11-11-2019, 01:46 PM | #2731 | |
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11-11-2019, 02:49 PM | #2732 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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*I was startled to discover that she pronounces Nadia as "Naydia." In my head, I had read it as "Nahdia." I prefer the latter, but it's her (fake) name, so so be it. |
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11-11-2019, 03:27 PM | #2733 | |
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11-14-2019, 11:34 PM | #2734 |
Riding Against the Wind
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'Just finished listening to Becoming Free by Eckhart Tolle--excellent audiobook. I'm thinking of subscribing to Eckhart Tolle Now (where the audio book can be found); there are 9 days left in my trial membership.
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11-16-2019, 11:07 AM | #2735 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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11-16-2019, 07:05 PM | #2736 |
intelligent posterior
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The Spellmonger books have sunk their hooks in me, for all that I often find the first person protagonist as face-punchable as the self-important nobles he despises. I'm deep in the third one and finding excuses to listen ("Oh, I'll just do a spot of housework. Say, why don't I go for a walk?"). The narrator, John Lee, is a perfect fit in the role of smart-ass wizard. The main appeal in these books is the magic, with battles and world building a close runner up. A lot of the spells and creatures are straight out of Dungeons and Dragons, but a little more grounded - things like magic missile or chain lightning are accomplished by manipulating thermodynamics, not just poof! blam! pow! The magical races are the surviving natives of a world where humanity does not quite belong. I do get the impression there's at least some medieval scholarship behind the more mundane details, too. Mancour isn't as nuts-and-bolts or brick-by-brick as some contemporary fantasy authors, but the mostly short and sweet expository tangents are enough to paint the backdrop without bogging down the pace.
His great weakness, as I mentioned before, is characterization, particularly on those rare occasions a woman enters the narrative. You can tell at times he's patting himself on the back for a "strong female character," but on those occasions his protagonist still sounds more like a butcher describing a fine, maybe even smart, pig. The relationships between men and women and the thoughts and actions ascribed to women are the least realistic element of this story about a wizard fighting hordes of goblins. It will depend on the reader whether that feature is made better or worse by the fact that women so seldom appear. |
11-16-2019, 08:16 PM | #2737 |
languorous autodidact ✦
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My current listen is The Shining by Stephen King and my previous listen was Saki's short stories, two pretty different books including one being a good bit older than the other. It's really strange but both have a section recounting the story of Bluebeard and his wives, and both recount basically the same version of the story.
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11-16-2019, 11:19 PM | #2738 |
Riding Against the Wind
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'Finally finished The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Took forever... Resentment, unwillingness to change, unmotivation kept me from finishing the audiobook previously.
One can stay stuck in a mud puddle for too long, however. It's time for change... now. |
11-17-2019, 04:21 AM | #2739 |
Grand Sorcerer
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As Napoleon was credited with saying, Ask anything of me but time. Time is too short for me to waste time listening to a book that I'm not enjoying.
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11-17-2019, 12:34 PM | #2740 |
intelligent posterior
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It doesn't sound like enjoyment was the primary purpose or goal. Whether the material serves trichobezoar's purposes is another question.
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11-17-2019, 12:49 PM | #2741 |
Can one read too much?
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Yesterday, I finished The Satapur Moonstone, second in a series set in 1920s India. More of a historical fiction than mystery, almost as though the author realized two-thirds of the way through that she had to provide some sort of crisis and resolution. I didn't feel it stood alone, so I would strongly recommend reading The Widows of Malabar Hill first. They changed narrators, with the first one being more Bombay, and the second more Oxford.
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11-17-2019, 01:52 PM | #2742 | ||
Riding Against the Wind
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The Power of Now isn't for everyone. It's for those who are seeking something beyond the superficial--nuggets of truth and pearls of wisdom. |
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11-18-2019, 10:54 AM | #2743 |
Award-Winning Participant
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The Expanse, Book 1, Leviathan Wakes
After REALLY enjoying "The Expanse" TV series on Prime Video last year, I'm finally listening to the first Expanse novel, "Leviathan Wakes." I'm really enjoying the content so far. It's one of those fortunate "The show is great, and the book is even better" situations.
But, a third of the way in, I have some issues with the narrator's pronounciation, which surprised me: One, the name of the book is "Leviathan Wakes." But twice in the introduction, the narrator referred to it as "Leviathan Awakes." I found that immediately weird. Two, he repeatedly pronounces the series's primary propulsion system, the Epstein Drive, invented by Solomon Epstein, as an "Eep-steen" drive, long "e" at the beginning. I've known an number of Epsteins. Some were Steens, some were Stines, but all had a short e in Ep at the beginning. Three, he pronounces the name of the star Tau Ceti as "Tau SEE' Thai." I'm pretty dang sure it's supposed to be "seh tee" not SEE Thai" I'm especially curious about all these issues, because I read there was a flap about another narrator doing book 4, and there was such a clamor over how bad he was, that Audible remade the book with this original guy by popular demand. So is it just me....? i mean I otherwise like the performance, but these issues are distracting, especially since "Eeepsteeen" comes up so frequently. ApK ETA:. Ok, I did a little research, and it seems that some sources do indeed pronounce Ceti as See' Thai. But this is science fiction, and science fiction has exactly one definitive pronunciation of Ceti: Last edited by ApK; 11-18-2019 at 09:20 PM. |
11-18-2019, 12:37 PM | #2744 |
Wizard
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Finished I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett and started Snuff, which is also in the same series. Both are narrated by Stephen Briggs. As usual, wonderful performance and great and funny books! I also finished The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle and narrated by Paul Hecht. All I can say is that it made a better movie and I'm glad I got it from the library and didn't buy it. The arrogance of some of these guys almost made me quit the book. Obviously, he was trying to portray characters, but geeze. Maybe it's the writing style - I've never been a big fan of Sherlock Holmes books but I always assumed it was the drug references that turned me off.
Oh, and gotta tell you guys about something so exciting. I went into Miracle Ear for my hearing aid checkup and they upgraded my hearing aid for free! Now I can listen to audiobooks directly from my Iphone app into the hearing aid via bluetooth!!So much nicer when I'm out and about. I have the cheapest from the top-of-the-line. Last edited by Tarana; 11-18-2019 at 12:45 PM. |
11-18-2019, 01:44 PM | #2745 |
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@ApK: Sometimes, a so-so narrator is "the devil you know" as opposed to the new, even worse narrator. I've seen that in series before. (And I agree, Eeep-steen would drive me nuts.
@Tarana: I saw about your hearing aid upgrade in another thread, and I think that's simply wonderful. What a perfect solution! Currently listening to the second of Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley/DS Havers series books, read by the incomparable Donada Peters (aka, Nadia May, real name Wanda McCaddon). |
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