Lauffeuer

When you have a problem, every problem looks ...

Revisado: 11-19-23

Well, let me start by stating that when you hit the appendix they will admit most of their ~1970s ideas didn't pan out, but they are looking for ways to move this forward.

The sum up is they did amazing work in Central America researching mushroom use in religion, where they had lots of physical evidence and oral history to back them up. They then, after being told by the experts in the field that it wasn't the same with the Eleusinian mysteries, decided to just apply the same conclusions to Greece with no physical evidence and only weak parallels found in mythology.

It's an interesting idea, but you'll find a lot of "god of the gaps" type thinking with lack of evidence for other ideas is used as evidence for their hypothesis.

And, to come back to the start, the update added at the end is basically, "None of this turned out to have any evidence, and over time evidence has weighted against it, but we still have mushroom inspired hope."

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Great for in the car with the kids

Revisado: 08-06-18

We start each morning with this book in the car. "Daddy, Broom! Broom!" It's great, we started with the book, they love it, we saw the animated version, they love it, we have this, they love it. It's just about the perfect length for a quick trip to the store, and for longer trips, we can queue up Donaldson's other books, which so far have all been fantastic.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

The History of Rome Returns!

Revisado: 10-24-17

Mike Duncan created the award-winning, "The History of Rome" podcast and so there is no need to ask, "Will I enjoy this?" Take a quick listen to the podcast that birthed the book, it's only 179+ Episodes!

But let us be serious for a moment. You've already done that. You listen to the whole thing, and you've been listening to his new podcast, "Revolutions." You know this is going to be amazing, and you don't need me to tell you that. Mike has only been doing this for over a decade, you know that what he writes sounds amazing in audio format.

I've listened to it twice now, and it was wonderful both times. No doubt, like the podcast, I will continue to return to it. Mike goes into a lot more detail about the time frame and is able to include more figures and events, leading to a better understanding of not just the era being covered, but that more famous story which follows.

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Good Light History

Revisado: 01-23-17

It certainly covers the topic and does so as completely I think as one can for a lay audience, but there are also a number of chapters which are connected to the main theme by the most tenuous of threads. It's clear that there simply isn't enough information out there to fill a book (at least with a lay audience in mind) even including both myth and history.

Additionally, it could use a bit more rigor in what is being reported as truth. Whenever you deal with ancient sources, you need to be sure to point to what there is evidence for and what is written by someone with an ax to grind. It's been amazing to me in the recent years how much better podcasters are at saying where information comes from and what bias it may hold compared with those who write history books for popular consumption.

Those issues aside, the theme I feel the reader is intended to take away is, "Sex and love haven't always been viewed by people the way most people view them today." In this, the book is successful. Also, it certainly is spicy in the ways you'd want from a book of this title.

Even as well read (lay not academic) as I am on the time period, I still found things which were new and interesting and made me happy to have read this. It's worth reading as long as you are aware of its issues.

Levine's narration does a great job. His inflections keep the text interesting and he inserts the right emotion into each sentence. Looking at the other works he has done, it's clear he narrates a lot of romance novels, so he's not a bad choice considering the topic. However, I'm not about to dive into reading that of expertise. ;)

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

It's overwrought.

Revisado: 01-21-17

First, if you are uncomfortable with graphic descriptions of rape, you should avoid this book. There is a serial rapist and his methodology is described in detail in more than a few scenes.
------
Ambitious is the word others have used, and I think it applies to the work that went into this project. Loram is the author, narrator, involved in the music as songwriter and performer, and is the publisher. But while admirable in the attempt, these things do not in and of themselves add up to a good work. I feel another adjective might also be applicable, "Overwrought."

Listening to the book became a chore. Eventually, I started cranking up the speed to get through it and settled in at a 2x for the last 3/4ths of the book. In the end, it took me about the same number of real-time days to get through this as it did for me to get through "The Count of Monte Cristo," and that is a 50+ hour long audiobook.

Very little is just stated and the prose can get quite purple. This is compounded in that many of the details are describing the ordinary. They are things we don't need to know, would have intuitively known, and/or aren't interested in knowing. It may be an attempt to make the world feel more real, but there are times when the superfluous details aren't just tedious but actively hurt the story. For example, October, the main character, doesn't remember the names of his uncle and cousins after they clearly left many memorable impressions on him. Suspension of disbelief is a currency I feel Loram doesn't quite know when to spend.

Loram's narration is alright. He's really the first author who narrated his own work that I've listened to where I didn't think it wasn't awful. (Trust me, you don't want to listen to Stephen King try to narrate his own works) Naturally, the fact that he has the ability to do this means the interpretation is exactly as the author intended and that does add to the production. There are some audio issues, pauses that are too long or not long enough, the echoes filter sometimes used when someone is thinking to themselves is distracting, attempts at sound effects that don't quite work. Again, the description I want to go back to is overwrought.

Since the music is kind of unique feature to the story, let's talk about that. The first time you encounter it, you can hardly hear it. There a rambling exposition over it. It might be a song, even the one he is talking about in the exposition, but all that comes through is a few twangy picked guitar strings. Had there been a pause in the narration, so the listener could hear the tune before narrating over it, it might have worked. This is pretty much par for the course when it comes to the music.

Lastly, the song creation that goes on throughout the book: It's an interesting insight into the development of a song. Still, the song which results (which you do get to hear without narration overlaying it if you get the audiobook) while not bad is nothing special. You'll hear variations on the tune and lyrics from any number of local bands in your area. It's a typical mopey love song for acoustic.

So, in the final verdict: It's ok but overwrought. It certainly different, and the novelty of the author filling so many roles and not having it result in total disaster is new for me. It's clear that Loram has invested more of himself into this than many others making the attempt. However, the work done on it went past the point of improving and became detrimental.

I was given a free copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

I didn't know what to expect . . .

Revisado: 01-08-17

. . . and this book met my expectations. I don't mean it's awful, but it certainly isn't good. It purports to be B-Movie style story, and it delivers, but it did not convince me that such a genre is worth my time. I am as confused about this work as when I first picked it up.

It's readable. The characters do stuff and saying things, and the story contains action and conflict and a goal and all almost fits together. . . and so from a technical standpoint, it's alright. However, when it comes to the fine points, like suspension of disbelief and relatable dynamic characters, it falls flat.

Additionally, if you are well read or a movie buff you are going to see other works throughout this. To start, there is a lot of the Jurassic Park movies is this book. It just impossible to not feel the influence of the movies throughout the story, and some parts (especially the end) feel directly lifted. Monster movies in general, but in particular SyFy's brand of monster movies, are the other apparent influence particularly in the character tropes that got used.

I get that a lot of what I am complaining about as bad is part of the B-Movie style, but a lot of works start from that foundation to get the audience into the story quicker and then grow the characters, setting, and conflict into something more than what they started as.

As for the narration, Podehl was good. I would have no problem listening to other works by him. However, I didn't feel it was so good as to balance out what I felt was going on with the story.

I received a copy of The Dinosaur 4 in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Fun Idea, but show don't tell.

Revisado: 12-23-16

Show don't tell. This is a common criticism in visual media, but it can apply to books as well.

Sure, with books, you are always in a way telling a story. However, there is a difference between growing a setting through characters interacting with each other and the world and having a book that is nothing but narrative exposition.

I kind of expected the exposition to end and the characters to start engaging each other in dialog and their personalities to be revealed through this. This did not happen. Instead, the narrative exposition continued, and continued, and so on. You are told that characters had a conversation and what the result of it was, but you never hear a line of dialog from it. Sometimes a character does say something, but it isn't speech. It's sermon or exposition directed at a character, and often broadcast supernaturally directly into the character's mind. It isn't more than a couple of lines and never an exchange.

The story itself is exactly what the title offers. Various mythologies are presented, splintered, brought together, and mixed with zombies as part of the setting. There are a lot of ideas in this book, some of them could even be good. The book is divided roughly into three parts and it's clear that there is the framework for a series here, if dialog and character drama had been added. Even as strange as some of the ideas are, compelling characters can add a suspension of disbelief to nearly anything, and even flourish in the realm of the strange. However, without character drama to add flesh to the story, you get huge shifts in the story happening in a single line of text. As an example: reborn Zombie Jesus teams up with the Valhallan psychopathic werewolves to take on the King in Yellow is a brief moment of the story. Why can they set aside their differences to fight this common enemy? Don't know, it's never explored.

A big reason I made it to the end is I started playing with the listening timer. I kept increasing it, and could still follow what was going on at x2.5. x3 was just a little too fast, as that resulted in words being chopped apart. However, with no dialog to process, it wasn't a problem to follow even at this high speed.

It is in the last few pages that we are shifted into a character driven a narrative, and the characters engage in conversations, and it is finally entertaining and not just exposition told to us. They are interesting, and quirky, and had the rest of the book been like this, my review would read far different.

Now, if I was to pick a narrator for a post-apocalyptic prophecy, Crosthwaite would be a great choice. He has the voice for it. In the end, when he has characters to perform, he does a good job there as well. His performance adds a lot to the work.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

It's an interesting idea, but just an idea

Revisado: 12-20-16

It was neat, at least for a few minutes.

It's an interesting idea, and it's been done but it is something that can always be updated for the current era. The length is even something that made me think this might work. It is supposed to be framed as Satan himself, stating his case to the masses, calling for people to cast off their chains but the more I listened the more it sounded like being with your overly political friend at a bar and having to listen to him whine after having a few too many beers.

In the end, it's ok, but not worth the price being asked for it.

Lowhim's narration and performance are quite good.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

The story isn't bad, the production is.

Revisado: 11-28-16

The book starts out with maybe the most boring mob-hit scene I have every experienced in any media. Thankfully, this is followed up by our trendsetter protagonist, Dexter, getting hilariously denied entry into a restaurant he made famous and the story quickly brings the opening together as he plots his revenge using an obvious (to the reader) "mob restaurant." Naturally, this sets up a fair amount of excitement, as anyone can see that this is going to backfire, but how and how spectacularly is the question that makes you want to read more.

What follows is a Comedy of Errors style story, complete with slapstick and a lot of mistaken identities (which often gets the person killed). The story is at its best when it wanders into the realm of farce.

Dexter is your stereotypical egotistical character. There is the typical, for fiction, fawning woman who loves this man and will do anything for him, but he isn't into her at the start (although that plot point is resolved far too quickly). The mob guys are typical tropes for that genre. They are all trope characters, but nearly everyone of note in the story has enough individual characteristics to make them distinct from the base template they were pulled from.

It's not bad. There are some memorable moments. The characters are unique enough to hold interest. The plot is enjoyable, even if the story drags a little at times. It maybe trying too hard to be a "Made for TV" movie script, but that tone isn't enough to override the fun moments.

Now for narration and production: Al Benelli's gives a very mixed performance. He's ok for the main character, great at the "mob guys," and awful with anyone else. Especially female voices. I even at one point had trouble telling who was talking, as the voice used for Dexter got dropped for a couple lines. Also, I have never encountered so many post-production edits and filters as get used in this audiobook. Almost every time a filter kicks in it is jarring and badly done. The places it works is when recording are being played back in the story, but sound editing is often used to try and make Benelli's female voices different and less masculine, but it just makes them unnatural. Also, why would someone add a distance sounding filter for a guy in the front seat of a car? He's a couple feet away, not down a corridor. From a production standpoint, this should be an example of how not to record an audiobook. It made this tale very hard to get through.

Final verdict: If Mob Comedy sounds like your kind of thing, get this book, but not as an audiobook.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

It's not good.

Revisado: 11-27-16

The main character is annoying, paranoid, selfish, racist, misogynistic. For the first three and a half hours , the book is basically just letting you get to know the protagonist, and how much you really don't want to know him and how much everyone he has every encountered doesn't want to know him. He is simply increasingly awful to the people he meets. I was starting to wonder, "Was all of that suppose to be funny? Because it's not."

(I will talk some details from here on out)

There is a funny moment where John Adams says, "My colleagues and I wrote the Constitution to protect your God given inalienable rights to do as many drugs and buy as many assault weapons as you possibly can," because the main character has accidently eaten some hash brownies and is off on his first every magic carpet ride. However, it doesn't last and we soon get back to him being terrible.

I was hoping it would improve once they start executing their plan, but it doesn't. Within a few lines of entering the neighbors' house, it becomes obvious what the main character is being manipulated into doing. However, when the full extent of the "true plan" is revealed, it's just stupid. The plan based on the idea that their neighbors are terrorist is believable in that we know it is a product of insanity. The "true plan" is just over the top craziness to make the old plan look rational by comparison.

I get this book is, by definition, satire. It's just not a very good one. Our main character's views make him easy to manipulate, but that's it. He finds it hard to relate and communicate with people, but that rarely affects the course of the story.

At the end of the story, as all hell breaks loose, our main character is annoying, selfish, paranoid, racist, and misogynistic. He helps no one and he learns nothing. Nothing changes or is accomplished. This is because character development and growth is for real novels.

It is a shame that this is Joe Quirk's only narration on Audible so far. He is a big reason I made it through this book. His range of voices is quite good, as is his inflection and pacing. I'd be happy to listen to other works read by him.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona