Russ

When a Writer Tries Too Hard

Revisado: 05-18-24

This is the kind of writing that gave sci-fi a reputation; it reads like it cribbed directly from The Bible of Tropes & Stereotypes.

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Fantastic story, unfortunate voice casting

Revisado: 11-15-23

This is one of the strongest narratives in the Safehold store. Unfortunately, the narrator didn't bother to research any of the earlier audiobooks for pronunciation of proper names, nor did he properly pronounce much of the standard English vocabulary in the book.

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Fantastic book, OK performance

Revisado: 12-27-22

David Weber’s Manticore Ascendant series is one of the best pieces of science fiction writing I’ve enjoyed ever, and this entry in the series is especially good! However, A Call To Insurrection is also so laden with German that it really needs a German-speaking narrator. Unfortunately it didn’t get it this time. I still recommend giving a listen; the fun of this read really overrides the narrator’s mispronunciations.

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Wonderfully unique and enigmatic

Revisado: 05-27-19

Seveneves isn't like any other science fiction book; it really deserves its own subgenre. On its face, this is a book about disaster. By the end, it’s a book about how history is made in several senses, and how, even when “everybody dies,” not everybody really dies.

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Engrossing and Hilarious

Revisado: 10-09-17

It just doesn't get better than this. It gets as good. It doesn't get better. If you're looking for something that's a joy to listen to, listen to this.

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Weber does it again … so does Collins.

Revisado: 01-05-17

If you're new to the Honorverse, you really should go back and start with "On Basilisk Station."

For those of you who already are fans of the Honor Harrington series, this book is a must*! David Weber really has done a splendid job of expanding the Honorverse even further, even providing a few laughs and several cheers along the way!

*Unfortunately, as good as this book is — and David Weber really has outdone himself on this one — Kevin T. Collins' narration ruins the experience. The accents are wrong (taking Allyson Johnson's original performances in this book series as standard), proper names are unrecognizable, and though I can't say for certain the Polish wasn't correctly rendered, the Czech (and some of the English, sadly) was absolutely butchered. Oh, and the reading is slow, laboured, inconsistently pronounced, and beyond melodramatic.

In short, it's clear Mr. Collins never did his homework on this story and essentially recorded himself muddling through it like a dense textbook.

I give this book a strong "read; don't listen."

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This is the perfect book.

Revisado: 04-21-16

Fun and exciting, but still sometimes poignant, and with a supremely relatable main character, “Ready Player One” it's an instant classic for nerds, cool kids, loners, and other humans. Listen, and love.

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Worth every bloodydamn minute.

Revisado: 04-09-16

Don't just read this. Listen. This is a story for telling, not for reading.

Piece Brown's writing will excite, humour, and entertain you. It'll also piss you off. But it's worth it. It's worth every laugh, sigh, roll of the eyes, and cringe.

Go ahead. Prove me wrong.

BREAK THE CHAINS!

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Here's a @#$%ing hint: listen to the damn book.

Revisado: 02-28-16

Seriously, listen to the book. If you haven't heard "Leviathan Wakes," do that first. Then do this. You'll be glad you did.

The characters all are engaging and deep (and Avasarala made me tear up with laughter a time of two). The story is addicting and moves along at a satisfying pace. And the authors — James S. A. Corey is a them, not a him — have created a really relatable universe (well, solar system) by not rewriting the laws of physics.

As for the performance, I couldn't imagine anybody but Jefferson Mays voicing these characters. So many narrators over-do the characters, but not Mr. Mays. His dry style gets out of the story's way and lets it tell itself. Still, he gives the characters enough individual identity to sort out even scenes with several characters talking over each other.

So?

Listen to the damn book.

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Disappointing, Juvenile

Revisado: 12-27-15

The concept for “Battle Cruiser” could have spawned a dynamic, textured, engrossing world, but it was so poorly executed that tackling each chapter became its own, special chore. Frankly, the quality of the writing in this book was way sub-par, with all the sophistication of high school-level prose, however professionally edited.

B.V. Larson's first-person narrator tells the story strictly linearly, with no flashbacks or deep exposition beyond what's immediately necessary to the situation at hand. Add to that a complete lack of guile on the writer's part, and what might have been meant as plot twists are easily guessed well ahead of their would-be reveals. The idea of such a story suffering from a case of plot holes and loose ends ought to be ridiculous; sadly, the diagnosis is very real, and it's terminal.

The character development is just about as robust, too. The reader gains only the most superficial insight into any of the secondary characters, all of which have approximately as much dimension as the paper on which they were first printed. As for the main character, he tells the tale with such melodramatic (almost histrionic) bravado, as somehow to come across as a simultaneously whiny, pathetic, and pitiful, pompous ass.

The real disappointment here, however, is the dramatic reading. It might be better never to ask why Edoardo Ballerini chose to read this story in a breathy, somewhat hushed, NPR-style voice, all while playing up the writing's shortcomings. Granted, he didn't exactly start with the best story ever written. Still, the uncomfortable tone and unimaginative speaking styles only make a lousy book more boring.

To give credit where it's due, I've read some truly excellent work by both B.V. Larson and Edoardo Ballerini. These two really do have the capacity to engross their audience. Sadly, “Battle Cruiser” doesn't come close. If, as Audible suggests, this truly is Book One of a new series, let’s hope Book Two returns both writer and narrator to their usual high standards.

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