Computer voice.

The book is great. The narrator sounds like Siri or even worse a computer voice. Truly awful.

14 people found this helpful

Like listening to Siri

Without a doubt the worst narrator I’ve have the displeasure of listening to. Like listening to a cross between Siri and a sat nav. Got through about 30 minutes, returned and credit restored.

9 people found this helpful

Amazing book spoiled by an awful reading

This is an amazing book. It has always been. Unfortunately the voice is horrendous. The reader must have some issues with male characters. Why the need of using these mocking grunts when male characters speak is beyond human conception. Can't she just use a normal voice? Not all men speak like dehumanised zombie.

7 people found this helpful

The reader deserves much more credit!

As others have already written, the story is so engaging with brilliant characters. However I wanted to also praise the reader who I feel has been unfairly criticised in many reviews.

Yes, the delivery is flat but, to me at least, that is the whole point. The story is told from the point of view of Beth who is an emotionally cold and calculating person often strung out on tranquillisers so the trance-like delivery of the reader reflects this. The worlds Beth inhabits, first at the orphanage and then within the hotels and conference rooms where the chess tournaments are held are faceless, sterile environments and the narration captures this perfectly.

The majority of the characters are also fairly distant and reserved but if you listen carefully, the reader injects more emotion when delivering the words spoken by the one truly warm character, Beth's friend Joelene.

Whilst admittedly it does take some getting used to, in my opinion, the narration is a perfect fit to a wonderful book. So please don't let other negative reviews of the reader put you off.

5 people found this helpful

Narrator is horrendous

The narrating is awful sounds like computer generated voice I’d rather Alexa read it. Waste of money

3 people found this helpful

Lovely book, horrible listen

Really enjoyed the book, but the woman performing it bugged me to the point where I could hardly finish it.

3 people found this helpful

A lot better than I expected.

I always wanted to read this story as the title and chess interest me somewhat. I didn't expected that much from it. I was delightfully surprised. The story is a lot deeper than I first imagined it would be and the characters were alright. The main character was really good and I found her story enjoyable and believable. The chess was very interesting and Tevis kept it dramatic and never boring.
Great book.
I thought the narrator added greatly to the feeling of the story and she added a richness to it. I was impressed and would listen to more read by Amy.

3 people found this helpful

Excellent! I want to improve at chess!

An excellent story. There are a couple of minor unresolved plot threads, but that's okay and the reader can imagine it however they please. The vast majority of the story resolves in a thoroughly pleasing and tight way, and I was impressed by the author's craft.
I did not expect the story to make me cry, given how cold and analytical the protagonist is, but it certainly caught me off guard at one point.
It was nice that the protagonist feels human. She makes mistakes, commits minor crimes, or makes poor life choices and the plot doesn't punish her for it which I find refreshing.

The performance was wonderful and fit the character perfectly. My only criticism is that the narrator needs to practice some of her foreign accents.

1 person found this helpful

Good story, not so good narrator.

I really liked this audiobook, because of the story. I have, however, to agree with other reviewers in saying that the narrator sounded a bit computer-ish, an odd mixture between Siri and Alexa. I only kept listening because I the story kept me there, would it have been for the narrator alone, I would have dropped it after a chapter.

1 person found this helpful

Narration was terrible

The story was really enjoyable, but the narration was AWFUL. if it hadn’t been included in the plus catalogue I would have returned it and gotten my credit back. Aside from the general tone of the voice, the way she did male voices was terrible. The only thing that made it tolerable to listen until the end was speeding it up so I could get through the story without having to listen as long.