The Plagiarist

A Novella

By: Hugh Howey

Narrated by: Alexander J. Masters

Length: 1 hr and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Adam Griffey is living two lives. By day, he teaches literature. At night, he steals it. Adam is a plagiarist, an expert reader with an eye for great works. He prowls simulated worlds perusing virtual texts, looking for the next big thing. And when he finds it, he memorizes it page by page, line by line, word for word. And then he brings it back to his world, the real world, and he sells it. But what happens when these virtual worlds begin to seem more real than his own? What happens when the people within them mean more to him than flesh and blood? What happens when a living thing falls in love with someone who does not actually exist?

©2009- Hugh Howey (P)2013 Hugh Howey

Don't bother

Worst narrator I've heard in the last year
Story might be good. I'll never know though because it is unlistenable

Worst narration I've ever heard

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The thing is short, a story and not a novella, which isn't in itself much of a problem. There's a little "gee-whiz" gimmick driving the story, and that is given precedence over any of the characters or their relationships, which again is a function of the length. Would like to have seen it spun out longer, and some of the implications of a world like this treated with more than a nod.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

As soon as mention was made of the Virginia server farms going down, I knew where we were headed. A little less telegraphing would have been welcome.

Would you be willing to try another one of Alexander J. Masters’s performances?

The worst thing by far was Alexander J. Masters's narration, by a wide margin the worst I've heard in years of listening to audible books. Flat, self-consciously ponderous, like a late-night comedy sketch's rendering of the Voice of God, or a Vegas stage hypnotist telling some hapless audience member that she is now a ham sandwich. Sped up to twice speed to get through the thing a little faster, you could really hear his endlessly repeating da-da-da-DUM cadence, so much so that I had to return to normal speed just to bear it.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Interesting and unsettling idea. I remember reading years ago some scientist or mathematician claiming that the mathematically overwhelming likelihood was that the world was much as the one Howey depicts here. It's a great idea for a science fiction piece.

Readers voice

I can't even get into the book. Within 5 minutes of the chapter I'm already bored by the reader.

Decent Story, Terrible Narrator

The narrator almost ruined the story for me. He had a nice voice, but his delivery was incredibly obnoxious.

Worst Narrator Ever!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Another narrator, a more developed story. Glad I only paid 99 cents - the narration was so awful I hope I can forget it. That voice!

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Developed the characters and storyline in more depth.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This was the worst audiobook I have ever heard. The narrator just droned on & on....reading this very short story in paper or Kindle form would have been a better choice than listening to this painful narration.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Interesting concept but it has been explored many times. Average story.

Completely Unimpressed

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I suppose Sci-Fi lovers would like it.

Would you ever listen to anything by Hugh Howey again?

No

What three words best describe Alexander J. Masters’s performance?

boring, monotonous, stale

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Plagiarist?

All of them

Any additional comments?

I was not at all impressed by this novella. I did not have the same takeaways that most other reviewers propose. I found it boring, hard to follow and a waste of time.