Brilliant narration for a beautiful story

I don't normally write reviews but I wanted to congratulate both the writer and the narrator.

The story is a wonderfully gentle story that unfolds in a way that fits so well with the characters. There is a lot of sci-fi geekery in the story as well and in many ways this adds a wonderful colour to the underlying world that we only ever really see in glimpses.

The narration really makes it stand out. The Welsh accent and the changes that occur over the book to the main characters voice because of circumstance are so well done. I imagine many might find it difficult but the overall narration brought the characters to life in a way many audiobooks really lack. A proper standout performance.

I know I will come back to this as a comfort audiobook. It is a gem.

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A spectacular ode to science fiction

This book was one of my favorites to listen to since I started my audible subscription. The narrator is wonderful, and the welsh accent makes such a difference (an accent I know I wouldn't have been able to keep in my head if I'd read the book instead of listened to it). The story is complicated to explain, but not complicated to listen to, and the book is addictive in the best way.



And for a fan of science fiction, it was like a hot bath and a comforting meal - even though the main character Mori read few of the same authors as I did, the feeling was the same, and it reminded me of how much love I felt for reading when I was a teenager, the way I devoured books and how much they impacted my life and my imagination.



Just a wonderful book. I highly recommend it.

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4 people found this helpful

Listen is good but reading may be better

I can't decide what to make of it. I liked the book talk - the SF hints, bits and pieces. I also liked Mori. I did not like the story though. In fact, I don't think it really is a story. It could have been one but never gets to it. When ( at last ) something finally happen, it somehow belongs to another story, not this one.

I really loved the narrator. She is excellent. Her welsh accent is wonderful.

I think maybe I would like to read the book because then I'll have all the titles, quotes and nice literary stuff to go back to.

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2 people found this helpful

Light on plot, high on nostalgia

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

This is a lovely, meandering reflection on being young and being shaped by the magic of books. It isn't fast-moving like some books I've listened to, but every few minutes I'm reminded of my own adolescence and I smile.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrator's accent got a bit dodgy at times, but I'm from South Wales, so very familiar with what she was aiming for and therefore more likely to be jarred when it went wrong. It was still a fantastic effort for someone who isn't actually Welsh!

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me smile. I remember being a disabled child and having to rely on books, and on the escapism that only the very best ones could provide.

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Amazing!

Corwin's voice? Mor voice is so simple and clear, I would not want to get in her way.. :) and Walton here express better than I ever realized my love and passion to books. So precise!
Kellgren Welsh accent is a perfect fit , the audio book could not have been complete without it

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brilliant

this book is utterly amazing and I love it. not sure I can particularly describe what it's about and there's a lot of triggery stuff with boarding school and family and mothers in particular but I just related so much to so many bits. if you're at all a person who sees magic in the world I think you will love it too

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Some interesting ideas not fully realised

As a girl who grew up in the South Wales Valleys in the 70s and 80s, with a passion for science fiction and fantasy I had high hopes for this story. There was a lot to like. The central character was complex and appealing and the author developed some interesting characters around her. It brought back a lot of wonderful memories of going to Lears in Cardiff to find new SF books, and the burning passion I felt for boks at that age.
However, the book was also very slow, and the fantastical elements felt a little clumsy. As the story of a girl coming to terms with the death of her twin and learning to love life again it was moving and thought provoking; as a story of magic less so.
I also found the narrator very trying. As an American actress attempting a Welsh accent she did well enough, and if the accent had only belonged to a minor character it probably would have been fine, but as the voice of the whole novel it really started to get on my nerves. It was like Gladys Pugh trying to put on a posh accent! It really undermined the voice of the main character and I felt we lost some of her sharpness and wit because the accent was so ridiculously sing song.
I would certainly try more books by this author, and this story has stayed with me, I just feel it didn't fully realise its potential.

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Loved it

I wanted a nice gentle read with a bit of fantasy thrown in and thats what I got. I so loved this book and will listen to it again and again. I loved the accent, which was wonderful and left me wishing for more. It takes you through some of the issues faced by young girls as they enter womanhood especially those that are a bit different.

It entwines the real bland and everyday reality with that of magic mysticism and escapism. It questions if one creates the other and is it reasonable or even advisable to try and control these – after all who wants to live with puppets or to become one.

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2 people found this helpful

Listen is good but reading may be better

I can't decide what to make of it. I liked the book talk - the SF hints, bits and pieces. I also liked Mori. I did not like the story though. In fact, I don't think it really is a story. It could have been one but never gets to it. When ( at last ) something finally happen, it somehow belongs to another story, not this one.

I really loved the narrator. She is excellent. Her welsh accent is wonderful.

I think maybe I would like to read the book because then I'll have all the titles, quotes and nice literary stuff to go back to.

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1 person found this helpful

Does not seem magic at first, but...

It is a story about a girl who claims to see faeries and do magic, but reading/listening to over half the book it seems like it is a child's delusion like invisible friends and so on. And only in the second half magic becomes more real. I awaited a totally different story, but I like it much much more the way it is really written than it usually might have been written by someone else.
Even without magic turning out to be real it would have been a fantastic book. I liked it a lot. I hope there are more like this from the writer.
Oh, and I adore that all the nice characters read SciFi. ;)

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