Spike makes good

As I listened to this audiobook, I couldn't help but picture the character James Marsters played in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". He brought the characters to life without doing obnoxious falsetto voices for the female characters as so many other readers do. I have read all the Dresden books in print thus far, and while I enjoyed reading this book at the time, I felt much more "in" the story while listening to this production. I listened to "Storm Front" before this one, and the reading of this audiobook is much more enjoyable than "Storm Front" because of Marsters' enthusiastic performance. The timing is great, the characters are distinguishable without being obnoxious and there is just enough acting to make it really exciting. I'll concede that there were some mispronounciations but not enough to really detract from the story. I listen to lots of audiobooks and this one I will recommend to everyone!

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80 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Dresden just keeps getting better

I've read the first two Dresden novels - which were good. But this one really kicks things into high gear. There's much more character development than previously. I didn't find myself frustrated with Dresden as much for walking idiotically into impossible situations and taking responsibility for everyone's problems. The reader, Mr. Marsters, is much more polished here than in previous outings, where he seemed to be sighing between every sentence. He continues to need editing...I was constantly catching him mispronouncing words (e.g. he would say "ruins" when he meant "runes"; or "retched" when he meant "wretched.") Otherwise, he is a good reader, and I hear than in future books, he improves quite a bit. Looking forward to Book 4.

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I was lied too, bad mouth noises (speed 1.5x)

What did you like best about Grave Peril? What did you like least?

The story only seamed so-so compared to the previous books. I felt like characters just popped up and a previous character I really liked was just missing from this book, which was unfortunate.

Has Grave Peril turned you off from other books in this genre?

Grave Peril has not turned me off to books in the genre as I greatly enjoy similar type stories, and if I had the time/ability to read the print (paper/eBook) versions I might have enjoyed this story (and the series as a whole) significantly more.

Would you be willing to try another one of James Marsters’s performances?

I have listen to other things on Audible narrated by James Marsters's (e.g. his performance in "The Importance of Being Earnest") but this series of books is so horribly done by him that I get physically angry (scratch your nails on that chalk board one more time and you'll lose some fingers, type angry) at the thought of enduring his poor performance again.

Could you see Grave Peril being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I think this story has been done too many times before in movies/tv shows, unfortunately for it to bring a significantly new and unique experience to the telling.

Any additional comments?

As the headline says, I felt lied too. I talked to many people who love these books (i.e. at cons - Butcher was at the last one I attended doing a signing, in my circle of friends, on first dates these books have come up in conversation) and I expressed my issues with the performance in books 1 and 2 and almost unanimously they said, "oh, Marsters gets better." Lies I say, LIES! Granted they might mean he is better by book 13 (at the time of this writing, 15.5 has come out).

I scoured the reviews of this book looking for the tail-tail reviews about the mouth noises and if they were bearable or not and there were significantly fewer which made me think maybe he was getting better. After listening to the book, I think that the number of reviews reporting this issue was significantly because the people that are/were offended by the slurping mouth noises didn't purchase this book and had given up on the audiobook version of this series or the series in general (as I had).

I ran across one review that suggested dialing up the listen speed to 1.25x to lessen such noises. Personally I dialed the speed up to 1.5x and it worked, well enough, but they were still there and there were still way too many of them; luckily they passed by fast enough it was not nearly as infuriating as before. There are a great many reviews that highly praise Marsters's performance suggested to me that just maybe Marsters and the few reviews that did criticize the performance might been being too picky. Having listened to the book myself I have wonder if people praising the performance had actually listened to it before they wrote their reviews.

Sound engineers/directors everywhere, lets do the math:
When your performer (in this cases Marsters) makes mouth noises in their performance you are limiting your audience and good will (willingness to push your product on their friends) from that audience to the people who can tolerate those horrible sounds. With the mouth noises removed your audience and good will increases the number people who will tolerate it (but wouldn't even notice if it's missing) by the amount of people that would be offended by said noises (i.e. something + something more is greater than something + 0 and much greater than something + negative feels about it). Granted you can't make everyone happy, but in this case by forcing your performer to do less slobbering the audience that enjoys the performance it will only increase because no one will know that those sounds could have (definitely should NOT have) been there.

Conclusion:
I thought I was done with the series after book 2 because of the poor performance and I should have stayed done because this book didn't grab me in any meaningful way (not the story, not the performance) to keep me interested in the series. My only interest in the series now lies in my friends that have listen to these and the Iron Druid Chronicles that want me to catch up in this series so we can talk comparatively about the two main characters (Atticus vs Harry - that's one heck of a debate/battle, I personally think they would get along with each other just fine). If I can summon up the will to try the next book in the series, I think I will have to go with 2x playback speed.

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So confused, so much brooding

It feels like there is a book missing between 2 and 3. It took time to make the puzzle fit, and by that time the story was too complicated to make further connections and solve any mysteries. I didn't like the lack of Murphy. I don't enjoy that Harry blames himself for everything and broods eternally in this book - not out of character for him, but get over it! His girlfriend is beyond annoying. Harry, it's her fault too! She took her chances. I'm almost done now with book 4, and that one is better, which means I'll continue binging this series.

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19 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

I love Harry

I just found Jim Butchers wonderful world of sourcerers, vampires, wizards and all that goes bump in the night. The heroes are charming, funny,soulful and original. The story lines are exciting and they keep your interest from page one to the final word. I plan to purchase the entire set.

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OK but I don't get it

This is the third in this series I've tried because so many people give it such high ratings...but I don't get it. The writing is fine but I don't feel any connection to the people at all. There is no character development, unlike some other similar series.

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'I licked my lips and tried again'

me too.
the plot becomes more complex in 'Grave Peril', and I loved the introduction of Michael as well as godmother. This story held my attention. Unlike other reviewers I find James Masters' breathiness adds to Harry's persona. It fits.
Even the Vampires develop some personalities.
My expectation is these stories will get better and better.

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disappointing production

I love the Dresden Files series, but I haven't even gotten through half of this audiobook production, and I'm irritated. I'm not sure if I will finish listening to this book, and I'm not sure if I will buy another audiobook in this series. The narrator has mispronounced a number of the words, and now I find that I'm just waiting for the next wrong word. I don't blame the narrator, I blame the company that produced it, cause they really should have caught this and had it corrected before it went into production.

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Harry Dresden Stirs the Hornet's Nest

What did you love best about Grave Peril?

I liked the interaction between Harry and his friends and fellow crime fighters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harry is a great character...he's gifted with magic, conflicted about people and how and when to use his magic, he's bothered by the council that rules the wizards, his fairy godmother is wicked....Harry has a wry sense of humor and a sense of the absurd.

What about James Marsters’s performance did you like?

I like James Marsters performance because he portrays Harry perfectly--just as I imagine him. The wry humor, the inflections in his voice. It would be great if James Marsters could star as Harry Dresden in a movie--he would be perfect.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The vampire ball was interesting...also, the aftermath of the ball and the happenings with poor Susan Rodriguez.

Any additional comments?

No. Good, solid story. I highly recommend this series to my friends, it's great on audiobook.

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Narration Monotonous

Normally I can get through readings that are below average, but for my first Dresden book, I found the reading monotonous. Story seems good, but when Drsden is in pain, sick ecetera, a minimal emotional whisper gets in the way of the drama that is happening. Very disappointed. No more Dresden for me even if writing is superb. My third graders could do a better job of reading than the narrator. Better to read this book than to listen to a whispered book. When there is passion and emotion is happening, I want to hear and feel it. Not the case with this narration of the book.

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