Brilliant story marred by the narration

The story in alive and gripping. It is as raw and uncompromising as the lifestyle described. I just ‘ could not put it down’.

The narration just the opposite, a monotonous and unemotive drawl lacking where the tale excels.

Fortunately, the narration fails to kill the experience and I am eagerly starting the next instalment.

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Amazing story spoilt by flat indifferent narration

I absolutely adore this hauntingly beautiful tale of a young 7th century Aleut woman and her life of hardship and love, which I have read several times in book form. I was hoping to have my enjoyment further deepened by hearing it read aloud.

Unfortunately the narrator Holly Fielding's flat, virtually emotionless monotone voice was a great disappointment. She sounds nasally bunged up too, which is a pity. Even when the author gives explicit directions suitable for a narrator to follow, such as "his voice filled with pride as if his son had taken his first seal", Holly's voice is empty and completely indifferent to the character's emotion. She even ignores punctuation and frequently re-punctuates perfectly good sentences her own way through careless reading. ("He harms no-one but men who have stopped at his beach. Say there is some magic in him..." ) Her flat, indifferent voice is an insult to this wonderful story, as if she's utterly bored by the book.
It was so bad I actually wrote to the author Sue Harrison about it, and she too was really disappointed. Apparently she had no say in the choice of reader and had no idea her wonderful stories were being so indifferently read. Sue is a really lovely lady and it's such a shame Audible picked this awful narrator after all her painstaking research and beautifully expressed storytelling, based on an ancient Aleut legend.

The bare minimum for a narrator is surely to be able to read expressively?! Apparently the bar is set pretty low.

Another minor issue is Holly's incorrect pronunciation of the Aleut words. The correct pronunciation is set out in the paperback version, which the narrator has obviously not read. Her pronunciation is also not consistent. Sometimes she says "Amigie", other times "Amgig" for Amgigh's name. She can't make up her mind about Kayugh. Sometimes he is "Kuyuh" other times "Kiiyoo" or "Kayoo". Cache (an ordinary word in common use!) is pronounced "cashay". Aaarrrgh!!! Just read the bloody glossary, woman! Even some English words are irritatingly mispronounced (limpets become "limPETTes").

I often buy a new book based on the quality of the narrator alone. I would have loved to hear the other books in this series. But Holly Fielding is definitely one to avoid....what a shame.

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2 people found this helpful

Poor sound quality

The producer should be fired. The sound quality is so poor and the narrator needs voice coaching. It takes away from what could be an interesting and engaging book.

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Worst narrator ever

This is such a great story. I've read it in book form many years ago and always remembered it. I was excited to see it added to the plus catalogue, but unfortunately it has been a big disappointment.

The narrator literally gulps for air every ten seconds. This is not an exaggeration. Like big, drawn out inhaling of breath before she starts a new sentence. Sometimes in between sentences. It sounds like she is constantly out of breath and it is very unappetizing. Like someone is gasping for air right next to you. The narration itself is very flat and monotone, too. Background sounds start to appear after a while (like street sounds). Odd pronunciations and stumbling over sentences is left in. The first few minutes of the book are alright, but then the gulping starts. I think this is someone who just sat in her room and pressed record and then just went on, getting more out of breath as she continued. No sound editing afterwards. It really ruins the experience. What a shame since the book itself is absolutely worth listening to. I doubt they will ever do a rerecording since this is an old book and probably not very popular due to the amount of people returning it because of the sound issues. But they really should. I would gladly pay a credit for it if it was properly narrated or even just sound edited.

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2 people found this helpful

Hooked from beginning to end

I have throughly enjoyed this story & to contradict critics on narration I thought her story telling narration easy listening & really enjoyed the whole experience
Thank you

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