Crystal Line

By: Anne McCaffrey

Narrated by: Adrienne Barbeau

Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

Killashandra Ree was drawn like a magnet to the song of crystal, and now it's erasing her memory. She knew the forgetfulness would be a byproduct of the singing, and she doesn't mind the little annoyances, like being unable to remember her address or the names of her colleagues. But she hadn't counted on the loneliness a person can feel when the heart still remembers what the mind has forgotten. Can the crystal that destroyed her memory somehow restore it? Find out in this exciting fantasy, part of Anne McCaffrey's Killashandra Ree adventure series that also includes Crystal Singer and Killashandra.

©1992 by Anne McCaffrey (P)1992 Dove Audio, Inc.

Poor sound quality and abridged version

The sound quality on book 3 of this series returned to the poor quality. Also, I missed much of what was cut out of this abridged version of the story. My boyfriend, who had not read the story prior to listening, seemed to find that the series would 'jump' from one scene to another, distracting him from the story. I hope that Audible will eventually remake the series into an unabridged version with better quality... I'll definitely buy that!

I wish they had an unabridged version of this book

What made the experience of listening to Crystal Line the most enjoyable?

I love this series and this book. The abridged version leaves so much out and the recording was made so long ago on older technology. I still listen to this book and this series over and over again. I wish the they would get an unabridged version of this 3 book series.

Great book! Too short!

Anne McCaffrey exhibits her outstanding style in this book. Her ability to sweep the reader away to another time and place can only be compared to Robert Jordan and L. Ron Hubbard. In this title, she takes us to a new world, with new goals and problems to solve. If you like any of her Pern series, you'll love this series, as well.
The only con is the fact that it is abridged! The unabridged version is excellent!

Poor Quality and being Abridged hinders enjoyment

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

This book in particular and the whole series needs to be re-recorded and un-abridged. Of the three books in this series this is the worst by far for audio quality. The quality is WORSE than a standard audio tape. It honestly sounds like they got an old audio player and stuck a mic on the speaker to try and capture the sound. Just horrible.

If you’ve listened to books by Anne McCaffrey before, how does this one compare?

Anne McCaffery's books are great and these books are short enough that being abridged half of the personality of the book is gone.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Audio quality is too poor to even comment.

Any additional comments?

Having worked with Audio processing tools myself, I don't understand why they left the quality of this audio in the state that it is.

Low quality audio

Is there anything you would change about this book?

After listening to the second book "Killashandra" which does not suffer the poor audio quality of this or the first book "Crystal Singer," the narrator was fine if fast paced. It's the really bad quality of the audio recording that makes this audio book somewhat unpleasant to listen to. Some of the interesting back story was left out of this abridged version that had more of an impact on the story than I would prefer.

Also, not having chapter breaks through the file to allow you to try and recover your place when the player continues playing when it was supposed to stop makes doing that a bit more annoying than normal.

What other book might you compare Crystal Line to and why?

To Ride Pegasus. I compare it to the Crystal Singer series because the plots are quite similar even if the mechanics and backstory are quite different. I would imagine that if you like the one, you'll like the other.

Which scene was your favorite?

Interactions with the BB ship

Any additional comments?

I would put the overall rating of this audio book at a 4 instead of 2 if they'd re-release with a decent audio recording.

crystal line

poor recording quality.sounds like it was recorded on a cheap answering machine then played back and re-recorded on a wav. recorder with a 2 dollar mic.I could not tolerate the sound quality long enough to listen to the story ,even with media player and graphic equalizer turning down annoying mid range.

Disjointed story line

What did you like best about Crystal Line? What did you like least?

The book is well rounded and fulsom. This abridged version is disjointed and looses the full bodied flavor of the authors tale.

Would you recommend Crystal Line to your friends? Why or why not?

Not in this format. The abridged version makes the story choppy and disjoined. There is little continuity to the story.

Which character – as performed by Adrienne Barbeau – was your favorite?

The Main chatacter is fairly well done but coold be portraid with a little more depth.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, IF it was based on the original book, not the abridged version.

great book poor production

I have loved this book for many years, I was VERY disappointed to hear the poor narration and very poor production quality. The Narrator read far too fast and did not do different voices very well. The sound quality is very poor and the editing is choppy.

A Classic for good reason

I have always enjoyed Anne McCaffrey as an author, and the Crystal line series is well structured with character development, world development, and comprehensive plot structure. The author gets her ideas across in a timeless and fluid story. It’s truly a joy to read her writings.

good but it could have been better

I was a little disappointed that it was abridged they took a lot out

Very poor sound quality.

I’ve read the story before, which I enjoyed again on Audible. However, the sound quality on this recording is atrocious. The first 2 books of this series are fine, but this one sounds like it’s been recorded over a bad phone line. I’m glad it’s a short book, or I wouldn’t have listened to it all. Will attempt to get a refund due to sound quality.

Bad sound quality

A real shame about the awful sound quality. I could have done better on my phone.

Great story terrible sound quality

Loved the book, Sam the sound quality is bad I new it would be from the other reviews but I bought it anyway. Got used to the low quality. Still enjoyed it!

Terrible audio

The sound quality on this is awful which spoiled listening to a good story by Anne Mccaffrey.

Disappointing audio quality

What a shame! The first two books into be series were grey, however the audio quality in this one is dreadful and is more reminiscent of someone using an old phone on a bad line to dictate. Had to stop listening after a few minutes.

Great book.

I enjoyed this as much as I have enjoyed this authors other books. Great trlilogy.

It never disappoints, loved the series.

I’ve read this 3 book series so many times over the years and I’m never disappointed. My paperback version is almost falling apart it’s so well used, I decided to invest in the audible versions as well and I enjoyed the story just as much.

POOR QUALITY RECORDING

quality is VERY low!! painful listening, unless you like that old-school record player style! more akin to listening to a radio phone in. actually gutted to have paid for it. unlistenable

The sound was a little iffy!

The story I loved, but the supposedly baritone brain ship was distorted and made to sound mehanical which perhaps was a sign of not having read the Ship series!

Horrible audio

This book has very poor audio, really not fit to listen to, hard to believe that Audible has this on sale. Star rating only filled in at 1 star as cannot listen to it.