Great Story Horrible Narration

Would you try another book from Jeff Wheeler and/or Sue Pitkin?

I would certainly listen to another of Jeff Wheeler's books, I totally enjoy his writing style. I would never try another book narrated by Sue Pitkin. She has no ability to narrate multiple characters in any distinctive fashion.

How could the performance have been better?

The performance would have been better if Michael Page narrated the second book as well as the first. Sue Pitkin was simply pathetic. I was perplexed by things such as how the Quiet Kishion takes on some sort of Arnold Schwarzenegger accent. He (she) sounded ridiculous. Her narration almost ruined the book for me.

11 people found this helpful

what happened to Michael Page?

Fireblood (book 1) was awesome. Good story, but the narrator Michael Page did a fantastic job. He really gave the characters personality through his narrating. Started this book, but couldn't finish, narration is AWFUL. I can't tell one character from the other, why the change? Am I alone in this? Had to return this one, guess I'll just go get it in paperback. I saw book 3 is with the same narrator as this one =( so sad.

9 people found this helpful

Amazing Book...Terrible Narrator

This book is so great. I would listen to it as I fall asleep, but I would find myself staying up late trying to listen to more. The narrator is awful. I eventually got used to her voice, but I really hope audible has the narrator from Fireblood read the next book in the series. Again, this book is so good!

5 people found this helpful

Couldn't stomach the Narration

Any additional comments?

The first part of the series was great... very promising and enjoyable. This second book seemed to have the same elements but the narration was at best unpleasant, but more often actually irritating. I gave up on the book about 3/4 of the way through because I couldn't stomach the narration (the first and only time I've done that with an audiobook)

5 people found this helpful

Great story, terrible narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would go back to Michael Page as the narrator. Sue Pitkin does okay when she isn't reading dialogue, but she can't read dialogue well to save her life. I can only listen to this book for short periods of time before I have to turn it off.

I got this audiobook despite the poor reviews of the narrator because I had the ebook already and it was only $2, but I would never waste a credit or pay full price for it. The book is excellent, but Pitkin was not the right choice at all. I feel like she'd do much better with something like Jane Austen rather than epic fantasy.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoy everything about this story except the performer. It's a solid follow-up to the first book.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Her speech is exaggerated, her attempts at different accents are awful, and it is clear that she didn't listen to any of the previous book. Conversations between characters are painful and unnatural. As an example, the voice she uses for the archivist's passages is stilted and overdone while Michael Page's interpretation was scholarly and thoughtful. I grit my teeth every time one of those sequences comes up when I used to enjoy them. I gave her two stars because I can at least listen to her for short periods of time, but I have to take a break after long dialogues.

Was Dryad-Born worth the listening time?

Reading time, heck yeah. Listening time... Just barely, maybe? It was better than not listening to a book at all, I guess.

Any additional comments?

Please, please, please, please bring Michael Page back.

5 people found this helpful

better!!

If you could sum up Dryad-Born in three words, what would they be?

more flushed out!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dryad-Born?

when you find out who the villain in hiding is.

How could the performance have been better?

did not care for the voice talent. accent were not the same as the first book I think.

3 people found this helpful

Narrator is awful

I have listened to over 500 books and this is by far the worst narrator ever! Too bad because this is a pretty good story ruined by the narrator. She struggled with making the different voices and seemed to forget which was which and often would change character voices in the same paragraph. I believe the book could be more successful with a good narrator!

2 people found this helpful

Good Story, Bad Narrator

What did you like best about Dryad-Born? What did you like least?

I liked the story, but the narrator was terrible

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend the first book of the series. The narrator was fun to listen to and made the characters come alive. I don't know why this book had a different narrator, but she could not use different character voices at all, so it could confusing when two characters were talking to each other. Another thing I didn't like about her was that would be just as dramatic with some mundane description or detail as she would an action sequence or with something important. That got old pretty quick.Anyway, I will probably listen to the next book in the series when it comes out if it has a different narrator. For this book, you would be better off to read it yourself.

7 people found this helpful

Voice acting :(

I really enjoyed the first book. The narration was great and the concepts were fresh but still tied to the greater Wheelerverse.
This book had a ton of promise but right about the point where the snakes are talking to each other the voice acting became too much to bear. I’ll probably switch to the kindle version and go back to listening to podcasts to cleanse my brain for a bit.

Narrator is like nails on a chalkboard

I couldn't get past the few chapters of this book because of the terrible narration. The first book was wonderful with Michael Page. I am disappointed I won't be able to listen to the rest the series, because I cannot suffer another agonizing minute of the book with this narrator.