Doc PNW

Powerful and beautiful

Revisado: 10-04-22

I was surprised to hear at the end that this book was written in 1967; it felt in its themes and stories as if it could have been written this year.
This is a tale about the messiness of life and the ways we try understand the in-understandable. But ultimately it’s about the power of finding love even in and through pain and chaos. It’s one of the best things I’ve listened to in a long, long time. The narrator is exquisite, and perfect.

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A well-crafted apocalyptic page-turner

Revisado: 07-09-22

Jared Gulian has put together a fresh, interesting, and complex story about science gone awry, and the effects on the inhabitants of an isolated island in Lake Michigan (and possibly the wider world in novels to come). The characters are rich and well-developed, if not irritatingly stubborn or dense at times, but this kept the story from feeling too predictable. Some of the progress of the narrative readers may guess ahead of time, but there are other aspects that will come as a complete surprise, and both are satisfying elements to the story. The story is sprinkled with interesting scientific points, which I found compelling and helpful to securing the believability of the plot as it unwinds.
I thought Edoardo Ballerini did a great job with the narration, with characters quickly recognized by his great voice changes, and even an excellent job of creepy noises issued by the vesplings.
All-in-all a great and pleasantly disturbing, fast-paced story. I look forward to the next book, so get on it Jared! :)

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Great all-around read - whoever you are.

Revisado: 05-15-22

Full disclosure: I'm a cis-gender, old(er), heterosexual white man and I very much enjoyed this story. So it's for ANYONE! I think this tale of a young person finding and creating their place in a new home, with past traumas and new mysteries is a well-paced very interesting read for whoever picks it up. But I think it would be especially enjoyed by younger (teen) audiences, and even more by anyone who feels marginalized or that they somehow have to conform to anyone ELSE'S idea of who they should be - they don't. Sam is the reluctant hero we all need.
Told through the thoughts of Sam, we get a glimpse into their own personal struggle with the common troubles of new surroundings, school bullies, and also into how the world looks to and treats a person who is autistic, non-binary, and who doesn't process everything in a completely neurotypical way. These traits are there, but they do not define the story or the person, they are just part of the rich tapestry of the lives in the book.
The author did a great job of telling a rich story from the viewpoint of a complex and very endearing person, with enough drama, humour, suspense and mystery to keep it moving through to a very satisfying end.

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Disappointing, 2-dimensional thriller

Revisado: 07-11-20

I've enjoyed multiple thriller / espionage titles from the likes of Vince Flynn, Robert Ludlum and Daniel Suarez, among others, so I was hoping for a similar story with this book - tough hero using smarts and training in tough situations, complex characters and nuanced political intrigue, with sprinklings of insight into how the elite soldiers work and move.
Technically the book had these things, but in a flat, non-nuanced and predictable way. The characters were so black and white, all good or all bad, and so obviously based around caricatures of certain politicians *cough Clinton *cough that it was hard to take them seriously.
The tactical stuff was interesting, some of the action scenes were compelling, but overall this book felt unbelievable, with flat characters and a difficult to believe and justify overall premise that made remaining in the story difficult for me.

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A different type of listening experience

Revisado: 07-11-20

I'll be honest, I struggled to finish listening to this. In thinking how best to describe this book, I found it like a thick, rich dessert. It's beautiful, decadent even, but hard to take in too much at one time. I found it hard to follow and stay engaged.
Listening to this book is like having someone describe in very minute detail a rich, beautiful tapestry. It's not so much a moving through a story from point A to B (although this does happen) as it is an exercise in description and detail within the rough framework of the characters of the story and setting. The ideas are important, the characters deep and beautifully flawed, but for me the pace and flow got lost in the many many descriptions and scene settings.
The author uses simile to an extent that became completely distracting to me. It's beautifully descriptive, but once noticed, it seemed that every other description or setting was bathed in simile. Like a candle dipped repeatedly in wax to build it up. Like an encore to an encore. Like a long turn on a road where you wait and wait until you finally see the path ahead. You get the idea.
The performance and narrator were sensational. I did finally finish it but, like a large delicious meal you've eaten past satiety, as much as I liked it, I'd had my fill and was ready to be done.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Of the 250+ books I own, this is my favorite

Revisado: 01-11-14

This story is amazing. It is a blend of an edge-of-your-seat disaster story, fascinating science, completely engaging characters and humor (yes, humor; I laughed out loud time and time again) that is utterly compelling. There is nothing about this book that I didn't absolutely love.
R.C. Bray is one of the most skilled narrators I have heard in any book I've listened to. He moves from accent to accent (Indian, Chinese, German) so well it sounds like a different person, but his portrayal of astronaut Mark Watney, is absolute stand-out. This character is a nerd and a smart-ass, and the narration gets every nuance of this guy across.
You will need to have at least a passing interest in science, and astronomy, and physics to really get the most enjoyment out of this book. The story stands on its own, but the science specifics are so wondrously and meticulously detailed, that I feel by the end I've taken a course on astrophysics - which is one of the many appeals of this book.
As my title says, I've downloaded over 250 audiobooks over the years, in pretty much every genre (history, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, crime, fantasy....), and this (so far) has been my favorite (and my only triple-five-star review).

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Why didn't I like this more?

Revisado: 12-26-09

I have listened to over 200 audiobooks, and can't figure out why I didn't like this story more.

The narrator was excellent, among the best I've heard at producing exactly the right regional accent as well as voicing different characters independently.

The story setting was compelling, and gave some disturbing insight into Louisiana post-Katrina.

The plot itself seemed to have the elements I like: deep characters, thought-out plot, enough action to keep things from being too dull.

But despite all this, the book just never really set its hooks into me. I didn't have any "driveway moments" with it, and didn't find excuses to listen like I have with other books. The plot and especially the numerous characters are a little difficult to keep track of, and maybe if I had really concentrated on identifying everyone and their back story I may have found the story more compelling.

If you're good with multiple characters and following a plot closely (mystery fans?), or want a story set in the unique post-Katrina south, give it a try. If you're going to be multi-tasking while listening, or want a hard-driven plot line, this is probably not the book for you.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Zombie audiobook perfection

Revisado: 05-24-09

I've listened to 100's of audiobooks, this is my first "Zombie" genre, and I LOVED it. The story is set as various 1st hand accounts from around the world, and the myriad of actors in the audiobook lend a fantastic authenticity to the story as they speak English in their native accents.
I tend to like unabridged versions, and would love one of this, but I'll take even 7 hours of this tale.
Of all the audiobooks I've listened to, I would rank this in the top 10, probably the top 5. You won't be disappointed.

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Excellently written and narrated.

Revisado: 11-30-08

I've been listening to audiobooks for over 5 years, and this story is in my top 5.

This book is extremely well-written, with a narrative that moves you along like a good adventure story, but has elements of mythological tales, murder mystery, suspense drama, and historical fiction all worked in. The setting is fascinating - 1800's naval exploration of the NW Passage, and the characters are complex and interesting (though not all likable).

It's a dark tale, and doesn't necessarily all wrap up cleanly or as the reader would want, but it's nice to listen to a story that is not predictable.

I cannot say enough good things about the narrator. His style, cadence, characters, EVERYTHING is spot-on, and moves the story forward to where you more experience it than listen to it.

Overall, I highly recommend this book.

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esto le resultó útil a 13 personas

Brave soldier, good story, too political

Revisado: 11-30-08

This is Marcus Luttrell's story, and it's his absolute right to tell it in his words. And while his particular political views are an integral part of his experience, they are a distraction from the narrative. His ordeal and bravery would be no less significant if he did not frequently drop derogatory epithets about the enemy, gush praise for political leaders, or blame the "liberal media" for decisions he made in impossible situations that later went bad.

The author's writing style was also distracting. He would emphasize powerful situations that needed no emphasizing with over-the-top comparisons (a time of heightened awareness: "I could have heard a goat fart from a mile away") or employ misstated analogies ("you couldn't have pried me off with a chainsaw").

Books like Black Hawk Down tell a compelling story, give a basic political background, but do not get bogged up in extreme political opinions to the point where it detracts from the story.

This is as much a story of Marcus Luttrell and his particular history and beliefs as it is a story of battle and survival. That is fine and legitimate, but it is not made clear from the book's title or publisher summary.

It is a compelling story, but it is hard to follow the events with the frequency of the author's political interjections.

The narrator reads well, and seems to have been picked for a down-home, Southern drawl to match the author's East Texas roots. It grated me a little that certain military words like Chinook were mis-pronounced (chin-ook instead of shi-nook).

Overall, the story told about the author's amazing heroism was too hard to find amid the other commentary.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas