R. Garretson

This is the Third Book in a series!

Revisado: 10-22-24

Unfortunately, I listened to this book before I realized that there were two earlier books in the Golden Fool series. Surprisingly, audible does not call it book 3 or mention the other books. Book 1 is called the Broken Heir and Book 2 is called the Forgotten Wole. Hopefully audible will add their normal links for books in a series.

The Story: I enjoyed the book but only listened to this third book in the series, so some of the dynamics of the magic and history just had to be taken for granted. I may go back and listen to the first two, but it's tough when you know the ending.

Virtual Voice: I actually missed the first part of the introduction that mentioned that it was a "virtual voice" so didn't know until about 7 minutes into the book. My initial impression is that the Virtual Voice was boring, but I got used to it and it was decent. A good narrator can make up for mediocre story elements, and this doesn’t do that. A few points you really know it is a virtual voice (e.g., when the text describes the speaker’s voice as “raspy” but the virtual voice does not change), but most of the time you don’t notice.

I recommend reading the book and recommend that anybody listening to the virtual voice for the first time give it at least 15 minutes to see if you get used to it.

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Original and Funny

Revisado: 02-11-24

It was an interesting story concept and the humor that was worked into the story got me to that unexpected times.
The book resolves the main storyline, but lives some open storylines for additional books. I have already downloaded the second book, I hope it is as good and does not become redundant.

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First-half drags; Second-half is excellent.

Revisado: 04-25-23

I enjoyed listening to the book, but the first half was slow while the second half turned it around when they introduced a new character. Because of this, I will read the second book in the series.

FIRST HALF: The first half is a bit like a combination of the movies Independence Day and Full Metal Jacket. Unfortunately, much of the plot / dialog was reminiscent of those two movies and a variety of other sci-fi books and materials. The humans were so far behind technologically, that it might as well be capuchin monkeys fighting technologically modern humans who also wielded magic. The futility gives it a very Dark tone and makes it tough to care. That changes about halfway through the book.

SECOND HALF: The second half is much better. The underlying plot changes significantly, and a number of new characters are added. One of these, whom I will call Orac [I’m not using his/her real name to avoid giving anything away to modern audiences], added much-needed pseudo-science, humor, and hope elements to the story.

Based on this, I will read the second book in the series.

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A convoluted mystery

Revisado: 02-23-23

I like the book, but it is such a convoluted mystery that it becomes tough to believe. The reader does a great job, so I was able to follow what was going on, if not the reasons/motivations.

If you like plot twists, this book has them. The plot changes directions so often that it feels more like a Scooby Doo Mystery or a Mission Impossible episode than a mystery novel.

The bigger problem was that I could not suspend disbelief on the underlying parts of the story. Specificaly, the novel is set in the offices of a Swiss Bank and revolves around the executives and owners of the bank. Even though it was not necessary to understand the plot, I could not grasp how this bank was being run or the motivations of its owners and executives. Admittedly, this may have been a problem with translation, or with my lack of knowledge of French culture, but I was constantly feeling like nothing would make sense to any of the characters.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Good novel, I am downloading another of his books.

Revisado: 11-29-22

I'm not sure how I found this novel. I had not heard of the author, must have had some expiring credits, and something sounded good. It was not predictable. The beginning couple of hours and the last couple of hours were intriguing. There were a few spots in the middle where it was a little slow with plot development, but overall it kept my attention (not giving details for obvious reasons).

I did not predict where the plot was headed. It kept me guessing through the end of the novel.

The narrator, who is also the author, did a good job. Based on my experience, as well as the author's afterword, I just purchased, and am now downloading his stone man novel.

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A very good sequel

Revisado: 04-19-21

The original book in the series, Forging Hephaestus, is my favorite Drew Hayes book, and this was a very good sequel. The author does a good job of keeping the characters and plotline fresh, despite having many of the same characters, and the same universe as the original.

I especially liked that there were a number of different antagonists with different levels of motivations/badness, ranging from annoying practical jokers to extremely dangerous threats. (Note: I use the literary term antagonists because more common terms would be ambiguous [if you read either of the books in the series you will understand].)

The additional background information for some of the main characters was very well done. I would have preferred to see a little more development of some of the relationships between other characters, but the book was long (35 hours audible) and I suspect (hope) that will be dealt with in a third book in the series. Hopefully it does not take another 4 years to get book 3 in the series.

For those of you who found the VIllians' Code and Super Powereds universes similar, this book shows a significant divergence between the two universes/plotlines (albeit both could exist independently within the Hayes Multiverse).

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Interesting and entertaining

Revisado: 08-15-20

I liked this. I knew a little about Theranos prior to listening to Thicker than Water, but not a lot. The narration by the author gave the story a strong feeling of credibility that likely would not come through with a professional voice actor.

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I didn't understand the characters' responses

Revisado: 05-18-20

I liked the story, and it was well performed. However, I could not understand most of the characters' responses to events. Some pretty extreme events take place and most of the characters' have ho-hum responses. While the reactions of some of the characters in the story may be explained by known mental issues, almost all of the characters, including even the police, seem unconcerned by any threats or violent actions.

It may be that Australian's are cavalier about violence and threats of violence. However, it was tough to suspend disbelief when the characters' reactions are don't make sense. Oddly, the character of the teenage (possibly tween) son, which was at most a bit part, was the most relatable because he had emotions.

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Good listen; unusual perspective on things

Revisado: 05-17-17

Would you listen to Children of Time again? Why?

Yes

Who was your favorite character and why?

Fabian, (the second to last one) is my favorite character. [If you have read or listened to the book you will understand why a character's name is not specific enough].
I like him because of his revolutionary persistence, and because like many historical figures, the full effect of their actions is not seen until after their lives.

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

Having a female narrator for the narration of the female cyborgesque satellite gave the character a different feel than if I had just read the flat words.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reaction.

Any additional comments?

I hope there is a sequel.

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Good story, but takes its time

Revisado: 11-08-16

If you could sum up The Oddfits in three words, what would they be?

Introducing a series

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

Yes

Any additional comments?

The story is good, but takes its time getting there. This means that there is a lot of time spent on the development and background of the characters compared to the time on the "current" story. That said, the development and background is itself interesting and helps explain the fantasy world being created.

As one listens to Oddfits, it becomes clear that this is the first part of a longer story that we are not going to get to. After finishing, I discovered that the next book is not due out until August 2017. While I was slightly disappointed, I hope the audible version comes out at the same time so that I don't have to wait.

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