Abridged - Ugh

What disappointed you about Star Wars?

This was the first abridged audiobook that I'd ever listened to. Never again. The story felt very disjointed and choppy. There was clearly more to be told, but I wasn't privy to it through this retelling of the story. It was disappointing overall, and I will never buy another abridged audiobook again.

63 people found this helpful

Bad way to ruin a good book.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Anthony Heald?

Marc Tompson
The guy has awesome voices that make the story WAY more enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

I absolutely hated the narrator.

I guess i was spoiled the last few books i listened to were read by Marc Tompson.\

He should read EVERY Star Wars book.

Seriously.

44 people found this helpful

Great book, but sloppily abridged.

What disappointed you about Star Wars?

The abridgement sounded like it was SO compressed. I know that that is the point, but it took SO much away from the story.

What did you like best about this story?

This series of books is one of the best from the Star Wars cannon.

Would you be willing to try another one of Anthony Heald’s performances?

It depends. This Narrator wasn't too good with this title, but I'd be willing to give him another try I guess.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Star Wars?

Nothing. I would have added a ton more. Basically, I was expecting this to be more like the book. Other abridgements I have listened too have basically turned a full book into a 2 hour version, but this was not the case here. It was butchered.

Any additional comments?

Don't Listen to it. Read it. Much better. Don't want to? Forget about it. Just not worth it in this case. Try another series.

20 people found this helpful

annoying

What disappointed you about Star Wars?

the voice of the narrator was very different from the other star wars books i have gotten from audible. The way Anthony Heald does the voices and reads the book and the pronouncement of names makes me think that he has never seen a starwars movie in his life. it was very difficult to listen to and not be distracted by the performance. I nearly turned it off after the first 10 minutes. It is like John Lovitz is reading star wars.

11 people found this helpful

It Hurts

Would you try another book from Kevin J. Anderson and/or Anthony Heald?

there was no distention between characters they all sounded the same which made it hard to listen to.

What did you like best about this story?

I am only 45 mins into this book and I want to put it down. Due to the Narrator, But in order to now what happened to all the characters I have to continue

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Anthony Heald?

MARK THOMPSON

What character would you cut from Star Wars?

none

9 people found this helpful

Disappointing

Yep, I'm that jerk that is going to review a book after the first 10 minutes. I would wait, but I'm done with it. I just revived my interest in Star Wars by re-upping my Old Republic game subscription and read the Thrawn Trilogy expertly narrated by Marc Thompson. His voice acting was exception and the story was compelling. I devoured them and moved onto the next books (chronologically according to Wookiepedia) in the series.
And I'm heart broken. Mr Anderson has made Han Solo sound like an idiot with the line "before they turn us into Space Meat!".. I almost gave up right there. But Anthony Heald, whose voice is remarkable, is now mispronouncing important names (Han and Corruscant both were teeth grindingly annoying).

So yeah, 10 minutes in and I give up. It is the first time in 6 years that I've been so disppointed by both the narrator and the story that I haven't just looked at the good and ignored (or grimaced thru) the bad. I doubt I will do any of the other Star Wars novels except those that have the Zahn / Thompson combo.

24 people found this helpful

What happened?

Jarring pacing, mispronounciations, bad character voices, and static sounds. This was just in the first chapter.

3 people found this helpful

has he even seen star wars?

the story wasn't bad but the narrator sounds like he's never seen the movies. pronouncing almost every name incorrectly made it hard to love. not only that but it was read so fast I lost track of the story a few times.

7 people found this helpful

If you're hesitant about trying these abridged audiobooks, here's my thoughts.

I was very hesitant to buy this because I have heard mixed things about Star Wars audiobooks from this era. Most of them are abridged, and this is no exception. I want to give a real review of this particular book for others who might be hesitant.

First, I have never read Jedi Search. There's something about KJA's writing that I've never enjoyed. I've heard others say the same thing about him. The story is okay. It's a typical Star Wars adventure. Nothing mind blowing. It's just the same old characters in a new journey. The most important part of this story is Luke's attempt to recreate the Jedi Order. That was why I wanted to listen to this trilogy. I had read about it in latter books by Timothy Zahn (much better all around series, by the way) and wanted to finally hear the story of how Luke made his Jedi Temple happen. As I said, the story is okay. I was never lost or left feeling that some major plot point was left out. 3/5.

The performance is okay as well. Anthony Heald is a brilliant narrator, possibly my favorite. Unfortunately, he is not the best choice for Star Wars material. His voices for Han and Luke make me wonder if he's ever seen Star Wars. Many of the voices sound similar. There's also audio effects that neither add nor detract from the experience. By the end of this book, I grew more accustomed to Heald's performance. Again, it's okay. He's certainly not monotone (thank God) but he's also no Marc Thompson or Jonathan Davis (two much better Star Wars narrators). He reads the material well, but lacks the Star Wars factor. 3/5.

If you want to power through some of these older books to get through the Expanded Universe, I would say to give it a shot. I know the abridged factor will turn some people off, but honestly Star Wars novels are often filled with things that don't generally serve the plot. Not every Star Wars author was able to do what Zahn did with his series. Just have reasonable expectations. I would suggest that you think of this as more of an audio drama than an audiobook. It's more akin to the Dark Empire audio dramas from the same era. More comic book than novel. I plan on finishing the trilogy and than moving on to the other books I never got around to reading back when the Expanded Universe was still going.

2 people found this helpful

Great story, but narrator ruins it for me

What did you like best about Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Volume 1: Jedi Search? What did you like least?

Great story, but bad narration with multiple mispronunciations. Coruscant is pronounced "CorusKant", Han Solo sounds like a 1940's gangster, and Wedge Antilles sounds like Scotty from Star Trek. Very distracting after hearing the amazing Mark Thompson in so many great readings.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Luke Skywalker

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Anthony Heald?

Mark Thompson! PLEASE!

Do you think Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Volume 1: Jedi Search needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It already has one

2 people found this helpful