Alan Felyk

This story is more romance than science fiction, and romance isn’t my cup of tea. Because of that, it was a bit of slog to get through but I stuck with it and I was glad once we got to the science fiction stuff (the aliens!). We see everything through Paul’s eyes and I didn’t really connect with him. Starting off during the Vietnam war, Paul is avoiding the draft by going to college, but he’s only making a half-hearted try at it. He’s mostly in it for the parties and the ladies.

Paul’s character evolves a little over the story, but never enough to capture my attention. He’s a bit of a cliché. If a woman isn’t interested in him, it’s because she has a stuck up her butt and doesn’t know how to have fun. For most of the story, he’s the only male character and every female character eventually falls for him. Of course his personal equipment becomes the fascinating topic of all his lady friends. And the ladies are all very jealous of one another and Paul’s affections towards them. It was a bit painful to slog through these sections of the book.

I did like Paul’s journalistic side. He really took that to heart and became a small champion of sorts. And I loved the idea of the heavenly library where nearly anything in existence can be researched. Who wouldn’t want a library like that? I’d love one, or 3.

The ladies were really one dimensional but there were things I liked about each. Maggie Mae is career driven and a scientist, so I instantly related to her. Allie is all heart and support but I still liked her in a superficial way. Kathryn is the heavenly librarian and who doesn’t love librarians? I didn’t like that they were essentially a parade of Paul’s sex fantasies, especially Kathryn (that’s bluntly stated multiple times in the story). These ladies could have played much more important roles, but mostly they are there to support and sleep with Paul.

Over all, I give it 3/5 stars. It does have a plot and some bigger ideas that are fully developed in the story. I wish it had more scifi and some finesse.

The Narration: Noah Michael Levine is great for Paul’s voice. He does all the voices so clearly and captures Paul’s humor perfectly. I did sometimes have trouble discerning between Maggie and Allie, especially for those few scenes where they are together sniping at each other. However, his voice for Kathryn was distinct. Levine captured the emotions of all the characters very well. There were not technical issues with this recording. 4.75/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion through Audiobookworm Tours. All opinions are my own.… (mais)