Great story but there are issues with narration

Would you try another book written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman or narrated by Paul Boehmer?

I would certainly try another book written by Margaret Weis and/or Tracy Hickman.

What other book might you compare Dragons of Autumn Twilight to, and why?

This book is basically a Dungeons & Dragons adventure turned into a novel. Imagine the best D&D game you've had, but written down as a novel.

Would you be willing to try another one of Paul Boehmer’s performances?

Probably not. I have a problem with his delivery. His intonation and pacing is often wrong. My main issue is the way he reads the comma after dialogue as a full stop.

e.g. "Take hold of the staff!", Raistlin said.

is read by the narrator as:

"Take hold of the staff!". Raistlin said.

He intones upwards instead of down in these situations , after too great a pause and it grates on me somewhat.

Could you see Dragons of Autumn Twilight being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

It would make a very good TV series.

Any additional comments?

Its a shame Michael Kramer didn't get the job of reading this story.

45 people found this helpful

Dreadful Performance

Stuttering, monotone and slow. There was no rhythm or performance. Unlistenable. The story itself is a childhood favourite and is fantastic.

32 people found this helpful

Disappointed

This was the first fantasy book I ever read, 22 years ago to be exact so when i saw it audible i was excited but the narration was awful. Every character has exactly the same voice and whispers and shouts are the same pitch. Its left down an amazing story and I'm glad I didn't but all the books at once. A real shame.

30 people found this helpful

Audible. Please consider your audience.

First of all, the story: yeah, it's ok. Showing its age, full of incomprehensible back story, useless in its depiction of women, but a reasonable adventure for a bit of nostalgia.

Now, the narration.
Audible, this story has been written for kids. (And before anyone over 18 is tempted to yell, "Dungeons and Dragons isn't for kids!", I suggest you take a good look at your life.
This is a book with a target audience of about sixteen. It's Gateway Fantasy. More specifically, it's aimed at boys.

Sixteen year old boys like action, excitement, passion, pace, and drama. Anyone who works with this audience will tell you that keeping teens interested requires imagination, effort and drive, and these are the qualities which are missing from this Audible production.
Paul narrates this story with all the energy and fervour of a chemistry essay.

I got this to keep my kids (both older teens) entertained on a long journey, and by the middle of chapter 3, they were begging me to put the radio on.
"He's just terrible." Was my daughter's verdict. My son took great delight in doing impressions of his stilted monotone for much of the next week.

I came back to it some weeks later and discovered that it was just about bearable if I selected a listening speed of 1.5. I'm sorry, Paul, but I simply can't process information as slowly as you read it.

Other reviewers have hit the nail on the head here. The pace and intonation are way off. While every word is clear, the sentences make no sense, with the conclusion of each sentence sounding like a fresh proposition.

Action sequences, comic relief, intrigue, description, all roll by at the same pace, with no emphasis or excitement creeping in to break up the monotony.

Come on, Audible. I challenge you to do better. This is apparently a re-recording of this work because the previous effort was so poor. Surely you guys have quality control? Auditions? Producers who check work for listenability?

19 people found this helpful

Fantastic story but unemotional narrative

Where does Dragons of Autumn Twilight rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Pretty high because I just love this classic story, iti s everything that Dungeons and Dragons ought to be, put into story form and brought to life through an exciting storyline and colourful characters that have a depth and life of their own.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Raistlin, always the underdog, always hated and mistrusted yet the only one throughout the entire series with the greatest amount of power... and that underlying sense of moral guidance that redeems his character just at the last moment.

What didn’t you like about Paul Boehmer’s performance?

Terrible, too mechanical and totally unemotional. Every word is enunciated to the last syllable and the timing is well off. This narrator does not have a feel for the story, and it seems he is just narrating a bunch of meaningless words from a page which has been put in front of him for no other purpose than to read it out loud. Ax Norman would have been a MUCH better choice in my humble opinion...

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were many not just one, but to mention a few, the moment when Tasslehof dies trying to open a door for Tika when they are under the spell of Lorac... the moment when Raistlin finally gets the dragon orb under control and the sense of pure ecstasy that he felt once it's knowledge was his... the final battle with the queen of darkness... need I say more?

Any additional comments?

I love the Dragonlance books, they are very well written and there is so much depth and history to the world which is brought to life by the characters under the guidance of the authors. I cannot praise these books highly enough.

17 people found this helpful

Disappointed with the reader

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I loved the books but was very disappointed by the narrator

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He sounded like a robot or digital voice. Had no feeling

Was Dragons of Autumn Twilight worth the listening time?

No

Any additional comments?

I have purchased the trilogy and am no looking forward to listening to the rest of them with this narrator

17 people found this helpful

The Warmest of Warm Fantasy!

I loved these books when they first came out, at the time I would have recommended them to anybody interested in the genre in a heartbeat though now I'd probably caveat that just a little. Firstly though, what's great about them? In essence, what Weis and Hickman did was take their much loved D&D characters and adventures and use them as a basis for their fantasy series. And that shows positively as their affection for the characters beams out at the reader from early on. Just a quick example. Back in her college days, I lent these books to my then-girlfriend who loved them. Later on in the series, there is one extremely sad moment, I won't say when or what but if you read them you will know it when you come to it I promise you. One evening she phoned me and mentioned she would read for a while before turning in, knowing where she was I simply said, "Ok, I'll stay up and talk to you later". She was puzzled but an hour later the phone rang with her in floods of tears . . . It's oddly one of my favourite ever moments from reading fiction even though I wasn't reading at the time! I would say any story that can do that to a pretty intelligent person must have something going for it. It's those lovely characters that will get you and I'll always treasure that moment.

So why would I caveat it now? Well, only for the reason that since those days fantasy has become much more sophisticated and if someone released this now they would likely encounter some criticism. This is very much what I would term classic fantasy which I still love but those brought up with the superbly complex character detailing of say an Abercrombie or the genuinely fine-detailed epic world-detailing of Sanderson might not be so happy with this due to its relative innocence and naivete. Me, I love both, but I could understand some not developing quite the same attachment to these books. Tastes do of course vary and things have moved on in recent decades.

The biggest issue most people seem to have has is with the narration. I do tend to be more forgiving than most I think so bear that in mind but while I agree that Paul Boehmer is no Steven Pacey, RC. Bray or Jonathan Keeble I didn't think he was that bad at all. Give the sample a quick listen, see what you think.

So, wonderful for me to relive this adventure of my youth and I'd love to see these books gaining a bigger audience but mileage will vary depending on what you expect from your fantasy. To me, Weiss and Hickman gave me some special memories and I even used to use these characters in a few stories I told my daughter when she was little. Not sure I can ask much more than that from 'mere' books!

15 people found this helpful

One of my favourite books, awful narration

If you're buying this book, you've probably read it in the past and love it like me.
The narrator almost ruined it for me. He has managed to make all of your favourite characters sound very, very irritating. Tania sounds like a Tory MP. Bupu is a redneck. He's also seen fit to choose very irritating pronunciations of key names mostly by inserting hyphens. Dray-conians really chafes. "Kitchara," grates a lot. Maybe you pronounce these things the same as the narrator, I don't know, but when you've heard them in your head for the best part of 30 years one way and they come out another..... it's not fun.
Should've gotten the guy who is doing Gemmel's work.

9 people found this helpful

Spoilt by dreadful narration.

By chapter 8 I could no longer stand the dreadful robotic, stilted narration and returned the title

8 people found this helpful

A fun story that brought back many memories

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

That headline probably tells you all you need to know about how to approach this review. Myself and this book have a past so my feelings towards it are cradled in the warm glow of nostalgia. To my delight, it held up well, though it certainly has many flaws. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a breezy fantasy romp. It doesn't demand too much from the reader, but it delivers a fun world with strong characters, great action, and a nice smattering of humour to leaven the heavier dramatic elements. At times it is all too clear that the narrative was constructed from Dungeons & Dragons game modules, but there is more than enough merit in the story to make it worthwhile.

What other book might you compare Dragons of Autumn Twilight to, and why?

Magician by Raymond E. Feist. The works of David Eddings. Lord of The Rings. I would compare it to the former two as I discovered them all at the same point in my life. I went from one series to the other and they made wonderful companion pieces. I compare it to the latter as all fantasy inevitably comes back to Tolkien.

What three words best describe Paul Boehmer’s voice?

Clear. Warm. Posh.

Could you see Dragons of Autumn Twilight being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

I have seen it made into a movie; an awful animated one! Watch it at your peril. However, I think that in the right hands it could make a great film.

5 people found this helpful