Good Story - Excess "Talk" in Audiobook Version

To start out on a positive note, the story is very clever and keeps you wondering until the end.
It does, however, need to be abridged for audiobook listeners. Passages such as chat room transcripts and text message are tedious and boring to listen to when the narrator has to read the time, date and location of each post. Of course, this can all be skipped over when reading a physical copy of the book.

The performers were excellent, although I did not like that some characters had different voices and accents throughout the story. It definitely threw me off! One reader would have been preferred.

My takeaway: an interesting story that may be easier to read than to listen to.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great idea, good start but the ending...

typical Neal Stevenson - great idea for a story, captivating start... but then some lengths near the middle and an unsatisfying end.
still, with the read/listen

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Love Stephenson but this one, not so much.

Story: The construction effort is all too visible. The storyline is mediocre with an unsatisfying end. Even for the phantasy genre, it is completely illogical.

Style mix: the different formats are OK, but too repetitive, the forth and back of email communication doesn't help. Protocols might speed up the story but are tiresome to listen to.

Speaker: All fake accents are terrible to listen to. And there is just too much of it.

Effects: The narrator uses all kind of f*words each followed by a nasty scratch sound and a Victorian English correction. Already the third time it started to bug me. This ist just used too often.

I am afraid I won't finish this one. I read Cryptonomicon, Anathem, Seven Eves, Snowcrash, Diamond Age, and I loved them all. This one, not so much.

Update : I forced myself to finish it and are now certain, this is the worst audiobooks I ever listened to and for the very high standard of Neal Stephenson books the absolutely lowest category.

New

The story takes an interesting take on time travel and magic telling a great story that could have even filled more books!

Very cool and entertaining original story

i loved the story and the clear reading with interesting accents helped making the story even more lively and entertaining.

Nice twist on the time travel theme

Nice story, good narrator. Nothing fundamentally new but it was good entertainment.
I liked many of the details and the historic settings.
Some parts in the last third seemed quite lengthy and too detailed, though.

Langweilig, zäh, größte Enttäuschung

Beeindruckend wie man 24 Stunden lang eine Geschichte ohne Höhepunkt erzählen kann. Nichts worauf man hinreibest oder etwas was Spannung enttäuscht. Irgendwie habe ich 20 Stunden ausgehalten, weil ich neugierig war ob es nicht doch irgendwann interessant wird. Ich meine: Wer würde denn eine Geschichte so unnötig in die Länge ziehen?

Fazit: Größter Fehlkauf seit Jahren.

Not comparable to three body at all

This book was sold to me as similar to the three body problem which is why I bought it. Although this book is entertaining, it is very very very far from the genius and scientific sophistication of the three body problem trilogy.