Terri

An interesting twist on a post-apocalyptic theme

Revisado: 12-11-23

The casting was excellent, so the performances were as great as you would expect. I certainly had an expectation as to one of the two ways this series could have ended, had it been the usual post-apocalyptic story, but neither was correct. I always LOVE it when a book really surprises me. This one did several times, but particularly so in its ending. Time well spent!

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Just so great

Revisado: 10-02-23

I can’t even express how much I enjoyed this. I’ve been missing the Ancillary universe, and this was a simply delightful way to visit it again.

I am awestruck both by Ms. Leckie’s dialogue-writing and by Ms. Andoh’s ability to seamlessly narrate that dialogue, especially in a book like this, which, with no spoilers given the title, switched between characters with widely varying tones and levels of understanding.

I also enjoyed the sense of humor of this book. Just a completely enjoyable listen on every level.

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Couldn’t finish it

Revisado: 05-23-23

I love anthropology. I have read and listened to more than 50 anthropology books and lectures. This was like sitting in a required but boring college course in a subject in which one is not interested. The lecturer is obviously knowledgeable (or is reading from a thorough textbook; I frequently couldn’t determine which), but his lecturing style is atrocious. Let’s forget about his either speech impediment or accent - he cannot or will not pronounce a hard r, regardless of where in a word it occurs - we all have some type of verbal quirk. No, I’m talking about what must be deliberate mispronunciations. For example, “Chaco” as in Chaco canyon, is pronounced chocko, not chacko. That had to be deliberate. There were numerous other mispronunciations, but that’s the point where I just had to stop listening.

Additionally, the man had to be sure to mention his “classical education” when using either Latin- or Greek-rooted words, such as, specifically micro and mega. As if one without a classical education could not possibly know the meaning of those words. Seriously, is there a semi-literate 12-year-old gamer out there who does not know the meaning of those words??? I have a classical education as well, but I don’t feel the need to brag about it when using words that are obviously a part of the common vernacular. You’re a university professor of Anthropology, one would certainly hope you possess a classical education!

In person, the lecturer may be a charming gentleman. But his lecturing style is insufferable. I believe this is the second of his lecture series I’ve felt the need to quit, which makes me mad, because I’m very interested in the subject matter.

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Very formulaic

Revisado: 03-15-23

A good enough “beach read,” but not really what I was hoping for. Definitely more fantasy than science fiction. And honestly, there’s just better fantasy out there.

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A little too

Revisado: 02-14-23

Like a romance novel for my tastes, but overall a good and very fresh take on the Morgan Le Fey tale.

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Uninspired

Revisado: 02-04-23

Unfortunately, what could have been a great thriller had completely unsympathetic characters. The plot and development were terrific, and added to the suspense. The narration was first class. But I realized about halfway in that I really didn’t care what happened to any of these characters, and only very slightly about the (undeveloped character of) the little girl. I continued listening to the rest of the book to see if 1. The characters became any more interesting (they didn’t) and 2. If my idea of the identity of the big bad was correct (it was). There was one thing that surprised me, but I won’t spoil even what that was for anyone who may decide to read it.

This book could have been good. But like most readers, I have to care something about the characters to make any amount of masterful writing compelling. And while the writing itself was good, I wouldn’t call it masterful. At least the child Evie could have been sympathetic had she been written as anything more than a blank stock 5-year-old. But the rest of the characters were just unlikeable. Not even hateable, just very meh.

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Amazing

Revisado: 12-30-22

I agree with Robin that this is Michael’s best book to date. And I have spent so much time in the world of Elan, over and over again (and will continue to live there as much as possible), that I really didn’t think that was conceivable. I won’t give any spoilers, but even if you never have, or will, read another Michael J Sullivan book, this is a must-read.

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Too much jumping around

Revisado: 09-26-22

While I have no doubt Prof. Benjamin is very knowledgeable, he jumps around in time periods too much for it to be easy to follow. If I were taking a course, with notes I’d look back over later, that might not bother me, and might even make more sense, but I’m this venue, it’s just distracting and a bit confusing. He’ll say things like “this person did that, and we’ll discuss that in more detail later, but the important point is that X.” By the time he discussed it later, I remember that there is an important point, but I’ve forgotten exactly what it was.

His phrasing is also somewhat odd. He tends to speak quickly for 20-30 seconds, then take a breath or two, often in the middle of a sentence, after having almost run two sentences together. If I were sitting in his class, I might not even have noticed it. But since I am only listening, it’s a bit off-putting.

Definitely a worthwhile course, but not the most pleasant experience I’ve had with the Great Courses.

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Might be a good story but the reading was horrible

Revisado: 02-04-22

I’ve heard from
Many people that this book, along with the rest of the books in this “universe” are excellent, but the reader was so bad that I didn’t enjoy it at all. There were so many mispronunciations and his voice was so monotonous that I’ve heard better electronic readers. Interestingly , his accents were pretty good, and the reading was actually acceptable (although it still didn’t rise to the level of good) when an accent was necessary. Unfortunately when no accent was appropriate, it was impossible to distinguish between characters, or even dialog and narration.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 09-09-21

I was expecting big something similar to the Extracted series, but this was not it. Exponentially more brutal and sexual than Extracted, and honestly, other than the brutality, there’s not a whole lot of plot development. Ok, yeah, there’s an underlying “why are we here?” But precious little time or effort is spent exploring that. And I was particularly disappointed in the ending. Felt like just a hard stop with a definite leadin to the next in the series.

Can’t say it isn’t a common thing, particularly in universe-building, but the extreme violence and crass sexual behavior just really isn’t my cup of tea. If lots of fast brutal action appeals to you though (and I do realize there’s a large audience for that), you may love this book. Carl Prekopp is certainly a very enjoyable narrator

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