John

I loved this book, I'm seeing a lot of comments about how much people loved Pillars of the Earth and World without end, but this book isnt what they expected. Ok, Pillars and its sequal were exceptional, no question, but if you want to understand the writing in this book, then go back to 'Triple', 'Lie down with Lions', and especially 'The man from St.Petersburg', 'The Eye of the Needle', The Key to Rebecca' and Night over water'. This is a work of fictionalized history, and once again its a masterpiece of its genre, Follett is the King of "Epic history" and he isnt deposed by this work.

If you're looking for the comedy so readily had in Fool, Dirty Job, and all of the Pine Cove books it isnt here, this is more the kind of deeply drawn absurd comedy that you found in Fluke. This is the side of Chistopher Moore rarely glimpsed in his writing, the meloncholy sarcasm and broad comedy that is based not on the situation but on the very weirdness and craziness of a (semi)-normal life and love and the horror that is being a creative person.

So if you're looking for a delightful romp with another Pocket of Dog Snogging or another journey with Levi bar Alphaeus who is called Biff, or even a drag along the absurd with Theopolis Crowe, skip this one, you wont find the same humor.

If however you are looking for a very well thought out very well researched and deeply colourful book, then Christopher Moore is your colour man giving you the blue you need (whether you eat it or not) to make your day a little less blue and a little moore hued.

I went in to this book thinking 'ok, I liked his other books, and I've no doubt heard worse', I was so surprised by this book I dont have the words to convey how flabergasted I was the more I listened.

First I will say that if you have any understanding at all of physics, even a very basic rudimentary grasp, then you wont have to suspend disbelief in this novel, it takes place on a different Earth, thats all, and the quotes from historical figures at the start of each chapter make this abundantly clear.

The characters are likeable, more than likeable, they are great, you can find yourself feeling exactly the way the author expects you to about them, that is the most masterful writing and Larry Correia does it and you dont realise it until its too late and your hooked in these peoples lives. I laughed, I feared, I hated and I sympathised, it was so much fun.

Bronson Pinchot was amazing narrating this book, I didnt realise who it was until the beginning of part two, I was floored! THIS !?!?!? Bronson Pinchot !?!?! Balki and Serge, Bronson Pinchot ?!?! Absolutely outstanding job, amazing, I cant say who is more talented in this book, author or narrator.

Give this book a try, you dont even have to go in to it with an open mind, there is no Harry Potter or Narnia or even Lyra in these pages, it is a unique and superbly crafted world populated with people that are amazingly relateable.

This is classic Dean Koontz at his very best, this book is more reminiscent of books like Dark Rivers of the Heart and The Good Guy. There are thankfully no dogs to save the day, no families consisting of novelist, artist, 2 girls and a dog (Mr. Koontz, these families simply arent relatable unless were you), and in the best tradition of Dean Koontz, this book doesnt require you to suspend disbelief, it is all, sadly, too plausible.

If you are a long time fan of DK and liked books like Fear Nothing, Dragon Tears, and Dark Rivers of the Heart, then this will be another of your favorites.

Dick Hill does a good job on the narration, accents are not his forte, everyone sound New Jersey Jewish, but its not a detriment to this work.

This is the book that will engulf your attention until its done, its one I know I will listen to again at some point.

There are a lot of critisisms of this book in these comments, first let me just say that I enjoyed it, simply that, I didnt love it, hate it, agree or disagree with its ideas or plot. It is a very well written book, with some surprisingly simple and yet very indepth characters, in other words, these people could be real, they are not special in any way, they are normal, and that lends the story its credibility. I read other reviews disagreeing with actions taken by extremists, agencies, offices, and commitees in the book, and I just want to say, while the actions seem dumb, unreal, or just outside the realm of what you would expect smart people to do stupidly, please just remember the line from "Men in Black" - ""Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it."". I would recommend this book very much, I got it looking for the absurd, and the comedic, I found neither of those things, I found intelligence and understanding, both terrestial and non, mostly from it's author.

I love this book when narrated by Frank Muller, this book is awful, in fact, I cant find a word to encompass what a horrible job J. Charles did reading this. ITS ATROCIOUS!!!!! His accents are awful, almost every accent he does other than russian, which is awful too, comes across as deep south red-neck, including the british, and he often uses them interchangably, starts out southern and ends up british or vice-versa. I have never missed Frank Muller more. This rendition is so awful I will never listen to another book read by this person again. Accents aside, the pronunciations are also just plain terrible, in fact, saying they are terrible is like saying the ocean is a bit on the damp side, I could understand misspronouncing some of the russian, but most of the names, english, american and russian are botched, as well as common words in english. DID NO ONE LISTEN TO THIS BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHED !?!?!?!? I cant believe anyone in literature, or Tom Clancy for that matter approved this reading. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL, I cant stress this enough, it is the worst thing I have ever heard, a little part of me died listening to what this guy did to this great book. Audible, I am ashamed of you for putting this out there, where is the Frank Muller version??????