Lionkeon

Great production, great cast, mediocre writing

Reviewed: 04-19-21

The narration and voice acting cast do an excellent job. Sound effect work also adds to the experience. The problem with Planet Hulk is the book itself.

Planet Hulk is a novelization of one of the greatest Hulk comic book stories, and it's written by the same man who wrote that series.

Unfortunately, while Greg Pak did a fantastic job with the comics, he falters here. Comics are a visual medium, and the artists convey as much story as the writers do.

Pak holds up his end, but only his end. He wrote this novel as if it came with visual aids. Descriptions are at a bare minimum for both environments and characters. There are major characters who get no description beyond a single attribute and their profession. The context of entire scenes is missed because Pak doesn't translate the artwork of the comic into words on a page. The result is a novel that's functional, but soulless. A bland adaptation of an epic story.

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6 people found this helpful

Dan Abnett delivers

Reviewed: 04-12-21

One of the best written Horus Hersey books. One of the best in the black library period and more than that, just a great piece of military science fiction.

There are writers who can deliver a fun bit of bolter porn and then there are the likes of Abnett, who's just a skilled writer, period. The way he builds up to action and impending doom, the creeping sense of dread and disquiet, make the action all the more impactful.

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Good story marred by some subpar writing

Reviewed: 10-16-20

Overall, this was a good read, even touching at times,with solid narration.

While I enjoyed it, there are parts of this book that feel... for lack of a better word, amaturish. More then once Koontz undermines the impact of the work by having a character explain, in detail, what the reader could piece together on their own. Most of the book is well written, so the forced exposition stands out all the more.

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Fantastic narrator, decent story

Reviewed: 10-16-20

Empires of Bronze is a solid bit of historical fantasy, but struggles to rise beyond being just above average. Jonathan Keeble elevates the entire experience.

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A unfortunate start to a fantastic series

Reviewed: 09-18-20

Cj cherryhs Foreigner series is truly one of a kind. Sadly, newcomers face one significant hurdle, the first book.

From the front loaded exposition, the main character spending most of the book behaving in an unlikable, petulant manner and the narrator still figuring out how to approach the material, it's a poor introduction to a great series.

I would recommend skipping it entirely and diving into the second book. Not only is it a much better book overall, but the narrator finds his rhythm and delivers a much better performance as well.

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Complaints about the narrator are overblown

Reviewed: 09-18-20

Getting straight to the point, Martyn Ellis isn't as good a reader as Keeble, Longworth or Timson. Is he a horrible narrator worth skipping a great book for? Not in the least. In fact, his voice and tone work well specifically a story about the arrogant sorcerers of the Thousand Sons.

As other reviews pointed out, he takes a couple of hours to hit his stride, and his main weakness is in his character voices, though they get better as the book goes on. When it comes to actually narrating the events of the story, however, Ellis is right up there with the other great Warhammer readers.

I usually don't write reviews, but I was nearly turned off this book completely because of reviews about narrator. While Martyn Ellis isn't as good a fit for Warhammer as, say, the grizzled voice of Jonathan Keeble, he's far from a bad narrator. Don't miss out on a great audio book without giving it a shot.

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