screaming autist

the problem here is, one of the main characters has autism. something the actor performing this book fully embraces. which means you get a lot of autistic scream in your ear, making it hard to listen to. really need to take some artistic license with that character to make this easier on the ear.

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3 people found this helpful

Short but sweet

I discovered Adrian Tchaikovsky‘s work around two years ago and I have been a avid follower ever since. I love the way he writes and the worlds he builds and this book is no different from here is very high standard… But, this was so short! It made me feel as if it was an unfinished idea for the editor, the end was a little rushed with a rush to the finish. The performance was excellent while being jarring at times the African culture really brought the characters to life, I could vividly picture each one. I will be very pleased to get a second book in the series, It left me wanting a little more as I’m a big fan of the quality and density of his writing.

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the end of the world?

an interesting story but recording was poor
kept repeating lines which I assume was '1st line of a chapter' would play OK until seemingly a line would be repeated.

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1 person found this helpful

Short but very enjoyable

Great world building, fascinating plot and interesting complex characters. It’s Short but a great listen.

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2 people found this helpful

Tchaikovsky Does Pop!

I've been so engrossed in some of Tchaikovsky's books that after 'Children of Time' I said that 'Tchaikovsky is still writing symphonies", it really was that good with length, depth and lots of sumptuously clever sci-fi ideas. Well if that was his symphony 'Firewalkers' is his effort at a three-minute pop song! Catchy setup, interesting chorus but really not much more than a bit of pulp entertainment.

For me, though it's not just that this isn't one of Tchaikovsky's best works it really isn't great generally either and it felt like a setup that deserved far better than this rather staid sci-fi offering. Adjoa Andoh certainly puts a lot into her performance to help lift it. She has a great voice but unusually for me, if I have a criticism, it's that for some of the characters it was a little over the top so that more than once I wasn't convinced I had understood what one of the characters was actually saying.

So, in summary, it's by no means awful but you can safely pass over this B-side composition, it isn't going to make the Greatest Hits album.

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10 people found this helpful

Disappointed

I love Adrian Tchaikovskys books but this one was very disappointing. It is a shorter read than most of his other books but I found myself half way in and still don’t know what’s happening, between boredom and just disinterested in the story. I don’t think the quality of the read is very good. I could hear repeated sentences in parts.

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