LISTENER

Damon Shaw

  • 16
  • reviews
  • 8
  • helpful votes
  • 26
  • ratings

fantastic world building and a classic story

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-26-24

Great story, characters and ideas. Pure sensawunda. I would love to see this as a movie or series. IMO it's a shame the narrator sang the Titanides voices. I'm sure a lot of thought and work went into it, but in the process it lost the easy dialogue and humour that is classic Varley. Still highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

More adverts for Sky than content

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-18-24

I feel a bit queasy hearing the hosts, who generally appear ethical, enthusiastically advertising Sky. Thursday 6th March episode seemed to have more adverts than content. Enshittification much?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Fantastic reunion

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-04-24

Managed to be completely comprehensible and very funny while maintaining the style of the original. Really good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Ugh maybe it's me

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-08-23

I have enjoyed a lot of this author's work. His characters are always well developed with good arcs and he writes with varied and profound emotional depths, but... I just got bounced out by the homophobia as plot device. In his later books he often has gay or lesbian relationships sensitively handled, but here I got bored of it. It hurts to read people being insulted, tortured, belittled, defined by being gay. It's dull. It's boring. I read this book years ago and probably enjoyed it, but now? I'm too old for that shit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Time travel deliciousness

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-08-23

So I love time travel stories, how everything interlocks and is revealed, casting new light on earlier chapters. This book satisfies that itch. It is intricate and lovely. The characters are subtly drawn and compelling. I could have listened to hours more of this novel. I liked how the Moon Colonies never were overshadowed by sci-fi wowness, but were revealed through the characters' dilemmas. This is a really satisfying read/listen. Top marks to all!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great Worldbuilding beautifully wtitten

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-27-23

Its dark. it got a bit angsty even for me and there's a gratuitous bit of cruelty that went too far, but it's a cracking story with well drawn characters. The narrator tended to sound like Worzel Gummage but that's not a bad thing. Top quality story and narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A very dull singularity

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-11-23

Strange choices, not to have communication between realms, to not have processes aware they are code, lead to many missed opportunities for depth in the plot. Bitworld is a dull and petty afterlife. This isn't the most thought out Stephenson book. It's flat and one dimensional towards the end. Entertaining enough but without much point.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

I wish I had this book as a teen.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-28-22

Really good. The narrators do their absolute best and in general achieve fabulousness. I just wish it was about 3 times longer.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Narrator blues

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-02-22

Sadly, I'm joining the ranks. The narrator isn't up to scratch for Greg Egan. He has a nice voice, but lacks experience and Egan is complex. The narrator doesn't know how to pronounce a good few words. He just said the word inexorably as inexORably and has shown his lack of vocab a few times so far. I have 8 hours to go and I'm not sure I'll manage it. The story is fascinating but the narrator's accents impose so much, the text turns into a wall of sound. The australian one is especially unfortunate, but the indian accent is almost equally insufferable. With a less complex, idiosyncratic and fiercely intelligent work (think Brandon Sanderson) the narrator would be great. Here, he is not doing the author any favours at all.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Hmmm problematic

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-26-22

I read this when it came out and loved it. I'm finding it hard to enjoy in audible. Partly it's the narrator being a bit intense and melodramatic. But the main reason is the casual homophobia and racism. I'm only an hour or so in and queers have been insulted three times, once conflating gayness with paedophilia. The n word is used in connection with what seems like the only black person in the book. It's amazing that I used to find this normal, and just accepted that I would be dismissed, belittled and insulted in my fiction. Today, after the first two insults, I gave it a three strike rule and as soon as the lisping, effeminate eunuch chef appeared I decided that despite the nostalgia factor, the book wasn't worth enduring any more. So I've stopped listening. Shame, as I love the central conceit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!