Cave Dog

Great for lovelorn teens, not so for grownups

Revisado: 06-11-12

Many reviews compare Divergent favorably to Hunger Games. There are certain aspects of both stories that are similar, but Divergent is a mere shadow of the stories told in the Hunger Games trilogy.

My first complaint is my fault more than anything - Divergent is sold as a YA book and it's geared toward young women in particular, so the romantic aspects of the story are far more front-and-center than I would have preferred. The aforementioned reviews and comparisons to Hunger Games swayed me, but I definitely do not share some of the enthusiastic reviews and I would not place Divergent in the same category as its trilogy cousin.

BTW, I'm a 49-year old male, so I'm clearly not in the intended demographic. On the other hand, I really enjoyed Hunger Games, et al, in part because the world the characters inhabited was so well described (and the romance was nicely handled). Not so in Divergent - I felt many times that I wanted to understand more about how the world ended up as sketched out, but precious little was forthcoming.

Every time the protagonist, Tris, became all woozy with her love interest leaning close or touching her face sending jolts of teen electricity through her, I wanted to skip ahead. As noted, I realize I'm not the audience the author is aiming at, but the sophomoric descriptions of these encounters weren't even that interesting. I barely even got the sense that the romantic elements were driving Tris in any way besides hormones. If the story had none of these moments, it would have not only held up fine, but probably would have been improved.

The story felt as if it is missing a chapter. When the climactic moment passes, there's almost no easing Tris back into her new life - we're simply told everything's different now, with the implication being we'll have to read the next book to understand how. I would have really appreciated even a short chapter that swept things up a bit after the messy adventure ended and gave me some sense of where Tris was going next.

The narrator, Emma Galvin, does a decent job, though she tends to be rather one-note throughout. There were only a couple of times that I had the sense that she was truly into the story and inhabiting the characters. Most of the time she was a good reader, but nothing more.

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I must have missed something

Revisado: 02-01-12

I feel like I have to give this another shot at some point in the future - other reviews are practically glowing, but that's not how this story struck me.

The story is exceptionally dense and, at least the way I was listening, it was very difficult for me to slide into understanding the various settings, back stories, characters, etc. This audio book really seems to demand more focus than I'm typically able to give. For most other audio books I've listened to, this is usually not a problem, but for Dune that lack of sustained focus made me feel lost.

The multi-actor cast was used inconsistently, with some passages being read by the respective characters, others being simply read by the "main" reader. I think it would have helped to stick with just the reader. Particularly since some of the actors were exceptionally annoying.

I grant this review is not entirely fair - I only got about halfway through the book before abandoning it, so anyone reading this should understand I can't judge it fully. Do know that this is a complex story and it demands more attention than other audio books.

When I do try this again, I'll amend or revise this review.

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Great story, occasionally annoying read

Revisado: 12-21-11

If you're a fan of time travel stories and Stephen King, 11/22/63 will hit all the right buttons. It's a compelling "what if" about the implications of trying to alter history. There are elements of "The Adjustment Bureau" and a little "Inception" thrown in for good measure.

This is low on King horror influence - more of a wistful love letter to one of the most powerful arcs in modern history, told from the perspective of someone who wishes it were possible to alter the past with the hope of creating a more hopeful present.

The story focuses on a reluctant protagonist, Jake, who ends up far deeper in the threads of history than he counted on. The mystery and danger of his task builds to a satisfying climax and ultimately finishes with an inevitability that feels just right at the end.

Craig Wasson's narration is generally good, though his voice characterizations tend to lean toward stereotype and often feel forced, sometimes maddeningly so. Overall, however, his heart is in the right place and, for me, it was worth gritting my teeth to get past the silly parts.

My only wish were that King spent more time in the present toward the end of the story, postulating further on the possible outcomes of Jake's efforts. The world King paints in the final chapter was barely filled in and I would have liked to hear more. On the other hand, by the time the story reaches that point, it's been a long slog, so it's probably better that the end comes as swiftly as it does.

Overall a compelling story and well read, but be prepared for some cringe-inducing moments with Wasson's otherwise excellent narration.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Magical and well-told

Revisado: 11-29-11

I can't decide which I liked more: Neil Gaiman's reading of his gem of a story or the story itself. Either way, it made for a wonderful, tight, oddly nostalgic experience.

This is my first listen of a Gaiman story - I had recently read "American Gods" before downloading "The Graveyard Book", which prepared me for Gaiman's crisp, seemingly simple style. Pairing that with his soothing and smart narration makes this production the best I've yet listened to from Audible.

The tale opens ominously, with a horrendous crime perpetrated by a very dark character. When I listened to the story a second time with my wife and twin 13-year olds, I was surprised by their gasps as the hinted details of the crime coalesced to reveal the true nature of the deed. This initial dip into darkness, however, yields to a story of humor, lightness of spirit, and innocence. The black heart of the initial scenes never goes away completely, but serves as a touchstone for the acts and relationships that follow.

The characters who inhabit this world are lightly drawn, but never shallow. Sometimes only the few words inscribed on a headstone are all that defines one of these players, but those words create an entire world itself - not unlike radically short films (think 1- or 5-second variety) that flash by in an instant, but leave behind an echo that grows in the story's wake (mixed metaphor there!).

Gaiman's writing is full of this type of sketched description. He leaves out what many authors belabor. The resulting prose feels light and effortless, but nevertheless digs deeply into occasionally heavy themes - abandonment, commitment, death, love... just the basics.

My kids absolutely loved the story. I heartily recommend it for any children 12 or over, with younger ones also game if they have some degree of sophistication about storytelling and some of the themes noted above. Though considered a "teen" title, I guarantee un-jaded adults will relish the experience of listening to a very accomplished author tell this sweet story.

My only critique is the subplots sprinkled throughout felt, at times, disjointed. That was an initial sense that was largely erased on my second pass, though most folks will likely listen only once, so my first impression was of a somewhat wandering plot line. The overall presentation, characters, and gentle story, however, still make this well worth your time.

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Great story, not-so-great read

Revisado: 10-04-11

The author creates a very believable dystopia where the real world is so broken that the online world becomes a refuge to vast swaths of the population. One could imagine this future coming to pass without much of a stretch.

The author doesn't go into much detail about the physical world of this future, but with just a few choice passages, paints a picture that makes it clear why users of the "Oasis" want to spend so much time in their virtual existence. That this hoped-for virtual utopia is in danger of being swallowed whole by for-profit multinational corporate interests makes perfect sense. Where there's money to be made by controlling a limited resource, there will be the most rapacious elements of the free market racing to exploit.

The protagonists are well-realized and sympathetic. The villains are likewise believable and, though perhaps a bit one-dimensional, nevertheless easily vilified while still imagining how they ended up the way the are. We feel comfortable supporting one camp and hating the other with little possible confusion. In other contexts and with other stories, this might be frustrating, but RPO lives in a world of games and experiencing the story as a game itself seems part of the point.

The story moves smoothly and is well paced and did not bog down at any point. There was some sense of inevitability in the story - very few surprising twists and turns - but that didn't really reduce its pleasure.

My only serious critique would be with Mr. Wheaton's reading. He is one of those narrators who seems to be reaching too often to inject some element into the reading that eventually takes on the same note for every mood. He has a wooden ear for dialects and this makes for frustrating moments when I wished he would JUST READ THE WORDS and stop trying to impersonate some nationality or culture.

If the story were even slightly less compelling, the narration would have made me crazy. Luckily, it was excellent.

Strongly recommended - great story.

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Hoped for more

Revisado: 07-29-11

The relative weakness of the reading would have been acceptable if the story were stronger. Both it and the presentation just missed on several level, which made for an overall "meh" book.

The story never seemed to find a rhythm or coalesce around a cohesive plot direction. Several times it felt like a new and potentially interesting thread was being introduced, only to have the story slide back into the mundane.

The reader was not particularly compelling, either. I found myself grinding my jaw often when some of the characters would speak, wishing Mr. Herman would dial back the characterization or simply read in his own voice. Actually, I'm not entirely sure he ever did read in his own voice. The entire narration sounded as if it were being "Acted".

The sci-fi element of the story was disappointing, though the world created by the author was fully formed and intriguing. The ending of the book left many plot threads hanging. The author seemed more interested in keeping an opening for a sequel than in tying up the many loose ends.

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esto le resultó útil a 10 personas