Doug Oglesby

Fantastic Book

Revisado: 06-20-15

I loved this book because it was imaginative, scientifically correct, and most of all brilliant.

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Fascinating journey

Revisado: 05-25-15

This is the sort of book that reminds me how interesting science is in its own right, as well as showing how close its impact is to the day-to-day experience of living.

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The Best and Only

Revisado: 03-25-13

In my book, there are only two Lord of the Rings audio recordings - the BBC radio program and the Recorded Books recordings with Rob Inglis. Inglis does a fantastic job in voicing the broad variety of characters in Tolkein's book (particularly setting the standard for Gandalf, Sam, and Gollum), and his pacing and delivery bring them to life.

The one caveat I have for every book in this series is that they are complete. That means every bit of poetry (sometimes pages long) and every song. Inglis is not a singer, though he makes a heroic attempt at it, and there is no musical score for the book, save a few tunes that Inglis uses repeatedly for a number of different songs. This is by no means enough to put anyone off the book, but it's sometimes teeth-grittingly long and odd.

If you have read the previous book, you will find this one at least as engaging, and an easy purchase. Tolkein is not for everyone, but I have found few who can't love it. Get this one and the Return of the King after you finish it!

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A family favorite of ours for decades

Revisado: 11-30-12

Rob Inglis does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life, and there is much material for him to work with. I am always struck by how deep and complex the Hobbit is every time I revisit it, even if the focus is more towards a younger audience than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. You can see a real arc in the characters' personalities, and it provides a perfect background for the following books.

A single bump (and this is true for all of the Tolkein books read by Inglis) is the fact that Inglis sings all of the songs in the book in their entirety, with hit-or-miss results. This is more Tolkein's fault than Inglis', because you just can't avoid them in an audiobook, and Inglis is a reader, not a composer. The songs in the Hobbit are more silly than the ponderous Anglo-Saxon poetry in the LotR, and you can't miss it by the third verse. But that is a very small ding to an otherwise fantastic book and an excellent reader.

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Doesn't hold up to nostalgia

Revisado: 10-08-12

I have very fond memories of this book and this series. Amber is a beautifully conceived and engaging world, with a cast of characters that play well off of each other, promising brilliant intrigue and adventure.

But,... it's a promise only partially fulfilled. Zelazny has a typical arc - intriguing beginning, building excitement and interest, and a fizzle at the end. The Amber books are the same, ending in not only a convoluted and unsatisfying conclusion, but a follow-up series that unravels even more quickly. One has the feeling that Zelazny was making it up as he went, and forgetting important details along the way. Out of the series, this and the next two books are the best, but your own guesses about the ending of the cycle will be better than Zelazny's.

The reader was jarring to me, until I realized how bad the dialogue was in the book, and therefore how little the reader had to work with. His rendition is not great, but it would take big name talent to polish the story and characters more, I would think.

It pains me to be negative about this book, since it was one of my favorites in my teens. I read the book so many times, I could say the dialogue along with the reader. But it has been many years, and this book did not age well. I find myself wishing that the newer, more polished writers of today could take this book and shine it up. There is so much good in the characters and setting that I can't give a blanket condemnation. I still think anyone who hasn't read it should. It may be a real treat if you do. I just can't find myself throwing the word "classic" around.

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The British Civil Service meets X Files

Revisado: 10-02-12

The Rook follows the current trend of bringing mythological monsters and fantastic forces into a modern setting, and freshens it by creating a classic British bureaucracy to deal with them. The hero is a mousy, browbeaten functionary in a top-secret government department whose members are as odd as the threats they face. Her natural talent for paperwork has gotten her into the middle of a dark conspiracy that perhaps only she can solve - if she can remember who she is, and how she came to forget.

For a first novel by a male author, the story has a distinctly feminine feel, more like fantasy chick-lit than The Pelican Brief. It's not what I usually read, and I found the different perspective at first uncomfortable, then refreshing. I believe the author's voice improves (and the performer's, strangely enough) as the book progresses, and the story therefore becomes more engaging the farther one reads into the book.

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Good story, well read

Revisado: 03-12-12

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

As always, hearing a book in regional accents by someone who has a great sense for the characters brings the world to life.

Any additional comments?

A good start. Looking forward to the next couple of books.

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Smoothly told and well-read

Revisado: 03-05-12

What about James Marsters’s performance did you like?

James Marsters feels like the quintessential Harry Dresden. He is just world-weary enough, just angry enough, and just compasionate enough. He nails it, and his reading makes the book.

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