Peter Bondy

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.

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 of 3 people found this review helpful

Disappointing

Reviewed: 08-03-2017

An interesting premise but a somewhat tedious and lack lustre result in my opinion. The story also felt unbalanced and in need of a good edit.

Add to that no particularly likeable characters and I would say this is an average listening experience.

If you know the author and like his work I'm sure you will enjoy this. If you don't, like me, you may be disappointed.

Narration is competent.

Excellent storytelling, disappointing narration.

Reviewed: 13-12-2016

An excellent book for those who love the days of great explorers and historical novels. Or love stories, iconoclasts and powerful women.

Cathleen's narration is excellent and I relished the chapters she reads. They are full of heart and energy and to me wonderfully interpreted.

Though definitely not a deal breaker, for me I sadly found Thomas's narration frustrating and distracting. His cadence and rhythm felt wrong. He would finish a phrase with the same pause and downward tone he finished a sentence.

Even with this complaint I still enjoyed the listen and would happily recommend it with that one caveat.

A terrific explanation of E=MC2

Reviewed: 01-06-2016

This book gives a deep and complete explanation of Einstein's brilliant insight and equation in language that is fairly easy to follow and with a minimum of maths.

That said I've still listened to it 3 times to keep some of the concepts clear in my mind and I'm sure I'll be listening again. That's because space time is a difficult thing for us to grasp. However this book does an excellent job of giving clever thought experiments and understandable explanations of the various aspects of the theory.

There are also many insights I'd never been aware of before like why the speed of light is a universal speed limit.

The maths involved is not overly complex though I found it helpful to write down the maths involved so I could follow it more easily.

There are many aspects to understanding the subject and the book devotes a chapter to each. This provides a clear framework from which to glean a deeper insight into Einstein's work.

Overall I have not come across a better or more complete explanation of this famous and important equation. Even if you are familiar with the concepts (like I thought I was) I feel it describes and connects the various concepts in a clever, insightful and satisfying way that has given me a more complete understanding.

I now feel I could explain E=MC2 to an interested party with confidence!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Disappointing

Reviewed: 11-04-2016

Unfortunately this book does not live up to its potential. Some heavy editing and rewriting was required before publication.

Far too much time is spent discussing sponsorship, love life, and generally fluffing around between climbs with virtually no climbing descriptions and anecdotes except pretty much in passing. Just when you think you are in for some climbing stories he moves on to post climb waffle.

I have no interest in him buying a house, getting more sponsors or hooking up with some looker. It seems to me he doesn't even enjoy climbing. There is no reason to suspect he does other than that he keeps doing it.

I suppose if you enjoy learning what a climbers general life is like you will enjoy the book. If you are interested in sharing in the thrill that climbing must be, you will be disappointed I suggest.

The readers performance is adequate though uninspired. I can't blame him given the material he had to read.

Poor sound ruins any potential

Reviewed: 31-03-2016

I found the sound quality unacceptable. The readers performance was lacklustre and uninspired though still acceptable. The recording quality on the other hand was unprofessional and ultimately unlistenable for me. Muffled and at times unintelligible.

Given all that I found it impossible to really get lost in the actual book or appreciate the quality of the writing or research. I would say it would have been enjoyable and satisfying with proper sound.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful