Jaroslaw

Most of the reviewers have nothing but praise for the narrator. I, however, agree with Michael's review below. I think that most people like Lee, just because the author is so great, not because the narrator's performance is good.

Everything is read in the same deadpan style. Reynolds tells great stories, but Lee does not stress the story, but the originality of his books. It's as if he was saying "everything is so strange, but for the characters in the book its normal". His reading does not follow the story, and a great action-packed passage is read in exactly the same way as a static description. All characters speak in the same way, use the same intonation at all times. I can't imagine any two people talking to one another in this way, let alone a whole world of people.

If you listen (not that) closely you will notice that where there is no dialog Lee reads every sentence with exactly the same intonation. You could have like 20 sentences in a row read exactly the same. Then, every single book is read in exactly the same way, so you have a hundred hours of listening to the same intonation. No wonder people find it hard to concentrate and decide that Reynolds' books are too difficult for them.

I love Reynolds, but find Lee extremely irritating. I may be totally wrong - I am just one person. However, I would advise the publisher to try another narrator for a change and see how readers react.