Wil

A better narrator would have gotten it to at least a 3 star review. I don't think there is anything that could have me commit to a 4 star or higher though.

It depends on the friend. If it were a friend that enjoys wildly imaginative worlds and characters and philosophies, I probably would recommend this one. A friend that enjoys a more structured story with character depth I would advise to skip it.

He had a repetitive tone. I have listened to narrators before that had inflection and feeling to their reading based on the situation. I never found that here. It even took me out of the story sometimes as I was listening to the same sentence pattern after same sentence pattern. I would just listen to the da da da da daaa. It varied of course based on sentence length obviously, but was clearly evident.

I should clarify that it wasn't horrible. I have listened to many worse narrators. It was just monotonous for long stretches which is not suitable to my attention span.

Sadly, no reaction.

This was my 2nd Niven book; my 1st being Ringworld. If you are a fan of the Larry Niven style and imagination I do think you will enjoy this book regardless of narration. Had I not known it was the same author as Ringworld, I would have noticed the similarity in styles. That said, however, Ringworld was a much better book and while it may not be fair to compare this book to one as acclaimed as that, you should at least be cognizant so as to have lessened expectations.

I loved that I was captivated from about 30 seconds into the book instead of a couple of hours like most books are for me. Additionally, this was one of the few books that I did not want to miss even a second of. Many books, if I am interrupted for just a few seconds. I will just continue on. In this book, it didn't matter how short the interruption was, I would hit the 30secondsback button.

I love all of the characters. Royce and Hadrian are compliment each other well, but they still have their own individuality and distinct personalities. I would have been able to know who said many of the line without being told by the narrative or by knowing the voice. The other characters have important roles and are easy to follow as well.

I love that I basically received a 2nd book for free. I'm not sure if they put 2 books together in each of these volumes just to have the length that many other epic fantasy books seem to have, but they did't have to that. Most of the other books in my library are about 11 hours and that's about how long these would be if they weren't bundled together.

I love that the greater story is only just unfolding. I can't wait to get the next volume.

I like that even though they are thieves, they are still good guys. Another of my favorite books is "the Lies of Locke Lamora". In that book, the thieves are good guys too, but they do steal from people who don't really deserve it and people get hurt through their misdeeds. In "Theft of Swords" it is implied that they have done some unsavory things, but we never actually journey along with them on anything but good deeds. It makes it easier for me to resolve liking and caring about them.

Nope, Great job on this one though. Spot on

Umm, can't think of anything at the moment. Maybe thats's the one negative I have so far. There were many parts that were somewhat moving, but none that stand out as particularly moving.

Wait, I just realized one part that did move me, but it might be a spoiler.

So, I have given "Theft of Swords" a glowing review. But, while it is already among my list of favorites, I'm not exactly ready to put it in my top 5 just yet. I stated that the larger story will unfold in the next 2 volumes and I'm hoping that will put this series in my top 5. I read somewhere (maybe another reviewer) that Sullivan intentionally (and at some risk) wrote this series so that it could build how he wanted to and end with the best part and have a satisfying conclusion despite the fact the 1st book would be the weakest.

One more thing. Each book in this 1st volume had a decent conclusion. While they did hint at the larger story and leave room to grow, the "smaller" story contained within each book did finish and didn't leave me annoyed that I HAVE to get the next book. I appreciate not being strung along like that.

No, I think Johnson knows what he's doing

The most interesting aspect for me is that it is set in an area of the country i dont really know much about. Maybe learning about the term sharp shooter.

Don't really have a least interesting. It was mostly all interesting.

George Guidall is among the best and I never have anything but praise for his performances.

Yes, I am happy I listened to it.

I'll put my only negative comments here. After I finished the book, I just moved on. I finished it a week or two ago and hadn't really thought about it since. I don't really have anything to point out as not good. But, usually a good book sticks in my mind a while. I will want to read what other people have said about it or what the next book in the series is about. Nothing like that happened for me. I had almost completely forgotten I listened to it until I went through my library just now to review another book I just finished. Thinking back upon it now, It was a good story. I liked many parts of it. It just didn't have that lasting effect on me.

Almost immediately I thought this book was great. I just happened to have listened to quite a few zombie books recently and was starting to get tired of them. This book refreshed the idea of "fun" I feel from the genre. It was imaginative and compelling. I will be continuing this series.

The drawback and the reason i only gave it 3 stars overall while giving the story and performance 4 stars is the way in which it is written. The journal format used is fine and I don't have a problem with it. I think though, that it might be much more suited for actually reading than being listened to. While I was captivated for much of the book I began growing weary of the same voice and tone or inflection by the narrator for so long. Understand, I think he had an admirable performance, but was restricted by the format. Because he was reading the events the main character scribed in his diary there were "almost" no other lines by other characters, so, there were few other voices to create. I just found myself wishing after a while that I could hear some other characters. There were other characters, but they had very few direct sentences to perform.

All that said, I really liked the book. I always feel bad when I accentuate the negatives more than the positives and I feel like I've done that again here. Please don't get that impression from me. There good definitely outweighs the bad. This is among the better zombie stories. I do appreciate the timeline that depicts the events that happened. It was read well. The characters are likable and I care about them. I want to know what happens next.

Nope, he has it covered.

Yes, I didn't listen to it as I would a normal audiobook. I would listen to a chapter or two a morning as my day was getting started for some amusement. Then, when it was easier to focus my attention or listen in longer chunks of time I would switch to whatever else I was listening to for more serious "reading". I bought it during a sale on audible and am happy I did. However, I would not spend a whole credit on it. But since the question is "is it worth the listening time", I will say yes. Just understand what kind of book it is first, though, or you may be disappointed.

The book was a fun listen overall. I thought it was narrated very well. I often found myself chuckling at one thing or another. At other times I felt like the author was reaching a bit to be humorous and stretch the length of the book.Do not go into this book thinking there is an actual story. It is written in the format of any other kind of survival manual only I am even less likely of needing this one than my zombie apocalypse survival manual (wouldn't have thought that possible). So, it could be a bit tedious to listen to for long periods at a time.

I usually prefer audio for the convenience of multi-tasking. However, with this book I went back and forth thanks to the whispersync. The audio set a tone for me which i found myself replicating in my head when i was on the kindle. I think both editions were equally good.

The main concept of basically living your entire life before joining the army was very interesting to me. I liked exploring the idea of how different the mindset of a person with so much life experience would handle it.

I also quite liked the universe that Scalzi created.

No, but he did a commendable job and I won't hesitate to listen to him again.

I laughed at several parts. This is my 2nd Scalzi book and it had the same witty style as the 1st one I read which was Redshirts.

I almost dont even know where to start. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I had read in someone else's review that it was slow starting, but paid off in the end. Thats's exactly what happened, except the reward was so much greater than I expected.
The publishers summary didn't properly describe this book. I was hesitant to listen to it despite all the rave reviews because I thought it was just going to be stories of a fantasy heroes conquests. In a very small way that's what it was, but there is so much more to it. It is about the journey of a legendary person and how he became a legend whether through factual or fictional means. It is about a young boy as he grows to manhood just trying to survive.
This first book of the trilogy is really only a backdrop to the story that will begin in day 2 and day 3 of the story. But, It is so richly packed and intricately weaved that I feel the best is yet to come. Considering that this is already my favorite book, my anticipation for the next book (which I will be starting in like 5 minutes) is incalculable.
As a person that enjoys fantasy fiction, but prefers other kinds, I implore anyone interested enough in this book to read this review to take this ride with us.

I definitely will. I doubt an explanation is needed, but its such a joy to revisit in depth a story that shaped my childhood.

So many memorable moments, I cant pick just one.

Probably the one where Luke raced his friend because it was a new scene i hadnt already seen in the movie.

Absolutely, and I did. It was so much fun.

Nope, I think you know what your getting here. It was a credit well spent.

Yes, I have already. It is a great mixture of geek nostalgia and pure sci-fi adventure.

probably just Dahl. He was the main character and usually the easiest one to identify with.

I know im in the minority here, but im one of the few people who is not a Wil Wheaton fan. I feel like he is a little too exuberant. That's probably part of his charm to others, but personally i feel like he reads a bit too fast and a bit too monotone as a result. However, about two hours into the book I quit noticing and became completely enveloped in the story. By the end, I thought Wheaton had made a very respectable performance and I might give other books that I had avoided because he narrated them an extra consideration now.

This was my first Scalzi novel, but definitely not my last,

I probably will. Dickey's prose and Patton's narration were riveting.

Louis. He was their spiritual leader and he always felt inspiring.

Will Patton is quickly becoming my favorite narrator. I've listened to about four books by him now and this was my favorite of all his performances. Its not just the voices he creates for the characters, they are only average to above average. There is an intangible quality evident when he describes a scene or a thought. I just feel like im listening to something important all the time.

Its already a great movie. Thats why i decided to give the book a try. I'm terrible at tag lines and I wouldnt even try to compete against one with this kind of popularity.

I can not even begin to express how happy I am with the purchase of this audiobook. I had seen the movie several times and liked it. I was also looking to listen to something other than the usual sci-fi, fantasy or mystery i usually listen to. I knew the print book had received high acclaim so I gave it a shot. I was intensely moved by this book. This audiobook is right there with all my absolute favorites and is the reason i subscribe to audible.