Interesting story line wretched by the narrator

Interesting story if a little sparse. It could have been developed further but has lots of original ideas.
The effort is let down by the narrator who ends almost every single phrase and sentence with the same weird inflection. You get used to it after an hour or so but, OMG, it’s so unnatural.

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This was a very slow bullet

I don't want to be JUST a negative reviewer here, but …

it's my fault, I just listened to 'Slow Bullets' after coming off of the back of a run of nineteen Alastair Reynolds titles which has taken me around 12 months of listening, and millions of miles into the blackness of his space operas and world settings in Revelation space, Poseidon's Children, meeting the Sylveste's, and Gentian's, as well as the hitching a ride in the lighter Revenger series.

I wouldn't have continued listening to his work without being drawn into the depth and complexity of the story arcs that were masterfully laid down … (albeit with some frustration at chapter breaks when I started but which I learned to live with).

Slow Bullets doesn't have any of that. I understand it's a 4 hour 'commute read' so there's not a lot of depth to build, but that requisite superficiality along with some frustrating narration by an extremely eloquent but, in my opinion, disappointing reader, has left me exhausted. The 19 other books which are mostly from 17 to 27 hours each energised me to continue the particular story lines or hunt for another of Mr Reynolds titles. Slow Bullets has been the longest 4 hours I can remember.

I honestly cannot think why this was released, I can only imagine it was a spur off of one of the other stories, or a thought bubble with potential. I'm really sorry. Not that my opinion counts, but I really wish it had been presented, (and read) differently.

Such a brilliant author. Now I really have to try out another title with the same narrator to see if this was just an unfortunate glitch or if it's the person's style or prose, (I suppose). (… AND a poet!!)

By comparison I cannot say enough good things about Revelation Space. When it was finishing it, and again with Poseidon's Children I was seriously considering starting from the beginning to glean some more from the series, but I thought after 12 months of Mr Reynolds perhaps I should take a break.

(… it wouldn't take much to start over, excellent author.)

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An intriguing novella.

A novella with some intriguing sci-fi ideas. The plot seems compressed and truncated. I wanted more drama, tension, and action. The narrator had a distracting cadence, like a reporter reading the news. I was hoping for something more gripping.

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Interesting story but…

The story itself was pretty interesting but the narrator/voice actor was mostly monotone which made the first third of the story hard to get through. It was worth it in the end.

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Good story, horribly performed

Narration is monotonous, with every sentence, no matter how mundane, overloaded with false drama and interrupt intensity. Honestly, hard to finish this one, short though it is. Good story, even if not Reynolds' best.

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Sci-fi short story

Like/dislike
I really liked the narrator and thought she was a great fit for the main character.

Recommend
I would recommend this story to anyone who hasn’t read any of Al Reynold’s work yet.

Choose
I gave this 5 stars because it was engaging with a few interesting plot twists as well as time differences.

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Terrible narrator makes unlistenable

The narrator for this book meant I just could not listen, they were that terrible. She reads like the book is a period drama bodice ripper romance story, All breathy all the time and over extends words in all the wrong places.

She sounds like you would expect a phone mystic on a premium rate number to be. Slow to keep you on the line to scam more money lol

Worst narrator of any of the many many books I have listened to on Audible.

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Great story poor narration

Unfortunately the title says it all. This narrator is exceptionally monotonous using the same inflection on almost every single word, her narration is comparable to that of an 8 year old child who sounds like every word is constantly ending in an upwards rising inflection sounding like a question.
After a while the monotony got to me so bad I nearly had to stop but the story was so compelling that it won me in the end. I actually own the book but found that narration has the advantage of being able to make each character come alive and sound unique. Unfortunately in this instance this is not the case and I hope someone out there will redo this story with a new narration, I would definitely buy that audible book then.
Don’t believe me? Then download a demo sample.

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4 people found this helpful