Peter Bondy

Not just for children, exciting, funny & entertaining

Reviewed: 28-05-2020

Exciting, moving, funny, unexpected and satisfying sum up my opinion of this first instalment of Stroud’s latest series.

Stroud has crafted a rich and complex world filled with great heroes, evil villains and a story that is the perfect launch pad for this diverse cast of characters.

They are terrifically diverse group and are wonderfully portrayed by excellent narration.

These books are not only for children, and I can assure any adult reader who perhaps enjoyed Harry Potter and the like will find this series very, very entertaining and satisfying.

Do yourself a favour and dive in!

Excellent in every way

Reviewed: 28-05-2020

Exciting, moving, funny, unexpected and satisfying sum up my opinion of what may well be the final book in this series. Hopefully only for now though.

This instalment had me spellbound from start to finish with the last half ramping up to a very worthy climax.

Stroud has crafted a rich and complex world filled with great heroes, evil villains and a story that has evolved beautifully over 5 books.

The central characters are terrifically diverse group and they are wonderfully portrayed by Bevan’s superb narration.

These books are not only for children, and I can assure any adult reader who perhaps enjoyed Harry Potter and the like will find this series very, very entertaining and satisfying.

Do yourself a favour and dive in!

This series is not only for children.

Reviewed: 11-05-2020

The Lockwood & Co series just gets better and better. I’m captivated by the varied and beautifully crafted characters and their relationships with each other and all set in a fun, vibrant and interesting world. I should add I’m 60.

The stories are exciting with unexpected twists and turns and also full of emotion with plenty of frights, laughs and intrigue.

They’ve settled on a great narrator (not that the first two were bad in my opinion) who really brings the appropriate energy and excitement to Stroud’s great writing. Her reading of the skull in the jar character for example is perfection.

Dull, dull, dull.

Reviewed: 10-11-2019

Uninteresting story written with the vocabulary of a 12 year old. Nothing but military speak waffle and superficial characters.

You know the way military people always sound in movies, the way they phrase things? Well that’s this book from start to, well as far as I managed, which is about half way. But I’m not wasting any more time hoping this will get better.

If you enjoy playing soldiers you may enjoy this. If you like a little substance and depth to your listening give this a miss.

Narration was passable but it just sounds like you are listening to soldier talk with an irritatingly gruff voice.

Absolutely no redeeming qualities sadly.

Heartfelt and thoughtful

Reviewed: 03-09-2019

An interesting look at the early stages of interplanetary human exploration, Becky Chambers brings both humanity and philosophy to science fiction with a wonderfully compassionate style.

This is a thoughtful book that does not include laser battles or Star troopers so if action is your primary requirement this book is not for you. It is however full of clever ideas and intriguing questions.

Patricia Rodriguez IS the voice of Becky Chambers books and does a sublime narration. She captures the depth of the characters wonderfully and brings the unfolding story to life perfectly.

1 person found this helpful

Unique

Reviewed: 29-10-2018

Becky Chambers; a singular voice in science fiction bringing a humanity to our future like no one else ever has. Absolutely beautifully written and a story of life affirming beauty.

Patricia Rodriguez; the perfect narrator sets this book alive with absolutely sublime reading.

Not full of space battles and laser beams but rather a more profound and intimate look at life in space amongst aliens and the stars.

1 person found this helpful

SF doesn’t get better than this.

Reviewed: 26-09-2018

Well that’s true if you don’t mind a lack of laser guns and space battles. It’s a real breath of fresh air to have a SF novel that deals with the humanity of the future rather than potential conflicts or crises.

Beautifully paced and an intriguing story give this novel a really emotional core.

Patricia does an impeccable job as narrator and I have to say her work for s perfection and caps off a very entraining audiobook that I can’t recommend highly enough.

This is what audiobooks are all about!

Reviewed: 12-08-2018

I don’t think any sci-fi fan would be disappointed with this book. Very good story with a terrific collection of characters. There is a philosophical bent here and there which I enjoy. This is science fiction at its best.

Then add to that perfect narration by Patricia and you have a wonderfully entertaining listen. Her interpretation of the different characters is absolutely sublime. Subtle and clever she truly brings the characters and their emotions to life. So much so I’m an going to find other books she has narrated just because of her work here.

Excellent

Reviewed: 20-03-2018

A truly wonderful and nuanced book full of personalities, complex relationships and insightful observations about men, women, children and personal politics.

Excellently narrated and perfectly paced.

Rowling has a keen eye for observing human behaviour and motivation and her writing conveys perfectly her characters humanity and complexity.

Fascinating, remarkable, insightful.

Reviewed: 12-06-2017

What a fantastic listen this is. It is so crammed full of information and covers such a broad range of topics I will defiantly need to listen several times.

And beyond purely information, Sigman interprets clinical research, both his and others, to give a truly comprehensive insight into current understanding of how our brain works and why we behave the way we do.

And still further, there are philosophical issues contemplated like recreational drug use and the meaning of "normal".

Me only disappointment with the book, and why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars , is that it is too short. There was so much more detail I wanted to hear about and so many topics are cut a little short.

The narration is very good and instils a lot of meaning and is neat faultless.

I can't imagine anyone interested in how our minds work and why we behave and think the way we do not being truly entertained and fascinated by this book.

Highly recommended.

3 people found this helpful