Isington

delightful outing!

Revisado: 11-30-24

Scalzi wrote a totally believable woman lead (been following him for decades, so chalk this up as "writers keep getting better in every respect & he was a blast to start with"), charming side characters, a deceptive & intriguing "villain" - and turned out this delightful jewel of a novella. Loved it!!

The reader was good and right for the role: charming without being rehearsed-sounding and clearly enjoying the material.

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great stories, great voices

Revisado: 11-22-24

I think Martin Jarvis is the best reader of Emsworth stories and possibly of all Wodehouse stories. Characters are neatly distinguished, their emotions clearly conveyed, and there's a constant undercurrent of sheer delight that's delightfully appropriate for the material.

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A real gem, with many well-cut facets

Revisado: 10-18-24

I kept thinking, "I would love to write like this, but I can't!" The layering and interleaving of images and ideas, while sounding distracted, is a great example of making the art of doing something very complicated look easy. Huge fun.

Patrick Warburton is practically perfect. Wonderful choice.

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Warm & wonderful voice to a hugely entertaining story

Revisado: 02-24-24

I can always tell who's talking, and whether it's an internal voice or not. He's not such a total wizard as, say, Sir Derek Jacobi, but very few are. His voice is so pleasant in every character that, after hearing it through a few times, I've added this book to the short list of books to listen to while drifting off to sleep. (Alongside books read by Sir Derek Jacobi.)

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Love this story; wish reader had prepped

Revisado: 01-27-24

TBC, I love Katherine Parkinson on screen. Her timing is impeccable and she's charming in every character she plays. She normally plays one character per show, and I think that's the key.

I don't know where else she has done voice-only work, so I don't know if this performance was unusual for her.

All that said -- ow. She has a lovely purr-y voice, so it wasn't a physical assault on sound, but...

The most consistent problem was the hoarse, high-pitched, almost hooting voice she used for most of the characters. It was formed so far up in the back-roof of her mouth it was awful, not to mention impossible to distinguish one character from another.

Apart from failing to individualize voices, each character went up and down the social register too, apparently at random. Polly's voice was the most spectacularly inconsistent.

We know she *can* do better voices, because her Vimes was spot-on and Angua was excellent.

She seemed to find her feet in the scene in the kitchen, near the end of the book.

It felt like she picked up the book and just did a straight, unprepared read-through. I really, *really* wished she had had (or taken) the time to prepare character voices (especially men, women who are trying to pass as men, women who don't need or want men, and women who expect to be taken as men) and mark up her script in advance, so she'd have the right voice and intonation for the dialogue.

The end of the book hints at how much better this could have been, a real gem in this wonderful audio series that Penguin has created.

This audiobook is *not* a waste -- just be prepared to wade through a lot of hooting as the dialogue unfolds. At least her natural voice has a lovely timbre, so the narration is fine.

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Not Bunny, but good material in there

Revisado: 12-14-23

The narrator uses a whiny-old-man voice for Bunny, and it's not particularly Dublin, authoritative, nor charismatic in tone. That takes a lot of getting past. It's compounded by the narrator using a weak, breathy voice to signal the voices of women, even a dominatrix in a mood.

I mean, come on!

I'm still trying to work my way through it. I love Caimh McDonnell as a writer, so I'm keeping at it to find out what happens.

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Yes, yes, yes.

Revisado: 05-31-23

I love the book anyway -- it's a marvelous send-up of the industry and the characters are delightful -- and Jason Isaacs turns out to be one of the best voice actors I've ever heard! While the quizzical part of my mind is delighted to think I'm being read to by Lucius Malfoy or the snottiest possible elf, in fact I'm not: Ruby, Gaspode, Victor, Dibbler, Ginger, and the rest are brought vividly & uniquely to life, by a brilliant actor who is having an absolutely wonderful time!

Impossible to recommend this too highly. It's a joy.

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Good storytelling, brilliant voice acting

Revisado: 05-17-23

Good, exciting, capable storytelling, as expected from this author. The set pieces are exciting, the characters are intriguing although how they're handled gets predictable & tropey, and I look forward to finding out what happens.

Pinchot's voicing steals the show. He's among the best voice actors in the English language and the best I've heard in American English, giving each character a consistent, complete personality through the way he voices it. His characterizations save weak points in plot and character and bring the action to life. You can always tell who's talking or thinking, where they come from emotionally and socially, and you can always tell how they feel about it all.

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Deligjtful

Revisado: 05-06-23

I found the beginning rather predictable and slow. The reader's pace was a bit slow too. I turned the speed up a little and did housework until the story got its feet under it, and then it was almost impossible to put down.

I loved the almost lyrically romantic moments, the handling of difficult relationships and how our scars change us, and how emotions from longing to rage to delight flowed naturally from the story. No emotional manipulation here, thank goodness, and no pointless hormonal trips. Skillful character development, wonderful love interest, good unfolding of world building, and a story I found myself cantering to keep up with.

Highly recommended-- unless you just can't with the same-sex attractions. If that's going to keep you from enjoying it, go find something that you *can* enjoy.

The reader was excellent. Better control of intonation, diction, and sound than 90% of the American readers I've listened to. His characterizations are just distinct enough to know immediately who's talking, without being forced or sounding distorted. His voice is pleasant and his delivery is genuine. He seemed to enjoy his job, which always improves a performance!

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Rich, intelligent, beautiful work

Revisado: 04-18-23

Firstly, I *loved* having the narrated parts slowed right down. I appreciated having a little extra time to mull and take in each interview, and to follow Greer's explication and reasoning. I thought that was a great performance choice.

It also gave me time to refresh my ears between each of the very different accents of the fascinating people she interviewed. I can't always switch my brain's auditory channels quickly and the pacing helped me stay in.

Also, her beautiful voice and gentle diction are lovely to listen to. There is no downside unless you want to make one.

I'm a white person who had what was a great education about 40 years ago. I'm a die-hard fan of history -- and reasoning. I'm very happy to have found the first in what promises to be an excellent series by an outstanding mind, a series which can hold up what I learned and correct it in fact and in interpretation, with beauty, clarity, science, and grace.

I'm thrilled by this opening podcast and look forward to more!

I have one administrative request: I can't find lists of the names of people interviewed. I wish Audible included a link to that info in the blurb.

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