Jen M

Good story but ABRIDGED. (Plenty of Captain Rex)

Revisado: 10-09-22

ABRIDGED: I was under the impression that this book was unabridged, but it is clearly labeled on the web (as opposed to the app) as abridged. I usually refuse to buy abridged titles. This one was at least coherent, but I can't help wondering what I missed. I will stick to the desktop site for purchases, going forward, if the book info isn't clear about this detail.

Narration/sound: The accent Dee Bradley Baker gives the clones in the TV series is more nuanced than this narrator's performance, so I found Rex a little jarring at first. Otherwise the narration was fine. He does female characters decently and I only noticed one mispronounced name (and that was one that only came up once).

The sound effects were well balanced so they stay in the background, rather than competing with the narration.

Story: I usually prefer canon novels to Legends, but this is one Legends book I'd like to see borrowed from for the new stories. Adding something like the Jedi group that features in this book to canon would add new dimensions to old themes in a positive way.

I really liked how the main characters of this one are folks smack in the middle of the gray areas of the clone wars, trying to make sense of it from a variety of perspectives.

I sometimes find battle sequences a bit hard to follow, but the author set the scene and described the action so well I enjoyed every minute.

The clones get some extra time that brings us inside their helmets; particularly Captain Rex.

Ahsoka is in this book, and is still very young, but only as a marginal character. So if you're here for her, there's not much to get excited about. There's a little more of General Skywalker, than Ahsoka, but not by much. They just weren't the focus of the story, which worked fine IMHO. They get plenty of limelight in other books.

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Enjoyed the book but can't bear the narration

Revisado: 01-11-22

Listen to the sample. If you don't mind that the entire story will be read in that exact tone and cadence, then give it a try. But I just couldn't finish.

I like the story. It's one I read in the 1980s, and enjoyed then. I'd hoped that the performance might get better as the narrator progressed some, but no luck.

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Lovely performance but abridged too much

Revisado: 11-03-21

This is beautifully performed, but I felt that the story lost quite a bit in how heavily abridged it was. I wish I had noticed it was an abridged version before purchasing it.

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I liked it a lot

Revisado: 10-28-21

I almost didn't listen to this because of all the bad reviews of the production. But I figured I'd give it a shot and if I hated it, I'd return it. Fortunately, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The big complaint about the way they mixed in audio-drama interludes seems to be that sometimes you hear a character being voiced by someone different than the main narrator (Simon Vance). I have listened to enough books in which the narrator switches between male and female readers, based on the primary point of view of the chapter that I just don't find it distracting. The whole cast of narrators was excellent, and once I realized who was the audio-drama voice for each character, switching back and forth was fine. And the fact that there were background sound effects was neither distracting, nor did it really add anything. It just was.

I have only two minor complaints. One is that the sound mixing wasn't as spot-on as it should be. Sometimes the volume was a bit higher or lower than the rest of the book.

My other complaint is that nowhere that I can find is there a list of who voiced which of the characters during the audio-drama interludes. I would very much like to know who voiced the Baron, but I've had no luck figuring it out. He did a great job making the Baron's voice fit his character in a way that added to the experience for me, and I'd like to know if he's read anything else.

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Read Fourteen first

Revisado: 05-28-18

Some of the other reviewers have criticized the book because of a lack or realism, inexplicable-by-science events, or excessive weirdness. The Fold makes a lot more sense if a) you've read Clines' book 14 and b) you're a fan of the work of a certain early 20th-century author from New England. The Fold, like 14 before it, is clearly influenced by the work of H.P. Lovecraft, whose literary universe is riddled with esoteric threats to civilization just waiting to be stumbled upon by those dabbling out of their depth. In such a universe there are places that are best left unexplored, and dangers that no sane mind can comprehend.

If Lovecraft's style appeals to you, you'll fit into the world Clines builds in 14 and The Fold just fine. If you are looking for hard science and tidy endings, these books will disappoint you.

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Beer bacon like you've never heard before

Revisado: 04-01-18

If you could sum up Menu Excerpts from Our Favorite Newark Restaurants in three words, what would they be?

Delicious. Savory. Unexpected.

Any additional comments?

This book is worth EVERY penny! Compelling content, brilliantly performed. If you weren't sucked in from the first moment, they'll be sure to have you hooked by the time you get to "Beer bacon".

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The narrator really ruins it

Revisado: 07-21-16

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Maybe someone who has never heard any of the names in Warcraft lore pronounced appropriately would enjoy this? It's not Knaak's best work, but it's likely an enjoyable story if you can get through it. I had to quit half way through because the narrator ruined it for me.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The lore was what interested me. I'm a long-time player and fan of Warcraft lore. I've read and/or listened to almost all of the books - some of them more than once. So I wanted to like this audiobook.

How could the performance have been better?

As others have pointed out, the narrator mispronounces so many of the names that it became incredibly distracting. I should have paid more attention to other reviewers who brought up this point, but I thought, "how bad can it be, really?"

Bad.

Distractingly, cringingly bad. And that on top of the constant mangling of practically every name he encountered, I really disliked how he reads female character parts. It was not the absolute worst narration I've heard, but it was right up in the top (bottom?) 3 of my list.

Any additional comments?

I will probably get a hardcopy cover of the book to read, to finish the story, as I'd like to finish it.

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Thanks, Audible, for listening to us. Epic win!

Revisado: 04-09-16

Who was your favorite character and why?

Characters? The narrators were the raison d'être for the audio version. After all, we've all said we'd listen to them read ANYTHING! This proves the concept. Characters would have been gilding the lilly.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did! I loved it so much, I listened to it twice, and recommended it to many friends. I hope Audible does this again as an annual edition.

Any additional comments?

All it lacked was a few more of my favorite voices, and about 30 more hours. And just maybe, next time, something with a bit more drama to it, like the Oxford English Dictionary? Or an Ikea catalog? But I'd certainly settle for more of the Encyclopedia. Anyone who appreciates luscious voices and a certain April tradition should give this book a listen.

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