danielmrcoelho

I had a hard time getting into this book, that I blame entirely on the narrator, Susan Duerden. She has a very morose sounding voice, and as such the action takes on a decidedly dreary and sad overtone, no matter what is actually happening. It took 5 or 6 hours before either she loosened up or I started catching her verbal nuances. By the end of the 15 hour narrative, I didn't even notice. But I am happy that there is a different narrator for the rest of the books in this series. As for the story, I enjoyed it. It wasn't as outwardly funny as Fforde's Nursery Crimes series, but there are still light-hearted moments. Written in 2001 and taking place in 1985 Britain, I didn't get most of the popular culture references, but it didn't matter. I enjoyed this quirky, alternate history world where air travel is by dirigible plane, and backyard geneticists have brought back extinct animals like dodos as pets. And I wish that there really were interactive productions of Shakespeare's plays (like Rocky Horror).

2023-07-13 21:43