Bad narration

Kevin T Collins sounds as if he is about to burst into tears every moment. In the beginning I thought it might be just him describing the horrible details of religious fighting but his tone never changes after that . Really disappointed.

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No Toil or Tribulation in this listen

I have really enjoyed this series. A pleasant easy going SciFi Fantasy epic going no where in particular, but still very enjoyable and so easy to listen to. I saw one comment from someone else about the poor narration - but I thought it was pretty easy on the ears myself. This is just such good quality escapism and I always look forward to the next one in the series coming along. I am amazed how prolific DW is, but I am not complaining. I am watching for the next one from DW.

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Wow, did the narrator get paid for this?

What did you like most about Midst Toil and Tribulation?

It's much the same as the other books. Interesting developments and stories. But can at times be a bit long

Would you be willing to try another one of Kevin T. Collins’s performances?

No, I found his narration to be very bad. Overly dramatic and hissing....

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

To long for that :D

Any additional comments?

This is my first review, just had to comment on the narrator...

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O Dear

As ever a great story by an excellent author, my only criticism of the book itself is that it has a tendency to drift off into philosophical musings that can be a tad boring at times. However that really is not a major issue and doesn't detract from an excellent book with lots of excitement and twists and turns. My major issue with the book is the narrator. Unless, like me, you have listened to all the books so far one after another without a break in between you many not notice some of the very poor continuity. Cayleb for instance has spoken with a sort of Australian accent, then an strange mixture of Irish/Scottish accent, a sort of English accent then generic American. But the biggest issue is with the narrator Kevin T Collins. There are two major issues. The first issue was the frenetic pace and overly dramatic tone which almost made me stop listening. It constantly sounded like he was building to an adventurous climax even with dry narrative. The other very irritating thing was the sudden change of the pronunciation of names. Michael became Mikael, Chisholm became Cheesehome amongst others. Please please please do not let this guy narrate the up and coming book 7 and who does, do us all a favour and listen to at least some of the other volumes so we have some continuity of pronunciation and accent.

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1 person found this helpful

Enjoyable romp

What made the experience of listening to Midst Toil and Tribulation the most enjoyable?

It's an enjoyable romp that doesn't need brainpower to follow, ideal for whilst I'm working

Who was your favorite character and why?

Merlin Athrewes

Which character – as performed by Kevin T. Collins – was your favourite?

-

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Too long to listen in one sitting

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Amazballz!!!

Just a fantastic addition to the series! Well worth a read and can't wait for the next one!

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Usual David Weber goodstuff let down by lazy narrator.

I understand narrators can change between books especially in a long series like safehold but one thing I cannot forgive is the lazy way this narrator doesn't even try to pronounce names and places the correct way as per the previous 5 books. one example the Duke of Thirsk becomes the Duke of thrisk. and its not charis emphasising the ch.

Other than that another good book from Mr Weber. You really do need to read them in order though.

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fantastic!

a wonderfully evocative story. much more personal than the Harrington series, but still as interesting. looking forwards to the next one.

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a genuine toil

I have loved this series until the last book, the change of narrator then spoilt the experience for me the change in the way names were pronounced etc was annoying but the sorry still held me. Now a new book yet another narrator and this time, dam is the writing annoying, Mr Weber has aways made his good guys too good and bad guys far too bad. At least until just before they change sides then they become the new better than good guys. i can live with that, but do we really need the tedious droning on about how good and just the emperor and empress are, it seems every time they are bought back into the story some one has to pontificate for half of the chapter about how good they are how fair they are and just how much in love they are, its taking up so much of the book i find myself shouting at my iPod ( or i suppose Mr Weber ) YES I KNOW THEY ARE THIS IS BOOK 6 YOU HAVE TOLD ME ALREADY PLEASE GET ON WITH IT



In my opinion the few months in the stories history this book covers could have been covered in the 1st 2 chapters of a much tighter more exiting book, one that actually moved the plot along, what worries me the most is that if this is the new rate in which the story is moving along I along with the rest of Mr Webers readership will be long dead before the final book is finished.



As for the narrator Mr Collins, I have to agree with a lot of the other comments his style is to over dramatise every sentence hasn't made this book any more bearable.



A Tip: if your taking over the narration of a book listen to the past narrators you don't need to copy his accents or style after all we are all used to a new actor taking over a roll in a film, but please get the way names are pronounced consistent. when you read a book yourself it doesn't matter to much if the way i say a name isn't the same as everyone else does, but when being read to its important that this part is consistent

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How is the performance averaging 4 stars?

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book I would recommend. The audio book can not be recommended based on the narration.

What other book might you compare Midst Toil and Tribulation to, and why?

Every other David Weber or Eric Flint book. Pretty much anything Baen publishes.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kevin T. Collins’s performances?

No. Never. I also display a level of natural sibilance in my speech. It is annoying to listen to, and no one that sounds like Kevin should be a narrator. Additionally, his pronunciation is terrible. The performance was so bad I quit listening and got a paper copy of the book. First time ever.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Yes - it is an exciting mix of scifi and swashbuckling.

Any additional comments?

I really seriously think audible needs to check its algorithm that is tallying the overall performance rating. It is currently displaying 4 stars when the average according to my count of reviews is below 2 on average.

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1 person found this helpful