Fantastic Story Let Down by Narration

Where does Quarantine rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In terms of narration, the worst so far.

In terms of story, up in the top 20%

What did you like best about this story?

The great ideas, like the priming, quantum mechanics, behavioral mods, and the quarantining of earth. The first part of the book, before it got into the quantum mechanics side of it, really reminded me of the Ghost in the Shell universe.

Would you be willing to try another one of Adam Epstein’s performances?

Yes, but only as I'm a Greg Egan fan, and no other option sadly.

I was able to "get used to it", but it was a conscious effort...

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

Not so much moving, but the lead character's discussing the behavior mods as a means of avoiding grief, and rationale behind it, on humans having always strived for behavioral modification, and a hardware mechanism of doing it being no less valid.

Any additional comments?

I've been a long term Greg Egan fan and was excited to see his books getting audiobook releases. However, the narrator they have chosen really is not very good, and it makes it a struggle to listen to. But if you can get past it, persevere, the story is worth it. If you still read written books though, I'd recommend just getting the written version. It is hard to pass up the convenience of audiobooks though...

9 people found this helpful

Awesome read!

What did you love best about Quarantine?

This story had a great concept, and the author did a great job of making a difficult subject comprehensible to the lay-person. I can't help but think this could explain some of the oddities in our world like the Mandela Effect.

What did you like best about this story?

The level of technical detail was refreshing. Guessing what technology will be available in three to six decades is always difficult, but some sci-fi authors are surprisingly good at predicting how technology will evolve.

Which character – as performed by Adam Epstein – was your favorite?

The main character.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The sky is the limit; literally.

2 people found this helpful

Good book, bad reader

I gave up listening to the audio version after 10 minutes.The reader tried a poor hard boiled detective style. His patronising attempt at Chinese accent was woeful. I could not bear it. I read the paperback many years ago and will have to read this fascinating book again.

2 people found this helpful

Another great book killed by narrators pacing.

Stop sabotaging your books by pacing the narrators. The third wall is broken with every pause... every over enunciated... halting... word. I've forgotten the beginning of the sentence by the time narration reaches the end.

It's unlistenable.

6 people found this helpful

Bizarre and really really cool

This book has a fascinating and unique premise that it utilizes to its fullest extent. The spy stuff near the end with the protagonists surreal superpower was thrilling and extremely cool. As with all of Egan's works this book explores themes of consciousness in a refreshingly logical way that is not often seen. Also typical of Egan's books the ending was a bit of a letdown, and I personally did not understand it at all.

The performance was pretty mediocre, but it was not bad enough to make me stop listening.

Overall, a fantastic read if you're a fan of hard sci fi.

1 person found this helpful

What more could I want from a Greg Egan Tale

Cool tech, deep science, and mind blowing revelations. loved it, right up there with his best.
Narrator is a bit deadpan. But works well with the sort of cyberpunk noir theme.

Can't handle this voice actor

I love Greg Egan books, but the guy who reads narrates Quarantine and Diaspora absolutely destroys the experience for me. I'm sorry Mr. Egan, you deserve better

Interesting premise let down by sloppy execution

Disappointed. The entire premise of the "bubble" was turned out to be a bait and switch after a promising opening. What the novel was presented as being about turned into hard sci-fi with a focus on quantum mechanics.

Now I like hard sci-fi so that wouldn't necessarily be a problem but the author seem to struggle with the presentation. A big part of the book consists of bland characters just having monologues/dialogues. These lengthy sessions seem to have little more purpose than to provide the listener with enough of an understanding of the mechanics that will make the ending plausible.

Shame really.

Egan not at his best

Quantum mechanics is not so pliable as simulated humanity - this ends up frustrating given Egan's level of detail and extrapolation.

Awful choice of narrator, had to shut it off

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

One of my favorite books, but the choice of narrator is unexplainable. The main character is Australian but the narrator is an American Sunbelt state burnt out dude-bro. So annoying and inappropriate I had to shut it off after 3 seconds.

What other book might you compare Quarantine to and why?

Adam Roberts' work comes to mind.

How could the performance have been better?

Think at all about the choice of narrator. Choose one that (1) fits the story and (2) whose voice isn't patently irritating and offputting

What character would you cut from Quarantine?

None

Any additional comments?

Whoever greenlighted this audio edition should be fired.