Pat Webb

Couldn't listen, too distracting

Reviewed: 08-12-24

I have enjoyed the Grimnoir series overall, but I was not able to listen to this book. 20 minutes in I gave up.

It is not read like most eBooks, it's "acted." The cheesy voices, loud sound effects, and incessant screaming are just too hard to listen to. Fortunately, I only spent less than $2 on this title. Sadly, I can't return it because I didn't buy with a credit.

If you're following the Grimnoir series, do yourself a favor and skip this one. No idea if the story line is any count, because I couldn't stand to listen, so I gave that part a 3 star. The rest would be a negative rating if I could do that.

I have liked all of Larry Correia's books up until now. Moving on to the next one.

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get to the point already!

Reviewed: 01-15-23

Novella uses this book to pudgy his social agenda. He doesn't deliver the information promised by the title. Is not a guide to critical thinking, it's a criticism of anyone who dares to think differently from the author.

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Bought all 3 parts; okay 4 the $, but very basic

Reviewed: 11-11-17

The overall teaching method is effective, however, the words taught are limited to the very basic one would need to travel to a country where Spanish is the native language.

Good points:

-The course covers both Latin American and Castilian dialects
-The narrator explains basic grammar rules, how to go from present tense to past tense, to future tense and plural.
-The narrator explains how to convert words from talking about me vs. you vs. more than one of you, vs. we.
-The narrator explains when there are differences in the two major dialects.
-The narrator and the native speakers are easy to understand and speak clearly.
-Word emphasis (which syllable gets emphasized and when) is explained.
-Limited explanation of feminine vs. masculine words.
-Inexpensive.

Not so good points:

-The vocabulary is very limited. Granted, you are told how to make up or guess at words, but things like fork, spoon, automobile/car, stop, and many other basic words are not explored.
-The program ends at version 3. The last observation wouldn't be an issue if there were more volumes to purchase.

Overall, the course was worth the money (because it is very inexpensive). I learned a fair amount and could carry on a basic conversation at a restaurant with the waitress, but the course left me wanting more. I ended up purchasing the Pimsleur courses as well. They overlap somewhat, but also give different pronunciations for some of the same words. And they expand the vocabulary past what is offered in this course.

Summary:

If you just want to learn just enough Spanish to get by and don't want to spend a lot of money this is the course for you. If you want to be fluent in conversational Spanish, spend more money and buy a more in-depth course.

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5 people found this helpful

Good method, limited vocabulary. Easy to use.

Reviewed: 11-11-17

The overall teaching method is effective, however, the words taught are limited to the very basic one would need to travel to a country where Spanish is the native language.

Good points:

-The course covers both Latin American and Castilian dialects
-The narrator explains basic grammar rules, how to go from present tense to past tense, to future tense and plural.
-The narrator explains how to convert words from talking about me vs. you vs. more than one of you, vs. we.
-The narrator explains when there are differences in the two major dialects.
-The narrator and the native speakers are easy to understand and speak clearly.
-Word emphasis (which syllable gets emphasized and when) is explained.
-Limited explanation of feminine vs. masculine words.
-Inexpensive.

Not so good points:

-The vocabulary is very limited. Granted, you are told how to make up or guess at words, but things like fork, spoon, automobile/car, stop, and many other basic words are not explored.
-The program ends at version 3. The last observation wouldn't be an issue if there were more volumes to purchase.

Overall, the course was worth the money (because it is very inexpensive). I learned a fair amount and could carry on a basic conversation at a restaurant with the waitress, but the course left me wanting more. I ended up purchasing the Pimsleur courses as well. They overlap somewhat, but also give different pronunciations for some of the same words. And they expand the vocabulary past what is offered in this course.

Summary:

If you just want to learn just enough Spanish to get by and don't want to spend a lot of money this is the course for you. If you want to be fluent in conversational Spanish, spend more money and buy a more in-depth course.

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15 people found this helpful

Love the content, narration not up to par.

Reviewed: 10-03-17

Ayn Rand subject matter is spot on. The narration is not edited properly, however, and it detracts somewhat from the overall package.

Berandette Dunne's voice is fine but she repeats sentences in many parts of the book. I think she was working on voice inflections, but the editing left both recordings in. At first I thought it must be for emphasis, but as I got further into the book I realized this was not the case. Blackstone Audio is usually better at proofing than this. It was a bit disappointing.

I debated what rating to give with the stars because the subject matter really needs to be heard. But it would be nice if the edits were revisited. :-)

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Great concept, hard to listen to.

Reviewed: 02-11-17

Would you consider the audio edition of A Spontaneous Order to be better than the print version?

I would probably recommend the print version over this audio version. The narrator is difficult to listen to because the voice inflections are not quite appropriate for the text. The subject matter is somewhat technical and tedious, which is compounded by the narration style.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

What didn’t you like about Graham Wright’s performance?

The voice inflection and the pronunciation of certain words was annoying.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

The concept is important and the information is worth knowing. If the listener has an open mind or is liberty oriented there is much in this book of interest. However, there were many places where I found my mind wandering and had to back up and replay sections. I will listen to the book again to make sure I got all of the points being made by the author.

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Interesting perspective

Reviewed: 01-07-17

Would you consider the audio edition of Dr. Mary's Monkey to be better than the print version?

It's a matter of preference. Some prefer print, others prefer audio. Some switch back and forth. I listen in the car, so audio is better for me.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dr. Mary's Monkey?

No one moment stands out, but the overall story is interesting.

Have you listened to any of Jim Meskimen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I haven't

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not that kind of book

Any additional comments?

If you have an open mind and are willing to look for truth this book poses some interesting concepts. I am not saying it is true or false. That is for the reader to explore. But it poses some interesting questions.

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not as focused on the theory as it could be

Reviewed: 04-28-16

the use of different voices for the quotations made this easier to follow than some books I have listened to. but if you are looking for more technical info and less personal history this may not be the right book for you.

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Great story, bad job editing, bad music

Reviewed: 02-17-16

What made the experience of listening to Shadow of the Hegemon the most enjoyable?

The story is well written and mostly well read, but the edits/updates were poorly done. The voices don't match and the edits were only a few words in the middle of a sentence, giving the effect of jarring your focus away from the story and onto the edits themselves. Also, the music was terrible. It would have been much better without music.

One personal pet peeve, the author talks about the character putting another "clip" into their pistol...it's a magazine, not a clip. The slang term is "mag".

Who was your favorite character and why?

no favorite

Would you listen to another book narrated by the narrators?

yes, overall the production was good

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

don't know, don't care :-)

Any additional comments?

The entire series is enjoyable, but these edits and the music are not well done.

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Great stories, read well, music needs to go.

Reviewed: 02-17-16

Would you consider the audio edition of First Meetings to be better than the print version?

All except the music. The characters were well portrayed by the actors, but the music was distracting and poorly done. Sometimes it was so loud that you couldn't hear the voices clearly.

What other book might you compare First Meetings to and why?

Ender's Game because it gives back story

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Get rid of the music and make the transition between the three sections a bit more clear. Perhaps in the introduction a statement that this is three different mini-books.

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