You no longer follow Jeff

You will no longer see updates from this user when they write new reviews, or suggestions based on their library or recommendations.

You can re-follow a user if you change your mind.

OK

You now follow Jeff

You will receive updates from this user when they write new reviews, or suggestions based on their library or recommendations.

You can unfollow a user if you change your mind.

OK

Jeff

Alpine, UT, United States | Member Since 2010

2
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 6 reviews
  • 14 ratings
  • 112 titles in library
  • 13 purchased in 2013
FOLLOWING
0
FOLLOWERS
0

  • A Canticle for Leibowitz

    • UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 59 mins)
    • By Walter M. Miller
    • Narrated By Tom Weiner
    Overall
    (386)
    Performance
    (337)
    Story
    (334)

    Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-century literature—a chilling and still-provocative look at a postapocalyptic future.

    Joel says: "A Classic"
    "Weird. Enjoyable listen, but cerebral"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    What does Tom Weiner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

    The voice performance is great... the different characters, the Western accents speaking latin, etc. Unexpected and as strange as the story. Reading it would be a completely different experience.


    Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

    Not really; it's pretty disjointed and isn't really a narrative story. I found myself thinking more about how Miller came up with it rather than aspects of the story.


    Any additional comments?

    Strange, but worth a listen.

    2 of 2 people found this review helpful
  • Prelude to Foundation

    • UNABRIDGED (15 hrs)
    • By Isaac Asimov
    • Narrated By Scott Brick
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (235)
    Performance
    (214)
    Story
    (216)

    It is the year 12,020 G.E. and Emperor Cleon I sits uneasily on the Imperial throne of Trantor. Here in the great multidomed capital of the Galactic Empire, forty billion people have created a civilization of unimaginable technological and cultural complexity. Yet Cleon knows there are those who would see him fall - those whom he would destroy if only he could read the future.

    Svenghali says: "Trantor, capital of a galactic empire!"
    "A bit formulaic, predictable"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

    No... the Foundation series is "just okay," in my opinion. The earlier books (written earlier) were interesting primarily because of their examination of social mores and structures. None is what I'd been expecting from a "science fiction" classic. This one is obviously written by an author more experienced and shaped by fans' desires for "a normal novel," and it's not a particularly interesting one.


    What could Isaac Asimov have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

    Not write it... the "prequel" thing doesn't work.


    Have you listened to any of Scott Brick’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

    As good as any; he's a great narrator.


    Could you see Prelude to Foundation being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

    I hope not.


    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Dune

    • UNABRIDGED (21 hrs and 8 mins)
    • By Frank Herbert
    • Narrated By Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, and others
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (6879)
    Performance
    (2725)
    Story
    (2752)

    Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

    Joshua says: "Wonderful production!"
    "Now I know why everyone thought the movie sucked"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    Where does Dune rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

    Good listen. I liked the music and the "acted" out scenes, but I still wouldn't have been disappointed with just the single narrator. I thought the kid who voiced Paul could have been much less wooden, for one thing. It was a bit confusing jumping from the narrator's version of the characters' voices to the acted-out version and back all the time. But it was still a good listen. The story? Mmmmm... not the astoundingly good one I'd been led to expect by Dune fans, but interesting enough. I have no desire to read it again.


    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • The Grey King: Book 4 of The Dark Is Rising Sequence

    • UNABRIDGED (5 hrs and 40 mins)
    • By Susan Cooper
    • Narrated By Richard Mitchley
    Overall
    (135)
    Performance
    (51)
    Story
    (54)

    There is a Welsh legend about a harp of gold, hidden within a certain hill, that will be found by a boy and a white dog with silver eyes - a dog that can see the wind. Will Stanton knew nothing of this when he traveled to Wales to recover from a severe illness. But when he met Bran, the strange boy who owned a white dog, he began to remember. For Will is the last-born of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to saving the world from the forces of evil, the Dark.

    Bibliopa says: "Great to listen to"
    "This series starts out good but gets weird"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    What made the experience of listening to The Grey King the most enjoyable?

    The discussion of Wales and Mitchley's excellent handling of the language and accent.


    What did you like best about this story?

    see above


    Any additional comments?

    At first I was hesitant to try a new narrator, as Alex Jennings handles the others in the series with aplomb, but after hearing Mitchley's Welsh I don't think Jennings could have done it proper justice. Both are good narrators but Mitchley was the best choice for this particular novel. An enjoyable listen, if a weird book.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Brave New World

    • UNABRIDGED (8 hrs and 5 mins)
    • By Aldous Huxley
    • Narrated By Michael York
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (1585)
    Performance
    (959)
    Story
    (959)

    When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.

    Cloning, feel-good drugs, anti-aging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media: has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller's genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 A.F. (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.

    Jefferson says: "“Oh, Ford, Ford Ford, I Wish I Had My Soma!”"
    "Socialism taken to its logical conclusion"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    Would you try another book from Aldous Huxley and/or Michael York?

    Probably not Huxley, but York's performance is fine.


    Would you be willing to try another book from Aldous Huxley? Why or why not?

    see above...


    Which scene was your favorite?

    The discussion of the birth process and facilities.


    Was Brave New World worth the listening time?

    I suppose, but it was rather heavy handed.


    Any additional comments?

    The story loses its originality near the end, with the introduction of the savage. It seems disjointed and unrelated to the first half of the book. I lost interest, but listened to the rather predictable end.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • Foundation and Earth

    • UNABRIDGED (18 hrs and 44 mins)
    • By Isaac Asimov
    • Narrated By Larry McKeever
    Overall
    (195)
    Performance
    (181)
    Story
    (178)

    Councilman Golan Trevize is wondering if he was right to choose a collective mind as the best possible future for humanity over the anarchy of contentious individuals, nations and planets. To test his conclusion, he decides he must know the past and goes in search of legendary Earth, all references to which have been erased from galactic libraries. The societies encountered along the way become arguing points in a book-long colloquy about man's fate, conducted by Trevize and traveling companion Bliss, who is part of the first world/mind, Gaia.

    T says: "Reader is terrible"
    "McKeever kills this... unbelievably wooden"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story
    If you could sum up Foundation and Earth in three words, what would they be?

    Great story, horrible performance.


    What didn’t you like about Larry McKeever’s performance?

    Wooden, artificial, robotic. It's like he doesn't understand human emotion or the English language. I don't think I can make it through this audiobook; I'll have to buy a hard copy.


    Any additional comments?

    Fire this guy

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

CANCEL

Thank You

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.