Page 6 of posts filed: reviews

Dave Reviews The Hobbit

Posted on 2013-03-27 at 5:51 by Dave

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Narrated by Rob Inglis (for Recorded Books) Length: 11 hours, 8 minutes

I have a confession to make. I was never been head over heels in love with Tolkien's writing. I've loved fantasy and science fiction literally as long as I can remember anything, but reading Tolkien didn't do that much for me. I could tell that the stories were interesting, but the dryness of the prose and plot didn't fire up my imagination the way other fantasies did. I read The Hobbit in high school and

Posted in reviews

Sam reviews: The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, Read by Michael Fenton-Stevens for Harper Audio

Posted on 2013-02-11 at 17:19 by Sam

The Long Earth: A Novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (2012) Read by Michael Fenton-Stevens (2012) for Harper Audio (review copy)

Review by Sam: I'm completely of two minds on this audiobook. First, and this is not one of those minds but rather a comment, there isn't quite the humor and wit as in Pratchett's Discworld books, but then again this isn't at all that kind of story. It's a story that's more earnest than that, not a send-up or pastiche of the kind of novel it pretends to be on the

Posted in reviews | Tagged harper-audio, michael fenton-stevens, stephen baxter, terry pratchett, the long earth

Sam reviews: Building Harlequin's Moon by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, read by Tom Weiner for Blackstone Audio

Posted on 2013-02-10 at 12:32 by Sam

Building Harlequin’s Moon by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper (2005) Read by Tom Weiner (2012) for Blackstone Audio (review copy)

Review by Sam: This is a book I was very interested in when it was originally published back in 2005, but it was another year before I finally picked it up. It quickly became one of my favorite science fiction novels, and remains one of my favorites of the 2000s. Combine Larry Niven's geo-engineering and orbital mechanics with Cooper's humanism and futurism, add a few thousand

Posted in reviews | Tagged blackstone audio, brenda cooper, building harlequin's moon, larry niven, tom weiner

Dave reviews: The Rook, by Daniel O'Malley, read by Susan Duerden

Posted on 2013-01-16 at 1:44 by Sam

The Rook, by Daniel O’Malley, read by Susan Duerden for Dreamscape

 Review by Dave Thompson:

Imagine if J.K. Rowling had decided to do a Ministry of Magic novel and you’ve basically got the set-up for The Rook.

The Rook has a little bit of everything in it: It’s as if O’Malley took some of the best (and worst) tropes from the last 20 years of genre fiction, tossed them into a blender with his own special ingredients, and served up a tasty little cocktail with fruit and an umbrella. It starts off a bit

Posted in reviews | Tagged daniel o'malley, dave thompson, dreamscape, susan duerden, the rook

Sam's listening report: October 2012

Posted on 2013-01-05 at 12:0 by Sam

After my slowest listening month in a very long time -- four audiobooks and a novella podcast episode in September -- I was back up to seven audiobooks, buoyed a bit by fall review copies coming in. It was a fantastic month in terms of enjoying what I was listening to as well, from fantasy (Hal Duncan's Vellum, Christopher Buehlman's Between Two Fires) to anthologies (V Wars, Fantastic Imaginings), a non-fiction collection (Neal Stephenson's Some Remarks), and even a rare (for me, apparently) non-genre

Posted in reviews, Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged monthly listening report

Review: The Dragon King

Posted on 2013-01-04 at 3:20 by Sam

The Dragon King by Dan Redwine Narrated by Ken MacMillan for Nation9, Inc. Length: 13 mins -- Release Date: 12-28-12

Review by Sam:

Nation9 has been releasing short English and Spanish audiobooks for kids and young teens, starting in mid-December 2012. So far they've a few Sherlock Holmes titles (ex. Sherlock Holmes - Scandal in Bohemia: Intro to Classics) and a pair of adaptations of Japanese tales, the other being Ogre of Rashomon. As I quite often listen to audiobooks with my kids, when I saw this

Posted in reviews | Tagged dan redwine, ken macmillan, kids, Nation9, the dragon king

Dave Reviews: The Troupe

Posted on 2012-12-20 at 20:13 by Dave

The Troupe, by Robert Jackson Bennett Read by Luis Moreno for Recorded Books Length: 18 hours, 10 minutes

The Troupe is the best new novel I've listened to this year – let’s get that out of the way from the start. There are several other books I want to hit before the end of the year, and I’ll be the first to say that what I have listened to is hardly comprehensive of all the amazing books that have come out over the past 12 months. That said, I can confidently say that The Troupe is one of those books

Posted in reviews | Tagged dave thompson, luis moreno, magic, robert jackson bennett, vaudeville

Dave Reviews: The Company Man

Posted on 2012-12-05 at 7:25 by Dave

The Company Man, by Robert Jackson Bennett Read by Richard Poe, for Recorded Books Length: 16 hours, 4 minutes

There’s an argument these days that the “punk” in steampunk is really superfluous – that generally, the genre isn’t punk at all. It's not attempting to rebel against anything. Instead, we get comfortable (often fun) stories dressed up in Victorian clothes. As Cherie Priest succinctly put it, “Steampunk is fun with hats.”

For those of us looking for steampunk with a little more edge and cynicism

Posted in reviews | Tagged dave thompson, reviews, robert jackson bennett

Dave Reviews: Dodger, by Terry Pratchett

Posted on 2012-11-30 at 17:11 by Dave

Dodger, by Terry Pratchett. Narrated by Stephen Briggs for Harper Audio Length: 10 hours, 30 minutes

Reviewed by Dave Thompson:

It starts with a brawl in the rain. When a young woman attempts to escape her captors, teenage Dodger pops up through a manhole and lays into them with a set of brass knuckles. Dodger finds the girl sanctuary with the help of journalist Charlie Dickens, then the two quickly begin an investigation to find out who the girl is, and what she’s trying to escape from. A rollicking

Posted in reviews | Tagged dave thompson, dodger, harper-audio, reviews, terry pratchett

Dave Reviews: Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

Posted on 2012-11-09 at 17:47 by Dave

Dreadnought, by Cherie Priest Narrated by Kate Reading Length: 13 hours, 24 minutes

War is Hell – Especially for a Nurse

It’s probably important to state right off the bat that I wasn’t a huge fan of Boneshaker. There are several reasons for this, and it should be noted that I read it, and didn’t listen to it, and that may have contributed to my overall feelings. But I like Cherie Priest’s work – in particular, I loved the Eden Moore Southern Gothic Ghost story “Four and Twenty Black Birds” (and if it

Posted in regular, reviews | Tagged cherie priest, dave thompson, dreadnought, macmillan-audio, review