Joe

I like the concept of this book. I loved the narration. It just didn't feel fleshed out enough for me. I found parts of the story verging on incomprehensible and I am not sure that they needed to be. A little more detail here or there would have been very helpful. No backstory or explanation exists for some things that clearly need explanation. This is hard to swallow as this is nothing but a backstory to another story.

I wanted to love this book, but in the end I found it to be drudgery.

Michael Kramer continues his streak as the worlds greatest narrator and Brandon Sanderson does not disappoint with this fast forward followup to the Mistborn Trilogy.

I certainly hope there is more to follow in this series. Sanderson is clearly on a roll as everything he writes seems to be great. You have to go back to his very early stuff to find any clinkers and this is NOT one of them.

It's just ok. It's just ok even if you like the action genre.

It's not Neal Stephenson's finest work and further follows his current trajectory out of science fiction.

The best I can say about Reamde is that it is cleverly titled and has some nice gun play bits. That is all.

Let's get this out of the way right up front. Stephen King's narration does NOT ruin the book. In fact he might be the only person who can pull off following the legendary performances of the previous narrators.

It's not as action driven as all the other volumes of the Dark Tower series and that might initially turn some people off to this gem. I found it to be a welcome return to the land of the Beam. It's really a story within a story within the story.... as confusing as that sounds it's really not.

It has some beautiful word play beyond the language of the Gunslinger series and I found one passage in particular quite nice.

‘Time is a keyhole, he thought as he looked up at the stars. Yes, I think so. We sometimes bend and peer through it. And the wind we feel on our cheeks when we do – the wind that blows through the keyhole – is the breath of all the living universe.’

Now that is King at the top of his craft in my opinion. Let's hope the Mr. King has many more intricate "little" Dark Tower stories. I for one cannot wait, say thankee sai.

There is a magic school involved but that is where the similarity to the wizarding world of hufflepuff ends. This is a great read, not too long, not too short, just right. The characters, especially Josh, have some memorable lines. There is no doubt that this is a book for late-teens to adults and young children should not apply.

This is an eclectic group of stories about warriors. I enjoyed most of them. I have had occasion to hear this narrator before in the book "Rally Cry." He ruined that one for me too.

I am not a fan of the narrator and it sort of killed the joy of experiencing these stories again. I also wanted a bit more of a gap between the stories or some narrative about them after each one.

Fantasy doesn't get any better than this. Mr. Dotrice is a wonderful narrator. This is THE series of my lifetime.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to another one if/when it comes out. The narrator was fantastic.

Those in fear of a "sophomore slump" should look elsewhere. This is the stunningly excellent follow-up and second part of a proposed trilogy to "The Name of the Wind". I devoured this book. I am going to listen to it again with my wife, and that is a rare thing. After finishing this wonderful tale of old evil, love, loss, mischief, grief, song, cleverness, jocularity, beauty, and fantasy. I turned to my wife and said "you have to read these, they are wonderful". Our literary tastes never cross paths, but this is a tale I don't think anyone should miss. To not pass these along to others is neglect.

There are passages in this book that are achingly beautiful and so well written that I dispare for all others who attempt to write epic fantasy. There is a good deal of action too and it's never far from the main narrative of this installment. It's just that Rotfuss crossed the line with this book. There is passable fantasy, good, and even excellent fantasy. This, this is pantheon fantasy, this is why I read the genre, dare I say "tolkienesque". It really is that good. What a great time to be a fantasy fan.

The narration continues flawlessly from the first book and Mr. Podehl gives an outstanding performance. I am rapidly becoming a fan of his work, I certainly will look for him in future listens.