AJ Matheson

pass on the dramatization

Revisado: 08-29-24

So, I've been binging VHD for the last week or so, listening to the first 5 books from Tantor Audio (the unabridged versions here) and enjoyed them. They are pulp novels, they follow a form and cadance that doesn't really change, but they are still enjoyable.
This was the first dramatized "Graphic Audio" version and.... i prefer the standard naration. The character actors aren't bad, though D sounds too lively, if that makes sense. But the biggest issue is the narrator. He sounds drunk at times. There is a point at the beginning of Chapter 5 where he stumbles through the word "perpendicularly." He mumbles and slurs through a few places, and from the opening lines to the last, I was missing the other version. Disapointing.

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a well read, but just 'ok' story

Revisado: 05-27-24

The narration is well done, its emotive and handles the various speech ... qualities... well.

What lacks, for me at least, is the writing. King's attempt at a average, midwest millennial voice sound far too old and dated. It sounds just like the kids in "IT" or the folks in "The Stand". There is no real character there. There is also this self-deprecating line in his stories now that just doesnt sit well with me. The constant references to AA, which made sence in "Dr Sleep", or the main characters constant reflections on past deeds that are never realy explained with the emotional weight that the character feels. In fact, the main character just feels flat. A borderline "Mary Sue" type who makes all the right decisions while feeling bad about himself.

This story just seemed to lack the depth that I've seen before, and its kind of disappointing.

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music adds nothing

Revisado: 12-10-20

at best, its OK, at worst, and far more regularly, its distracting and not always fitting.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Not good...

Revisado: 11-11-20

i watched the movie adaptation of this when it came out and thought it was alright, not a fan of the main protagonist and his past, but the story was interesting. So, when i saw this book in a 2for1 sale a figured why not... see if the book is better.
it is.... and then not...
Whats better is the protagonist back story. There is no sniveling "i let my friend die in a robbery" story, just four old friends who are drifting apart as adults taking a holiday. The tension between them is more real and personal without the movies dead guy between them as its centered around real life choices of career and relationships and regrets.
Then the monster shows up. The story holds up through here, its tense, its personal. its not the best writing, but it works....
Until the third act and the human antagonists show up. in the film, its a lost tribe of Scandinavians worshiping a Jotun for generations. In the book, like some 1990's suburban mom's wet dream, its *gasp* BLACK METAL KIDS!!!!
And the story spirals from there with the reader doing about the wort Scandinavian accent I've heard- like a cross between the swedish chef Muppet and a bad vampire. it just sorta keeps going with no real surprises, even when the monster shows back up, its not very threatening as it seemingly plays with the protagonist instead of finishing him off as the story would lead it to.
in the end, it just was disappointing... i mean the author's grip on violence was weak, his monster was ill used, and his characters were mostly one dimentional and see through.
Honestly, if i hadn't gotten it for "free", I'd return it.

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surprisingly myopic

Revisado: 10-05-20

I am a huge fan of Graham Hancock and got this book based on his promotion, and while I'm not upset by this book, I am, at best, disappointed. I have small gripes about the authors wordage and constant chuckling while reading that really says more about my own tastes than anything, but i also found his conclusions and viewpoints really myopic. I get that for most people in the west, religion is either Judeo-Christian or "New Age", (with or without some understanding of traditional "Eastern" stuff like Hinduism or Buddhism), but there is so much more out there and so much more evidence of the falsehood of christian history that is seemingly avoided in this book. Its as if Muraesku is trying to legitimize early christianity more then expose its obvious dubious origins by making it some ancient Greek hold-out.
Yes, it does go a long way to substantiate the use psychedelics in ancient ritual uses, but ignores so many obvious conclusions about their structured use to cultivate the idea of rebel free thinking feminists that i cant help but feel almost cheated...

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kind of a let down...

Revisado: 10-01-20

i was really looking forward to this book- a collected set of biographies of early stoics, whats not to like? And for the first half i was digging it. the worst part of it was really Ryan Holiday's reading. I have listened to him read most of his books and his... "style" is hard for some, but I always got through, but this reading is his worst. At times, he seems rushed and trying to 'get off the stage' on time, at others like he is speaking to a crowd and projecting, near yelling his dry staccato rhythm, all while audibly flipping through the pages. it sounds amateurish, not like someone doing his n'th book.
The second half of the book gets mired in Holiday projecting today's views on history. Speaking of slavery, rule of law, suffrage and women's rights, and worse, the plight of early christians, Holiday's politics bleed through where they shouldn't and at times using fiction to illustrate a point. The chapter on Junius Rusticus is particularly bad at this and left a bad taste in my mouth.
i was really looking forward to enjoying this book as I have Holiday's others, but. for me, this is one of his worst efforts on the subject.

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odd choice in voice work

Revisado: 10-07-18

the problem i had with this audio was the partial dramatization. While most of the voice acting is done well for main characters (especially Barron Harkonen), when it changes to the narrator only, the choice in his "voice" does not reflect the actors tone or inflection. Also, when an actor reads for a minor character, there is no tone change, so Duke Leto sounds exactly like Stillgar, who also sounds like a minor fremen character... i found it a bit jarring, bouncing between two voices for one character, and then hearing one of those same voices coming from another.
Don't get me wrong, the narration is good, the dramatization is decent, but the just didn't blend them very well.

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