Chandler Jechura

An excellent way to make a good book.

Revisado: 05-18-24

I read 1984 years ago by book, so when I saw that this was available, I jumped at the chance to listen. As I have noticed with other Audible originals, the production is outstanding. Garfield does an excellent job, especially with later scenes in the novel. Cons- If you didn't like the ending because it was too dark, then this isn't going to change your mind. In fact, it might scare you away. Still, I would say if you are going to listen to 1984 for fun, then this is the version to get.

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A look at the final days of the European theaiter.

Revisado: 08-12-23

When it comes to history books, there are hundreds, seemingly thousands on WWII, especially covering the European theater. With this in mind, I decided to go with a non-fiction classic, The Last Battle, which is all about Ryan’s coverage of the Battle of Berlin. This is something that I really wanted to know more about, since I had just heard about the final days, but had never taken an in-depth look at them.

This book does an excellent job at studying the human aspect of the events leading up to the battle, with that time frame encompassing about 3/4ths of the book, with the actual battle itself being only about the last ¼ or so. With this in mind, if you are looking for a book on the specific tactics used by both sides in the battle, then you will not find it here. Instead, Ryan decides to look into the human stories of this time period. Everyone from those in the Fuhrerbunker, the high-ranking Allied generals, to the average people on the streets are explored here. This makes for a compelling human story that, for better or worse, should not be forgotten.

One aspect that the reader should also be aware of is that, for the most part, Ryan does not draw any conclusions about certain people, instead focusing on who said what and when leaving the reader to do this themselves. This is especially true with regard to the German generals, as I constantly wondered how someone could continue to fight when seemingly the whole world crumbled around them. I can only speculate that this was a certain element of pride in their country, and fear at what the Russians would do to them. But these conclusions are left up to the reader, overall.

As for the audio performance, Simon Vance was an excellent reader. While he is not a personal favorite, like say, Edward Hermann, I still enjoyed his work nonetheless. He lends a certain gravity to the role, as though no matter what the German people do, they are doomed and the horrors that have to come for them are inevitable. Yet, Simon also reads with a certain amount of detachment, where these are the things that happened and the legacy of all involved is bared for the reader to see and make their own judgments on. The only exception to this would be the voices of people talking, which Vance does well in terms of replicating what they may have been feeling at the time. In short, I will be checking out more stuff narrated by him in the future.

I would say this is an excellent book that I enjoyed reading and learning more about. I give it a four out of five.

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An excellent story with an okay reading.

Revisado: 06-19-23

I have always loved this book, but this narrator just didn’t do it for me.

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Go Blue!!

Revisado: 02-21-23

As both a fan and an Alumni of the U of M, this was fun to listen to.

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Great performance-head scratching story.

Revisado: 02-02-23

This is one fantasy book that features excellent performance. What Steven Brand lacks in range he more than makes up for in the sheer feeling of his voice. His voice is perfect for reading a fantasy novel. It inspires a sense of wonder and mystical adventure that other performers only hope to match. I will be looking for other work done by him soon.

But this comes at the cost of a head-scratching decision to make the army Roman. Not Roman-inspired, mind you, but Rome, except for the land they are in, the people they are fighting, the Emporer commanding them, as well as the Gods and Magic system. As well as the elves and dwarves. Can't forget them.

All this makes me wonder why the author didn't just make them Roman-inspired. This would have helped to give him the freedom that he wants while not making the story seem so downright strange. Brian McClellan did it with his fantasy series. There the armies are all fictional, but they battle with Napoleonic-style weapons and tactics. Why couldn't it be the same here?

Couple this with the fact that the author has a slow book with little happening and it is one that I just wish were better.

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Great Story with a few audio issues.

Revisado: 12-26-22

I liked this story well enough, as it is basically an account of Charles Dicken's life and how he came to make A Christmas Carol, and how it influenced so many people in and after his lifetime.

Yet, I did have some problems with the production. For the first time I have encountered, this audible production had issues such as pieces of audio that you can tell were added later. I cannot tell if this is because they made a mistake while recording one day and had to re-record lines, or what, but there are times when the narrator speaks one or two sentences with a noticeably different audio quality to them. This does bring it down for me.

Overall, this was a good book if you want to know more about Dicken's famous tale.

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A fun little adventure.

Revisado: 12-03-22

This book was excellent in terms of voice acting and production. The cast went all out, lending believability to situations that would otherwise seem a tad strange. This book was also good in terms of the story, with twists and turns that I did not see coming.

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A great performance cut by a bad story.

Revisado: 09-02-22

The performance here is excellent, as I expected, having listened to the prequel by the same narrator. However, for me the story dragged considerably from the 2nd act onward. If you are a fan of westerners, then you might enjoy this, but I did not.

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An excellent story

Revisado: 07-19-22

This was an excellent story that told about the problems of misinformation with the Division as a backdrop. The production was excellent!

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Excellent urban fantasy

Revisado: 07-10-22

This is a good book and series for fans of Jim Butcher. I loved the performance and the cover art as well. I will definitely be reading the next book.

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