Not as good as Barbara Rosenblatt!

Those of you who love this series of books will be as frustrated as me that whilst all 18 books are available on the US version of Audible, only 5 are available here. So I was thrilled to see this one when it appeared recently. It's a good effort, but this narrator cannot represent the characters like the wonderful Ms Rosenblatt who can produce a whole stageful of voices. The musical interludes are a bit offputting too. Come on Audible - lets have some more of this excellent series - preferably the original productions.

15 people found this helpful

what a let down!

I am a big fan of the Amelia Peabody series but I was hugely disappointed with this audiobook.
Barbara Rosenblat you are sorely missed!I could not distinguish which character was speaking for a lot of the time due to the very flat narration, especially when the abridgers had removed the headings - Manuscript H, Letter L etc and the 'Editor's Note'. All in all a big let down

11 people found this helpful

Dreadful narrator

The story is what you would expect, easygoing on the mind with a mystery you can work out etc but the narration is dreadful and spoils the whole experience. My mind drifted as I was listening which never happens when enthralled by Barbara Rosenblat. So, on the whole very disappointing but only because of the dreadful narration.

11 people found this helpful

Disappointing

I love the Amelia Peabody books and listening to them on audio book but listening to this one was a trial. It has been abridged clumsily and the narration is tedious. All of Elizabeth Peters' words are required and Barbara Rosenblat brings them to life. Accept no substitutes!

10 people found this helpful

Very disappointing

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

No-one as the fault does not lie with the book but with the narrator.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Ape Who Guards the Balance?

None

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She was not very good. Unlike Barbara Rosenblatt she read it all in the same voice with little appropriate feeling. It was of a similar standard to that of any parent reading a bedtime story to their young child.
.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The book is excellent, it was the narration that was at fault.

Any additional comments?

After listening to Barbara Rosenblatt narrating the Amelia Peabody series so well I was so disappointed in this version that I would not listen to any more if Samantha Eggar was the narrator.

2 people found this helpful

The Ape Who Guards the Balance

I love Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody books, but I was really disappointed with this production and the narrator.

2 people found this helpful

Find an unabridged version!

What made this version enjoyable you may ask. Nothing! The fact that the original novel is brilliant means that this abridgement should have been at least an acceptable listen. Unfortunately it was not.

This has to be the worst abridgement I have either read or heard. The original story-line is chopped about and becomes disjointed.

Miss Peters writes clearly and concisely without extraneous information. To attempt to reduce the novel further is ridiculous and in this case means that important information is removed.

The performance: Most listeners have probably become resigned to American pronunciations. In a novel purported to be from the Journals written by a true blue English Woman (Amelia Peabody Emerson) and narrated, in this instance, by an English Actress, the lovely and talented Samantha Eggar. The expectation is that English pronunciations would prevail. Alas they do not, even for such simple words as Dynasty, pronounced in the UK as Di-nasty (a soft i) not Die-nasty.

Do I blame Miss Eggar? No! The producer has ultimate responsibility for the performance including the dreadful music which is an additional source of irritation.

Why do I not request a refund? Because I do not want to break up my collection of Amelia Peabody Emerson audio novels. It is to be hoped that the rest of the series will soon be available to the UK instead of just the USA.

Please bring back Barbara Rosenblat, it is unfair to other narrators, when we have already become accustomed to the excellent performance and characterizations of Ms Rosenblatt. Although not even she could have saved this abysmal abridgement.

I am extremely disappointed by this production, indeed I feel cheated, what should have been an enjoyable listen became an horrific journey. Really does the addition of some silly music turn a narration into a performance? I don;t think so, instead save on costs by using the unabridged novel and ask Barbara Rosenblat to read it to us.

1 person found this helpful

Horrendous. Read the book instead.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This book has a horrendous narrator who mis-pronounced all sorts of words. This performance doesn't compare in the slightest to the excellent readings by Barbara Rosenblat of the rest of the series.

If the narrator wasn't irritating enough, the editor who abridged the book presumably used the dartboard methodology for deciding which sections to cut. The story veers wildly from one scene to the next and with absolutely no warning. Only half way through a scene do you realise that this is not Ramses talking to David, but Mrs Emerson talking to the professor. It's so bad it's almost funny. Are we in the back streets of Cairo, at the dig, dining at Shepherds or on a boat? Who knows?! It's all the "fun" you can expect should you misguidedly buy this terrible audio book. Is this Nefret's personal thoughts, Mrs Emerson's letter to Enid, or someone speaking? Perhaps you could turn it into a drinking game with friends. Guess the speakers and setting and check in the paperback to confirm! Some sections are punctuated by bizarre harp twanging. The music is wildly out of place with the book, but at least you realise the scene is over.

Don't hope to follow the plot. Luckily I'd read the book but my poor husband had no idea what was going on some of the time. Why has a book so rich in detail and sub-plot been so mangled in being abriged?

Would you be willing to try another book from Elizabeth Peters? Why or why not?

Seriously, pick *any* other Elizabeth Peters book. I have a whole library of the Barbara Rosenblat audiobooks and all the paperbooks too. They are brilliant fun. This is the one rotten apple that has been mangled by an incompetent narrator and a careless editor.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Aside from the plethora of mis-pronounced words, the inability to sustain chosen accents gets rather aggravating. Speak with an accent or don't. I don't care which you choose, just don't attempt an accent and then let it fade out if starts to get arduous!