Review: In the Time of Standing Stones

  • Title:
    • In the Time of Standing Stones
  • Author:
    • Joseph S Samaniego
  • Release:
    • June 27, 2024
  • Format:
    • Audiobook
  • Narrator:
    • Triss Leder
  • Series:
    • Legends of the Carolyngian Age #1

This is a case of a good story ruined by a godawful narration. I’m DNF’ing this on my second listen, as I can’t stand listening to this narration any longer. It’s riddled with instances of repeated dialogue, the audio for chapter 5 sounds like it was recorded in a different environment from chapter 4, and there is a noticeable drop in quality.

I was attempting to listen a second time because I was having trouble following along with the plot. I kept zoning out. This is by no means a fault of the author, as the snippets I was able to follow along with were interesting, and engaging. The characters are oozing with humanity and personality. It’s clear that the narrator put effort into the character’s voices, and the accents are (to my untrained ears) decent.

Aside from the poor editing, and lack of consistent audio quality, it’s the scene-setting narration that fucking sucks! Every single line is read in the same boring, lifeless tone of voice with no vocal inflections or emotion. It’s extremely grating and makes it difficult to concentrate on the story. Many narrators seem to focus on character voices or scene-setting, totally ignoring that they need to be able to do both to create a quality audiobook, and to do anything less simply creates a boring, lifeless, miserable audiobook to listen to. Maybe it’s serviceable if you don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks, but I do, and it’s not good.

Skip the audiobook, and purchase a physical copy or eBook, as the story itself is adventurous and compelling. I’d do so myself if I could afford it, and if I wasn’t such a slow reader. I prefer audiobooks for the narration speed controls, unfortunately, this isn’t an audiobook I’ll be returning to.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

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