John Lee is a poor reader

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

Not in audio book format. John Lee strikes again.

On the page however, broadly yes. This is a solid, well-written story. The characters are all rather unappealing, and rather 2-dimensional, although this is a common complaint I have of sci-fi generally, and it seems unfair to single out Reynolds alone for this. The characters are all a little lifeless, although this may be down to the reading (see later).

What other book might you compare Revelation Space to, and why?

Sits very firmly in the sci-fi canon. More cerebral than the Expanse series, slightly less well-constructed than the Culture series.Solidly-written, although with a little too much expository dialogue for my own taste, which slows the pace somewhat.

How could the performance have been better?

I'm afraid to say that John Lee is just a poor reader. I've now listened to over 60 hours of his reading (I ploughed my way through Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn trilogy also read by Lee), and his monotone has ruined this book as much as it ruined the Night's Dawn. He may as well be reading a telephone directory, for all the life he brings to the text. No cadences or inflection results in a lifeless performance.

There is little distinction between character voices - accents aren't every readers' strong point, and I understand they're hard, but Lee fails to establish clear delineation between characters, which obviously confuses the reader/listener.

His habit of failing to pause between paragraphs is an equally irritating one. I know this can save time in recording sessions, but it just adds to the effect that he neither understands nor cares what he's reading about.

I really don't like to be so critical of someone, but, were the general standard of Audible at this level, I wouldn't be a consumer of audiobooks. I'm also really disappointed that Lee seems to have recorded so much sci-fi - it's one of my favourite genres, and it's been really disappointing to discover how much of books I'd hoped to read have been recorded by Lee. I do hope that more options of readers become available in the future.

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Pauses, what are they?

Interesting story, but the narrator really doesn't help with keeping things clear as to what is going on.

With regards to characters, he can do different accents, but quite often a conversation will be between characters who share the same accent and with very little attempt to differentiate between them (even when it's a man and a woman talking, they often sound exactly the same) it's incredibly confusing until you become used to what you're hearing and realise you have to put a considerable amount of effort in.

The narrator also has a serious problem with run-on, although he's not fast reader, completely failing to leave pauses not just where they might be appropriate but even where they are absolutely necessary. A lot of authors, nowadays, will often have chapter changes each time there's a scene change; this story contains numerous scene changes throughout each chapter, you would expect a brief pause at each change, but the narrator often makes it seem like there hasn't even been the end of a sentence. You suddenly realise that not only is it different characters (see the previous problem) but you're now on a completely different planet, or even a spaceship.

Pauses are your friend...

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Poor narration

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Could not follow the plot - every sentence is sounded with an initial air of alarm tapering away, repeated over and over again. This reading style irritates and completely distracts you from following the plot.

Would you be willing to try another one of John Lee’s performances?

Not with this reading style.

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Where the Space Opera begins

If you are new to Science Fiction of this sort, this is a great place to start. Alastair Reynolds has created a Universe that rewards perserverance. John Lee reads this brilliantly and introduces subtle accents for the characters so you can follow who is talking. As with most good books, you will get even more out of a second listen.

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Complex

Listened to it a few times and no doubt will revist it in the future. Complex but very different. Great descriptive details. Narrator did a good job with lots of interesting accents.

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No chapters

Enjoyed the story, but there were no gaps between one protagonist’s point of view and another! Made it hard to keep track of who was talking.

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Great attention to detail and performance

As with the other books in the series, a great reading by John Lee.

Alastair Reynolds excels in blending together multiple story lines with exquisite imagery and just the right application of the restraints imposed by physics as we understand it, while offering tantalising glimpses of what might be possible just beyond it.

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Great story

Loved the physics mixed in with the story which as very imaginative, interesting and and gripping

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Epic adventure across space and time

Really enjoyed this. Took a long time into the story to understand it and indeed not until the end are the final pieces explained. I find it really interesting sci-fi adventure, right at the edge of imagined science.

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great book

narrator is good, I don't know why everyone else is so negative. Very well written book, enjoyed thoroughly.

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