Garbage

I am a fan of Neal Stephensons work including the preceding D.O.D.O novel co-authored by Nicole Galland. I was quite looking forward to this book. Then I started to listen to it. The author took the makings of an excellent story and destroyed it by changing the format. It is told simply as a series of letters and memorandum between the characters that take the life blood from the story. It is no longer a fascinating novel. It becomes an annoyance. There is no real form or sequence to it as a novel. I am listening to it at 2x normal speed and it is still incredibly slow. Constantly telling us who is writing the letter or memo and where it is going. I have only listened to the first few chapters but am going to return it. Normally I do not write a lot of reviews. When I noted the only 2 reviews posted gave this book a 5. I thought it is nice that the author has friends but give me a break. As I spent a long part of my career as a consumer protection deputy I felt it was time to let others know that this is not good book. Not one worth listening to anyway.

4 people found this helpful

wonderful second book

just as good, if not better, than the sequel. great performance too, using all the same voice actors

1 person found this helpful

Wonderful

I am a fan of Nicole Galland. I have read everything that she has written and I enjoy each one thoroughly this second volume of the series is I think better than the first and I can tell that it is hers because of the depth of knowledge that she has concerning 16th and 17th century England. her knowledge of History comes through in everything she writes her earlier writing on this era, the novel "I Iago" has already shown her intimate knowledge of Shakespeare's writings. I can't get enough of her.
the story itself is terrific full of twists and turns and enough action to keep you glued to the production throughout. the production and actors were excellent. I couldn't stop listening. I would go to bed listening to it while I fell asleep and then rewind in the morning to pick up where I had left off before I went unconscious I recommend this highly especially to those who are familiar with her writing this was so much fun I can't wait for the next volume. It ended too soon but with a teaser that seemed to promise another. I hope so and I think it can't come soon enough .

Better than expected and excellent characterization

I totally disagree with reviewers who complain about the format and characterization/narrator performances. As with the first book, the story is presented as a reading of official records, diary entrees etc. The voice actors do a fantastic job, rather than being a distraction as often happens when books are performed instead of straight narrated, these characters come across as real, vibrant, likable, and the performances enhance the experience greatly. This book is way better on audible IMHO.

Not as funny as the first one, but with a better story.

Although it wasn’t quite as laugh out loud funny as the first book (the viking invasion of Walmart was hilarious) this was definitely more engaging in narrative terms. Now that our heroes are no longer working for the US military industrial complex, and now they’re up against a real and terrifying antagonist, they’re much easier to root for. I liked the idea of the ensemble cast. I just wished they’d given a bit more thought to consistency in pronunciation, because the pronunciation was all over the place. In general though, a worthy enough piece of entertainment, with a compelling enough cliffhanger that I’ll probably stick around for the next one.

Seemed unfinished

I enjoyed the story, but this seems like half a book. It ends somewhat abruptly without the major plot lines being resolved. I hope there are more books in the series, but I also hope they’re more complete than this one.

More interesting

I enjoyed this probably more than the first book. This book let a story develop, it didn't get so hung up in the bureaucracy as the first book.

Good book maybe? unlistenable Audio Book

This might be a good book - I don't know because as an audio book I feel its unlistenable. By an hour and a half in there were so many extended passages of chat logs where the various characters interrupt each other mid sentence - with each line the narrator interupting to recite the character speaking next and completely breaking up any sense of narative, coherence or interest. And since every voice is different sadly completely unnecessary as well. They feel to drag on forever and I found unlistenable.

Unfortuantely the preview segment doesn't hilite any of those sections so one could have an opportunity to see how bad they really are.

I couldn't imagine subjecting myself to that for another 17 + hours so returned it (first one ever returned). I enjoyed reading DODO in print form and may give this one another try in print but beware it doesn't translate into listenable audio.

It's a TV show

If you've already read the first book and you moved on to the second then you are already aware that this is a TV show and novel form. The character development the story and plot twists all work well together and the reader finds themselves engulfed and invested in characters in a way that only a TV show could invoke such a investment. far less bureaucratic than the first novel (thank God) We get to love characters the way that we didn't get to love them in the first novel. The way the writers leave cliffhangers at the end of the novels It's so disrespectful to the readers. I want FEEKING closure, I DO.