Onix Harbinger

Narration so bad I just couldn't take it.

Revisado: 03-06-24

The narrator, Roberto Scarlato, simply ruined it for me. The story seemed very compelling, but several chapters in I just couldn't take it anymore. He reads in short 5 to 10 second spurts. He does voices and accents okay but the rhythm of his reading is so horrible and distracting that I just couldn't stay with what was probably a good book series.

I ended up returning the book for a credit. If the author re-publishes with a different narrator, I would be willing to give it another try but I will never purchase anything from this narrator again. He reads like he's short of breath or he's being fed the lines on one tiny card at a time.

I've heard worse narration before but it's rare. I'd almost say Virtual Voice is better than this and I hate being read to by a computer or AI both on quality and on principle.

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An entertaining series

Revisado: 03-05-24

This is an entertaining series; however, do not look for any real character development with the main protagonist. Characters around him change and evolve but the central character tends to walk through all of the events completely unchanged.

In his previous life he was very powerful and knowledgeable, then following a dark age where much of society's progress was lost, he arrives as a great savior. He still has to deal with the disreputable past of his host body, but this becomes a minor challenge and minor obstacle for him as the story goes on. This does not mean the tale is boring in anyway though!

The events around him keep you hooked. While many of the problems that arise are at most a fair challenge to him, it is those around him that keep things interesting. No one is perfect or saintly here, it is a difficult period to live in and there are many societal problems to deal with. This requires the protagonist to deal with people who have few scruples about things like slavery or causing hardships for others for profit. The protagonist himself can be quite brutal at times when dealing with those who cross him or his friends badly. As the stories in this continue, he brings the successes of the past with him, and shares most of them freely and widely. He deals with various events involving war, intrigue, and quality of life for those he cares for,

The narrator really saves this series. Tom Tayorson's skill at narration helps keep the story alive and entertaining throughout. I found that I rarely scrubbed or skipped forward through any of the events if at all with his reading. I listened mostly at 1.1 which usually means there is a great narrator. I could have easily listened at 1.5 but I wanted to absorb the story better and didn't want to rush it. He does a great job of doing voices. It is easy to understand him, and to know which character is speaking in any given scene.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the entire series (1 - 10 as of this review) a solid 7. Worth your credits if you have them, Save, them if you're waiting for another book to come out. Don't pay full price though. Each "book" in the series is about 6 hours long and it is a great thing that they "packed" them together in pairs otherwise I would have skipped it entirely.

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Brilliant!

Revisado: 02-29-24

Done in a journalistic/travelogue style it tells the tale of an ancient uplifted (artificially evolved) feline fighting against the weight of a long life, centuries of struggle, the burdens of duty, and the pain of loneliness. (If you liked the Bobiverse series, then this one is for you! But it is unique in its own way.) The protagonist draws you in, and sometimes breaks your heart. Her journey though is through a struggle that escalates beyond anything even she could have imagined. A life, a very long and hard one full of grief and loneliness, lived well. Worthy of reward. This story is definitely worth your credit and time,

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Great book, but that ending!

Revisado: 11-17-23

The story is pretty dark, well written in that it kept you hooked. The ending though…

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Brutal, relentless, plague as the main character

Revisado: 03-16-23

No worries, this book is standalone and can be read independently from the other series. Now that this part is out of the way on to my review.

It is a riveting experimental book by the author, unlike any of his other works so far,.. but definitely a worthy addition to the expanded multiverse. For those who read the Mage Errant series, there is a pleasing mention of a Labyrinth in the beginning tying this tragic world in with the rest... but be warned, this is not an epic adventure story. It is one of creeping relentless terror.

It was an interesting read, though after a point the relentless march of death gets... repetitive in a way. You become numbed to the terror as it creeps across the lands. Let's just say there are no series of mysteries revealed in unfolding realizations. The main character is the plague itself, You see some characters return from chapter to chapter sometimes but there is no central character like you would find in his other books and indeed the plague itself seems to be the antagonist. It is as a whole, a sad story. Though there are moments and places for hope buried under a mountain of loss and lament.

That said, this is very well written and worth your time though it may not be what you expect from Bierce. Just understand that it is relentlessly grimdark. The timing of when this was written is coincidental and there is an author's note at the end that explains this.

The world building is also a pleasant surprise and even as you watch cultures taking severe damage and even dying from the plague I think this is part of what keeps you riveted to the story as it unfolds. The descriptions of the land, the beliefs and cultures, the cities and their other landmarks. The world is created with depth and definitely have the feel of long histories... and lament their loss as you hear the stories about the lists of bitter struggles to chronicle the names of the lost.

The narration isn't too bad. Not nearly as bad as some reviewers complained about. I've had better, and far worse. A solid 3.5 out of 5 if I could give it. She is NOT monotone, and she is a smooth reader. It's the accents I think where there may be some grating irritation for some listeners. She does a fine job though in keeping a good pace (I listened at 1.2x) and you do feel when she changes characters and viewpoints.

Make sure you are in a good place mentally though before you start listening to this. Have a pet in your lap. Hug your kids. Take breaks and watch something filled with color and honey on tv. (I didn't, I was riveted from start to finish.)

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My third favorite Card book!

Revisado: 02-17-23

Ender's game and Speaker for the Dead are my other two favorites. While this reads at first as a YA novel it deals with some pretty brutal and traumatic events. There are some trigger warnings for those who have delt with abuse, kidnap, and human trafficking, but without too many spoilers I'll just say they are resolved completely by the end. The children in this book are very bright for their age and experience so you'll have to suspend some belief or put it off as it being just how these individuals have matured due to their life experiences. In many ways they had to grow up young and Card did an excellent job of providing the backgrounds and character developments to support them.

I love the idea of Micropowers! Just like any skill or talent one may have, if you are clever enough and stubborn enough to search for ways to make them useful then they make perfect sense in this or any world setting. Along with the other book, Card builds a very logical world where these abilities not only fit in, but that most people are completely unaware of them. As the story progresses you find yourself really liking the people in the story (except for the antagonists of course.) There is a lot of friendship and family building going on and you are left feeling good about the characters possible futures in a very satisfying way.

I would love to see more books in this setting, and the idea of re-visiting some of these characters in the future as they become adults would be fantastic. I really do hope Card continues to add more to this series.

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Freedom to chose

Revisado: 02-01-23

This is a very short, sad and bitter sweet, story. It is worth the brief time to listen to, and Ray Porter’s performance is great. Like all good stories, especially short ones, it leaves you wishing for more. I can see it continued with Dan malfunctioning due to Orion’s actions by becoming overprotective of the next caretaker. Sooo many possibilities.

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Not bad

Revisado: 01-28-23

A wonderful love story spanning eons and generations in space. The writing is reminiscent of some of Roger Zelany’s experimentals, with its own styling. Do yourself a favor and don’t look too closely at the plot and just enjoy the ride.

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Classic Kenda

Revisado: 08-19-21

It’s great hearing these stories from the man who lived them. Yeah, sometime a little over the top, a little cliche, but this is a man who lived a life that was a little over the top and just a little cliche. If you’ve watched his show some of these stories will sound familiar, but he tells them without embellishment and with some of the sometimes disquieting details they left out. You get to learn more about the man himself, he pulls no punches and is forthright about the darker details of what the job brings out of him and the scars that are left behind. It was a great listen worth our time and your buck. Thank you Kenda for sharing.

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A great series if read in its entirety

Revisado: 08-21-18

This is the first book of a great four part series. It is quite the adventure and it has its deeper aspects as well as you follow the protagonist as he is divided/reborn/copied into four different bodies and explores the complex and intricate mysteries of each of the four worlds of the Warden Diamond. Each world presents a different set of challenges for the protagonist, an agent and assassin of the ruling interplanetary state, his mission... to assassinate the Four Lords of the Diamond and investigate the possible presence of an alien outside influence threatening the stable society built across many worlds. The Warden Diamond planets where a unique organism prevents one from ever leaving those worlds and now used as a penal colony for the federation. Lilith a world where all technology decays and fails in moments and where changes to the environment are resisted and vanish unless maintained by those who have the power.

All four books mesh together into a composite whole, the protagonist experiencing his infiltration of each of the four worlds of the diamond and coming out changed in many ways from the original. Each world presents its own set of challenges and each has a completely different society and civilization all of which are influenced on the organism of the Warden Diamond which expresses itself in completely different ways on each of the worlds.

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