DeepyNine

Reader's monotone sucked the life out of this stor

Revisado: 05-26-24

I made it to chapter 7 before I gave up. As a few other reviewers have mentioned, the monotone performance of Jeffrey Kafer makes very it hard to sort out who is speaking. "Van" and "Perry" might as well be the same person. And the clipped action B-movie manner of speaking is off putting. It's a bit strange because a couple of years ago, I listened to a Jeremy Robinson book where Kafer was the reader and it was fine. Not so here. If you are a regular audiobook listener, you know that the death knell for a book is when you find yourself having to constantly rewind to catch the bits you missed because you are losing interest and your mind was wandering .

Since I have the Kindle version too, I might give reading it a try as the story seems decent - though if you like the 'Random human stumbles across alien startship with advanced AI totally at his disposal' trope, there are better examples out there (Mutineer's Moon,The second ship, The Spaceship in the Stone, etc.)

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Ethical people eat bugs, not meat.

Revisado: 06-02-23

How this snooze-fest of a book won the Hugo Award for Best Series I will never understand. Judging from one of the 5 star reviewers who said, "It’s full of compassion, caring, friendship and wonderful life lessons of tolerance" I can only surmise that there is a contingent of readers who value the message over the quality of the writing and the performance. The breathless sing-songy narration seems targeted at children, not YA. There is basically no plot and the science is absurd (the ships are fueled by algae), For about 10 minutes at the beginning it looks like the story arc of Rosemary will be interesting, but it fizzles and goes nowhere. However "wonderful life lessons of tolerance" abound. In fact, it is most of the book. We learn that ethical beings eat bugs, and eating meet is morally suspect and frowned upon. We learn that weapons are bad and if you just cooperate with the pirates, everything will turn out well in the end. If you like your sci-fi light on plot, but with a heavy dose of social messaging then this is your book.

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Awful. Good author, but trust me, SKIP THIS ONE.

Revisado: 09-09-22

Pro tip: Don't get too attached to any of the characters. After a promising start, characters get locked into a loop best described as fight-run-hide. No character development, no chance to catch their breaths. Just fight-run-hide, then repeat until you run out of book (and characters - like I said earlier, don't get to liking any one character too much). The premise is absurd on many levels, The whole idea that the orbiter, a vehicle designed to support people for MONTHS or YEARS would just decide on it's own to land and could not have that decision overridden by the pilot on board (you know, to think about it a bit) is a big FU from the author to the intelligence of his readers. And that's just one of many preposterous plot devices. And this is coming from someone who liked his other books. Take a tip from a friend and spend your credit on one of his many *other* fine books.

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Spoiler: Everybody Dies

Revisado: 03-23-22

Dumb plot, Cardboard characters. If you are 12 and video games are your life you *might* like it. James McGill, the lead character is a total Mary Sue. Yawn. HUGE inconsistencies abound. A professional mercenary that relies on raw untrained recruits who never get briefed on their mission and run around stumbling into trouble? We are asked to believe in this magic technology that can revive you if you die to the point that when "regrown" you can remember the last seconds as the Dino's teeth sink into your flesh. That's some impressive data link. Yet we are repeatedly treated to their suit radios not being able to reach command. I could go on. The most fascinating thing is all the 5-star reviews gushing how this is great military sci-fi. Those folks need to go listen to Galaxy' Edge. Stat.

(The reader was good, a bright spot)

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Cringe-worthy southern accents overwhelm good tale

Revisado: 03-09-21

Another example of a great book overwhelmed by bad narration. I listened to the two book in this series back to back, and after the superb job by Charles Keating in the first novel, Ralph Lister’s OTT character voices were jarring and unpleasant.
Audible needs some kind of QC department to make sure that the reader/voice actor is suitable to the material, which in this case, he was very much not. The southern accents are both over the top and cringe-worthy. Think Boss Hogg from the old ’Dukes of Hazzard’ TV series. I think Foghorn Leghorn may have made an appearance as well. The voices of the southern women ratchet the cringe factor a notch higher, if that is even possible. The reader’s natural speaking voice is ok, and if he had read that way, all would have been well; but he is determined to treat this like a radio play instead of a book being read to an audience. Less is more, Mr. Lister. Less is more. Too many of the other characters sound like crotchety old men yelling at each other. The intelligent everyman character Dave Dvorak from the first book is transformed into Jed Clampett newly come down from the hills to be amazed by the cement pond. I thought I could get used to it, but about half way through, I had to switch to reading the printed version.

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The main character Joe Pickett is a bone-head.

Revisado: 02-28-21

Joe Pickett is a bone-head, making stupid moves time after time in order to advance the plot. This is my first Joe Pickett book and the author presented him as a savvy investigator that solved cases that had stymied others, yet he always acts rashly, time after time leaping into situations without forethought or preparation. (Warning mild spoiler ahead) His naiveté in going after the rich, well connected, ruthlessly unethical lawyer is one example: After he finds someone to sign an affidavit which will allow him to arrest the lawyer for poaching but BEFORE he has the affidavit in hand, he blurts out the witness’s name (‘Aha! I’ve got you now rich lawyer, because Joe down at the mini-mart is going swear out an affidavit!’) during a confrontation with the aforementioned ruthless, powerful, & unethical lawyer. Then in a development the reader can see a mile away poor sad Joe is super surprised when the ruthless lawyer gets to the witness first and intimidates him into recanting. Clueless Joe never saw it coming, unlike every other person on the planet. His inability to control his emotions and be smart about things becomes really annoying and made it hard for this reader to become invested in the character.

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Sgt Joe Friday narrates an audio book.

Revisado: 09-14-20

If you've ever wondered what it would sound like for Sgt Joe Friday to narrate an audio book, then buy this book. (Kids, search out a youtube clip if you don't get the cultural reference). Decent enough story ruined by flat, staccato narration. Had to stop half way through. Glad I only paid $5 for this on sale.

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Bad science, Bad world-building, Don't bother

Revisado: 06-19-20

RC Bray is of course wonderful, but he cannot save the writing. Trite, cliche. So many internal inconsistencies with the world the author creates that it finally took me out of the story. The main character is one dimensional and boring. The subplot is something we've seen a million times before. It wasn't so bad that I did not finish it, but I start skipping and skimming.

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The Narrator is just TOO OLD for the Character.

Revisado: 10-05-19

The story is great, but I just could not get past the performance. George Guidall, while a talented reader, is 81 years old and his voice sounds it. It was too jarring of an incongruity to the age of the Walt Longmire in this novel for me. I had to stop listening and go get a copy at the library to read instead.

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A Shaggy Dog Story Pretending To Be Space Opera.

Revisado: 10-05-19

I read a review where the writer says that reader R.C. Bray could make a manual about dryer lint sound interesting. Well, this novel puts that to the test. For me this ended up being a shaggy dog story. Robinson plays a "clever" trick on the reader early in the book. Except that it is one of the most clichéd overused plot devices around and if you read sci-fi a lot you will spot it immediately. I spent most of the book saying "he's not really going to go there, is he?". Long story short: yes, he went there. Lame, lame lame. Also, without getting into details, The "science" part of the science fiction is lazy gobbledygook that strains the reader's suspension of disbelief. Genetic mods that let the recipient not have to eat or drink water for 5 years? Uh-huh. Broken spines snapping back together in just minutes? Those are some hellacious gene mods,my friend. Also, the ship has an FTL drive but the author still uses relativistic time dilation to have thousands of years pass on earth too. The plot is weak and slow moving. The characters are 2D ultimately forgettable. R.C. as usual is great, but that was about it.

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