eddie

Great First Half but ran out of fuel

Revisado: 07-22-24

The story splits between flashbacks to the pre-mission days and then the actual mission. I found myself craving the pre-mission storyline as the novel progressed. However, the writer chose to stick to the mission. That would normally be great, but the mission info was mostly a showing off of science knowledge. Coupled with the goofy over narration and tiring enunciation of vowels and it was a challenge to make it through this audio book. Like most fiction these days, the story could have been about 50-100 pages shorter.

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Not an Even Handed Read

Revisado: 10-05-20

I fell in love from page one to about just over a quarter of the way through the novel. There seems to be a lack of focus. Props for trying to do something different, I guess. But the story devolves into something completely different from the beginning. I felt ripped off by it. I also found the audio production distracting. There were times when a different voice would represent the character, and time ls when the narrator would speak that same character's "lines."
And the name tags, all the "he/she said" was a little out of control. I'd give six stars to the beginning, 1 to the rest. I gave up with 6 hours left.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Very Frustrating

Revisado: 04-27-20

I hated this collection. I love Tremblay's novels. In particular, The Last Cabin. But his short fiction is just awful. The writing is good, of course, but each story, every single one, ends ambiguously. It's frustrating listening to the story and zoning out, getting immersed when, suddenly, that's it. That's all you get. I'm not adverse to open ended fiction climaxes. But these did not work for me. The stories felt like forced attempts at art. I felt like he was trying to channel JD Salinger, but failing miserably.

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Could Not Maintain

Revisado: 04-15-20

Loved the beginning quarter of the novel. However, it devolved into a novel focused on escape from captivity and got way far from the fantastic premise which was presented initially. It grew more difficult to finish as the novel continued. The premise of something evil and monstrous did not resume until later int the final chapters. I also tired of the narration which had a tendency to make something that wasn't dramatic seem dramatic. I don't think I'd trust this author in the future.

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A mostly idea story

Revisado: 12-23-19

This short story was part of a tech collection. As such, it's an idea piece. The characters were flat and mostly dry starts of characters. Short fiction is infinitely harder to write than novel length. I love Blake Crouch. But this story fails to meet the heights of his Wayward Pines trilogy and Dark Matter.

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Better 20 years ago

Revisado: 12-14-19

I read The Ignored twenty years ago and it has been an all time favorite. But something didn't work listening to it. The book hasn't aged well. My reading critically has taken leaps and bounds. The first half of the novel was five stars. Excellent! The latter half, especially the last quarter of the novel didn't work for me. The novel could have been substantially shorter. Not wanting to provide any spoolers, the last part of the novel seemed like some cobbled together short stories existing in the same mileau. There was a point where the suspension of belief was just impossible and there were some plot points that lacked careful logic.
The performance left a ton to be desired. The clarity and elocution was great, no complaints. The voice though, was awful. The main character is in his twenties, the narrator sounds like an elderly man. And the pathetic tone was off putting. I'd never have imagined this voice. Also, the references to sex sounded amiss due to the narrator's voice.
I'm not upset I gave it a listen, particularly with the first several chapters. Genius storytelling. But the story didn't age well and the narration was amiss.
Interesting story in this day and age and I'd like to see a sequel written.

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Short story would have worked

Revisado: 11-25-19

I've heard this story before. Taking a demon possessing and people getting picked off one by one and setting it on a mountain does not a good novel make. It seemed as if the author were milking the hell (pun intended) out of a cool short story idea. The first several chapters were great. It reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode where the Devil is caged in a castle. But after the gimmick of the Ark was beaten to death, the demonic possession aspect was kicked in and, it too, was pummeled to oblivion. The last several chapters simply did not need to be included. I'd see this as a wonderful tighter novella or even a short story. There were moments of cool character building, but also moments where the characters were built up to really go nowhere. Too many characters in general.

The narration found me grinning a lot with the different accents and voices of children. I get it, the story demanded it, but this narrator just wasn't working for me. I can't really put a finger on it.

Overall, I'd recommend skipping it, unless you have a need for a mindless time waster. In that case, go for it.

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Hard to understand

Revisado: 10-29-19

I'm glad I read the book before listening to it. As such, it wasn't hard to let it go when the frustration of not being able to understand the narration grew to be too much to enjoy the material. It seemed as if it was a combination of mumbling, speaking too fast, and in monotone. Poor performance and direction. But awesome material. Read the book!

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Not the same book I read at a younger age

Revisado: 07-12-19

It's the same, of course, but different. This type of story is a big idea story. The big idea is wonderful, but the character development is certainly not. I love Arthur C Clarke, but I'm finding the reader of the early twenties differs in a need for character depth that he just doesn't seem to touch. The Martian, though, proves that it can be done with hard sci fi. The performance left a lot to be desired. It was largely monotone. This kept it hard to not lose focus. That, or the story, or both. Some of the voices were downright annoying. But, I'm glad for the listen anyhow.

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Long way to tell a simple story

Revisado: 06-14-19

I like Blake Crouch, but not his earlier material. This was a simple story stretched to novel length. The plot was repetitive and had no real tension. There was so many missed opportunities here. In particular with the son. No spoilers here. This novel tries to be The Road with action, but fails in the thin substance of the plot and absence of depth.

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