Cristy

I love books read by the author, when they have a nice voice. I loved listening to Pullman. He has a beautiful voice that is perfect for telling this story. There is a cast of actors for all of the character voices. Lyra's was a tad annoying, but most were very well done and the story became seamless despite so many different actors.

This story was full of action and adventure and plenty of questions to get your brain working. It has many levels, so it will appeal to young adults and more mature audiences differently, however it will likely appeal to all.

As for the story, the author is very frank in his criticism of the church, and embracing of terms that the church fears (witches, daemons). That will immediately put off some people. The readers his slant are going to put off have probably already written off the series due to the propaganda :) However he tries to show the "humanity" in every character, most of them having suprising depths. Church authorities are more likely to be "bad" than a witch or daemon, however you will often be surprised whenever you think you "know" a character.

My disappointment came in that this book is a cliffhanger, as part of the trilogy, and the last two books do not live up to the first. So it is hard to read the first and not find out how the story ends, but it is not as satisfying a journey after the end of this one. By the very end the tone has changed from action/adventure to philosophy. This bored my sons and even myself to some extent. That affected my rating of this book slightly, its dependence on the other two. Alone it was engagine, exciting, though-provoking, and a pleasure to listen to! And I did have a hard time putting down the other 2, I was so hooked into the story, though they would get more like a 3 star.

If you like his books, you'll love hearing him read them! I LOVE his adventures with speech therapy and of course the family escapades. I can keep listening to stories on this over and over when I need a laugh.

It doesn't quite live up to the first book, but rarely does the sequel. However we were very engaged in the further adventures of the characters and are now wanting the third book.

These short stories are a lot of fun, not too scary, and nice to have on hand if the kids are antsy and you want to play them something that won't take hours to get through.

This story of a boy coming into his magical powers, surrounded by mostly unsupportive or mean family members, and being sent off to a special school to learn to use his magic may remind you of another young wizarding book. This is not as vivid or engaging as that, but until you can get HP on Audible I think this is worth a listen. My ten year old enjoyed it, and I was engaged in it too. We would read more in the series!

I keep going back and listening to parts of this book, and never fail to laugh! I enjoy his narration and his storytelling just can't be beat. Sometimes I just couldn't believe he would say/do such a thing, but it is a fun kind of astonishment. While he never seems to run out of material from his family and his relationship, I like that he's going out creating new adventures to share with his loyal readers.

I just had to hear for myself what Colbert had said at that dinner, and I found myself trying to laugh while my jaw was dropping. If you like his show, you'll want to hear what he said to the president!

I love the show, so was intrigued by the book but couldn't really get into the "textbook" format of it. The audio seemed to streamline it, and of course you get Jon's voice so that's a bonus! I laughed out loud several times and went back to listen to other parts again. I really enjoyed it.

I thought this went on a tiny bit longer than it needed to, but overall I was very impressed. I loved Pratchett's sense of humor and enjoyed the narration very much. I have never read (or listened to) any other Pratchett novels in this series, and I didn't feel that hindered my understanding or enjoyment of this one.

I had never read this book, so the storyline alone was engaging. However the narration was so superb I could hardly turn it off. I got a ton of housework done just to justify listening all day! The characters really come to life in this audio version of the classic "whodunit".