Ben

Has me gripped like an iron glove…

Revisado: 02-15-24

This series is fabulous, as you likely already know, if you’re reading a review for the 4th book. I have listened to these back to back and Tchaikovsky really is a master of continuity. I don’t know how long there was between each book, but it feels as if they were all written at the same time, a skill that some of the best authors struggle with.

Also, Ben Allen is just so f$&@ing good. With a few stammers, pauses in between words, and vocal inflection, he can portray such complex emotion in a single sentence. This series wouldn’t be nearly as good without a master like him.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

I’ve never liked wasps

Revisado: 01-29-24

Loved this book, it was a bit slow going at first, but only for the first 1/4 or so, so hang in there. Seeing as this is a 10 book series, a lot of plot bricks needed to be laid, and Tchaikovsky did a good job of entertaining the reader while laying those bricks. The overall concept is also very unique, I love how Tchaikovsky incorporated his love of biology (especially entomology) into this series, as he does in most, if not all, of his books. At first, I found the concept to be somewhat bizarre, but Tchaikovsky parallels insect and human behavior so well that the connection becomes impossible to ignore.

Ben Allen is also a fantastic narrator! When I sampled the book I was worried that he might be a bit bland, but this is far from the case. His accents are fantastic and I think they fit each of the kindens perfectly

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

To the intrepid souls who want to start this book…

Revisado: 01-16-24

If it weren’t for the reviewer that said, “your patience will be rewarded”, I wouldn’t have made it more than a few hours into this, so I figured I would reiterate the importance of that statement. The first half of this book (which is a solid 10 hours, depending on speed) is an EXTREMELY slow burn and, even though I was prepared for it, I had times where I almost stopped listening, but I held on and absolutely loved it. It’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” in this series, and a lot of groundwork needed to be laid before the real fun could start.

Also, David Thorpe is f-ing incredible, he has quickly become my favorite narrator ever.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

All my favorite sci-fi elements wrapped into one

Revisado: 01-10-24

I absolutely loved this book. This was only my third Tchaikovsky, the first two being “Children of Time” and “Children of Ruin”, and I can definitively say that I enjoyed “Cage of Souls” far more. Not to say I didn’t enjoy the first two installments of COT, I really did (especially the first one), but I was never gripped by them as much as COS. The futuristic dystopian theme, the mixture of futuristic and archaic technologies (and how their “archaic” tech is still futuristic), the sped up evolutionary development…all of it. I almost wonder if this was the precursor of the society that, thousands of years later, would take to the stars, in search of some eight-legged friends?
Not to say I don’t have some gripes with it, and a lot of questions went unanswered. For example, was I the only one waiting for that killer silver chain-thing to make its stated (possible) reappearance?!? Or how Gacky’s movements were almost akin to it? I half expected Gacky to have somehow been the creature. I could go on for days with all the questions I have but, nonetheless, I loved every minute of listening to this book.

On that note, David Thorpe made the experience of listening just that much more enjoyable. I have listened to A LOT of books and, if he’s not the best I have ever heard, he has to be in my top three favorite narrators, right up there with Stephen Fry. I was worried at first, he has the tendency to take long pauses while catching his breath and it was a little irritating at first, but he grew on me fast. His emotional conveyance was fantastic, especially when doing Gregor. He’s truly a professional.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Great, but…

Revisado: 01-05-24

Not as gripping as Children of Time. Still a fun and worthwhile listen. Also, Mel Hudson did a fantastic job with these books, I could likely listen to her read a phone book and be entertained.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Stephen Fry is the Key Ingredient in the Perfect Audiobook Recipe

Revisado: 11-17-23

I absolutely loved Troy, just as much as I loved both Mythos and Heroes, and if you’re someone who read this before the first two (and you enjoyed Troy, of course), you will love them as well.
When I say “Stephen Fry is the Key Ingredient in the Perfect Audiobook Recipe”, I truly mean it. Fry is not only an INCREDIBLE voice actor, as a lot of you already knew before listening to this, but his writing is just as exceptional. His acting and literary talent, combined with his enthusiasm for Greek mythology makes the Mythos series one of the most easily digestible (yet accurate) depictions of the mythological Greek world I have ever heard.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

O’Neill sums it up perfectly…

Revisado: 09-05-23

No spoilers quick review:

If you are a fan of gritty true-crime mixed with *real* investigative reporting and fact-based conspiracies, read this. I was already familiar with some things in this book, such as MK Ultra, but if you don’t know what that is, or really anything about the OSS/CIA’s dealings after WWII, you’re in for a wild ride. I will preface it with this: don’t expect to hear “this is exactly what happened”, thats not the point. While O’Neill would have liked to offer that to the readers, this case runs DEEP into some of the most top secret areas of our countries history, and while he did an ENORMOUS amount of research, those answers don’t come easy, and may never come at all. Nonetheless, O’Neill offers more than enough evidence where the reader can come to their own conclusions about what might’ve happened leading up to the summer of love.


Spoilers below!!!


If you have finished this book, you may be conflicted, as I was, that you are left without a definitive conclusion, or at least a working theory, of what lead to the Manson murders. In the epilogue, Tom O’Neill gracefully addresses that issue, because he, more so than anyone, is plagued by the same question.

“In my nearly 20 years of reporting on this case, people have asked me all the time what I think really happened. I hate that question more than anything, the plain answer is: I don’t know. I worry that as soon as I speculate, I undermine the work that I’ve done. In a sense, had I been more willing to fill in the blanks, I might’ve finish this book a lot sooner… It’s when someone claims that I have found the truth that I get anxious. I haven’t found the truth, much as I wish I could say I have. My goal isn’t to say what did happen, it’s to prove that the official story didn’t. I have learned to accept the ambiguity, I’ve had to…”

In most of the bad reviews, if people aren’t crying about O’Neill taking a massive, elephant-sized dump on every boomer’s favorite true crime novel, “Helter Skelter”, written by Vincent Bugliosi (a man who kidnapped and beat his mistress into an abortion, by the way), they are addressing that O’Neill doesn’t come to any conclusions about what actually happened. That’s so far from the point of this book, and if those skeptics actually read it, they would have accepted that fact, as Tom O’Neill has for the last 20+ years. Would he liked to have given us all the definitive, ground breaking facts of what actually happened, absolutely, who wouldn’t? That’s a lot easier said than done, and as he said, jumping to conclusions about what would be the most likely story, immediately jeopardizes his credibility. What he did supply the reader with, though, is overwhelming evidence that the official narrative is one of the least likely of the scenarios.
O’Neill’s work is a culmination of tens of thousands of hours of OG investigative reporting, and while he didn’t come to an absolute definitive answer (yet, I believe in him), he should be damn proud of this body of work.

The narrator, Kevin Stillwell, did a fantastic job as well. REAL true crime investigative reporting isn’t the most entertaining at times, especially when it is as thick with information as this book is. Stillwell reads it in a way that keeps the reader engaged, even at the most information-overloading parts. This is an example of a book that could be tough to get through, given it was read by a boring Narrator.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

I hate to hate on the King…

Revisado: 02-11-23

Listen, if King isn’t my favorite author, he’s at least in my top three, so it’s with a heavy a$$ heart that I am giving him anything but 5 stars. I know, it’s not like 3 stars is sh!tting on him, but it sure feels like it.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but I far from loved it. For starters, the story was good, but it would have been better if it was half as long.
As all King fans know, his endings can be, let’s say, controversial, but I tend to side with him on most of them. This ending, on the other hand, while still powerful in its own ways, was empty; it had me walking away wondering ‘what was the point’. As a comparison, some people may have said the same thing for the ending of the DT series, but regardless of if you liked it or not, it connects back to the overall motif of the books, “Ka is a wheel”, and it is The Gunslinger’s purpose to keep it spinning; an eternal but necessary occupation.

But enough about the DT, that’s not what we’re here for. I use it as an example, not just because it’s King’s canon, but because there wasn’t the same sense of meaning at the end of 11/22/63.
Jake is brought back to square one, badly crippled, having lost the only love he will likely ever know, while having accomplished nothing, except his own overall understanding of “the obdurate past” (side note, when it comes to the word “obdurate”, King embodied a kid who just learned a new word and uses it way, WAY too much.).
I won’t go as far as to say that Jake wasted five years of his life, but in the grand scheme of things, nothing was accomplished. If, after realizing the potential detriment of changing the past, Jake were to make it his mission to find and somehow close the remaining “bubbles”, that any old diner owner could stumble upon, that would have at least left the reader with some sense of purpose.

As for the narrator, Craig Wasson, I was a little disappointed. At times, his voices and emotional delivery could be pretty powerful, but all too often I found myself cringing. His voice for Jake just didn’t fit, it was too vanilla and, for lack of a better word, cheesy. His voice for Sadie was awkward, and I almost couldn’t handle the sex scenes, they were on another level of uncomfortable. I’ll cut him some slack, though, he has some voices that were really good, and when the characters were meant to be distressed, he did a good job of conveying it, almost sounding like he was really crying at times. I hate to give him too much sh!t, it’s not an easy job to create a books worth of believable characters, but do I think it could have been better? Absolutely.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

This story is THICK, yet worth the listen

Revisado: 08-23-22

This book brings an unimaginable conspiracy to light and, while boring at times, is a gripping story of corruption. Nick Bryant didn’t hold back, this man truly did his research and I applaud him.
I can’t help but mention the final line Bryant wrote, which was 13 years ago, and compare it to today (August 2022). Literally nothing has changed, we’re at the same crossroads of OBVIOUS proof of child pandering, and the government does nothing but gaslight it’s citizens into believing they are conspiracy theorists. We live in a disgusting world full of disgusting people.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Awesome book, narrator is good*

Revisado: 07-30-21

*he has bizarre way of dragging out the end of the sentences, especially when he is reading as Roland. I think it’s an attempt to sound more manly or rugged; it took a while to get used to, especially after the narrator of the first book, whom was incredible. Other than that he does a great job

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña