S. Green

Great Story!

Revisado: 05-12-19

I was a bit intimidated by the roughly 30 hour tally of this book. Seeing that this was books 1-11, however, I was pleased to see a publisher not expecting readers to purchase a lot of little books where it's easy to lose interest. While some may enjoy switching between different books from different authors, I appreciate being able to continue in the story's universe.

The beginning was a bit slow, but like many stories, building the background takes time. I was intrigued by four, female leads that were flawed which actually gave it a more realistic flavor. At times I thought a little too much emphasis was put in the various insecurities, but I thought the author did a good job at making these characters come to life.

While I don't want to spoil it, the story develops with some very unexpected twists that I didn't see coming. I think the author did a great job at leading the reader down a path expecting some things that very much did come true while creating things in the background that snuck up on me when it actually happened. Not quite "The Sixth Sense" shocking, but a couple of the twists were pretty good!

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

While I did receive the book for free, I'd PAY to read the next volume. I'm eager to see what happens next!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Promising start

Revisado: 08-21-18

I am often drawn to stories such as this and found this one to be a bit different. It seemed like it had a bit of a slow start in order to setup the different characters, but once it got going was quite enjoyable. I also liked the author not blindly following the formula of an over-obvious love triangle.

The narration was ok, but I think at times led to a harder listen than some of the other audiobooks I’ve listened to. I could never quite tell why but there was something about it that I found a bit harder to immerse myself in.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Another great installment

Revisado: 05-12-18

This book began largely where the last book left off. While the last book seemed to get far too fast into the action and didn't have much setup, this one did spend a fair amount of time setting up a love triangle in the main character's new high school, which also happens to be a school for good, supernatural creatures.

Like the earlier book, I was surprised this one was so short. I suppose though I'd rather have smaller installments and get them faster then have to wait a long time, having forgotten much of the earlier book(s). Maybe there will be an omnibus version at some point.

I don't want to give away any spoilers (what's the fun in that?), but the ending of this book was a pretty good cliffhanger for a third book in the series. Hopefully the next book won't be too long a wait as this has been a good ride so far!

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Great beginning to a different kind of story

Revisado: 05-12-18

The premise of this book caught my attention and after starting it, was afraid it was going to lose me. There was a lot of setting up of characters, settings, and concepts that I was finding confusing, then all of a sudden, it all seemed to click and I was on the roller coaster ride for the remainder of the book.

This is a different kind of story not really found in other books. At it's core is a science fiction thriller I suppose, but there are other things in there as well. I tend to get in a rut with certain types of stories and this was a very refreshing change.

I was a bit disappointed in that once I was hooked and didn't want to put the book down, it ended as a clear setup for a series of books. While I guess this is good in that I do see a rich story universe being setup in this book, I do wish that books were setup to be self contained more (and if they happen to spawn a sequel so be it) instead of being such a clear setup for a series.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Good Concept

Revisado: 04-07-18

Any additional comments?

I wasn’t paying attention when I was getting this book as I didn’t notice that the author is also the narrator — how neat is that? It’s not very often when a fiction author narrates their own book! I actually thought I’d misheard it and ended up rewinding to confirm it as I started the book.

The description of the book caught my attention, but I found the opening setup and background a bit long. I found it a bit difficult with keeping me interested, but knowing a bit about what was coming based on the publisher’s description helped.

Pretty neat concept and the author is clearly a big dog lover, which made for a good story.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great Beginning To The Series

Revisado: 04-07-18

Any additional comments?

I was a bit apprehensive about getting this book as it was much shorter than the typical book I get. I am happy I ended up getting it!

The story wasn’t quite what I expected. Clearly, angels are involved based on the cover and publisher’s description, but there were some interesting twists that caught me off guard and kept me from wanting to put the book down.

Those that don’t care for a lot of character embellishment will like the “onto the action” style the author takes. I would have liked a little more character setup and background, but it worked as-is and I’m actually a bit cranky the next book isn’t on Audible at the moment as I do want to know what happens next!

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Promising beginning

Revisado: 03-12-18

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

This book caught my eye in the Audiobookboom mailing I got and decided to give it a read.

The author used some themes common to a lot of YA type books — teenage girl, high school angst, love triangle. Not a negative really, but merely the setting.

The story ended up mixing angels with demons, fairies, and werewolves with some twists around the main character that I found interesting to the point I didn’t want to put the book down. I look forward to reading the next in the series (on my own dime) to see what happens next!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A fun ride through time...

Revisado: 04-06-17

Any additional comments?

I am unfortunately drawn to stories involving time travel. I say that because in far too many movies and television shows, time travel is an abused plot device used by the author to make a story lacking imagination more interesting. 'The Syndicate' does not suffer from this problem.

The story was one longer than many books, the extra length dedicated to more background storytelling that I found refreshing. Too many books today are formula driven to tell a story quickly and align for a sequel. While it appears there may be a sequel to this book, and I'd like to see one, it didn't feel predestined from the first page like many books seem to.

Time travel is definitely an element of the story, but Paris of the past is the major part of the book. I wasn't quite sure what to expect until a quarter, or maybe a third of the way through the book when certain surprises popped up that turned this casual story about time travelers going to the past to collect certain works into a thriller I didn't want to put down.

The narrator was quite good. I always find it impressive when a single narrator is able to pull off several voices, male and female. I did notice some distracting mispronunciations such as "disheveled" and "Versailles" of note. In some chapters there was an annoying background noise (a fan maybe?) that made an otherwise really good narrator sound a bit low production.

I am looking forward to the next in the series.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Unexpected

Revisado: 01-27-17

Any additional comments?

Movies, television shows, and books involving time travel usually frustrate me. They abuse the concept of time travel in ways that often seem unnecessary, or are otherwise an excuse for the author's ability to dream up something better. Unfortunately, I am drawn to time travel stories like a moth to a flame and couldn't resist this one.

The description of the book perfectly matches the story in hindsight, but what I'd envisioned before listening to the book, wasn't really what happened. "Time Traveler Chronicles" ended up being a wild ride with unexpected twists and turns that had me rushing to get to the next chapter to hear what happened next.

I think part of the appeal I found was the science of the non-time travel elements of the story, that tended to diminish enough of what usually bugs me about time travel stories to keep my focus. There were parts of the story where belief had to be suspended, but the imagination used to create this story was impressive and kept me guessing.

The narrator did a good job of narrating the story. The military types sounded military and so on. It's a hard job for an audiobook narrator to create different voices for the different characters, but this one did very well with creating the different characters with different voices to help the listener with the story.

I do wish Carter's voice had been a bit different. The narrator did fine with other female characters, but Carter sounded a ditzy with the tone used for her. Carter was written as a smart, observant character, but just didn't sound like that. Admittedly, it may just have been my perception while listening a male narrator pretending to be a female character.

Overall, a really good listen. I may even go back and listen again since as I mentioned, this wasn't the story I'd expected when I started (in a good way).

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

A good start...

Revisado: 12-01-16

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

"Spaceman" is my kind of book. It has elements of "Gravity", "The Martian", and "Apollo 13" with the twist of an apocalypse-inducing solar flare. Unlike many post-apocalyptic books, there are no viruses, zombies, or similar.

While I ultimately liked the narrator, he didn't have the voice I expected for an astronaut, which made me mentally stumble a bit at first as I got into the book.

This book is intended as a series, and only covered the first day after a world changing event. I was a bit surprised based on the title that the "spaceman" was really just one of three groups of people the story shifted between -- the other two being groups on earth enduring the changes brought on by the apocalypse.

While I enjoyed the story, I found it a bit of a stretch how often Clayton needed to react quickly a la "Gravity" to some emergency, only to have his mind reminiscing about some event in his past. The exposition was background I suppose, but came at the wrong times on more than one spot.

I also thought it a bit off (though maybe necessary to setup the future books in the series) to within a day of no power, cars, phones, computers, etc. having people already declaring the apocalypse, begging for food, etc. It would have been more believable to stretch that out over a week or two.

Overall a good book and the characters were interesting. There was clearly some possible romance being setup along with a good group of people to survive the apocalypse as it unfolds further in the next book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas