Fenrix

Cute

Revisado: 05-03-20

For parents of children in the 8-13 year range would get the most out of this. Cute and unchallenging.

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Hectic and full

Revisado: 05-03-20

Hectic and full, the Night Watch attempt to keep Ankh-Morpork from being burnt to cinders by a dragon. Fun and silly, but I have no nostalgia associated with this series, so I was mainly gently entertained rather than agog.

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one of the best audiobooks out there

Revisado: 04-28-20

The text book is good and worth your time, but this is straight up one of the best audiobooks out there and it is most effective consumed in that format. The multitude of voices and the interview format lend it some really strong verisimilitude. And the performances are some of the best in audio.

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An interesting midcentury collection of the Weird.

Revisado: 03-15-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

An interesting midcentury collection of the Weird. Thematically, this collection is about the fears of the expanding middle class and the erosion of the gentry. There is a particular disdain for bureaucrats and politicians. “Guest of Honour” almost a great weird destruction of reality corporate horror collapse of the class system, but it feels like the test audience required that a heartwarming ending with a redemption message be tacked on. “The Statues” feels like a metaphor for the fears of the immigrant class moving into the UK and making it home.

Probably my favorite of the bunch is “The Grey Ones,” which is a nice precursor to THEY LIVE with paranoia bubbling up from the Red Scare instead of rampant consumerism. Also, I loved the takeover mechanism of evoking ennui. I loved the gentle audio production in “Uncle Phil on TV” as tweaking the voices from the television into a flatter sound works so effectively for verisimilitude.

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Hail to the king

Revisado: 03-15-20

Well, since Amazon threw cash at Bruce to narrate the audiobook version and add asides to update some of the anecdotes, it was my moral imperative to listen to it. Even though I’ve read this before, I laughed out loud while listening to this by myself – always a mark of exceptional craftsmanship. I am now filled with a strange urge to watch some Brisco County Jr and Hercules and Xena.

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I wanted to love this more

Revisado: 03-15-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

The opening is excellent. Love the snappy pacing of the first couple chapters and all the details of early motoring. There’s also a very effective—almost cinematic--use of light and dark throughout the book. Also the introduction of the looming butler who lurches was delightful! There are straight lines that can be drawn between this and the Addams Family. And then Addams apparently drew and animated the title sequence for the remake of The Old Dark House in the 60’s.

Priestley again delivers a parable exploring the collapse of the British gentry with a dash of the rise of the lower and middle classes (with the lower classes making the greatest sacrifices.)

Now, mood happens and happens well. But there is a lack of events – there’s a synopsis of what actually happened in Chapter 14 that sucks all the tension out by showing how thin the menace actually was. There’s an awful lot of page-count spent on philosophy and shopgirl romance, none of which contribute to the tension and cause the middle to drag. Also, Chapter 14 was a decision – portraying the climax from the perspective of the two girls locked up in a separate room for their own good might be forgivable in a film, but I am struggling to find a good reason in a book. Also their handwringing made me desiring a feminist take on this whole chapter and the decisions that were made. The saggy middle knocked off a star for me, and Chapter 14 knocked off another. Chapter 15 was the unsatisfying denouement and conclusion.

While the book is –for the most part -- a nicely crafted gothic, I have to give the edge to the film. The movie adaptation does an excellent job of portraying all the character development in the book, while keeping the pacing snappy and tension high. Quite an accomplishment to do everything effective in a more compact space.

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A braided collection of shorts that add to a whole

Revisado: 01-11-20

The first three chapters alone would make a pretty satisfying story, but it’s just the first act. It’s interesting how each chapter that follows is a braided story that hopefully leads up to something bigger. Some of the individual strands were more compelling than others, and I find that I still don’t really care for Dream Realm stories regardless of who is going through the gate of the silver key. This is a clear-eyed love letter to pulp stories, and the horde of authors examined is satisfying without being derivative. For example, Richard Matheson is evoked with the appearance of the devil doll, and while his short story “Prey” is evoked, it is given an entirely different lens in this book. If this urban fantasy scratches an itch for you, I recommend reaching for THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM by Victor Lavalle next.

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Blessings be with you.

Revisado: 01-11-20

No one warned me this one was about the horrors of middle-management leadership training and Britain’s transportation surveillance system. Also the bit about the ties hit a bit too close for comfort.

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Digital necromancy, ho!

Revisado: 01-11-20

I like the frame that is built to explain the first person accounts, but I’m not sure the entire novel holds together under that scrutiny. But it doesn’t keep me from enjoying the series. The audiobooks are fantastically narrated.

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some of the asides in the audio are unique

Revisado: 02-24-19

I enjoy how some of the asides in the audio are unique to the audio (“Did I actually write that? That’s weak.”)

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