J. Hand

I just couldn't get into this book.

Revisado: 03-27-22

Yeah, it had time travel. Yes, it had an interesting premise. It involved a noble purpose. But, it didn't work for me. I couldn't find anything about the characters to make me care about them. It was long on banter, short on plot. Some literary devices used were so trite I found myself groaning at the predictability of what was coming. All in all, not my favorite listen.

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How the other half lives excellently described

Revisado: 01-15-17

I liked everything about this book. Well done all around. The voicing was superb. It stayed engaging.

My only nit-pick is the reading was done with a sound activated microphone apparently. Whenever a sentence was started that didn't have a previous sentence to keep the microphone on, the microphone wouldn't pick up the first part of the word. For example, "Things" would sound like "hings" as the 'th' sound was halved. It was annoying.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

starts strong but then kinda fizzles

Revisado: 02-27-16

I liked the story line, liked the characters, and pretty well everything about the book. Just past midway as things are getting tied together it started getting almost oversimplified. Things were overlooked with characters & creatures from motive to any background. It reminded me of a movie that's going along wonderfully and suddenly it seems as if the director and producer were called in and given one week to finish it regardless of how smoothly it worked.

I wish the story had been longer and more fleshed out.

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I expected something different

Revisado: 03-05-15

Maybe I'm not versed enough in steam punk culture and missed the point here. I expected somthing more along the lines of science fiction except steam driven devices and strange machinery. There was a smidgeon of that often as a quick backdrop and at times almost an afterthought. Instead I got a tale of social upheaval, historical receation of sorts, anti-communist essay, a very involved and complex mystery all intertwined with actual historical people served in a name dropping fashion. I never really did get the points of many character backgrounds and how they fit into the larger story. They last parts seemed an attempt to tie it all together that was brilliant in some spots, clumsy in others.

The audio was appropriately accented but at times was paced so quickly that I had to slow it down to understand it. This also required replays in many places to hear what was being said. Because there's a lot of period London/British vernacular I had to keep accessing a dictionary to know what a number of words meant. I don't mind that and it wasn't as frequent a need as William Shrier's books.

It was still not a bad tale but I still feel somewhat cheated because I thought it was going to be something other than what it proved to be. Maybe a film presentation would have had background scenery and effects that would have conveyed the steam age better as in the great animated feature "Steam Boy", but it didn't come through at all in the story. In fact, pull the couple steam vehicles, replace the 'engines' with mathematicians, add a few other minor tweaks and this is simply another novel set in the 1800s.

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Hunter S Thompson is my hero!

Revisado: 02-18-15

Another gem from one of my top 3 favorite authors. Fluid, funny, and pure HST! For those unfamiliar with his non- political writings this us an excellent choice. It's got every bit of his 'journey is everything; destination not so much' madness I love about his writing. This one isn't as drug saturated as say Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but they are still there. Lotsa booze too but HST wouldn't be HST without them. God, I miss him!

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What a fun listen this was!

Revisado: 02-11-15

I became a Waters fan about 7 - 8 years ago which was good timing because I didn't have to wait to see his films. I watched everything I could find over the course of a month and loved it all. Now I'm delving into his books. This is my first and won't be my last.

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What they don't teach about US history

Revisado: 02-06-15

This was a long but fascinating book. It was US history from the viewpoint of the vanquished, the immigrant, the loborer, the women, the people of color- the ones who make and are participants, willing and unwilling, in the hisrorical events they were party to. Modern Americans have forgotten or never knew the sacrifices made along the way and the blood, brutality, and betrayals that were bestowed upon average people by the power elites so frequently portrayed as heroes. It shocked continuously throughout and put this day and time in perspective
The US has never been about the people; it's always been about that top 10%. Always. The Democrats have screwed the people more than their supporters would believe. I severed my ties to the party after it put Clinton in perspective. It also made me wonder if there is any hope for regular people. I certainly don't see the courage today people once had. This opened my eyes and they'll not be shut again, but it also put a profound sadness in my soul that everything that came before taught us nothing.

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Loved the show, loved the books

Revisado: 01-27-15

Would you consider the audio edition of A Game of Thrones to be better than the print version?

It could have been better

Who was your favorite character and why?

I really liked all the characters, well, they way they were developed and described. The good were good and decent, the bad were awful people. probably Aria Stark was my favorite all the way through followed by Tyrian Lanister and Rob Snow

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes.

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

Aria's journey.

Any additional comments?

The 'pirate voice' used for the characters was very distracting as it seemed more appropriate for a pirate story and not something Medieval based. When the same voice was used for so many characters it was even more odd. After a while it was so distracting I had to re-listen to parts because the voice was so annoying it stole my concentration and attention.

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It's not in English. I couldn't understand a word

Revisado: 01-17-14

What disappointed you about Stalingrado [Stalingrad]?

I love WWI and WWII history. I can't get enough about Stalingrad especially in light of Glantz's excellent new books (waiting for Vol 3) which turns everything previously thought and written about the battle upside down. I was so looking forward to this book but as in my title to this review- it isn't English!

Has Stalingrado [Stalingrad] turned you off from other books in this genre?

No! I LOVE WWI and WWII history- it just has to be in a language I can understand or it's just noises!

Which scene was your favorite?

Beats me. Couldn't understand the language.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Stalingrado [Stalingrad]?

See above.

Any additional comments?

Please print a warning or disclaimer for non-English language books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a lot of history books from other countries and all have both native language and English. Some may have their native language title but text is English. The foreign (to me) language title didn't deter me because I assumed if Audible was selling it that it would be in English. You tricked me!

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