Then the Hail Came

A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 Appalachian Trail Thru-hike

By: George Steffanos

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

“Then the Hail Came” is the true story of George Steffanos on his quest to become more than just a two pack a day looser by finally completing something significant in his life - The Appalachian Trail. It is true that everyone who hikes the A.T. has their share of misfortune, but for George, it seems like a daily occurrence, yet he continues to put his best foot forward. All the ups and downs are described poignantly with humor as he manages to provide wonderful descriptions of the characters he meets, and the surrounding landscape encountered through all 2138 miles from Georgia to Maine. Inspired by the events of his journey, he weaves fanciful dream interludes throughout, while beginning to change and grow as a person while hiking "The Trail." Along the way he realizes the people he encounters on the Appalachian Trail are as crazy as the ones he hung around with at home - He just wishes that he had “come prepared for that with more food.”

at

It’s hard listening to this virtual voice refer to the AT as “at”. The story is good. I wish he would have told it himself.

Amazing

Great book, loved it! What a wonderful story, glad I came across this book. Makes me want to get outside and home.

Virtual voice is awful

The story is interesting but I hate the virtual voice. As others have mentioned, this AI voice mispronounces words. It calls the AT the "at." It pronounces "minute" in Minute Rice as "minute," with the accent on the second syllable and a long u. I could go on. We need a human reader who can understand the word being used, look it up if they don't, and pronounce it correctly. If this is the future for Audible books, I'll probably have to quit listening to them. In addition, it takes employment from voice actors.

AI read lacking authenticity.

AI audio doesn't pronounce names well and cant read abbreviations properly. also AI sounds feminine when the book is written by a male.

Great Detail! The story really deserves to be told by a human instead of a robot!

I liked the author’s details: The landscape, scenery, history, as well as his thoughts and feelings and humor. I have listened to many Appalachian Trail stories and learned new names and places in this story! And I enjoyed his experience with the familiar ones. I would love to hear this story read by a human!!

Different focus of the Author

Did not care for the mis-pronunciations by the virtual voice. This AT Thru Hiker story was different from all of the others that I have read because of the Author’s focus on the geography, the flory and the fauna rather than on the people.

The only reason you lack one star.

If this story has taught me anything. It's to be kind and grateful to every living being that crosses your path throughout your life . At least to the ones that deserve it. You should have shared your pop tart with the chipmunk.

Lone trail long listen

This story from 1983 is the typical through hiker experience of trials and tribulations with growth and setbacks.
A descent list to in the background. You don’t have to pay close attention to the story.

Very good

I did enjoy this book. The virtual voice was fine, except some of the pronunciation was not pronounced correctly. There were a few choice colorful words in it, but not too many. I so enjoyed the humor that was added into the narrative. It felt like you were going along with the through hiker. Fun book to read. JS.

Good story and great detail.

Good story made me feel like I was on the trail. The AI Voice Narration completely butchered the name of Mount Katahdin the entire story. It was very distracting. Also calling the A.T the “at” the entire time was not great at all. Would prefer it to listen to an AI narrated book if it is going to mispronounce massive pinnacles of the story and adventure.