Heather

Don't Waste Your Time & Money

Revisado: 01-22-19

This program is purely call and response! Scientifically, repetition is the absolute worst way to learn, and coupled with Pimsleur's failure to explain the what or why's of Icelandic vocabulary and grammar, this program is essentially a waste. You may feel like you're speaking Icelandic, but you're just repeating sounds.

If you're genuinely interested in learning Icelandic, I recommend the University of Iceland's free Icelandic Online courses. If you're looking for useful phrases for your Icelandic vacation, this course won't have you memorize any, and that's unnecessary anyway because all Icelanders learn English in school.

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Mildly Entertaining

Revisado: 05-18-17

Is there anything you would change about this book?

First and foremost I would send this book to a good editor who can vary sentence structure and length. Then I would get rid of all of the product placements. Hurwitz's story arc and character development would have been exactly the same if he had left out the specificity of Evan stopping by a CVS or Katerine eating McDonalds.

Has Orphan X turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not at all, I'll definitely keep picking up Fiction/Thrillers and Scott Brick's work. But this is probably my one and only attempt at reading Gregg Hurwitz.

What aspect of Scott Brick’s performance would you have changed?

Scott Brick gave an excellent performance as always, but a masterful narrator can only do so much with a mediocre script.

Was Orphan X worth the listening time?

That's debatable. I wasn't sure if I would like the book but at 11 hours and change I figured it was worth the gamble.

Any additional comments?

Hurwitz had his work cut out for him creating a protagonist that is difficult to empathize with, though by the end I did sympathize with Evan. Unfortunately, Hurwitz's cookie-cutter story and poor writing skills put me in a hurry to finish the novel (I never give up on a book!!) even though I anticipated the ending. I would be more interested in a short story of the same basic events from Peter's point of view.

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The Least Boring of the Trilogy!

Revisado: 05-02-17

What did you like best about Fool's Fate? What did you like least?

There were a good 18-20 hours of Fool's Fate that had me totally enthralled, but the beginning was just as slow and awful as Golden Fool, and the quick-moving storybook ending was so cheap (yet somehow still drawn out and boring) that I wonder if Hobb just totally gave up or was only thinking of fan service by the end.

If you’ve listened to books by Robin Hobb before, how does this one compare?

In other books I see Fitz as a reluctant hero with often bad timing, who has the misfortunate of others always plotting against his best interest. In Fool's Fate (and in Golden Fool) I feel that Hobb deliberately avoids writing moments that Fitz has anticipated, since he so often returns from being away/incapacitated to find that others have learned things that he wishes to tell them himself. (Difficult to describe without spoilers!)

What does James Langton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Langton's voices and accents are excellent! He imagines different characters with much more breadth and life than I would give them in my head.

Did Fool's Fate inspire you to do anything?

To take the Fitz and the Fool trilogy OFF of my Wish List! If I could go back I would have just re-read the original Farseer trilogy instead.

Any additional comments?

I think after this series I am done with Robin Hobb altogether. Her work isn't getting any better. That being said, if you've finished Golden Fool, Fool's Fate will definitely redeem that book for you and makes the trilogy worth finishing.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 04-11-17

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. I usually listen to books at 1.25x speed but jumped up to 1.5x to get through faster.

Would you be willing to try another book from Robin Hobb? Why or why not?

I fell hard for Robin Hobb in high school and devoured the Farseer and LiveShip Traders trilogies. Coming back to her books after over a decade, I'm more disappointed than anything else. I'm not sure if her newer work is of lower quality or if my tastes and expectations have changed.

What does James Langton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Langton's voices and tone are excellent, especially his version of the Fool.

Do you think Golden Fool needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It felt like a giant middle, so I'll say yes... but really Hobb should have just cut the fat and made this two-book series.

Any additional comments?

When I first met FitzChivalry, we were the same age. Since I took a break from the books, we're still the same age as I go through this series. There's such a strong feeling of nostalgia and of being at home with Fitz and the Fool that I want to throw myself into this series with the love I had for the original trilogy. Unfortunately, every single scene is a let-down. The overall plot is incredibly slow and uneventful, useless details are included in abundance, and Fitz spends far too much time feeling sorry for himself. If you loved the Farseer trilogy, stop there and keep your love intact.

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Not Getting Any Better

Revisado: 04-11-17

Would you listen to Babylon's Ashes again? Why?

I will definitely work my way through this series again in my lifetime, but it'll be a while.

Have you listened to any of Jefferson Mays’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Mays' ability to nuance tone, pacing, and accent is one of my biggest draws to this series.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I miss Arjun, but that's more of something that wasn't in the book than a moment that did move me.

Any additional comments?

Full disclosure: I am a sucker for both dystopian Sci-Fi and strong female protagonists. That being said, this series is losing its grip on me. I love the proto-molecule storyline and am totally bored with the relentless useless details and political back-and-forth that seem to creep in more and more with each book. Give me more Sci- and less Fi-, and don't bring up details that aren't relevant to my understanding of the story.

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Only listen if you know the comics!

Revisado: 12-14-15

How could the performance have been better?

All of the voices were horribly over-acted. This was funny at first but I made it less than half-way through before giving up. Sound effects / post-production was horrible too -- not a realistic soundscape. Get a mixer please, and create some depth.

Any additional comments?

Another reviewer wrote that this must be what a blind person feels like going to the movies, and I second that opinion. I had heard great things about the comic so when this popped up as free I downloaded it immediately -- and regretted that decision almost as quickly. There are tons of rave reviews from Locke & Key fans and good for them. If you're not in that category PLEASE ABSTAIN. There's a lot of sound effects and weird breathing that do not in any way help me understand what's going on. It's like they adapted the graphic novel word for word and only added soundscape to fill in what the art in each panel supplied in information. Horrible, horrible, horrible from my perspective. This is the only audiobook I've ever given up on. Wish I could return it just to get it out of my library.

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Great story brought down by voice actor changes

Revisado: 12-14-15

Where does Dune rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I want to love this production of Dune; the story is a undeniable classic. However, the changes in narration are so distractingly confusing that I'm breaking my "never write a review" silence to warn others. This story is worth diving into, but pick another version!

What did you like best about this story?

Thrilling story in it's details and otherworldly realism.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Pace mostly yes, tone mostly no. Scenes switch between the narrator doing all of the voices (quite well!) to a full cast (also very good!) in the next scene. Each scene is great on it's own but together I'm left more confused than anything else. I get used to a certain voice for a character and then am totally thrown off when it switches back with no warning/reason. Listening to the book it's literally all I can think about, wondering why the actors changed and then I miss the story and have to go back (which is difficult because the chapter breaks are arbitrary and do not match up with the actual chapters). Horribly, horribly confusing and distracting. Please, dear producers, never do this again!

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