STOP RUINING GREAT BOOKS!!!!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

About the book??? You mean Anne McCaffery's pern? How could one presume to change a masterpiece? What a silly question

What didn’t you like about Mel Foster’s performance?

OK, this is the real reason for writing this review. We as consumers keep contributing so mediocrity. Do NOT buy this audio book. I'm sorry Anne I love you and pern, but Mel was not the right guy for this. He ruined your book. Mel, just because you have a pleasant voice does not mean you are a good story teller. What the hell was up with F'lar's voice? He sounded like a G.I.Joe cartoon character with a southern twang. WRONG in so many ways!! Lytol? you made him sound like a weasel. He has dignity damn it, a weasel?!?!? what were you thinking? Did you read this book before you started? Fandarel, both you and Dick got him wrong. He's a huge, barrel chested blacksmith with a deep voice, why does he sound like a geek squad employee? I take it you've done Saturday morning cartoon voices or something, but treat these beloved books with some respect damn it! And where was the producer to say "hey Mel, lets try again, but this time leave off with the cheesy cartoon villain impression"? Most of all I have to blame us, the consumers, for continuing to buy garbage instead of saying, "I think I'll wait till they make something with quality in it before I buy"
The point is, I get so frothing upset about the mispronunciations, the childish accents, the misplaced stressed words that completely change the meaning of Anne's words.... There was a scene with Piemur down in cove, and Mel did his dialogue in this childish singsong tone 6 TIMES in a row!! And it was so out of place and out of character that I had to rip my headphones out of my ears and scream. The performance is SO upsetting that I can barely follow the story. Oh ya, and I heard him change words, ya that's right, I'm sure the dragonrider didn't say "doncha". Yeah, Anne doesn't write like that, it was "don't you". As in "Don't you DARE to presume to change Anne's words to fit those IDIOTIC character voices!!!!" There was SO much wrong, if I don't stop here the review will be it's own book.
Mel, I know you're a good guy, and I can tell you did put work into it. It was just wrong for this book. I'm sorry I was so harsh, but stick to spongebob where your characters will be appreciated.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

A Thousand Times YES

Any additional comments?

Buy the hard copy, or kindle or what have you. Make the characters your own. Pern is a wonderful universe that should be visited as often as possible but you will regret buying this in audiobook form.

50 people found this helpful

The Narration Would Make A Harper Weep

Would you listen to All the Weyrs of Pern again? Why?

I love the story---all the Pern stories and it might bring me back. But the performance is abysmal. For anyone who knows Pern the treatment the Master Harper gets from Foster is...heartbreaking. He sounds like a drunken parody of some campy vaudevillian not the wise and wonderful man he is. Why oh why not have Dick Hill who did the earlier books wonderfully do this one??

What other book might you compare All the Weyrs of Pern to and why?

It's one of the more exciting Pern books, it ends a saga. I'm not sure there is a reason to compare it....

What didn’t you like about Mel Foster’s performance?

Absolutely nothing...it was awful. I never thought you could over act an audio book but he did...a combination of Mary Tyler Moore's Ted Baxter and a very eager high school sophomore trying to bring a new level of angst to The Glass Menagerie. He ruined the book!

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

The whole book has moved me for years, Mel Foster's performance is an insult to Anne McCaffery's fine writing

Any additional comments?

Fine book, awful narration

38 people found this helpful

I miss Dick Hill

If I hadn't already read this book in print and knew that it was worth the read, I might not have been able to make it through. Mel Foster is NO Dick Hill and I found him very difficult to listen to. His halting reading compelled me to listen to the book at 1 &1/2 speed. It sounds more natural that way.

Other than that Anne McCaffrey never disappoints :)

27 people found this helpful

awful narration

Would you consider the audio edition of All the Weyrs of Pern to be better than the print version?

the story is great as most of mccaffrey's works but this guy is terrible. Especially after hearing Dick Hill's narration of the previous books. This guy doesn't get the characters at all...he should have heard the previous versions to get the inflections correct.

The print is superior in so many ways.

What was one of the most memorable moments of All the Weyrs of Pern?

The continuation of learning of the characters origins.

How could the performance have been better?

Get Dick Hill to read it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not at all witht his narrator. I loved the book itself but found I kept getting upsset with the way Mel depicted important characters.

19 people found this helpful

Wonderful book, bad audio

I have loved this book for years and couldn't wait for it to come out on audio.. but the narrator was terrible. He made Piemur sound like an idiot, and Master Robinton like a slow witted imbecile. I was very disappointed and could hardly tolerate listening to the end.

17 people found this helpful

Performance wasn't horrible

After reading all the reviews, I'd have to say that Mel Foster wasn't awful by any means, he's just no Dick Hill, who has previously read the male voices from the series until now.

Story is exceptional. Got a bit slow in the middle, and I started to loose interest, but when that happened it sped up, and was awesome to the end.

4 people found this helpful

All the Weyrs of Pern

I love all of the Dragon Riders of Pern series, and I have read and listened to them all, in fact all of them more than once each, this is one of my favorite series.

2 people found this helpful

A Nice Ending

Crafts, Holds, Weyrs and Thread have been a main staple in the Pern books since it all started. That is all about to change. For over one-thousand four-hundred years Pern has been plagued by the silvery menace that fell from the sky. A menace that only dragons seemed able to deal with. Finally a solution is found in the relics of an ancient past. Although I know it is not the last book of Pern, it feels like it is. There is a finality to it that is not found in any of the ones before it. I was almost sad when this book ended. I was left wondering what the future held for Pern, especially the dragons who soon would no longer be needed. I enjoyed this book and look forward to hearing what happens next.

2 people found this helpful

One of my absolute favorite books of all time.

I reread or listen to this book about one a year. It always makes me laugh and cry. Try It!

2 people found this helpful

I am satisfied

When I styarted listening to the books on audio, I was soooo looking forward to hearing this lst book. I feel as if I have finished the series but I know there are more books out there. I like Ann Mc Carthey as an arthor and will look for her other books. Sometimes I think I would like to live on Pern but then there were alot of problems. The whole series was excelent and the readings weren't to bad either. I liked the fact that Ann wrote books depicting the same event from different points of views.

8 people found this helpful