Melodie

Absurd from the onset

Revisado: 10-28-21

Say what you want about climate change, but it doesn't work the way the author pretends it does. Normally that's fine, but the author is so smug in his error that it can't be overlooked.

Neither does Ebola. He clearly had no idea how this disease works. There are so many other potential world killers that he either didn't know about or chose not to use in an effort to cash in on relative recent ebola scares.

I won't be continuing.

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Unforced errors spoil an otherwise solid story

Revisado: 10-28-21

The good first:

Almost unique among the post apocalyptic genre, this entry is not a slog from one bloody contrivance to another. It's thoughtful in its examination of the premise (if not thoughtful in other ways but more on that later), well paced, and makes good use of the mystery box concept to keep the reader engaged.

The story is what I'd call First person "semi-omnicient", which is a different and challenging way to write and the the author does it competently.

The bad:

There's a fair amount of navel gazing in the story. A little can be forgiven if it is thoughtful enough. But while the story is thoughtful, it is not so much as to justify its indulgences. The author also clearly thinks he's more clever than he is. You'll get your first taste of this in the forward where you are asked not to spoil the ending for others. I'll honor the authors wishes but will also say that the big twist was a big let down. Maybe it's a product of my own imagination and the expectations set, but I found the twist to be extremely banal, and similar to a dozen other stories. It's not even executed well, easily being the weakest part of the whole story. The end is rushed, badly, abandoning the successful moody pace of the rest of the tale. I suspect that he did this to keep the ultimate villains as flat as possible, frankly.

I suspect this because of my biggest issue with the book. That is that the author clearly has a social and political ax to grind. That's fine. Even though I disagree with his world view, I have no problem engaging with media with which I disagree - as long as it's honest about its intentions.

This author is not honest. He practices clear misrepresentation of his opposing viewpoints through faulty allegory and mean spirited little jabs thinly veiled as world or character building which don't flow naturally from the story or the character and are clearly just the author excising his own demons at the readers' expenses.

Skip it unless you're just desperate for something in the genre to read.

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Second verse, same as the first....

Revisado: 10-13-19

...A whole lot faster, but frankly just a little worse. (But still better than 99% of the other works in the Fantasy genre)

It's fitting that the central theme on the First Law universe is decay - wherein the achievements of the present are pale echoes of the past. A lot of the overarching plot points are similar to the first trilogy. I won't spoil them here, but you'll see what I mean when you read it. It's still a worthy read for the B and C plots, and the A plots may yet go in unexpected directions. So don't take that to mean that there is no new material here. It just skirts the line of you classic sequel trap. We'll see if the Author can avoid getting caught in it.

Joe seems to have listened to his critics a little too much when they complained that the first Trilogy started off too slowly. I think this one starts off too quickly. People really have lost their appreciation for layered character building which ages like a fine wine. That was the thing which made the previous trilogy so compelling, the slow reveal as we tease out each element of a character's personality and backstory. That's largely omitted from the new trilogy, and its loss is felt.

That being said, Abercrombie is a fantastically talented writer, so I have full faith he'll bring the story around to a satisfying conclusion. It's just sad to see one of the few authors capable of writing fully realized characters eschew the art (presumably) for the sake of the modern reader's short attention span.

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What a doozey

Revisado: 03-23-17

Where does The Years of Rice and Salt rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

So I know my stars don't add up. Here's why:

I was describing it to a friend the other day. He asked me if I would recommend it, and I told him no, but that I do feel enriched for having listened to it. This is an extremely ambitious endeavor, and I have a lot of respect for the author for even attempting it.

I've courted this book for something like 10 years, picking it up and carrying it around the bookstore before deciding on something else and putting it back. My concern was that it would lack a narrative, and it does... and it doesn't. The author has a very creative solution for handling the narrative, which earned a star. But the narrative then turns around and seems to dominate large sections of the book with odd navel gazing while spending very little time on the interesting world events going on around the characters. On top of this, in the third act the narritive breaks down altogether and I completely lost track of which character was which. (they change names. That's the only hint you're getting) So the final few chapters read like a collection of short stories - which is what I was afraid of in the first place.

So I don't know what to do with this book. It is obviously the result of a great deal of work, and knowledge of "obscure" (to the western reader) non-Eurocentric history which I appreciate, but it's deeply *deeply* flawed.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I really don't understand the love in the other reviews. I thought he was dreadful. Maybe the worst narrator I've ever heard (but I'm new to audio books)

Anyway, the narrator seemed to completely ignore punctuation and would almost interrupt himself in a rush to move to the next sentence. That's the only way I know to describe it. He has really strange pacing.

Then there's his dialog. He has three intonations for dialog: a patronizing whine that makes you want to come through the speakers and throttle the character, a final rise that turns every sentence into a question, and that strange clipped rush at the end of sentences that I guess is his normal narration voice.

Any additional comments?

If you are looking for something to listen to, and are interested in Islamic and Oriental history and culture, or in philosophy or theology, pick it up and give it a try. It's strange, but there are diamonds in the rough.

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Not bad, but missed it's full potential.

Revisado: 03-23-17

What did you like best about 1920: America's Great War? What did you like least?

Best: the author handles geopolitics well and has a good sense of humor. I found myself laughing several times. He also paints a good battlefield picture, which not all alt-historians do, and has a good grasp of military hardware - especially naval.

Least: I think the story was a little aborted and could have greatly benefited from another book or two. I know other reviewers have appreciated the fact that the author is able to wrap up the plot in one book, but I feel that a few subplots are promised early on and never delivered. I also found it unlikely that the events of the book could be resolved as abruptly as they did.

My other big complaint is the handling of the characters. There's far too much name dropping regarding real historical people and it begins to break the suspension of disbelief. The other problem is that there are far too many POV characters for the length. There's not enough development for most of them, so it's hard to care what happens to them.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Another book or two to slow down the pace a little, develop the characters, and resolve the "third act problems" (to borrow a phrase)

That failing, reduce the cast and pace it similarly to "How Few Remain"

What about L. J. Ganser’s performance did you like?

He's clear and enunciates. He also obeys punctuation, which not all performers do.

I struck a half a star for his female voices. The same characters had slightly different voices at different times, and there was overlap between two of the main female characters which was confusing. I struck the other half for his rendition of Patton. He gave the man a deep gravelly voice where it's well documented that Patton's voice was rather high. I don't know if it was a lack of homework, or artistic license, but I would have preferred more accuracy.

Was 1920: America's Great War worth the listening time?

If you are a fan of the genre, yes. Otherwise, probably not

Any additional comments?

I wish I could have had Mr. Conroy write "The War that Came Early" which was too drawn out, and Dr. Turtledove write this story which could have used more material.

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