Robert M McCarroll

Not Very Good at Laying Foundations

Revisado: 08-22-22

Had the title been "An extremely shallow overview of Chinese History with questionably short diversions to neighboring lands" it would have been accurate. I knew only the basics on the history of the region going in and felt like I knew less when the course was done. It doesn't help that the professor contradicts himself, expecting you to forget what he'd said from earlier lectures.

Would not recommend.

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Not suitable for an audiobook format

Revisado: 06-22-22

While there is a raft of information within this book, the format is a mass of extremely long, dry lists, that make it a chore to listen to. In text form, you can easily reference such material while not bogging down in those elements not immediately important, but in audio format, that option is no longer practical.

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Too much 21st Century, not enough 20th

Revisado: 06-07-21

I couldn't get into the yarn because the author kept undermining the suspension of disbelief by pouring too much of the early 21st century into the characterization of people supposedly from a century earlier. It was irritating to the point where I had to bail on the tale.

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Disappointed with the 'Mystery'

Revisado: 02-12-19

When the title mystery in your mystery book ends up as a minor subplot, something left the rails. Its resolution felt like brushing aside an afterthought. While there were plenty of elements that could have been entertaining, many of the connections felt contrived, and more of a halfhearted attempt to make sure the same guest characters appeared in them.

In a book full of contrivances, the backstory of "Olivier" felt especially contrived when presented. Claiming to be a half-syrian bastard of a crusader who abandoned him before birth; raised muslim and converting after the death of his only known relative to christianity; and then not only being accepted into the service of a crusader, but as a squire; and to top it off sent to rescue said crusader's kin alone? My credulity did not stretch that far. I was convinced that this had to be a lie told by the character in-story. With the book bereft of attention on the title mystery, I attempted to suss out the truth. So what would be the clues? Dark hair and olive complexion said it could be anywhere in the mediterranian. Better french than Enlish led me to guess Spain or Italy. The extreme lengths taken to avoid killing the known murderous bandits during his "infiltration" of the camp made me even more suspicious.

I could only conclude that he was in cahoots with the bandits, but looking to his own escape from the siege. While this failed to explain why his betrayal didn't come with bloodshed, it still made more sense than a 'rescuer' who made the rescue more difficult through not not justifiably dealing with these outlaws in the manner a fighting man would be most trained to do. The only story that made any sense to me was that he didn't want to weaken the defenses too badly so that both bandit and lawmen would be badly weakened, reducing the difficulty in asserting his bogus mission and depart with the children to ransom them for his own gain. That he was likely a con man from either spain or italy who had gathered the particulars during the hue and cry raised when the lot first disappeared. Knowing their uncle had not gone by way of his homeland, he explained away his appearance by a flimsy tale, counting on his charisma to sell the falsehood. Then at the last minute, his dastardly plan would be foiled in some manner through the use of the brooch pin that the hiding of was so brought to our attention. The fact that each time he appeared he was ever more sinister in action and aspect contrasted with too-perfect qualities and unquestioning adoration from the children made me ever more certain he would be unmasked as a scoundrel.

Absolutely none of what I came up with was even close.

The real story was much less credible than even that, and left me sourly disposed to the work.

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Improved as a Voice Performer

Revisado: 09-17-18

Back when I put in a review for "Burglar on the Prowl" I'd said I was going to avoid audiobooks Mr. Block had read himself due to the issues I had understanding him in that work.

Accidents happen, and I ended up with this one in my library and paid for before I realized who was reading it. The good news is, between 04 and 06, he improved in terms of cadence. It was easier to understand what was being said, and thus less of an issue to pick up the story without distracting from my driving.

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Left Wanting More

Revisado: 07-24-18

I would love to see more of the BattleTech novels made into audiobooks. It's a format that works well for the subject matter, and there is a long back catalog - hampered by the mess of confusion over rights issues that plagued the franchise from the word go.

This particular installment was entertaining and many of the issues I was planning to raise regarding the raiders organization were actually explored in the text, with the sorts of results that I'd forseen from the moment I'd heard about them.

The biggest flaw in the work is the quality control. You can hear the change in tone and recording quality between repeat takes, splices and replacement lines. Worse, they left in takes where the performer had to back up and repeat a line in its entirety. A little more polish in editing, and some more time in re-recording would do wonders for the quality.

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Oddly Judgemental and Disdainful

Revisado: 07-15-18

I was surprised that a purported historian was so downright judgemental, disdainful, and factually inaccruate with regards to classical civilization. One of his biggest repeated mistakes is misinterpreting the meaning of life expectancy and basing conclusions on it as though it were an off-switch and completely disconnected to the high infant mortality rate he often discusses in proxmimity to it. The more people who die young, the lower the life expectancy, but that does not have direct implications on the age to which survivors of childhood can expect to reach. If you listened to Professor Garland, Athens both had few children surviving to adulthood and was swarming with orphans. The degree to which he denigrated the religious beliefs of the Egyptians was confusing for someone who claimed to have been inspired to study history because of exposure to mummies at a young age.

His tone and presumptions indicate the perspective of someone who has never left the ivory tower to see what real life is like in the time in which he himself lives. His idosyncracies regarding pronunciation do not seem to line up with an accent I can identify. It gets distracting when basic words like 'Celcius' get mispronounced.

Save your money and exercise your curiousity elsewhere.

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Romance Playing Dress Up as Mystery

Revisado: 04-26-18

I ended up abandoning this book 3/4 of the way through. The blurb did not describe what was on offer in the least. They tried to pretend this is a murder mystery, but there was less than five 'pages' worth of content dedicated to the dead guy and the investigation, regarding that fig leaf of a subplot as an inconvenience to the long, dreamy passages talking about how the boring blank slate of a designated love interest got the narrator all gooey. I don't give a rodent's rear end about that. I expected by three quarters of the way through the book to at least have some ideas about who the suspects are, or know anything about the dead guy beyond "he was a rude pastry chef"

Had they sold the book as what it actually is - a romance - I would not have rated it so low. But you bill your book as a mystery, and a reader of mysteries is going to expect there to be some sleuthing in it.

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Disappointed

Revisado: 04-05-18

I was disappointed with this work. The designated protagonist is the least interesting member of the cast save perhaps for his designated love interest, and their relationship was so uninteresting that it detracted from those parts of the book that showed great promise. Everybody but those two showed some sign of personality, even unnamed cameo characters who never returned once their scene was up. Early on there was a great deal of evidence of plot developments which would never come to pass. If it were subverting expectations, that would be one thing, but it felt like so many unfired Checkov's Guns littering the scenery. In all it showed signs of the skill that would emerge after further efforts had refined it in the following decades, but the shortcomings of the novice storyteller still plagued this early volume. It didn't help my impression any that it had such a downer ending.

The audio performance was fine. I didn't particularly notice it, so I can't complain.

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Should not have been an author-read audiobook

Revisado: 06-19-17

I have been a fan of the Burglar series since I first stumbled onto it in a library years ago. I recently picked up a pile of them in audio format for a protracted road trip. The earlier volumes were quite well executed. Then this one came around. However much I may like his turn of the pen, I don't think Lawrence Block has the voice to read the audiobook. I listen while driving, so even minor issues understanding words means I miss part of the story, since my attention has to be primarily on the road. His enunciation is not the clearest and his cadence is too fast, making it hard to understand what he is saying.

I will still read and/or listen to works he has written, but will avoid audiobooks where he is narrating.

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