Cameron F.

Take the plunge with the audiobook

Revisado: 10-01-18

Reading Robert Jordan's 'Wheel of Time' series will be no small task but I just took the plunge with this audiobook version.

Narration is mostly provided by Michael Kramer. Kate Reading narration does not commence until around chapter 21 when the narrative splits somewhat to make it appropriate for her to give a pedformance for a particular viewpoint character. This added more interest to the already quite reasonable telling.

3 stars for the story because my enjoyment of the characters and the situation was diminished by what I saw as an annoyingly simplistic and heavy-handed between 'the light' and 'the dark'. I'll keep going and hope Jordan spiced up the story with some relatable ambiguity.

3 stars for the performance. The narration by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer kept my interest but disagreed on pronunciation of characters names and other vocab. The chapter breaks in this version also make it hard to navigate the story for a second listen to specific parts.

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Performed with personality

Revisado: 06-03-18

If anyone else is like me and would struggle getting around to reading Dickens novels in print, I'd recommend this audiobook to you. Chris MacDonnell brings personality plus to the task of narration. His performance made it easier for me to listen to the book with my children. Kind thanks! This audiobook was provided this audiobook in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Great book, hard to get through

Revisado: 02-23-18

Will Durant's prowess as a writer and historian is celebrated. The pamphlets that comprise this volume were an attempt to provide an everyman's history of philosophy and the philosophers. As a writer Durant is concise and engaging. Grover Gardner gives an impassioned and learned-sounding narration. These points aside I found this to be an intimidating read even in audiobook form and have not gotten through the whole thing. It's the kind of read that makes me wish for meta data that might provide a more book-specific table of contents, to make it easier on dip-in-and-out readers like myself. This audiobook was provided this audiobook in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Surprisingly outlandish adventure stories!

Revisado: 02-23-18

I knew from the movies that Sinbad the Sailor got involved in some pretty wild adventures. Up until now I hadn't had a chance to read the stories. Then I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher. So here is my review:

Sinbad is the hero in this collection, adapted from the story cycle of Middle Eastern origin. The collection of seven voyages are framed by the story of Sinbad the Porter in Baghdad. He bemoans the injustice that some attain riches while others, like himself, labour without accruing conspicuous wealth. Sinbad the Sailor hears the porter's griping and invites him into his home whereupon the sailor begins to tell the tale of his first voyage...

The narration by Michael T Downey is very clear and accessible. What's more, perhaps it is something in the tone, but the performance seems to appropriately convey the larger than life, outlandish nature of Sinbad's exploits. These tales are, after all, quite unbelievable.

Overall this was an enjoyable, rollicking listen. Recommended for anybody looking for an introduction to The Seven Voyages of Sinbad. Kind thanks!

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'A Grade' weird cosmic fantasy

Revisado: 02-11-18

I was provided with a copy of this short story by the author, in exchange for a review.

I'm a fan of pulp writing and weird fiction. If it overlaps into the Cthulhu Mythos, it's going to get my attention. There are many authors contributing enthusiastically to this shared fictional universe. Some of these offerings take liberally from the bestiary while giving back little more than vapid genre mishmash. Don't get me wrong, I keep reading the material and the pages keep turning. But I don't read them again.

'Herald of Chernobog' was my first experience of author D.C. Lozar's work. I listened to the audiobook twice and have revisited parts a third time while writing this review.

There is a lot here to interest and engage the reader. First there is the other-wordly setting of the Chernobog asteroid belt, adroitly described. Told we're possibly about to access Cthulhu's Yuggoth, we're already half out of our minds, and any characters in such a setting have to arouse pretty intense curiosity. Viktor is a vagabond, disgraced physician who is banned from Earth. He has the technical skills to be acing it in his new career as an interstellar treasure hunter, teamed with some generally badass connections to dark magic and/or the Slavic mythos. He is companioned/served by an AI personality program in his forged staff. Except in this case the AI is the soul of a dying witch, trapped by Viktor in the moment of dying. What a setup! Ten minutes in to this 58 min audiobook and I was totally hooked!

Narrator Alexander Doddy has done a splendid job with the performance of the story. Slavic accents were well done. He even managed to render the series of syllables, normally unpronounceable in human speech, indicated by the letters Cthulhu.

Thanks for a great read! Now following this author and considering a purchase of more of his work.

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Rootin' tootin' fantasy bromance

Revisado: 11-29-17

I have never found the elves of Tolkien's work easy to approach or understand. I have always regarded them as long-lived, high-falutin humans, generally more uptight about everything than regular humans. This is what I thought when I first read the blurb of Pariah's Moon. I hoped this book would fill out an elven character a little more. It had my attention!

Thank you to the author, who gave me a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review.

Ian Thomas Healy has gone satisfyingly further to fill out the elven world and culture. The landscapes of Aelfland and Verigo are richly described. I found the writing style evocative of imagery and nuances, for example, the way body language was described in character interactions. Healy wields skillful control of prose and delivery.

The book left me wanting characters with greater depth and interest, with a broader spectrum or more complexity in their motivation. No characters really change in a way that will surprise the reader here. As their adventures take them down the road, the male characters will all end up forging earnest bonds of friendship that can be best described as bromance. I have never found these kind of relationships very believable or interesting.

The performance by Gary Roelofs did little to help with characterisation. His delivery is serene, ponderous and undifferentiating except in the case of the Horks.

Pariah's Moon was an enjoyable read. It took me on a rollicking ride. Stylistically, the writing was of a higher quality than the storytelling. Both were let down by the narration. I would recommend this book for a younger reader, perhaps in the upper end of the young adult category.

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In a hurry to listen again

Revisado: 11-29-17

Mr. deGrasse Tyson does an entertaining job of narrating his work. This is a wonder-provoking entry-level peak into the major themes, achievements and problems of astrophysics. I am in the middle of my second listen, so rate the book highly.

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Cthulhu performed on the brink of madness

Revisado: 09-23-17

Ron Welch's performance here gives us a powerfully evocative example of how Lovecraft's works cry out to be read aloud. He gives a broken-sounding, shaky voice to the central narrator Francis Wayland Thurston as he recounts the hideous, sanity-smashing discoveries he has gleaned from the documentary record. When the episodes in the story come to climactic peaks Welch sounds a though he is cracking, descending into gibbering madness. This is everything that Lovecraft intended and was such an entertaining listen!

I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

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Writing and performance was unexpectedly A Grade!

Revisado: 06-10-17

I was given a copy of this book by Jeff Hays, who performed the narration for this edition, in exchange for a review.

I had heard of neither Jake Bible, the author, nor Jeff Hays before this. I did have prior knowledge, however, of a 1990s TV show 'Gargoyles' and this is the connection I made when I first checked out the blurb.

Jake Bible shows very quickly that he can make a variety of characters and situations approachable for the reader. Here's where Stone Cold Bastards has already won far and away in comparison with said TV show. And they're called grotesques, not gargoyles! Pretty fun premise and a stack of great ideas making for a great story. One of the highlights was the inclusion of character Todd and his intel role. What a lot in life!

Jeff Hays' performance was the standout element for me. I look back and realise that I forgot that one man gave voice to the large cast of human and non-human characters. I totally suspended disbelief. I was really impressed with the way he conveyed the uncertainty of teenager Kimmie, the awkwardness of autistic surgeon Highlander and how he switched accents and registers for the range of Gs (especially Nissa and Tessa). The 'bad' characters were brought most detestably to life too.

Thanks Jeff. I'll be keen to follow your other work.

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Fantasy detective noir - voiced tough & hardboiled

Revisado: 05-10-17

If you like your fantasy hardboiled and gritty this audiobook may be for you. Paul Barrett's tale of Dwarf investigator Snazdaggin Kundarik (or Spade) skillfully employs much-loved tropes from the tradition of hardboiled crime literature and film noir. If readers enjoy the 'Garrett, P.I.' and 'Black Company' stories by Glen Cook then they are in the right place here.

'Malaise Falchion' is driven by the first-person narrative viewpoint of central protagonist Spade. Jack Wayne's performance fills out Spade's personality. If descriptors such as grizzled, tough and smooth-talkin' were in the brief for the job of narrator, Jack Wayne nailed it.

I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

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