Robert

Insipid, derivative, formulaic short word drivel

Revisado: 04-29-20

It is as suspenseful as watching someone park a car, as imaginative and fun as driver ed, and as well put together as a typical Christmas sweater. Did I mention as predictable as a glacier ?

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Low Affect Inner Monologue of Life's Mundanity

Revisado: 06-29-17

Disclosure: I got this book free in return for my unbiased review.

Second disclosure: I couldn't compel myself to continue listening beyond the first 52 minutes.


The subject matter in this book may be interesting. I am predisposed to find it so, as I have a very long background in communications tech, software, and security tech. The writing, however, is so ponderous and flat that one can imagine the editor losing a large malpractice suit. That seems unfair to the editor though, because this patient just couldn't be saved.

It's as if the author confused the adage - Enter the scene early and leave the scene late.

Kudos to the narrator for attempting to voice these parts and interminable and disjointed inner monologues as if there was more than a stick figure to be fleshed out.

If you have ever been to a creative writing group and heard or read the efforts of writers of little skill, that probably gave you a greater appreciation of good writing. You know when you are drawn in to a story, engaged with characters, enjoying a sense of place, etc...

So on the plus side, this book did re-enforce my appreciation of quality writing in just the same way that not eating for a week re-enforces my appreciation for food.

This book confuses numbing repetition and mundane detail for depth. And now I'm finding that numbing repetition creeping into my review.

How does a book like this get published ? This is the very first time I got a free book in return for a review. Now I know the price of free books is too high for me to bear...

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Great Subject Matter -Completely Flat Characters

Revisado: 06-16-17

I love mountaineering and am a big fan of cold war period spy thrillers. I could have easily overlooked some basic gaps in the plotting and really enjoyed this book, but the flat characters,insipid love story, and robotic inner monologues just overwhelmed the fun of vintage mountaineering with guns.
At first I thought the narration stilted, and maybe it was a bit. But I don't think any narrator could do much with this dialogue coming from these characters.

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A Good Ways Beyond Suspension of Disbelief

Revisado: 06-02-16

For a book to be truly disappointing it has to have a kernel of an idea. This book does and is. With engaging characters and a fun or suspenseful story, the reader can tolerate some amount of nonsensical technical/business/political foofery. This can work even within the predictable confines of the genre.

Conversely, the reader may be engaged by a sense of place. Authentic detailing may help support lightly sketched characters or an imperfect story arc. In my Audible Library, Blue Gemini is a good example.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed the god wave part of the story more if it had not been preceded by the nonsense of the cool math and the brain interface. As it was, the nonsensical elements just kept piling up.

I think the logic here is something like it is better to tell one big lie than lots of little ones.

To contrast the energy and drama and fun of E.E. Doc Smith's brain wave stories with this poor effort is to realize why some stories stand the test of decades and some will be forgotten like a bad meal at a restaurant that will reopen under a new name in a year.

The characters were as flat and predictable as could be imagined. I neither cared for them or disliked them or was engaged in any way by them.

I have seen some of the positive reviews about this novel. I can only imagine that somehow the literary reviewers are afraid to say the emperor is naked because they don't understand how many nonsensical elements are in the story. To praise the character development and plotline of this novel is to give up on having any standards for literature in or beyond this genre.

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Chaste Vets and Attentive Alaskans Foil Tangos

Revisado: 08-23-14

What disappointed you about 65 Below?

This was so comically bad I almost enjoyed it - and then the love poems started...

Would you ever listen to anything by Basil Sands again?

Not intentionally.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Mr. Sands is a better narrator than author.

What character would you cut from 65 Below?

I think this audiobook would be markedly better if the Listener was removed.

Any additional comments?

I kind of like the idea of tough Alaskan vets taking the initiative in killing terrorists. What's not to like about that ? But this cartoon is probably the uberAmerican equivalent of a North Korean propaganda opera. Heros vanquish villians, buffoons are object lessons, and chaste love lives.

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Last Starfighter for Slackers

Revisado: 04-11-14

What would have made Mako better?

The science and tech aspects were incoherent or inconsistent. The characters were completely flat and interacted as predictably as bowling pins. Even the banter among the gallant rogues was witless and phony.A sad addition to the ranks of space opera. EE Doc Smith would be hurling corruscating bolts of unimaginable fury at this one...So to sum up, a ridiculous and bad story complemented by inane ideas and executed with the wit and skill of a sea cucumber.

What could Ian J. Malone have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Apologize at the beginning and beg the listener to delete this waste of megabytes. Also, he could promise never to write again.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrators completely....random pauses and....inflection made the author's run on....sentences seem even more disjoint and....bizarre even as they (the ... sentences) were...completely predictable. Second worst narration of the 500+ books I have audited.,

What character would you cut from Mako?

The Listener.

Any additional comments?

One may ask why the reviewer wasted his time listening to this. No good reason. Perhaps a combination of a minor leg injury, a long hike, and a wish for some distraction. Perhaps it was to marvel and what passes for processed mental junk food nowadays.

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Outdoorsman Kills Bad Guys

Revisado: 01-22-13

What did you love best about The Dummy Line?

I liked the performance and the sense of place. I also liked the shading towards reality rather than hyperbolic cartoon violence. For me, it is a 4 rather than 5 because I couldn't quite smell the pine forest and didn't really care about any of the characters.

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Interesting premise, good start, slowly devolves

Revisado: 01-01-13

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Auditors who don't care about absurd or implausible plots and possibly fans of action cartoons.

What was most disappointing about Mike Cooper’s story?

It has potentially interesting ideas and characters which are developed very poorly.

Which scene was your favorite?

n/a

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Per above.

Any additional comments?

nuff said

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Worst Narration of the 300+ Books I've Audited

Revisado: 04-11-12

This book wasn???t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

A fan of Stilted, Horrible Narration may enjoy this.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I couldn't listen that long.

Would you be willing to try another one of Tim Campbell???s performances?

No, not hardly.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Stealing Trinity?

N/A

Any additional comments?

This is the worst audiobook I have ever heard. I wonder what, if any, quality control or review occured before this book was offered for sale.

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Good Narration, Inane Plotting

Revisado: 04-26-06

I enjoyed the narration but it couldn't really make up for the utter inanity of the plot. Coincidence heaped upon coincidence, joined with complete predictability, and topped off with incoherence. It's like a graphic novel, but without pictures.

For all that, the narration is outstanding.

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