Pandora’s Card Game

By: E E King

Narrated by: Genevieve Sibayan

Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Fate, Destiny, Chance and Luck play cards beneath a new October moon. A wind destroys their game and the cards begin to move. Each card tells a tale.

Ray Bradbury, my mentor, said, “These tales are marvelously inventive, wildly funny and deeply thought-provoking. I cannot recommend them highly enough.”

I have published over 100 stories and written five books. This one, and another I shall be producing, is a series of collected tales joined by a linking narrative.

I do a lot of press and have an active fan base.

This should be fun to listen to. It's told in the third person by the sisters Fate, Destiny, Chance, and Luck.

©2017 Elizabeth E King (P)2018 E.E.King

Good

This was a good listen. Not too long and the story moved right along. This was a review copy.

Series of linked stories told from different perspectives

Dark humor, short and quick paced.

Short review for a short book ;) it’s a fun little ride and I enjoyed it. Got me ready for halloween

Unique idea

Very nice set of stories that are linked together into a set in a unique way.

Pandora's Card Game

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Mesmerizing. Genevieve Sibayan was a fine narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

Interesting idea, stories themselves are less so

This is the first book I’ve read/listened to by this author. It seems to be a group of short stories that were put together after the fact, using a common thread. The common thread are the immortal sisters- Fate, Destiny, Chance, Luck. They take turns telling stories as though trying to outdo each other. I liked the concept but did not fully enjoy the stories. Often enough however, when getting to the end of one of the tales, I’d think “huh, I don’t get it”. Funnily, that was often the comments of the sisters. Then we are told their brother is coming- Despair. Despite the build up and concern on the part of the sisters, I did not find this as compelling as I thought it might be.

This is the second book I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Genevieve Sibayan). She does quite well reading this. Her narrating style adds to the ominous feel of this story.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence or swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Some stories were quite interesting

The other reviews here have been overwhelmingly positive, so I guess my tastes and preferences are different than most.

My thoughts: Most of the stories didn't resonate with me at all. In a short story compilation, there are bound to be some stories that hold one's attention and others that don't. Ideally, you want the majority to be in the first category but I found (in my opinion) that most of the stories didn't pique my interest at all. A handful of stories in the middle were really, really good, though. They included: "Evolution", "The Dream Rental", "Footprint in Time," and "The Hearing Aids".

So, why didn't I enjoy the other stories in this compilation? I liked the author's wordcrafting - I admire the ability to write lyrically, which is a talent that I absolutely do not possess. I think it was the plots of the stories themselves that were less compelling. Also, the author 'linked' the stories together in the context of round-robin storytelling by four immortal sisters. I liked the idea of using this as a means of connecting the stories, that's intriguing! However, the themes of the stories themselves weren't linked. One sister would tell a story and the sisters would chat about it, usually in a 'this is the moral of the story' fashion, an 'I don't understand what that story was about' fashion, or a 'it's too bad that story had a sad ending but such is life' fashion. Then it would be the next sister's turn to tell a new story and an overarching arc or thematic progression wasn't apparent to me. Throughout the audbiobook, there was a foreshadowing of the coming of the sister's dreaded brother (Despair), but when he appeared at the end of the book, the scene turned out to be less suspenseful than I thought it would be.

Again, most other reviewers gave the narration 4 or 5 stars, but my personal tastes and preferences are different. The narrator has a whimsical, fluid style of speaking and I enjoyed the emotionality of her voice. However, I found the pacing very slow. I couldn't listen to it at regular speed, but increasing the playback speed to 2x worked better for me. Also, my preference is for alto voices in female narration and this narrator's voice was usually more high-pitched and childlike. So, generally not to my taste but I could see how other listeners might find the narration more appealing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Interesting concept, mixed bag of stories

Fate, Destiny, Chance and Luck are playing cards, but when the game ends unexpectedly, they start telling stories. I loved some of the stories, others not as much, but the nice thing is that if one story doesn't do it for you, there are more to come and maybe you'll like those. The stories have a poetic feel to them with lots of symbolism.

The narrator is good, but in trying to make distinctive voices for each character, some are better than others. I particularly found Luck grating. But overall, well done.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.