Jason Suh

Pure, trope-packed space adventure greatness.

Reviewed: 08-11-20

Entertaining story that doesn't seem to take itself to seriously. Plenty of tropes, but they all work. And the narration is among the best.

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A Worthy Addition to the Series

Reviewed: 08-17-15

What was one of the most memorable moments of Fool's Quest?

I really liked it when Chade winked at Fitz while acting like a senile person.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narrator's choice of accent for the Fool was unfortunate. I also wanted to kick Dutiful in the teeth every time he spoke because he sounds like a spoiled, arrogant muppet of a monarch and it really just drove me insane. I just don't understand why narrators feel the need to "show us they're real actors" or something and go all crazy with the accents. Are there directors for book readings? Maybe there should be. Despite all of that, I did not think the narration rendered the book unlistenable. Still worthwhile, imho.

Any additional comments?

I continue to find Fitz's slow uptake on the nature of his own daughter to be a little ridiculous and unbelievable. I'm going to need the story to reveal that he's been the target of a Skilling to make that part ok. I don't think these two novels in this trilogy are quite as good as the earlier trilogies, but I think that's to be expected. I think there are perhaps too many sappy emotional moments, but that didn't bother me because I like that kind of stuff more than I like to admit.

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7 people found this helpful

New narrator nearly kills it for me.

Reviewed: 08-10-15

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I'd definitely recommend for young adult readers.

What didn’t you like about Andrew Tell’s performance?

The narration wasn't awful, but it really bothered me that the narrator placed strange emphasis on the last word in a sentence or other equally inappropriate and bewildering places. The awkward syncopation and intonation really drove me crazy. It didn't seem to bother other people, so I must just be really picky about it. But it bothered me so much that within ten minutes of beginning to listen to the book I went to check if the narrator had changed since book two. I tried finishing the Audible version, but ended up just reading the text version on my Kindle.

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4 people found this helpful

Surprisingly funny and entertaining

Reviewed: 07-07-15

This was so good it makes me want to listen to the Prince of Thorns novels again. Narration was excellent.

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Lovely, engaging and well performed.

Reviewed: 05-01-15

Another great work from Carol Berg, and a laudable performance by McLeod Andrews. The story was truly engaging and developed in directions I was often surprised by. No cookie cutter effort here, although I know I scarcely need to state that about Berg. The narration was superb. I can't say I found every accent beautiful, but that would be unfair to demand in a work of this type. I merely state it to note my honest reaction.

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3 people found this helpful

Disappointing story and awkward narration

Reviewed: 03-28-14

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Some of the accents are simply painful to hear. I thought I might get used to it over the course of the book, as I have iwith many other audio books, but every single time I heard certain accents I would cringe. The accents seemed almost randomly chosen with little consistency with the story. I also found the enunciation, intonation and emphasis to sound almost intentionally awkward and unnatural.

Any additional comments?

I'm not sure why I bothered to listen to this book. Somehow, I recalled thinking that the earlier books were much more compelling and I don't recall being so annoyed with the narration.

It's possible I've just become jaded or bored, so take my review as just one listener's opinion. I love Brandon Sanderson and recently enjoyed listening to Words of Radiance quite a lot, but felt disappointed with Warbreaker, which I enjoyed when I read (not listened) to it years ago. So maybe I'm just experiencing listening fatigue.

Here are my takeaway impressions having just completed listening to the book.

I didn't feel any attachment to the characters. I can't articulate precisely why, but it may have been due to my overall disappointment with the entire experience. I found the writing lazy and blunt in far too many instances--emotions and thoughts that should have been simple to convey with subtle story telling were described with absolutely no nuance. The plot didn't hang together and felt slapped together.

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2 people found this helpful