Very different stories

Quick review: don't be put off by the first two stories - the third one is excellent; well written by someone who knows their way around philosophy and history. Impressive!

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Top quality

Loved this book, it screams quality all the way through from the writing to the narration. Each story adds another layer to the rich history of judge Fred’s.

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a VERY mixed bag

The first story is OK, unfortunately each chapter is read as a single sentence.
The second is excellent, story, performance, and possibly worth for this alone.
The third is brilliantly read, but the story starts off so badly I did something i never do, I just gave up! And I apologise if it does get better.

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The Idea Of Judges: Explored

A clever and thoughtful contemplation on the moral and political ideas that surround the otherwise outlandish notion of individuals that can be so self disciplined and incorruptible that the people would entrust them to act as police, judge, jury and executioners.
In the original comics we were offered dark humour, much satire and, of course, generous helpings of spectacular schlocky action.
In these novellas the questions that naturally arise out the foundational ideas are given room to breathe, with eloquence masterful execution.
The real artfulness is in its backdrop. This is the transitional period of our parallel history, between the now dying out system of law and order that we, the readers, are all familiar with, and the not so distant future, in which the likes of Judge Dredd will dispense justice from within the ranks of a well established justice system.
We get to see how that transition occurred and explore the tensions between ideas of justice and morality, dictatorship and democracy, the difference between what people want and what they say they want.
The audience is entrusted to reach its own conclusions, without the writers dodging the bigger issues.
And we are, of course, still treated to buckets of gore and heart stopping action. Indeed, the stakes are real and the characters attractive and easy to like, regardless of whether you agree with them or not. And that’s great writing, when you’re invested in outcomes and are hoping people will make it out the other end of the story intact.
Perfect fare for the readers of the original comics. Now we’re all older and, hopefully, wiser. We get to think a little more about the society that entertained us in our youth. And maybe, like me, you’ll be surprised by some of your own conclusions?

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A bit dull

Narrator of the first story had almost identical voices for every character, and they were all too quiet and soft. Then he would come in too loud for other parts.

None of the stories were that interesting.

Laurence Bouvard's narration elevates the third story, but it wasn't enough to make it an enjoyable book.

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shame.

I was looking forward to this. It could have been so much better. story one and two was poor, story three was just a little bit better

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what an annoyance

Well I thought this was going to be a judge dred sort of book. it turned in to a left wing skewed narration of the judges . the short is they didn't want to be judges but but they thought a maggot infestation would be good for them. if they got rid of the political aspect of the story it might be good but they pissed all over it .

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9 people found this helpful

Very bad

Narrators for story 1 2 and 3 are poor.

All characters sound the same.... And where is judge dredd, in fact he has nothing to do with it.

So bad I had to return it

Avoid

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Seriously disappointed

The first story is borderline impossible to hear due to bad sound mixing. One minute the narrator is right up next to the mic, the next he is whispering, usually when doing dialogue. I had to seriously turn up my sound and then he would blow up my ear drums but at least the plot, when I could hear it, was alright.
The second story has a better narrator, sort of, but the story was not great - it was all about the psy judges but they did a time travel thing and at points I found it tedious and laboured.
The last story was awful. I could hear the narrator and wish I couldn't. It was written poorly, the characters were pointless, and every single virtue signal they could cram in they did. The prose was naff, the dialogue was dull and the accents were eyebrow raising. Save a credit.

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The lack of creativity

The laugauge is disgusting, disgraceful writing, should be warnings about this type of wording being used.

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