characters in the book one:1. Hadrian: I love his accent and his happy-go-lucky charisma.2. The Bishop of Medford: This is an evil man with a kind grandfatherly manner. The narrator did a stellar job in portraying this complex character, and sends chills down my spine listening to him speak.

Any additional comments?

I would write the same favorable review about the other two books in the series. It has become one of my all-time favorites.

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Finally got through book three

Revisado: 05-10-14

Any additional comments?

On the positive side, the story idea turned out to be really good in books two and three. Some reviewers have described the series as epic, and it would have been possible to create memorable epic fantasy out of such a good story idea. The volumes would have had to be much longer, however, to enable the building up of a believable mythology and culture of the fictional world and bring the main characters to life. Ben Hale tells the story in more of a comic book style: lots of action but no character development.

Modernisms that I found jarring in book one continued in books two and three. Children are "kids", the expression "guy" is used a few times (as in " Sounds like a good guy to have around", and the heroes sit around eating sandwiches.

It seemed like the main characters spend most of their time (when they're not fighting) smirking, grinning and chuckling. It was very hard to take any of the doomsday story seriously with all the jollity going on.

Judging from this series, Ben Hale has a great imagination, so I hope that his characterization and writing style evolve as time goes on.

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Flawed fantasy

Revisado: 04-30-14

Any additional comments?

I agree with the review written by reader M. McCormick (and other critical voices) and cannot understand the 5 star ratings.

Some of the things that most annoyed me about the writing:
-- The characters are one-dimensional. The author had a great opportunity to bring the main character, Taryn, to life right at the beginning on the island of his childhood, but passed up the chance. Motives are stated, but they are not backed up by characterization and there are too many inconsistencies in characterization. Example: For someone who is interested in his elven heritage and who grew up among elves, Taryn knows incredibly little about them. How could he know nothing about the great elven city (with the giant 10,000 year old tree), the elven ruling families or the oracle (of which I will say no more to avoid spoilers)?

-- The author refers to children as "kids". Maybe it is because I've never encountered modern slang expressions in other fantasy novels, but it struck me as an anachronism.

-- The author goes overboard with the use of banter and humor in inappropriate circumstances. Example: a company of elves has just been tragically slaughtered by a mysterious superhuman killer, and the following (modern day) dialogue occurs between two of the survivors:
"I don't think he likes you guys."
"Ya think?"

-- The book is so fast-paced that it often felt like I was hearing an abridged version. Example: The author refers to the superhuman killer as "Death" from the beginning of the book, but even though he looks like the Grim Reaper (as displayed in the cover art), it is odd when the main characters spontaneously start calling him Death as if the chapter when they decided he looked like Death personified was missing.

Derek Perkins is a good reader, but he makes Taryn talk in a high-pitched effeminate voice that doesn't fit the character.

I will listen to the other volumes because I bought them all at the same time, but I am not really enjoying the experience.

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Epic series comes to a close

Revisado: 03-16-14

Any additional comments?

After spending months listening to the entire series, the question naturally arises: "What now?" The answer is obvious: listen to more books by Brandon Sanderson!

The last volumes of The Wheel of Time written by Sanderson were, for me, the best. The writing remained true to Jordan's style to the extent that I wouldn't have suspected that another author was involved, if I hadn't known this before reading. But major flaws (in my opinion) in the series were missing. Jordan tended to describe in detail and name hundreds of minor characters. Some of these characters would appear much later on without explanation, so the only way to remember who they were was to look the character up on the Internet. Reading the books on a Kindle would have been easier than listening to the Audible version in these cases, because one could use the search function to find previous mentions of the character. Also, Jordan made the main female characters so obnoxious, that it was hard for me to get past the first couple of volumes. This wore off (or maybe the characters matured) in the course of the series, and in the volumes written by Sanderson the annoyance was gone. Jordan also tended to leave lots of loose ends that were never clarified. I didn't notice this happening in the volumes written by Sanderson.

There was one thing about the entire series that did put me off: Rand loving and mating with three beautiful women who were willing to share him with each other. This was more of a (male) author's dream rather than a believable story plot. This was Jordan's doing, though, and not Sanderson's.

I found the actual ending to be rather weird and less than satisfying, but that doesn't alter the enjoyment of reading the volumes written by Sanderson.

Michael Kramer and Kate Reading were, as always, excellent.

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Best Wheel of Time volume so far

Revisado: 02-04-14

What did you love best about Knife of Dreams?

This was the first volume of WOT that I enjoyed from start to finish. The various storylines were all suspenseful and easy to follow. As in all prevoious volumes I enjoyed Kate Readings rendition immensely, and I've got used to Michael Kramer's interpretations as well.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Knife of Dreams?

The storyline that I enjoyed the most was Egwne's captivity in the white tower.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was hard to put down.

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