JThibodo

Disappointing: AI Voice & possibly AI Content

Revisado: 04-04-25

The narrator is an AI voice. It’s pretty decent to listen to but still lacks the variety of expression from a human reader.

What kills the book is the content which is repetitious and mildly incorrect. It gives the impression that author simply derived the content from an AI chatbot. Sections repeat the content of other sections. Thoughts are expressed and then restated in different words in the same section. And lastly, several ideas attributed to Maximus were common practice among the Church Fathers (e.g. Allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures is attributed to Maximus as if it were a distinctive trait. In actuality allegorical interpretation is commonplace among the Church Fathers).

I’m disappointed.

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A Vitriolic Telling of Parts of History

Revisado: 09-26-18

I came to this book looking for deeper understanding and a broadening of perspective of the story of indigenous peoples in the U.S. Instead the book spews a historical timeline of atrocities, wrongs, and injustices against native peoples in the U.S. I'm not interested in disputing the facts listed in the book. There are many and the author has done her research well, I presume. I don't take issue with the facts stated. I take issue with the facts omitted.

The omissions in this book are cosmic in size and harmful in effect. There is no telling of the indigenous history of language, culture, music, food, gender roles and evolution, technology, politics and succession of leaders, educational practices, traditions, religion, spirituality, or achievements. Is the story of indigenous peoples merely the story of the wrongs committed against them? Are people only the harm they have suffered? Is this all there is to the Native American story? That is neither my experience nor my belief. It is, however, the very narrow and two dimensional picture of this book. Certainly the tone and selective reporting of history will be cathartic for those justly angered by the many wrongs and the genocidal policies of the U.S. But this book fails on the whole. It is unhelpful and unenlightening for those looking for an accurate, broader, and multifaceted understanding of U.S. indigenous history.

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esto le resultó útil a 61 personas

Feels like Filler

Revisado: 06-18-18

The book only lightly touches on the characters readers have known previously. Without knowing that ahead of time, one constantly turns pages all the way to the end hoping for the return of Richard, Khalen, et al. It’s a disappointing, mostly false hope.

The book also resolved too quickly leaving me feeling as though I had endeavored much to follow the plot and been rewarded with very little.

In addition, Brilliance Audio continues to produce inconsistent pronunciations of characters and places throughout the series, this book being no exception. It would have been better to find and stick to one or two readers to voice the series.

And finally, this particular reader made several villains sound whiny, impotent or two dimensional. The text seems to indicate the conflict of many potent powers of various convictions and allegiances. The reader’s voicing subverted this key theme.

In the end, I kept plodding through because of my interest in the series. And other readers will want to do the same. But the experience was somewhat regrettable.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Great book. Narration needs work.

Revisado: 03-02-16

First the book is a very good and sweeping introduction to Christian spiritual practices of contemplation/meditation. Well worth a read by beginners and experienced practitioners alike.

Second, the narrator has a good pace and inflection while reading that illumine a the book's message.

However, the narration does continually and consistently mispronounce names and terms common to this subject. In particular, the narrator often accents the incorrect syllable. The negative result is two fold. First the narrator causes the book to appear less authoritative on the subject. Second the constant mispronunciation sate distracting.

Verdict: Great introductory book. Narration is passable, but leaves some to be desired.

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Interesting, well delivered, but low content

Revisado: 03-12-15

I found the topic interesting and the professor's delivery was polished. The content, however seemed elementary or anecdotal. I was intellectually entertained but can't say I consider myself more informed or transformed by this lecture series.

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