adele1970

Devils in the details…

Revisado: 02-01-23

Each of these books has a relatively good, but very slowly developed tale of adventure, buried in a technical manual.

I am not kidding, as there are endless details about the countries visited, scientific techniques used, airplanes flown, and weapons used.

It took me awhile to warm to this style, but once acclimatized, I kept listening. Perhaps my inner nerd enjoyed being instructed? So I guess I enjoyed them after a fashion.

If someone is looking for a snappy, fast paced adventure- these stories would not be for them.

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Quirky and Enjoyable Story

Revisado: 09-07-22

With so much cookie cutter sci-fi end of world type stories out there, it a treat to come upon a unique and inventive tale such as this.

A brutal, xenophobic regime has taken over Britain (and maybe more) and is trying to erase anyone who doesn’t fit into their worldview.

This is the story of a few folks trying to survive and overthrow this new world order.

The story is told through the experiences of Reg, someone, who has all but ignored the dismantling of society by always remaining on the fringes and Leniker, his ever faithful and insightful little dog.

A young destitute girl comes into their world and Reg, after initially trying to ignore her plight, reluctantly decides to help her reach safety, if for no other reason than getting her out of his hair.

As their perilous journey unfolds both Reg and Leniker begin to see the world quite differently.

A very clever and well written story. I recommend it.

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Fun and Engaging

Revisado: 09-07-22

A very good and unique time travel story which I listened to on Audible. It’s both well written and well told by the talented narrator.

A sixty-five year old man somehow finds himself back in 1970 as his fifteen year old self. Some things seem to be as he remembered and some are slightly altered, leaving him wondering is this really him going back in time or is it just some sort of delusion and of whom - the fifteen year old or the sixty-five year old.

He tries to unravel the mystery working with a trippy Harvard psychiatrist and support of his parents.

It is not heavy on sci-fi, but instead is a very good story with some sci-fi type elements.

I recommend this book.

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Another Interesting Quantum Adventure

Revisado: 11-22-21

This the third book in the Quantum Evolution series that I have read. I enjoyed it, but a little less than the first two. That said, I do recommend it and anxiously await the next in the series.

As always, the universe in which this story occurs, is very cleverly drawn and interesting. This time, our ‘Homo quantus’ hero, and notorious con man, Belasarius Arjona is trying to save his race from heartless exploitation and possible enslavement with help of his old gang of misfits. At the same time, trying to figure out how to undo the accidental destruction he brought to an unusual race of time spanning creatures that occurred in his last adventure.

The only thing that dropped me out of the story a few time was the idea that the heroes were willing to let several individuals sacrifice themselves, without much thought, to free the small group of Homo quantis held by the Congregate. That seemed a little out of character for them. That aside this was a very good adventure.

The narrator, once again, does a good job of inhabiting the various characters and adds to the story.

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A Drawn Out Adventure

Revisado: 11-22-21

I was looking for a rollicking adventure novel and I got an overly drawn out short story with limited character development and an overly repetitive storyline.

The premise of the book is humanity’s genetic tinkering accidentally interacting with long dormant Antarctic orgasms to create havoc and mayhem. It is told in two merging storylines one following a rescue team sent to save survivors at a remote Antarctic laboratory and the other is the backstory of what happened at said laboratory. Their merge point is the present. This premise does work.

Where things go off the rails for me are are in the stilted character interactions and motivations, as well as sloppy plot points, some of which are pretty cringeworthy. These combined to take me out of the story several times.

For three quarters of the book we listen to the military leader of the rescue team’s misgivings, distrust and dislike of the tech entrepreneur accompanying the mission. Tense exchanges between the two, accompanied by hollow and silk threats abound. I can only listen to “don’t make me turn this car around” type dialogue for so long.

Next, the main Antarctic-based scientist accidentally behind, and desperately trying to resolve, the unfolding biological nightmare is a hot mess. One moment she is all insights and bravery, then moments later she is confused and quite dense. She is very hard to relate to. For example at several points she knows she has to stop this insanity at any cost, but in an inexplicable series of actions manages to derail the rescuers attempts to do. This leads to unnecessary deaths which for some reason she does not seem to fret much about. The creates several “Wait. What?” moments.

Overall a reasonably good premise that, in my opinion, was not that well executed. The narration was fine.

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Disappointing Sequel

Revisado: 11-22-21

This is the second book in The Fossil” series. The story about an unsuccessful Mars mission and how it ties to earth’s ancient builder civilization continues.

I had been looking forward to this second book in the “The Fossil” series based on the first book; however, I did not enjoy it as much as the first book for many reasons.

First, the plot which had been so well paced in the first book seemed to lurch around, sometimes grinding to a stop, only to then suddenly rush forward. In addition, the backstory behind the feud between the last remaining “builders” gets somewhat convoluted and unbelievable.

Secondly, I found the main characters, whom I had enjoyed so much in the first book, did not seem to be as tightly written and lost their direction a bit. One character, for example, becomes a jumble of mixed motivations and repetitive dialogue, to the point of me hoping for her demise. Even the narration gets a bit confusing as accents and tones sometimes suddenly shifted, which confusing me about which character was actually speaking for a moment and taking me out of the story.

Finally, the book seems to end prematurely, with far too many plot points handled in précis form in the prologue instead of being properly managed in the main story. In addition, also in the prologue, there is an ancient builder speech about everyone cooperating together for the good of all that is really hard to listen to and seems really out of place as written.

Overall I really struggled listening to this book and will not continue on to Fossil 3. This is my stop.

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Interesting Adventure

Revisado: 11-22-21

A fevered hunt for a destroyed Mars exploration ship whose remnants are scattered at the bottom of the Indian Ocean and the investigation into a long vanished archeologist on the trail of “ancient builders” form the basis of a interesting and mysterious adventure.

The story was well written and kept my interest throughout and the main protagonists were well fleshed out and given life by solid narration.

After reading this first book I was looking forward to next one in the series.

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An OK Sci-Fi Adventure

Revisado: 10-18-21

I have listened and thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Doucette’s excellent ‘Spaceship Next Door’ and it’s equally good sequel ‘The Frequency of Aliens’ and so I had high expectations for this novel. These were not met.

The main characters were reasonably well established but with all their competing (and individually narrated) points of view it became a bit distracting. Another sticking point, for me was their pre-Apocalypse life really didn’t hold much importance to them and they showed very little remorse for what and who they’d lost. This caused the characters to be a bit flat.

I will not give away the plot; however I will say that while the characters trials and tribulations are interesting enough and well told, the main plot (the mystery behind their survival) was a little clunky and contrived. The big reveal was a bit “meh”.

Overall best for fans of “B” sci-fi, who are not expecting any compelling insights or plot complexity.

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Fantastical Quest

Revisado: 10-18-21

A classic. I had seen the BBC mini-series so I was familiar with the characters and story; however, that did not diminish my enjoyment of this audible version.

The characters were well drawn, the plot fun and interesting and the excellent narration (by the author himself) all made for a very entertaining tale.

In a nutshell - Richard Mayhew, an up and coming financial professional, poised to marry an ambitious and upwardly mobile socialite, stops to assist an injured street person one evening. This simple compassionate act completely unravels Richard’s life’s as he is drawn into the mysterious and magical underworld that thrives below modern London.

An entertains and worthwhile listen (read).

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Storytelling At Its Best

Revisado: 08-05-21

With a twisted, psychopathic serial killer on the run, a dogged, slightly flawed female bounty hunter on this trail and small quirky Pennsylvania town - as the backdrop - how could this be anything but a great story.

Mr. Bauer, once again, creates such compelling, eccentric characters and then weaves them expertly into a unique story you will not want to put down until the last page. I am definitely a fan of his work.

The voice narration is very well done.

I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who likes well written crime thrillers and mysteries.

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