08-03-2013, 04:43 AM | #616 |
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Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I got about half way through Killing Floor and gave up on it. There wasn't anything in particular that I disliked about it, it just didn't hold my interest. Glad you liked it. It would be a pretty boring place if we all liked the same thing.
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08-03-2013, 06:44 AM | #617 |
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Dean Koontz's "Odd Thomas" book 1. Found it by accident @ Overdrive so I reserved it. Turns out it's a fun novel read by an entertaining reader.
I'm not a Koontz fan other than in passing. That said I really am enjoying this novel. It has parts that remind me of Spider Robinson's Challaham Chronicals, Pale Horse by Piers Anthony and of course Dead Like Me. It's lightweight & pleasant entertainment. I will listen to at least a couple of the sequels. As a free list via Overdrive it is a great value for sure. Am enjoying it much more than Ben Bova's Farside and I really enjoy Bova a lot. His Sam Gunn stories are among my all time favorites. Fanside is set in that storyverse. For some reason reason • s - imply did not gain any traction on the story. |
08-13-2013, 01:44 PM | #618 |
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Amazon really has their hooks in me with the Whispersync pricing. It's frequently cheaper or equal to an Audible credit to just buy the Kindle version and add narration. Audible sent me a $10 coupon, and at Whispersync rates that's 3-5 audiobooks included free with the Kindle editions. So far I haven't actually used the sync feature and have only read a page here or there in one Kindle edition (The Emperor's New Soul by Brandon Sanderson), but I've bought about five ebooks from Amazon, bringing my lifetime total to about six
Prior to that spree, I listened to and occasionally read half of C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series (volumes 8 through 13) via Play Books text-to-speech, and it was not bad at all. If anyone else wants to use the feature at some point, just remember to go into the app settings and enable "high quality voice," which will require an internet connection. I picked up the actual audiobook for #14, and it's a little jarring. The reader on the first 7 books was great, but the guy on book 14, Daniel Thomas May, is pretty weak. He might do better with different subject matter, but in this work he puts an overly-exoticizing emphasis on all the 'alien' words and names, and his character voicing for all but the human protagonist is more caricature than characterization. I'll be sad when I finish this one, the last in the series so far. I'm thinking I'll start on Hugh Howey's Wool next, which I got as a Whispersync package, or possibly The Sisters Brothers which has been highly recommended in my circle of writer friends--I have that one in Play Books. Last edited by taosaur; 08-13-2013 at 01:46 PM. |
08-13-2013, 01:54 PM | #619 |
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Interesting how different listeners feel about readers. I actually quite like the Daniel Thomas May performances. He's been the reader for the last several of the series, and I'm happy with him. And, of course, I love the series and can't wait for the next.
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08-13-2013, 03:36 PM | #620 |
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It may be partly the transition from the minimalist experience of Play text-to-speech, which does remarkably well setting off dialogue from narration, but obviously doesn't differentiate between speakers or interpret character. Much like reading the text myself, those aspects were left to the imagination, so maybe I'm partly reacting to May's voicing not matching up with my own feel for the characters. Still, it's also lacking in nuance or subtlety. It's gruff ogre voices for the Atevi and shrill lady voices for female characters--not the worst I've encountered and not intolerable, but sub-par.
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08-13-2013, 10:04 PM | #621 |
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I'm in the process of listening to Scoundrels, Zahn's new Star Wars book set between Star Wars and the Empire Strikes back (I'm old fashion, I use the original titles). It's pretty entertaining. It's more of a performance than a reading. The voice talent does a pretty good Hans Solo voice and there are plenty of sound effects and music. I don't think that I would want a steady diet of this style, but it's a nice change of pace.
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08-14-2013, 06:26 AM | #622 |
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After finishing Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, which I liked a lot, I have been listening to two favorites:
1. The Winds of Marble Arch by Connie Willis, read by Dennis Boutsikaris. This novella isn't exactly part of her time travel universe, but it features a business man who travels to London where he experiences echoes of the blasts of the Blitz in the tube stations. Very aptly read by Dennis Boutsikaris. 2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling, read by Stephen Fry. I know I am repeating myself, but I adore Fry's readings of the books. It was pure joy to listen to him again. Today, I finished The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross, the first book in his Laundry series. It also includes the novella The Concrete Jungle. I like the way he mixes magic and Lovecraftian horror with modern technology, and Bob Howard is a very likable character. There's also a lot of humour in these stories. It was read by Jack Hawkins who was new to me but whose performance I enjoyed quite a bit. Please note that this is the newly published British/European audiobook which seems to be geo-restricted like the already existing American editions. For a bedtime book, I am listening to another old favorite: Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer, read by Jonathan Davis. It is the story of an atheist paleontologist dying of cancer who meets a creationist alien, quite an interesting pairing. It's nearly all philosophical discussion with very little action, so it obviously isn't for everybody. I haven't read it in a while and I am enjoying it a lot. |
08-14-2013, 06:57 AM | #623 |
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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon
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08-14-2013, 09:29 AM | #624 |
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I agree about the Steven Fry versions of the Harry Potter books. They are superb. As for Gibbon, that is a bit too heavy for me in audio book format.
I'm finishing up Antiagon Fire, by L.E. Modisett, Jr., read by William Dufries. Perfect workout reading. |
08-17-2013, 11:42 AM | #625 | |
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L. E. Modisett, Jr.'s Imager Series
Quote:
The reader for all the books is William Dufries, and while he isn't my favourite reader, he's quite acceptable and I very much enjoy his reading of the books. Next up on the audio front is Honor Among Enemies by David Weber. This is book #6 in the Honor Harrington series, and is read with the usual dismal performance by Allyson Johnson. I've learned to live with her performances, but never to like them. |
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08-21-2013, 01:03 AM | #626 |
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Currently listening to Dark of the Moon by John Sandford first in the Virgil Flowers series and I'm really enjoying it, I can see I'm going to be listening to a lot of these
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08-23-2013, 08:29 PM | #627 |
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I just started Terry brooks "LANDOVER" ..been 20 years since I read it. I forgot how much fun it is !
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08-24-2013, 09:18 AM | #628 |
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Currently I am listening Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince read by Stephen Fry. I had never heard anything by him before. I am into 18th chapter and simply can’t stop. Just loving Stephen's reading!
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08-24-2013, 01:49 PM | #629 |
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I think I would even listen to him if he read the phone book to me. I have started Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on a train journey a week ago and I can't stop listening either.
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08-24-2013, 08:45 PM | #630 |
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I am sure I am going to listen the entire series in quite short time
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audible, audiobooks, recommendations |
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