Tracy

I have to admit, I am an avid science fiction/fantasy reader but had never read the Hobbit. I am going to get massacred by many for saying that this story was a little boring and slow. Unfortunately this book might have been a victim of over-hype for me. I think I had heard so may great things about the book and how it was one of the best ever written in the genre, my expectations might have been a bit too high.
On a good note... the narrator of this book was great. If nothing else he made the book more enjoyable.

This book was a great ride from beginning to end. I purchased this book before realizing that it was a movie I had seen and disliked in the 90's. I was worried I had made a mistake, but I am glad I decided to give it a chance because the book was far superior to the movie. The story never bored me and kept me on my toes at all times. The characters were well developed and interesting. I was so impressed that I immediately purchased the next book in the series.

David Colacci was excellent as a narrator for this book. He was able to get the feel for the characters and had a good handle on different accents etc... I was also impressed that this novel had sound effects. I liked the fact that when people were in large chamber like rooms you heard a bit of an echo when people spoke, also when people were talking on the phone or on hand held radios their voices sounded different due to the sound effects. It made the who experience of listening to the book much more real and made me feel like I was actually there.

I hope that the second book is as good as the first.

After listening to this book for a little over an hour, I finally had to give up. At first I thought it was the story, but then I realized it was not the story at all, but the narration. I think I am one of very few who thinks that Bronson Pinchot does a horrible job at narrating this book.

Each character came across and either dim-witted/slow or bored/blase. Also, Mr. Pinchot seemed like he had a extreme amount of saliva or marbles in his mouth the entire time. I swear there were times I felt like Alfred Hitchcock was reading this book rather than Bronson Pinchot.

This is an interesting story with interesting characters and if the narration had been better this would have been a great audio book. But, for me this was not the case. Instead I purchased the ebook and read it on my own. This was a much better option.