A different story.

My first Heinlein book, thought he was a master of sci-fi but it was all nudity, incest, wife swapping etc. Where's the sci-fi!! He is an award winner so maybe I just don't get it, but I still don't know the "number of the beast"!

They did the best they could with what they had to work with.

All but the first.

One good narrator for the whole book. Or one narrator for the female parts, one for the male.

Number of the Beast is for hardcore Heinlein fans. It's my favorite Heinlein book -- which is probably why this narration bugs me so much -- but it's not for everyone. If you haven't read Heinlein, get something else first. Tunnel in the Sky is a good juvenile and fun for readers of any age. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of his best, period, and listening to the audio is even more fun than reading the book. Time Enough for Love is a good later novel, as is its sequel To Sail Beyond the Sunset. (The latter has has a stellar performance by Bernadette Dunne who narrates Hilda here in this book).

Five of the narrators are fine: I especially like Bernadette Dunne (Hilda) and Malcolm Hillgartner (Jake). But unless you keep your finger on the fast forward button, Emily Durante can spoil the whole experience. She sounds young and whiny, and her narration does not convey Deety's intelligence and vivacity. It's just not FUN listening to her, and if this book works for you (tastes vary, see reviews on Amazon), it's a FUN book. Listening to Dunne is like babysitting a spoiled toddler. She has apparently done some science fiction, but she is NOT right for this part. She has the range of one of those ornithopters on Mars-10. Someone else should have been chosen for the role of Deety. It's not too late -- get those chapters rerecorded and I'll buy the book a second time!

If you have a copy of the book and dislike one narrator, you can skip his or her sections by using the lists below. The audio is divided into three parts. Each audio chapter contains one chapter from the book. In the book, the chapters are numbered consecutively across all four parts, albeit with Roman numbers.
---AUDIO (Parts 1-3)---
* Sean Runnette (Zeb) Part 1: 1,2,3,10,11,13,20. Part 2: 9,14. Part 3: 2,5,10,12,15.
* Emily Durante (Deety): Part 1: 4,7,9,14,17. Part 2: 2,6,8,10,13. Part 3: 8,14.
* Malcolm Hillgartner (Jake) Part 1: 5,16. Part 2: 4,7,11. Part 3: 3,6,9,13.
* Bernadette Dunne (Hilda) Part 1: 6,8,12,15,19. Part 2: 3,5,12. Part 3: 4,7.
* Paul Michael Garcia (Smith) Part 3: 11.
* Tom Weiner (Narrator): 16
---BOOK (Arabic numerals substituted for Roman)---
* Zeb: 1,2,3,10,11,13,20,28,33,34,37,42,44,47
* Deety: 4,7,9,14,17,21,25,27,29,32,40.46
* Jake: 5,16,23,26,30,35,38,41,45
* Hilda: 6,8,12,15,19,22,24,31,36,39
* Smith: 43
* Narrator: 48

Very dry, very little action, no story. Author spends more time on discussing educational degrees and his characters walking around naked then actually putting together a good story.