Jagannath by Karen Tidbeck is on the Audible Plus catalog at the moment.
This is a great introduction to Tidbeck's work. Usually I pause between short stories in a collection by the same author, the same way I pause between books by the same author, so the reading doesn't get monotonous.
Karen Tidbeck's work is different enough to keep me excited at every twist and turn.
Weird, Dark, thought provoking, familiar enough yet different.
I've finished: House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky
House of Open Wounds wasn't what I expected.
It's not a middle book in a trilogy, it has an ending. It's not about the mysterious Woods at the edge of Ilmar that were so promenant at the end of City of Last Chances.
It's about my favorite characters from that novel, Yasnic and his God. It's about the healers that are allowed to work their miracles at the periphery of the Pall war camp because they are useful. It dangles the promise of healing in return for pacifism at a humanity that can't stop fighting.
Like City of Last Chances, it's about the people stuck in the gears of the Palleseen Empire's ambitions. Not about kings and emperors.
Tchaikovsky has grown allot at a writer since the Shadow of the Apt series and has written a very compelling story that concentrates on engaging characters.
I couldn't put it down, I listened at every opportunity. It did sometimes feel repetitive and perhaps could have been shorter. But the ending clinched it all and most of it payed off brilliantly.
A friend of mine told me that the characters in this series remind him of Pratchett characters and that House of Open Wounds reminds him of Monstrous Regiment. Now that he has brought my attention to it, I can't unsee it.
Tchaikovsky isn't Pratchett and isn't trying to be Pratchett. He is not trying to be funny, but the social commentary, humanism and satire are reminiscent of Pratchett.
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin audiobook review – from the civil rights frontline
Law & Order’s Jesse L Martin narrates two powerful essays examining the Black experience in the US, the first in a series marking the author’s centenary year
If you've ever wanted to tackle Philip K. Dick's massive Exegesis but find it in any way intimidating, A. Don't, it's actually really charming, conversational and accessible and B. Try it on audio. With a no-nonsense pro narrator like, in this case, Fred Stella, it's even more accessible and very enjoyable. I mean, it's still 52 hours long, but I'm enjoying the hell out of it!
Wow! This was by far the best run in this whole year 2024: It wasn‘t fast, neither was it glorious, but I felt thoroughly detached from the ground. Every single step felt light and bouncy. The air was moist, there was no rain, the temperature a little under 10 degrees C – breathing felt so incredibly good, I didn‘t sweat much and I never felt cold. On top of all that, the audiobook was great (SLOW PRODUCTIVITY by Cal Newport) – what a start into the day! #Running#applewatchultra2#audiobooks
AI voiced audiobooks have been a boon to indie creators by giving them access to the audiobook market without having to paying for studio time for human narrators.
It means there’s now even more content for readers that needs filtering and narrators are losing gigs. This is what #disruption looks like. Two steps forward and one step back.
@carnage4life The best (most listenable) #audiobooks are voiced by human narrators who don’t merely read the sentences but tell the story.
“#AI” can’t do that because it doesn’t understand story. It does not conceptualize. It merely remixes and extrudes patterns. But pattern matching isn’t storytelling, though it pretends to be. It’s counterfeit storytelling driving human storytellers out of business. Consumers lose.
Who wins? The corporations that own & control these saying machines
It‘s a free day, no work today. So what else should I do but sleep long (6:15 am), clean up the kitchen, eat a croissant and then go running. I have last year’s standard long route a new try – and that was a good thing to do: Lots of shadows, only the last three kilometers in the glaring sun, apart from that I had gorgeous views and a lot of elevation gain. And the fourth JANE HAWK novel by Dean Koontz to keep me company. #Running#applewatchultra2#audiobooks
Reminder that if you want to hear me perform the voice of a 6'5" mountain man, I do that in "Scar" by Kelsie Calloway. In real life I'm a tiny woman! But I also have opera training, and that makes all the difference when I'm voicing burly men. 💪
You can hear him make his first appearance a the end of the attached sample.
I thought I didn't like thrillers, so there's yet another thing I was wrong about. This was gripping and fun and kept me on the edge of my earphones. So many striking set-pieces and settings. So well written by Louise Doughty and so well read by Clare Corbett that I feel as if I saw the story at the cinema.
Once again, I've been reminded of this fine description of the act and art of reading.
'A film is like a train, it has momentum. Hundreds of unseen people – lighting technicians, constructors of sets, make-up artists – give it the impact of reality. A novel is different. A novel is a bicycle, and readers must pedal.'
Listening to the audio of This Is Your Brain On Sports by L. Jon Wertheim and Sam Sommers.
I wish I had read it closer to its 2016 pub date. 8 years later, parts are a little outdated. Example: in a list of active QBs at the time, several had yet to reach their peak. Now they're seasoned veterans or retired.
Amusingly, when quoting PK Subban, the narrator gave him a French accent. Subban grew up in Toronto.
I love the comfort reading T. Kingfisher provides. But Illuminations was too cozy for me.
It is aimed at the younger end of the YA spectrum . It could easily be categorized as middle grade.
While there is some tension, Rosa is coddled, loved and protected by her family and any tension is the result of a misunderstanding. She is the center of the universe and saves the day.
There are no real consequences to the mistakes she makes.
I preferred the plot of Minor Mage, where a protagonist of a similar age group has to deal with peril without adult assistance and with only minor magical powers. Assisted only by his trusty familiar.
Project Gutenberg is the world’s first digital library. For over 50 years, it has been steadfast in its commitment to provide free, unfettered access to digitized literature for everyone. Now, they are using AI text-to-speech capabilities from Microsoft to accelerate the progress of creating an extensive audiobook library.
A new podcast about audiobooks with our CEO @gbnewby. Pivotal with Hayete Gallot. Produced by Larj Media.
A reimagining of Ender's Game with AI and reality TV.
This is not a novel about a reality show. It's a theme not the prism through which the story is told.
Max Berry's novels are usually light hearted even though they deal with serious issues. Don't expect levity from Providence, it is darker than his usual fair and eventually more powerful.
The Last Human by Zack Jordan is on sale on Audible.
"Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station".
This is a brilliant novel with a ton of sci-fi tropes and concepts crammed into it.
Aimed at a YA audience new to SF it will still thrill a more experienced Sci-fi reader with references to well known works.
Kind of like an animated film for the whole family with references aimed at the parents peppering a story ark meant for a younger audience.