Dave Pergola

Rock solid storytelling

Revisado: 01-26-22

Andy Weir does an exceptional job with pacing and tension building, this book being as good, or better, than the Martian with regards to storytelling and tension.

Ray Porter is one of the best narrators out there, and between the Bobiverse, Infinite and this, his presence in the sci-fi universe is well earned and it's really no surprise why most of the books I love are attached his to narration.

Strongly recommend this if you're in the fence (for some reason).

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Well Paced YA Novel with Excellent World Building

Revisado: 07-10-20

The beginning of the Arcera Trilogy is well-paced romp through the woods and beyond of the lands that contain the four cities that people populate after a war many ages ago seperated civilization into individually ruled city-states whose town name details it's surrounding topography. The main characters are likeable and development comes without excessive exposition as the world is fleshed out thoughtfully by the author. It comes and goes without too much fluff and for the most part the execution is spot-on, the antagonist's motives seem shaky, but like all good things, I am sure the best is yet to come.

The narrator does a good job with male and female voices alike, the dialogue. flows well and since this is an unabridged production there isn't a tremendous amount of "over-acting" in the voice work (something I dislike in general).

On the audiobook side alone, the end of this book contains an excerpt from the second book, so you know you're going to get some kind of resolution to the story which you will have just dedicated 8 hours of your time to, which is something that I think more "part ones" of the audiobook world should do.

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Loosely related stories, unsatisfying investment

Revisado: 05-31-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Disclaimer: I was given a code for this series of books with the expectation that I would leave a review. I approach these reviews with no consideration of monetary investment. Light spoilers exist in this review explaining my reasoning for rating in the following body:

Story:
This "series" (explanation lower as to why I note is as a "series") of books follows the exploits of seemingly random people existing in the same universe as a company referred to as "Ouroboros", introduced in the first book as a seemingly antagonistic company conducting some kind of nefarious activities. The company, entity, or even the idea of what it Ouroboros is doesn't become unshrouded until the last few chapters of book number one, and is only a supporting character for the whole of the series. The actions of this group are vaguely described and their goal seems indeterminate for basically the whole series. The way that book one ends leads you to believe there would be some kind of continuance of the story in book two, but instead the narrative takes a sudden trajectory change, and all of the plot development goes out the window, as a new cast is introduced. After the rigamarole of learning a new cast in book two happens, once again, a sudden trajectory change and a whole new cast is introduced in book three. While I don't necessarily mind that this happens, I do mind that the development of the plot never really coalesced into anything meaningful. After the 18 hours or so of time with this universe, I never felt satisfied with the delivery of the story in that it does not really ever "pay off". There really isn't a satisfying conclusion to the antagonistic relationship with Ouroboros and you, the reader. That being said, there is a pronounced difference in writing style from the start of book one to the end of book three, and while I felt book one was especially challenging to finish, book three was written in a fashion that showed the author had found restraint and really matured in a way that made pacing much, much better.

Performance:
All things considered, the performance of the narrators was a mixed bag. Book one suffered from extremely grating and downright cartoonish character voices, to the point that every character felt like a giant caricature of what they were intended to be with the exception of the "main character". The male military characters all spoke like a bad rendition of some characters ripped out of the over-the-top Call of Duty franchise, the female character introduced in the second half of book one sounded like she would be better appreciated in the movie "Clueless" alongside Sharon Stone. it really detracted from the experience for me, and if I didn't care enough to work through it, I would have quit somewhere in there.

Book two and three really didn't suffer from the narration pitfalls, but I didn't like how each narrator had a different pronunciation of "Ouroboros", if books are being released as an anthology, the producer should maintain a few things between each book, one of those things should be proper expectations of how a major plot point or name should be pronounced.

it was a decent effort, but ultimately if I had never invested the time into it, I don't think I would have missed much.

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An Intriguing Ride

Revisado: 05-19-19

First, I will start with the narrator, R. C. Bray is a master of this craft. This is my second book that I picked up narrated by him (the first being The Martian) and I am fully impressed. For me, he is on the same level as Scott Brick and Jefferson Mays. I could listen to any of them narrate all day.

This story has all of the hallmarks of a great read, I was intrigued from the first chapter to the last. The pacing is great, and the chapters start and end with just enough sugar to keep you going at a healthy (or unhealthy!) pace. the story, without spoiling, is fit to be a movie for sure. it is reminiscent of something that might come from Christopher Nolan production house, and to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if this story ends up being optioned for a limited series or theatrical event.

If you're on the line, just do it. it's fantastic.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

I wish the production was better.

Revisado: 04-28-19

The novel itself was great, as usual. The setup for the conclusion of the 9-part story that we all know and love, the end of our time with Rocinante is upon us, and all I could think of while I was listening is: was this audiobook recorded in a phone booth? The quality of this production is actually pretty distracting, the editing is sloppy (you can hear someone says numbers at one point, probably to indicate where it fits in mastering) and it really is a shame. Every book up until this one was produced and edited well. I am not sure how this one slipped out, but prepare to be a little upset. It detracts from an excellent story and excellent voice acting.

Audible: Please implore the owner of the master copy of this recording to reedit or redistribute a better copy.

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Easily the best in the series so far

Revisado: 02-08-19

This book/production has both the best storyline and pacing of the series so far. It seems to have expertly bridged the sci-fi and suspense/thriller genres without missing a beat. It also develops characters that have been in the world since book 1 but haven’t had POV status. It’s a must read/listen for fans and would probably stand on it’s own even I& you didn’t know the rest of the story.

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it's okay

Revisado: 11-29-18

I found myself bored with the content of way through. The narrator wasn't particularly bad, but the voicework was annoying in some parts. I wish it was the same narrator as the rest of the books in the series.

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Bought on a whim, extremely happy with purchase.

Revisado: 11-24-18

I purchased this at the behest of a suggestion from audible due to my interest in other widely loved sci-fi. If you enjoy the Expanse for it’s accuracy but need a break from the political intrigue, this is your book. Without giving it away, it’s like The Martian, The Expanse series and Ready Player One had a baby. Light-hearted but not light on scientific scientific plausibility, comedic undertones but not a comedy and extremely good vocal direction make this book a pleasure. I blew through 10 hours through a holiday weekend and have no regrets.

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Easily the best in the repertoire so far.

Revisado: 10-15-18

Jefferson Mays does an impeccable job with some truly excellent material at his disposal. Easily the best entry in the entire series so far. Very much looking forward to the next entry.

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This was an unexpected surprise.

Revisado: 07-06-18

An excellent book, with believeable characters in a "post apocalypse" scenario that is more plausible than most stories. Great material made greater by Scott Brick. If there is an equivalent to "can't put it down" for audiobooks, this was my first time experiencing it.

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