Whippetz

Too much madness

Revisado: 01-01-22

Age of madness indeed. This is a very grim book. I struggled with much of the content, of which the first third of the book seemed to relentlessly focus around excessive, gratuitous and unrelenting violence. I had to speed up playback through some of this, simply to get past it and to advance to more palatable and optimistic content, looking for any signs of hope that circumstances would improve for my favourite characters, but there was extremely little of that.
I have listened and re-listened to all of the First Law trilogy, and The Heroes. I really enjoy Joe Abercrombie’s witty writing style and gritty depictions of battle scenes etc. However, in my view this Age of Madness trilogy progressively pushed past the limits of what is palatable in terms of violence. This last book in the trilogy irredeemably so. I tackled this book because I wanted and needed to find some sort of resolution to the story that unfolded from the previous two books. The rich character development that Abercrombie crafts in his stories makes me really invested in seeing some promise of a peaceful future for these characters and their world. But I was disappointed. And actually there were some characters that we started to get to know that never developed further, so I am left wondering why they were ever highlighted in the first place. To be honest this book left me feeling discouraged, and more than a little cautious of picking up another Abercrombie book. The majority of this book is focused on the horrendously heinous deeds of various groups of people, deeds which are carried it out in the most gratuitously inventive and bloodthirsty ways possible. Some readers may become normalized to this, but I never did. The one redeeming feature of this book is Steven Pacey’s narration – spot-on as usual.

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Loved it

Revisado: 11-26-21

Has the same feel as Martian with all the sciency stuff but is also something of a buddy story. It has some feel good moments with the main characters that I think is a very refreshing approach that is very much in contrast to the conflict approach to interstellar relationships. I really liked getting to know the characters. We’ll written as usual - the main character is very likeable which I also really appreciated

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Beautiful words

Revisado: 10-12-21

I enjoyed this, but not at first. You have to be in the mood for this one, and just let it creep up on you nice and slow. The pace felt ponderous until I realised that this book required the listener to really listen. Then I loved it. The story itself is not hugely strong, but what makes it special is the vivid and beautiful descriptions of everything else that is present alongside the story. To be honest I think the story is just there as a vehicle to drive and inspire these descriptions. But that’s OK, I found it very enjoyable on that kind of level, especially with Will Paton at the helm - one of my all time favourite narrators and definitely the right choice for this book.

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Uplifting but not amazing

Revisado: 11-22-20

This book didn’t come up in my Recommended For You list, so it was not something I’d probably go for. I saw it in the recent releases and it caught my attention because of all the amazing reviews. It’s a little outside of my usual reading matter, but I took a gamble because I had just finished a series of books that had been pretty grim and violent and I felt I needed some light relief. And Miss Benson’s Beetle did provide that relief. It was an uplifting book that didn’t take itself too seriously. Some reviewers have said it was a bit silly and far fetched, and yes it is a bit like that, but only if you expect it to take itself seriously! The narration is quite good, and the writing actually feels like a children’s book sometimes, in the way some lines are written and delivered. But that makes the book feel quite charming.
Overall it was a pleasant listen but not hugely engaging, and there were flaws here and there, and I understand how some listeners might criticise the inclusion of the Mr Mundic character. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending either. But really, it was a pleasant diversion from the genres I usually go for, and now I’m refreshed and ready to tackle my usual fare.

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pretty grim, but stick it out

Revisado: 11-17-20

I was not prepared for the hours of utter despair ahead of me when I embarked on this book. It really was pretty grim. Characters who I came to love endured near-constant victimisation, cruelty and punishment. There seemed to be no end to the villains and villainy that was perpetrated in this book, and seemingly boundless in the ways in which it could be applied (in the same kind of way that Game of Thrones does it). I felt for my favourite characters so much, that honestly it really ground me down seeing them suffer so, and for much of the story I felt myself wondering whether anything good might ever happen. I appreciated the way that this book created such an immersive and engaging story experience for the listener, but for me anyway, it generated so much sadness that I nearly gave up on it. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that some redemption, justice, and reward would come in the end. The writing itself, and the storytelling was really impressive, and so was the character development, and the absolute authenticity in representation of that time period, (in all its ugliness). However readers like me need some regular breadcrumbs of happiness to keep me going – some little breathing spaces where you can reassure yourself that bad things don’t ALWAYS happen! Apart from that it was a terrific book.
In terms of the narration – a lot of reviewers didn’t like the halting kind of cadence to the narrator’s delivery, and I can see why they might say that. When I first started listening, it was really noticeable. But after an hour I didn’t notice it anymore, and by half-way through I couldn’t imagine it being narrated any other way. Generally the different characters’ voices were distinct enough that you could always tell who was talking, and the various accents (especially the French) were very well done. I can’t say how this book compares to the other ones written by this author – I read Pillars of the Earth, but it was so long ago and I was pretty young at the time, so I don’t really remember much about it to be honest. I will certainly think about reading the other Kingsbridge books.

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Big, complex and rich with detail

Revisado: 10-11-20

I loved this book. I think it’s better than the previous Strike novels (although I really enjoyed them too) because there was less of the Matthew and Charlotte shenanigans going on, and intruding into the story and bringing the characters down than there was in the other books. I love the incidental details that the author includes, that really embellish the story and help to paint a picture of the locations, the characters and helped to involve you in their lives and connect you to them. You spent time getting to know them, and I felt that enriched the story and made you care about them. I had to concentrate in order to remember all the names of the people and events of the past that were described, because these elements return as part of the clues that are investigated, but it wasn’t too difficult. I was amazed sometimes at the amount of apparent knowledge of a range of different subject matter that was described. The author must have spent a lot of time researching all manner of things, and it’s paid off because it (on the whole) comes across as believable and authentic. There are lots of characters, but thankfully Robert glenister does a terrific job of creating a unique voice for most of them, such that you always know who is talking. He is great at all the regional accents and does a pretty good job of the female voices. I couldn’t imagine anyone better to narrate this series. I hope there will be another book to come, but I expect that the author probably wants a good long break after writing this epic. I will return to this book again soon to enjoy the ride and the people in it. Loved it.

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Who’s talking?

Revisado: 04-21-20

I can’t tell who is talking at any one time...the narrator isn’t making any effort to make the character voices different, so I have to keep rewinding and listening again and again and again. Very frustrating. Ponderous plot also. Could not get into this at all.

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Not as good as expected

Revisado: 09-29-18

When I first read through all the reviews on this book, they were ALL five stars. So I bought the book based on that. Now I am very suspicious about all those five star reviews...this in not a five star book IMO. It was just OK. my issues included the narration - a strangely androgynous voice that didn’t change much from character to character, and mostly delivered through ‘gritted teeth ‘ is the only way I can put it, as though everyone was always on the verge of losing control and thumping the person in front of them, always angry. Dunno, maybe they all WERE always angry, I mean no one seemed to be in a very good temper most of the time and no one was really likeable either. The other thing that irked me about the narration was the mangling of pronunciation in really weird ways e.g. I’ve never heard anyone pronounce ‘pursuade’ as ‘per SOO ade’ before! That’s just one example of many oddities - ‘trough’ pronounced ‘truff’ is another. It’s not a huge deal I know, but enough for me to roll my eyes and dislike the book further every time it happened. And the ending...not sure if it WAS an ending. I didn’t enjoy the story much either, it wasn’t gripping but I pushed through to see what happened and apart from a couple of parts I pretty much found it very meh. Nope, this is not a five star book.

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Unrelentingly grim, violent and misogynistic

Revisado: 04-29-18

What did you like best about Ascension? What did you like least?

I’m sorry, but am I the only person who finds the themes in this book disturbing? The women in this book are treated with utter disdain, which is NOT OK. The violence is frequent and gratuitous, and most of the characters have no redeeming features. The whole thing left me feeling like I needed a shower. Not my fare at all, and the fact that it seems to appeal to so many other readers is possibly the most disturbing thing of all.

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Boring and dragged out

Revisado: 06-26-17

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A story

Would you ever listen to anything by A. G. Riddle again?

Nope

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrator was the only redeeming part

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment - there was so much hype about the book

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