Virtual Mode

Mode Series, Book 1

De: Piers Anthony

Narrado por: Mark Winston

Colene does not know what to think of the stranger she has rescued. Darius tells her he has traveled from "his reality" to find her. In proving to Colene that other worlds do exist, he uses up the power of the artifact that would allow them to travel back to his universe.

They must try a slower, more dangerous method: the creation of a four-dimensional universe. Darius picks five anchor points in five different universes to set up a skew path, a "virtual mode," on which the anchors can walk.

Thus begins a tale of romance, danger, adventure, and intrigue as the two travel through a myriad of alternate realities where anything is possible.

Anthony à la Mode: listen to Book 2 and Book 3 in this series.©2008 Piers Anthony (P)2008 Brilliance Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Fresh, imaginative." ( Publishers Weekly)

Good Story Line - lacked Anthony's normal humor

What made the experience of listening to Virtual Mode the most enjoyable?

Storyline

What other book might you compare Virtual Mode to and why?

Bearing An Hourglass - timeline ran backwards for one of the characters.

Which character – as performed by Mark Winston – was your favorite?

Darius

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

Colene wins the day

Any additional comments?

The Character building was lacking somewhat compared to some of his other work. I have read many of Pears books more than a few times. I would not read this one a second time. However, I will read the next one in the series. Pears Anthony is one of my top favorite authors so I say all of this with great respect.

The story line to this book is very good. Many of Pears books are rocky at first because he has to construct a fantasy world from scratch. The Pale Rider was hilarious from the first few chapters in. However, Bio of a tyrant was a rough series but well worth the time and effort. In fact Bio of a tyrant started out on a down note and went more depressing from there. Great series, but had to keep at it at times.

Incomplete but Good

There is lots of physics and plains theory in the book, but it has a good story line and characters. ** Be warned that this book is incomplete and you will need to get the other Mode books to get the entire story. There are also discussions of sex with under aged girls, rape, and suicide so be warned (All the same things teens experience so it should come to no shock to many).** Piers Anthony writes good stories that tie in very well if you like long epic or characters popping in and out so this is a good book.

Another imaginative series begins

Anthony seems to.have an infinite
capacity to create whole new universes.
Expect the original tale to.have only internal consistency.

Another great Piers book

I will someday read or listen to all his books as there has not been a bad one yet

Love the Author, Hate the Narrator

Would you consider the audio edition of Virtual Mode to be better than the print version?

Not at all.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

I'm very sorry to say that this is the wrong narrator for this book. First of all, the protagonist is a 14 year old girl. Yes, there is POV from other characters (a 20 something male, a 60 something woman, a telepathic horse (so obviously a deep male tone)), but Colene the hero! I was a teenager when I first read it and listening to it again brings me back. However, I keep getting jarred out of the story with problems like mispronouncing macabre (it's mah-cah-b), making Colene's voice too snotty, saying "home in on" instead of "hoan in on". Now, that last one may be in the publication incorrectly, and I'll have to check, but come on, it's Piers Anthony! He's been writing FOREVER! He's got talented editors and rarely makes mistakes like that, especially when the rest of the book is so much more intelligent than that.

All in all, I prefer to read this with my own versions of the characters voices, but it is nice to sit back, close my eyes, and go back in time to an angst-riddled time and imagine, once again, traveling through the modes with Colene, Darius, Seqiro and Burgess. I learned a new appreciation for complex theory in the mandelbrot set and rode horses more. I will always hold this story dear to myheart. Thank you Piers!