Tempokitty

Abandoning ship

Revisado: 10-11-24

Being a collection of cozy mysteries, I knew going in they wouldn't be in-depth stories with well-developed characters by any means, but for me these miss the mark even for the light-hearted break I was taking between the more hard-boiled mysteries I prefer. I've been an Audible member for 10 years with a collection of over 3400 purchased titles in my library along with a few dozen plus titles including this one. I say that because I want to explain that in all the years I've been listening to audio books this is probably only the third title I've abandoned, I'm half-way through the book but I've got to stop. If it were only the mediocre stories I'd probably plod on, but I can't take any more of the Virtual Voice narration. Not only is it flat and boring to listen to, it also mispronounces words in a very distracting way, such as using the wrong pronunciation of "live" because it doesn't have any real conception of what it's saying. While the programmers have tried building a little inflection into the voice it's just not right. The timing is off, the inflections often don't fit the situation. and there are no different voices to distinguish characters either. In a nutshell, it's both boring and distracting. So, all you authors out there do yourself a big favor and hire real voice actors for your narration; consider it an investment in your future.

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Imaginative and interesting

Revisado: 09-04-22

I'm writing this review of the final book in the 4 book series after having binge listened to them all. It's an imaginative fantasy with a lot of steampunk elements which I thoroughly enjoyed. But, the end of this book left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied, it felt rushed with a lot of loose ends and I was disappointed. So, do I recommend the series? Yes, I do because it's a fantastic journey. If you're okay with the knowledge you won't walk away with all the answers at the end then the series is definitely worth the time and money.

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Falls flat on many levels.

Revisado: 02-13-22

This one falls flat right from the beginning and does not improve as the story progresses. The characters are all like one dimensional cardboard cutouts, there is nothing engaging about any of them. Most of the dialogue comes off empty and devoid of any real human emotion. Imagine actors portraying poorly scripted characters in a play comprised primarily of scenes in which the characters are rehearsing a badly scripted play and you'll get the picture. The main character is constantly making comments that appear to be included only for the purpose of teaching the unenlightened reader that racism is a bad thing. Don't misunderstand me, I know books can inspire people to think, learn and become better people but this particular book isn't one of them; this book is just condescending and preachy. To make matters worse this same character displays his bigotry towards religious beliefs differing from his own as though it were something for which he should be commended. While the religious bias is integrated more subtly than the "I'm going to teach you idiots about racism." aspect I was left feeling the author was out to inform me which religion I should follow if I want to be a good and decent person because everyone else is obvious scum and up to no good. The story is boring and predictable. It was a real struggle to get to the end but I did because I bought it and was oddly compelled to punish myself for having done so. The narration is mediocre at best but I chose to take pity on the narrator and gave him a very generous 3 stars as he really had nothing to work with. I simply cannot recommend this book to anyone.

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Somebody call Hollywood

Revisado: 11-08-20

As book 8 of this series downloads I thought I'd give this book (series really) a little review. If you like to laugh, and I mean really laugh out loud, these books are for you. The series just keeps getting better and funnier as you go along. I admit I was put off by the narrator change at book 3 but after that one Mike Alger seems to really get a feel for the characters and he his absolutely spot on in this one. By the time I was halfway through this volume I was thinking that this would make a great movie. So, somebody out there who knows somebody, call Hollywood and introduce them to Bubba.

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Wooden Narration

Revisado: 05-15-20

Years ago I read all the Vampire Chronicle books so knew this one to be my least favorite going into the audio versions. That's not to say the story isn't good, but it does tend to get tedious at times. However, the narration made me just want this one to be over as quickly as possible. It was such a wooden "performance" that listening was a chore. I don't believe this narrator makes an appearance in any of the following books in the series for which I am very grateful.

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Good story, bad narration

Revisado: 08-14-19

Like the story, hate the narration. This narrator makes Bosch sound like a guy playing a gangster in a C-grade noir film who only got the part because he's the directors nephew. I'm glad there is someone else narrating the next one.

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Good book but ...

Revisado: 02-22-19

Please, please, PLEASE stop putting music in the background. This is becoming an unfortunate trend in audiobooks. It's distracting, it's annoying. If I want to listen to music then I'll listen to music. At least there is very little of it in this one, just a little at the beginning and the end.

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Much improved by adjusting the speed to 1.25x

Revisado: 06-15-17

If you could sum up Dragonsong: Harper Hall Trilogy, Volume 1 in three words, what would they be?

Adorable fire lizards.

What did you like best about this story?

Fire lizards of course.

How could the performance have been better?

A completely different narrator.

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

Have read it before so not really.

Any additional comments?

This is a great story but the narrator is horrible. She reads at an excruciatingly slow pace punctuated by a lengthy pause at the end of each sentence, it's ridiculous. However, I did find that turning the speed up to 1.25x helped quite a bit. After making that adjustment I was able to stop gritting my teeth and enjoy the story.

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Funny stuff

Revisado: 11-01-16

"Hate is the cold frog in your boot!" - think I'll hang this quote on my wall.

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Ruined Merlin in so many ways it should be a crime

Revisado: 11-01-16

"Unless you actually don't have a problem with the great wizard Merlin being turned into a sniveling Jesus freak I'd recommend you avoid this book. And this narrator is horrible too, I think a 5 year old could do better voice acting. If you're looking for a truly excellent Merlin/Arthur tale by an author who gets it then try Mary Stewart's series starting with "The Crystal Cave" instead.

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