Anonymous
- 7
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- 12
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The Illegal
- Written by: Lawrence Hill
- Narrated by: Gideon Emery
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Keita Ali has nothing: no bank account, no papers, no legal identity. A runner, he has fled home - a brutal dictatorship that produces the world's fastest marathoners - to live as an illegal refugee in a wealthy Western nation, surviving on winnings from local races. But the government is cracking down on illegal immigrants, so Keita - who will be executed if he is deported to his homeland - goes underground.
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4 stars because
- By Solome on 2018-06-23
- The Illegal
- Written by: Lawrence Hill
- Narrated by: Gideon Emery
Unfortunately spoiled
Reviewed: 2020-08-21
The promise of a young black man running marathons to save his kidnapped sister is thoroughly let down by a glacial pace, an uninteresting political intrigue, and almost a dozen side characters (about half of whom are wildly disinteresting) who constantly push the protagonist out of the spotlight. Despite most of these side-characters having a good chapter apiece to introduce themselves, I still found myself forgetting who one or two of them were. Was this because it took me three weeks to read through? Certainly, it was. But the story was just so boring that picking it up for another chapter became tiresome. The story has a muddled ending. About half of the characters come some level of emotional or narrative conclusion, but plenty of them don't. The protagonist is almost dropped off the face of the earth with an almost literally "and then he lived happily ever after, and continued running marathons with his girlfriend." The amount of pacing whiplash is staggering. The most egregious example of the author's pacing issues (and worse, his lack of understanding for what is interesting in a story): At one point we spend almost five minutes describing a woman getting on a plane, getting off the plane, calling a taxi, and driving to a woman's house. The following interview is then summarized in one sentence. Jarring doesn't begin to cover it. Narrator was very memorable, although the first half of the book was peppered with frequent musical refrains which he half-hearted. I expected the music to be an ongoing theme but was *completely dropped* halfway through and was never once mentioned again. Just bizarre.
1 person found this helpful
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The War of Art
- Written by: Steven Pressfield
- Narrated by: Steven Pressfield
- Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Think of The War of Art as tough love...for yourself. Since 2002, The War of Art has inspired people around the world to defeat "resistance"; to recognize and knock down dream-blocking barriers and to silence the naysayers within us. Resistance kicks everyone's butt, and the desire to defeat it is equally as universal. The War of Art identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success.
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To anyone that gives this a low rating hear me out
- By ben on 2020-06-18
- The War of Art
- Written by: Steven Pressfield
- Narrated by: Steven Pressfield
New-age nonsense
Reviewed: 2020-06-28
Impossible to listen to. Ridiculous; full of wild assertion after unfounded (and unprovable) new-age nonsense.
1 person found this helpful
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We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
- Bobiverse, Book 1
- Written by: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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There's a reason We Are Legion was named Audible's Best Science Fiction Book of 2016: Its irresistibly irreverent wit! Bob Johansson has just sold his software company for a small fortune and is looking forward to a life of leisure. The first item on his to-do list: Spending his newfound windfall. On an urge to splurge, he signs up to have his head cryogenically preserved in case of death. Then he gets himself killed crossing the street. Waking up 117 years later, Bob discovers his mind has been uploaded into a sentient space probe with the ability to replicate itself.
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Didn't think I'd like it, but I loved it
- By Eli on 2018-01-11
- We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
- Bobiverse, Book 1
- Written by: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
Unique and arresting.
Reviewed: 2020-03-09
The first book of the Bobiverse deals with the most interesting problems in the series; while the latter books seem to regard the first half of this novel as the "necessary boring part," that's the part I was most curious about. The science begins relatively hard in this novel but quickly sinks to exceptionally soft sci-fi. This is easily the best book in the series, clearly earning its 5/5 rating while the others sink slightly to a 4. We are Legion is the fastest I've ever read an audiobook, and while the sequels were devoured with similar voracity, I can't help but feel let down by what this masterpiece sets up. Still, a marvellous series. I'll keep an eye out for Dennis Taylor's other work.
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All These Worlds
- Bobiverse, Book 3
- Written by: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The epic and highly anticipated conclusion to the listener-favorite series that had countless Audible listeners (and employees) hooked from the very first Bob - featuring, as always, a flawless performance from the inimitable Ray Porter. Being a sentient spaceship really should be more fun. But after spreading out through space for almost a century, Bob and his clones just can't stay out of trouble. They've created enough colonies so humanity shouldn't go extinct.
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Now what am I gonna do with my life?
- By Eli on 2018-03-01
- All These Worlds
- Bobiverse, Book 3
- Written by: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
Mild letdown
Reviewed: 2020-03-09
The series can't help but finish on a bit of a low note with the epic battle with the Others taking place over two chapters, and being of such a high-level viewpoint that it lacks a certain viscerality. The fascinating science-fiction that abounds in the previous books is (merely) continued here, without much evolution. The author serves too many individual plotlines onto his plate and struggles to finish them all satisfactorily, as some of the narrative+emotional climaxes of the trilogy occurred in the previous book, and characters like Will are largely left adrift. I was hoping for Bob to eventually get down to a galaxy-charting expedition, with the full knowledge that geometric growth is his greatest asset against the Others. In the end, the author settles on four or five star-systems that lack sufficient punch to distract from my personal disbelief that Bob could be so self-important that he refuses to create more probes to search the galaxy. As mentioned, the author also lacks the awareness to bring the various plot threads of the various star-systems and various Bobs to a single well-knit conclusion, and with every main Bob given equal time, the actual danger of the Others feels unimaginably weak in comparison to the danger the story tells us they pose. In other words, neither the pacing nor the characters are as well-developed as they could have been. As a personal complaint, I swear the phrases "grin" or "raised eyebrows" each appear over five hundred times in this book. Get a thesaurus for god's sake. However, this is not to say I don't like it. These are largely nitpicks clinging to a very solid core. A mostly-satisfying, if occasionally-unsatisfying conclusion. 3.5/5
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BattleTech
- Forever Faithful
- Written by: Blaine Lee Pardoe
- Narrated by: Tren Sparks
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In the year 3060, the reborn Star League has destroyed Clan Smoke Jaguar, conquered their home world Huntress, and scattered the few remaining Jaguar warriors to the winds. Now the League seeks to end the Clan invasion for good by using former Smoke Jaguars against their own people.
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Fabulous!
- By Anonymous User on 2020-03-09
- BattleTech
- Forever Faithful
- Written by: Blaine Lee Pardoe
- Narrated by: Tren Sparks
Fabulous!
Reviewed: 2020-03-09
Impeccably paced, apprehending plotline, and relatively interesting characters provide a real thrillride. A modicum of BattleTech knowledge (or the ability to use Sarna.net) is a prerequisite, but the book certainly does not get by simply by clinging to the spine of the BT universe. Three large-scale BattleMech battles in twelve hours, pillowed by plenty of interesting character-driven plot, with the exception of perhaps one or two dud chapters out of forty. Excellent narrator and highly varied diction. Couldn't recommend highly enough.
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Differently Morphous
- Written by: Yahtzee Croshaw
- Narrated by: Yahtzee Croshaw
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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A magical serial killer is on the loose, and gelatinous, otherworldly creatures are infesting the English countryside. Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret. After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country's magical history - and magical citizens - to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.
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A funny, well natured jab at PC culture.
- By Ryan Cooper on 2018-05-02
- Differently Morphous
- Written by: Yahtzee Croshaw
- Narrated by: Yahtzee Croshaw
Very good!
Reviewed: 2019-08-10
Amusing and unique take on Harry Potterlike "what if magic were real." The world at large is happy to welcome the differently morphous to society. Chaos ensues.
1 person found this helpful
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Mogworld
- Written by: Yahtzee Croshaw
- Narrated by: Yahtzee Croshaw
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In a world full to bursting with would-be heroes, Jim couldn't be less interested in saving the day. His fireballs fizzle. He's awfully grumpy. Plus, he's been dead for about 60 years. When a renegade necromancer wrenches him from eternal slumber and into a world gone terribly, bizarrely wrong, all Jim wants is to find a way to die properly, once and for all. On his side, he's got a few shambling corpses, an inept thief, and a powerful death wish. But he's up against tough odds....
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Surprisingly Awesome
- By Cameron Potapoff on 2017-12-10
- Mogworld
- Written by: Yahtzee Croshaw
- Narrated by: Yahtzee Croshaw
Disappointing.
Reviewed: 2019-07-18
Lead character without goals or desires bogs down a slow and boring story. Narrator deadpan.
1 person found this helpful