A Davies

Great stories, great narration. Poor format.

Revisado: 06-11-22

So why 3 stars? Because each tale has a preamble by Harlan Ellison which is NOT separated into its own chapter. These preambles may or may not interest the reader (personally I just wanted to hear the stories) and all these being in the same chapters as the stories they introduce, with varying lengths of 2 - 5 minutes, means blindly skipping ahead for a bit to get to the story. For every story.

The narrator, Luis Moreno, has a rich tone and put in a great performance.

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A Tad Too Slow...

Revisado: 11-07-18

This is the fourth Len Deighton audiobook I've bought, following The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Berlin Game. I was under no illusions going into Berlin Game and this book that it'd be a different style of novel, with a less irreverent protagonist than the Harry Palmer series (which I love) and a more thoughtful pace.

As always, the narrator James Lailey is excellent. No issues there.

So why the mediocre rating? Well, while Berlin Game struck the right note with me from the beginning, this book didn't. The problem for me was that the central character, Bernard, and his cohorts (who carry over from Berlin Game), spend what feels like an eternity engaging in a endless cycle of dining and talking with little narrative progression. Perhaps that sounds ridiculous, but it really did feel endless. Chapter after chapter, much of the narrative is reduced to conversation across plates of (wryly described) Mexican food. Though initially entertained, it soon wore thin and I was repeatedly frustrated whenever, finally, events were prodded along and Deighton had Bernard travel to another location, only to have him sit down to another Mexican meal and engage in a long interpretive conversation on people's motives and events, interspersed with comments on the food. It would easily be possible in the first third of the novel to fall asleep and wake up several chapters later, without being able to tell if the story had progressed at all. Except maybe, Bernard was being served enchiladas instead of tacos.

Don't get me wrong - Berlin Game had its fair share of dinners and mundanity in this sense - it's part of what kept it grounded. But it was paired with a story that felt alive and moving from the outset, and an element of paranoia that was introduced by Deighton re a key character in Bernard's inner circle. In Mexico Set, this impetus is somewhat lacking to begin with and much of the conversation felt to me like a stall to events and exhaustingly introspective. I just wanted something to happen. It evaporated my goodwill for the book and I'm sorry to say, I lost interest halfway even as events picked up. I simply hadn't been primed for it, unlike Berlin Game.

If you enjoyed the domestic details and dinner parties of Berlin Game for their own sake, you may enjoy Mexico Set. Just beware that its progression is a long, slow burn and may dent your interest as it did mine. I think my next Deighton audiobook will be Billion Dollar Brain, which is a shame as I actually prefer Bernard to Harry Palmer. The introspective chat was just a little too much for me in this one.

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Big theories, sparse plot

Revisado: 03-19-15

Is there anything you would change about this book?

First Contact has an excellent premise, but unfortunately doesn't deliver. The publisher's summary itself reads like 90% of the book - it asks some fascinating questions, but then proceeds to analyze them endlessly - at the expense of plot. As a result, the story is robbed of the tension it deserves, and at times I couldn't help feeling I was listening to 90-minute essay ("Murray Leinster's Theories On First Contact") rather than a book.

Would you ever listen to anything by Murray Leinster again?

For better balanced sci-fi by the same author, I'd definitely recommend The Hate Disease or This World Is Taboo, which combine ethical dilemmas with fleshed-out characters and a sense of pace.

Which character – as performed by Skip Mahaffey – was your favorite?

Skip Mahaffey's portrayal of the Earth ship's gruff Skipper is great.

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