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New floor for narration

Revisado: 03-16-22

Despite having listened to this audio book I have no idea about the quality of the book. Robertson Dean's performance turned this into a slog. A series of scenes of faceless chatting and narration, each apparently unrelated to the rest except for two characters that are only occasionally present.

I regret purchasing the third book in this series knowing that he is also narrating it.

A good feature to consider would be a blacklist so that a customer can be reminded that they're not fond of a particular author or narrator before completing a purchase.

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A disappointing rendition of a favorite book.

Revisado: 02-18-17

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I think the biggest problem in this adaptation is that the conversations between the wizards become and indistinguishable mess since they are a mob of nearly half a dozen. I can't imagine a single narrator being able to differentiate them enough so that a listener could easily separate the voices and follow the conversation.

Who was your favorite character and why?

DEATH. While he is admittedly something of the voice of the author, he is also the one who is the most deliberate in his behavior. I like the point he illustrates about being proud of what you do and taking the time to do it right. And the flavor of the idea that time is actually the most valuable currency.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

Any additional comments?

This book did a good job of establishing reasons that a good book might not always make a good audio book (outside of the narrator's skill).

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Doesn't stand out particularly in either direction

Revisado: 02-18-17

Would you try another book from Nathan Long and/or Dina Pearlman?

I probably wouldn't namely because I think that my odds of finding something remarkable would be better if I sought something new.

Any additional comments?

The story is definitely done in the classic adventure mold with strong references to "Princess of Mars" (at least that portion of the book that I've read). There are some standout scenes and clever turns (that in retrospect I should have seen coming). It kept me entertained.

There are some downsides though. One is the constant theme of society's double standard with how it regards identical behavior from men and women. I feel that it would have been more effective to use it once or twice. The other is the soundtrack. It is fortunately mostly absent, but I feel that it largely doesn't help when it appears. Conversely, sound-effects were used much more liberally and with more refinement and customization could have been something. I think the sound-effects were unfortunately limited to a set sound library though.

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Interesting concept brought down by a flat reading.

Revisado: 11-21-16

The story itself is interesting and the concept seems to be pretty well thought out.

The problem is that the Celeste Ciulla narrates the story with a very flat voice that transforms this into a slog. I don't know to what degree this could be helped since the story is told in the first person and it constantly refers to the protagonist's emotionless nature, but it is still a problem. The boring narration isn't helped any by the fact that too many names start with the letter 's'.

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Interesting history; written by a "gamer" *sigh*

Revisado: 11-06-16

What made the experience of listening to Masters of Doom the most enjoyable?

The subject matter and the epilogue/addendum describing what they've been up too since the pair last made news. I had always found it strange that they did both Commander Keen and all their FPS stuff.

The details early on about the technical obstacles and the tricks used to get past them. How the sausage got made as it were. The organizational issues at the end were also interesting, where it came down to needing to force a game out of a bunch of mismatched pieces.

While I wasn't such a fan of the more personal or biographical aspects of the story, I think that some of the anecdotes were great, and the author clearly understood that some of them worked well with the larger story he was telling.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Wil Wheaton?

Unfortunately this is only my second non-fiction audiobook. The other being Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell.

Issues that can't be blamed at least in part on the text would be that I got the impression that he was editorializing with his voices and the way he laid on extra emphasis on the word "doom". In the first case I understand that he was aiming at least in some cases for impressions for the discussions of video game violence, but I also think he aimed for hysteria when it came to unknown voices on the anti side and reasonable for the who cares side. In the second case, I understand that it is the title of the game that made Id a household name (depending on your household) and it is what the book's title is referring to, but it is just a word and at most should be emphasized once (and even then it'd be cheesy).

This was actually the first time that I considered that I might not like Wheaton's work. When listening to something written by Earnest Cline I had always blamed my problems on the bad writing, but it's still happening here. Some of it is still probably the author's fault though.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but I just don't have that kind of time in a day.

Any additional comments?

The book is a nice history, but it definitely feels like either an authorized biography or the author is trying to be nice to everyone involved. That said, it didn't go so easy on the two Johns that I didn't come away with the impression that these are terrible people that I'm happy not to know.

Frequently something is related as the best/most important/really awesome thing ever and I have to say it gets old. I don't know if this is how "gamers" write or if it is how Wil Wheaton reads, but this is getting old.

It was also written in 2004, a more naive time where people identifying themselves by their hobby wasn't some kind of danger signal. I didn't know this while listening to it, but it is pretty obvious in the end. Not knowing this, I'd get tense from time to time waiting for some nasty tribalist BS to appear. So video game fans should keep in mind that while this history foreshadows some of the problems that we see today, it was before those problems had become as realized as they are now.

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