M. McClure

Good story, outstanding reader

Revisado: 07-28-19

I liked the story, though it did meander around a little. It was pretty clear that the author plans a series and didn't want to reach a conclusion too quickly. That being said, it was interesting and original, and kept my interest.
But what made this book really, really enjoyable to me, and well worth the listen, was the reader. She was able to create a distinct believable voice for each of the major characters, including adult male characters as well as one young boy. It was really quite amazing to hear each of those voices emanating from a single person. Kate Reading is clearly not just a reader: she's an actor, and it shows.
I will look forward to hearing the sequel(s) to this book, and will also look for other books read by Kate Reading. And there is no shortage of books to choose from by this narrator: looks like she has over 400 books here at Audible.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Gave up less than half way through

Revisado: 05-20-17

This book wasn't awful, but for me, it spent way too much time on boring details of the journey preparations. If I had been reading a physical book, I would probably have thumbed ahead a few chapters, or skimmed through the first part quickly.

Similarly, the reader (who is also the author) wasn't awful, but I thought he went way over the top with some of the voices, especially that of Gunny, who is unfortunately one of the major characters. I also didn't care for the gimmicky echo effect that was used to convey when someone was thinking rather than speaking.

If I had been on a long road trip with this book, I probably would have gone ahead and listened to all of it. But since I listen an hour at a time before bed, it was too easy to just turn it off and find something I found more entertaining.

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Definitely not road trip material

Revisado: 12-20-12

I downloaded this book to take on a 12 hour road trip. I don't recommend it for this kind of listening, and I'm not sure I could recommend it at all. It seemed to me that it went way over the top with long, convoluted political discussions, and most of the action is described after the fact by the characters, i.e. it doesn't happen "live."

And although I'm all for woman power, this got kind of ridiculous in several places, notably when Mary manages to knock out 3 armed men, each with a single blow. Give me a break.

I actually took an active dislike to the book toward the end, and only finished it because my travel companion, who had slept through most of it, wanted to hear the last part.

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Great Road Trip Entertainment

Revisado: 06-24-12

My mother and I listened to this book over the course of a weekend road trip. We're both "dog people," but I don't like overly sentimental books or blatantly manipulative tear-jerkers. This book had an interesting story that kept our interest to the very end. In fact, we listened to the last several minutes sitting in our driveway.

For those of you who don't like sad endings, this one shouldn't be a problem for you. Without spoiling it for you, I can say I felt the ending made sense and was actually what my mother and I had both said would be the best solution to a difficult problem.

The main characters in this book were well rounded and interesting, and even secondary characters who started out as stereotypes were mostly revealed as flawed people who had reasons for the things they did.

I enjoyed this book greatly and will look for other titles by this author.

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esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Waaaaaay too much mindless thrashing

Revisado: 04-05-11

I listened to about the first two thirds of this book before I finally got tired of it and gave up. This is one of those books where the main character takes a stupid pill and never recovers. At every turn, she is either mindlessly firing her gun without first identifying the target, driving her car like a maniac, punching her friends in the face, or basically refusing to act like a normal human being. Up to the point where I gave up, I don't think she had made a single reasonable decision, even allowing for the fact that she was supposed to be damaged by abuse as a child. My advice: take a pass on this one.

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esto le resultó útil a 14 personas

Author's soapbox

Revisado: 06-04-10

I'll save you some time. Here's the book:
talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk action talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk conservatives=heroes talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk asteroids talk talk talk talk mirrors talk talk talk liberals=cowards talk talk talk talk action talk talk talk talk talk action talk talk talk talk talk.

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esto le resultó útil a 25 personas

Couldn't get into it

Revisado: 07-08-09

When I first began listening to this book, I thought the reader must be the author. Usually, when you hear a reader who is not all that great, it turns out to be the author. (Neil Gaiman is an exception: he's an excellent reader as well as a great writer.) In any case, the reading sounds clipped and too fast, and it can be difficult to understand. As others have mentioned, character voices, especially for female characters, are not done well.

This reader might do fine on non-fiction but he just wasn't well-matched to this novel. I gave up after about 2 hours.

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esto le resultó útil a 18 personas

Absolutely top-notch

Revisado: 05-14-08

This is one of the best audiobooks I've downloaded from Audible in my 7 years as a subscriber. Neil Gaiman really knocked this one out of the ballpark.

Unlike some other authors who read their own works, Gaiman could easily have made a career as an audiobook reader (not that he'd want to.) He compares favorably with my two other favorite readers, Jim Dale of the Harry Potter books, and Lisette Lecat, who reads the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. He's that good.

I also listened to the Anansi Boys, and wasn't all that crazy about it. This book, though, really captured and kept my attention. I liked all the characters, and was thoroughly entertained every minute of the way.

One thing that I especially appreciated was the remorse felt by the main character after losing one of his guides. In most books of this kind, the loss of a minor character is just shrugged off.

There was something touching about the reluctant and unassuming manner of the main character as he becomes the literal hero of the story.

I can't recommend this book strongly enough!

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Top notch entertainment

Revisado: 11-29-07

I enjoyed every minute of this book, and am eagerly awaiting the next volume. The reader is excellent: he has a very pleasing voice, and does the characters well. One minor quibble: on occasion he stops reading and starts acting, and in some places, over-acting. However, I'll gladly listen to another book by this author and this reader.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

But wait a minute...

Revisado: 08-13-07

I've stuck with this series so far, but just barely. I found the universe represented here to be interesting and inventive, and I liked many of the characters.

My main complaint is the many, many holes in the plot that leave you saying, "But wait a minute. That doesn't make sense because..." And I'm not talking about minor quibbles. I'm talking about major parts of the plot. For example, if the Mage Imperator of the Ildirans retained the memory of the ancient war and how his race was almost exterminated by it, why didn't he stop the humans from deploying the torch, which would surely reignite the war? If the wentils can make a ship for Jess Tamblyn to fly, why do they need him at all? Why don't they fly their own ship and seed the new worlds themselves? And speaking of Jess Tamblyn, if he could be inhabited and transformed by the wentils, why would touching other humans supposedly be fatal for them? And why does everyone keep saying that the existence of the hybrid child of the Mage Imperator and the green priest vindicated a heinous forced breeding progam, when said child was not a product of said program?

After awhile, so many inconsistencies become a constant irritant.

Another complaint is the great amount of filler in this book. The first 15 minutes is a summary of the first 2 books. After that, there are constant interruptions to restate things from the other books, and sometimes to restate things from this book. It speaks of sloppy editing to me.

What kept me going with this book is that I thought it was a trilogy, and I had to make it to the end. But now that I know there are several more, I'm ready to call it quits. I'd like to know how it ends, but my patience has its limits.

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esto le resultó útil a 19 personas