The Practice Effect

By: David Brin

Narrated by: Andy Caploe

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

Physicist Dennis Nuel was the first human to probe the strange realms called anomaly worlds - alternate universes where the laws of science were unpredictably changed. But the world Dennis discovered seemed almost like our own - with one perplexing difference. To his astonishment, he was hailed as a wizard and found himself fighting beside a beautiful woman with strange powers against a mysterious warlord as he struggles to solve the riddle of this baffling world.

©1984 David Brin (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Lively, outlandish, and entertaining." ( Publishers Weekly)

My favorite Brin novel. Glad it's now in audio.

Would you listen to The Practice Effect again? Why?

Absolutely! 20 years ago I discovered an amazing new world in the Uplift novels and like an unsupervised child with a bag of halloween candy, I devoured them. Over the next couple of years I read all of Brin's novels and The Practice Effect is my favorite with Startide Rising coming in a close second. I am very happy that this book finally came out in audio and pleased that the narration was good and did not distract from what I consider an amazing story.

What did you like best about this story?

The practice effect!

What about Andy Caploe’s performance did you like?

The narration did not distract from the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I enjoyed Dennis's Wright Brothers moment.

Any additional comments?

I am disappointed that the only Brin novel that ever made it to film was the Postman. The Postman movie/screenplay was an unmitigated disaster and I would have loved to have seen The Uplift War or Startide Rising made into a GOOD film.

Science & Snark

Real Rating = 4.5*

SciFi Novel that achieves the author's objective of "mixing rapid fire fun with challenging ideas"

BOOK DETAILS:
The Practice Effect by David Brin, read by Andy Caploe, published by Audible Studios (2012) / Length: 12 hrs 16 min

SERIES INFO: This book is standalone and not part of any series.

SUMMARY:
I own an old paperback copy of this book. It was something that I kept hoping would be made into audio. And yet I was also afraid that it would be, but would be done badly. The tone of the protagonist's "voice" is so central, that even just a passably decent narrator could have ruined what I love about it. Thankfully that isn't the case.

I am not a fan of prankster characters nor of cruel sarcasm & snark, but I do love a character who makes snarky observations about the world. Dennis is a perfect example of this.

When I read this book for the first time, I though I might end up being a bit disappointed and maybe even offended as a female reader. The only woman mentioned at Sahara Tech is pushy and obnoxious, and then part way through we are introduced to a "beautiful princess" from a mystic tribe. It seemed to be setting us up for a male fantasy romance (gorgeous, blond & ethereal, adoring female). Thankfully it turned out to be a bit deeper than that.

Along with the tone, another thing I love is how the author explored the cultural & sociological ramifications of differences in physical laws. The world felt complete and complex.

I didn't give it a full 5 stars, because I often skip most of the stuff that doesn't focus on our central characters when I'm re-reading/listening.

Note: Neither the cover nor the publisher's description are very compelling. I would like to see both get an upgrade.

CHARACTERS:
Our Hero (Dennis Nuel): A reality physicist with a sharp wit.


Dennis’s face sometimes took on that dreamy expression often associated either with genius or an inspired aptitude for practical jokes. In reality he was just a little too lazy to qualify for the former, and just a bit too goodhearted for the latter.


The Princess (Linnora): Not just here to adore the hero. Her opinion about him see saws quite a bit, and she is clearly able to think for herself. She is weak enough to faint when confronted by something overwhelming, and strong enough to walk for a full day on blistered feet and a twisted ankle; foolish enough to go off without a guard, and wise enough to realize her beliefs might need re-examining.

Dennis & Linnora: This is NOT a romance, but does include one. There is no InstaLove, but neither is there a lot of time spent on developing the relationship.

WORLDBUILDING:
The actual nature of the world Dennis enters is one of the central mysteries he is trying to unravel, so I can't say much without giving something away. I will say that I especially enjoyed the description of the city that included not just what it looked like, but how it sounded and smelled as well.

A favorite bit of Earth tech is the exploratory robot.

PLOT:
The author could have chosen to begin with Dennis stepping into the new world and told how he got there in flashbacks, but instead he chose to begin by establishing Dennis' character and background which are central to the story being told.


"The lecture was really boring.
At the front of the dimly lit conference room, the portly, gray-haired director of the Sahara Institute of Technology paced back and forth - staring at the ceiling with his hands clasped behind his back - while he pontificated ponderously on a subject he clearly barely understood."


The book has a clear yet open ending. I would love to read a sequel to see what becomes of Dennis & Linnora, how do the artifacts introduced from earth impact this world & vice versa, do certain people ever get what's coming to them?

HIGHLIGHTS / CAUTIONS:
Dennis's hesitation to hunt, since:

What if the “rabbits” here were philosophers? Could he be so sure anything he aimed at wasn’t intelligent?


Dennis' genre savviness

He acted confident, but he was less than entirely certain. In a science-fiction story he had read as a boy, another Earthling had, just like himself, been transported to another world where the physical laws were also different. In the story, magic had worked, but the hero’s gunpowder and matches had all failed!


I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT: Mild swearing
OTHER CAUTIONS : A song with innuendo / A scene in which our villain is not taking no for an answer, and our hero believes that interfering will only get him killed.

NARRATION:
I don't feel that the narration perfectly captures Dennis, but Mr. Caploe clearly understands and does a really good job / He uses different voices & accents to distinguish the various characters / Was more than a bit slow. I listen on 1.5 speed (instead of my usual 1.25)

Fabulous Fantasy Fluff

It is not really science fiction, and definitely not the usual Brin novel. It is a fun feel good story, and has held up well (it is over 30 yrs old).

But the narration speed is wrong, I know Nuel is a laid back guy, but the narration is too slow (he was in danger of sounding comotose instead of relaxed). I fixed it by playing at 1.25 speed, and then it was totally fine.

Enjoy

Great story / Bad narration

The narrator is plodding, reciting the most exciting parts of the book in a monotone, while overacting the voices. He would make an excellent narrator for children's books, but this book (one I've read a dozen times, and LOVE!) was a bit mangled by the reading. Contrast this against the Honor Harrington series. Or better yet, the Dresden Files, read by James Marsters. Those books came alive for me. I can't imagine them being read any other way. You FEEL what is going on.

Do at least buy "The Practice Effect" for Kindle, and read it. I'll be hoping that someone else records this book in the future. I finished it, but I found myself losing track, and needing to rewind repeatedly along the way.

No offense intended. The narrator enunciates well enough - though the way he does seems to indicate he doesn't know what some things are. You see this with other narrators who do military books, but have no idea how certain things are said. And I couldn't help imagining that this book was being read on an extended (and lackluster) episode of Reading Rainbow. But don't take my word for it... Dee-dah-DAW!

This book was doomed to fail

The author started with an interesting premise, but one which could have no logical solution in the end. Brin wrapped up the book in a hurry and gave us the answers that we were looking for, but it was clear that even he thought they were so lame that they weren't worth exploring.

I've read two Brin novels now, and both of them had the same problem: Brin has clever ideas, but mediocre follow-through.

This book was kind of fun, but it also felt a bit unpolished and immature. It would have made for a fantastic episode of Star Trek or the Twilight Zone, where you can forgive some loose ends for the sake of enjoying the thought experiment. It just didn't have enough meat to justify an entire novel.

Practice Makes Perfect

A really fun romp... Whimsical and entertaining... I wasn't expecting the lighthearted and humorous story from this author, but was pleasantly surprised... The only downside is the narration, which was entirely too slow and poorly paced... Worked well on 1.5 speed, but don't know if I could have handled it at regular speed...

great book, indifferent reader

I love this book, always have. the reader on this is kind of boring. not terrible but kind of drags the book a bit. still worth listening though.

Early story from a master author

I read this long ago, and re -listening was an unexpected treat. Very different from most of Brin’s other work.

My only quibble was the performance, where every non-dialogue sentence was read with over-exaggerated emphasis as if Caploe simply cannot believe the words he is reading. In retrospect that might be appropriate given the story and POV character’s perspective. Still, it was distracting every time I resumed listening but I would adapt to it after a few minutes.

fun story and cleverly imagined

Brin has become my "go to" when I really need a good read. The Practice Effect is a story I can enjoy again and again, and Caploe's narration is superb--what a range without being overdone.

Solid book for it's time

I love Brin so I got this based on his, what I assume are, newer works. There are good ideas here and I probably would have enjoyed it more when I was a younger, less experienced reader. That said, it's a solid book that isn't challenging by today's standards and has an interesting summary at the end that caught me a little by surprise, even if it's a pretty heavy handed form of "tell" vs "show." if you're looking for a solid story with pretty classic white hate versus black hats and one dimensional characters everywhere you look (especially the only significant female character, sadly), this is a good interlude between more serious stuff.

A good book and an OK performance

I first read this as a print book and bought the audio book after I lost the original. I loved the book but this performance did not quite work for me. The reader's voice just didn't gel for me. That said, it is a clever book with some remarkable ideas and it may be that coming to it fresh would be a very different experience - much like seeing a film without having read the book first. There is a lot to like about this and the blending of SF and fantasy (always difficult to pull off) works remarkably well here.