Dan

Yes, the book is amazing. Really such a great story (too bad the narration is so poor).

I just cringe listening to Ax Norman. He speeds up when the narration is supposed to be slow. He speaks quietly when it's an exciting moment. It's almost as if he is reading the text for the very first time when he showed up to do this recording. Also, his pronunciation is simply atrocious. If you're not sure how to pronounce something, the authors could very easily help, as could a website, as could have the original (abridged) recordings.

Thankfully his narration improves in the sequels, but is absolutely horrendous in this first book. I know he's done other narrations in the past, my only guess is that he either had a very late night, they paid him bottom basement dollar, or he didn't bother (as I mentioned earlier) to read the text before narrating. And, so too, goes the blame to the editor as well. Who could've honestly been in the recording booth listening to him record, and not have him give it another go (or two, or three).