By: Hannu RajaniemiNarrated by: Scott BrickLength: 10 hrs and 53 mins DNF What in the world was this? Maybe I stepped into this without the right expectations. But I was confronted with a composition that claimed to be comprised of the full orchestra and ended up being a synthosized assault on my timpanic membrane: a…
Category: Recensio Libri
Heaven’s River
By: Dennis E. TaylorNarrated by: Ray PorterSeries: Bobiverse, Book 4Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins Ah, yes, Bob, we meet again. Few series manage to pull me back like this one. I half expected the next installment to feel a bit blasé, especially after reading the reviews that initially kept me from diving in. While…
The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy
By: Peter H. WilsonNarrated by: Matthew WatersonLength: 33 hrs and 25 mins The Thirty Years’ War stands as a profoundly intricate conflict, interweaving religion, politics, and human endurance in ways that have left an indelible mark on European history. Prior to exploring its depths, my familiarity with this chapter of history was cursory. However, gaining…
The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 2
By: Aleksandr I. SolzhenitsynNarrated by: Frederick DavidsonSeries: The Gulag Archipelago Book 2Length: 27 hrs and 30 mins In The Gulag Archipelago Volume 2, Solzhenitsyn continues his relentless indictment against the Soviet regime, much like a prosecutor building an irrefutable case with evidence of each transgression. As with any heinous crime, one death might be sufficient to condemn,…
The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1
By: Aleksandr I. SolzhenitsynNarrated by: Frederick DavidsonSeries: The Gulag Archipelago, Book 1Length: 25 hrs and 56 mins Reflecting on The Gulag Archipelago 51 years after its publication, 33 years after the fall of the Soviet Union and a century after some of the events it recounts, I find myself unexpectedly attuned to the world Solzhenitsyn…
Dune Messiah
By: Frank HerbertNarrated by: Scott Brick, Katherine Kellgren, Euan Morton, Simon VanceSeries: Dune, Book 2, Dune Saga, Book 13Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins I, like many others, was captivated by the brilliance of Dune. The world-building, the intricate politics, and the sheer depth of the narrative were all mesmerizing. Naturally, I approached Dune Messiah, the second…
Dune
By: Frank HerbertNarrated by: Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance, Ilyana Kadushin, Byron Jennings, David R. Gordon, Jason Culp, Kent Broadhurst, Oliver Wyman, Patricia Kilgarriff, Scott SowersSeries: Dune, Book 1, Dune Saga, Book 12Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins Ah, Dune—this intricate desert world that delves deeply into both familiar and alien ideas, weaving…
Children of Memory
By: Adrian TchaikovskyNarrated by: Mel HudsonSeries: The Children of Time Novels, Book 3Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins Ahh, yet another masterful addition to Adrian Tchaikovsky’s oeuvre. Children of Memory is a compelling exploration of consciousness and meaning, deftly bending these concepts to provoke profound reflection. Compared to Children of Ruin, with its intricate depiction…
Mirrorworld
By: Jeremy RobinsonNarrated by: R.C. BrayLength: 13 hrs and 14 mins This is quite an interesting book, though difficult to classify. The extension of science into an extra dimension was believable, but I didn’t appreciate the play on the classic “ick” reflex of swamps and similar elements. However, the ongoing development throughout the book was…
Crime and Punishment
By: Fyodor DostoevskyTranslated by: Constance GarnettNarrated by: George GuidallLength: 25 hrs and 1 minRelease date: 10-17-00 I have had Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” on my bookshelf for about a year and finally summoned the fortitude to engage with this monumental work. The opening chapters were relatively straightforward but also somewhat abrasive in their unflinching…
Dominion
By: Tom HollandNarrated by: Tom Holland, Mark MeadowsLength: 22 hrs and 18 mins I do enjoy exploring long stretches of history, and my familiarity with Western European history provided a rich context for the content of this book. Often, Christianity is either an accessory or a minor factor in historical events, so it was fascinating…
The Last Colony
By: John ScalziNarrated by: William DufrisSeries: The Old Man’s War Series, Book 3Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins Ahh Scalzi, we meet once again. I was looking for a simple read after all the history that I had been consuming. I certainly enjoyed the early books the most, this requiem was an excellent…”ok.” I found…