Favorite HP book + just-ok production

This review is essentially the same as my reviews for the other Carlos Ponce audiobooks currently available.

The story is wonderful. GoF (CdF?) is my favorite book in the series (4, 6, 3, 1, 2, 7, 5 don't @ me). If you're buying this audiobook you've probably read the whole series before, so you don't need to be convinced that this book is any good, but honestly: this is Rowling working to her absolute strengths as an author. For the first time, the school-year-whodunit format of the first three books is expanded with forays into world-building and broader societal themes that don't fall apart at the slightest inspection. The plotting is honestly amazing--multiple mysteries intersecting over hundreds and hundreds of pages (or 22 hours, for the audiobook, I guess). The characters are arguably at their best. Hermione is Lawful Good without being a scold, and gets an authentic relationship arc with Krum and handling Ron's jealousy. Ron kind of sucks, because he kind of sucks in every book, but his complex over growing up poor+overlooked is well developed in the text. Harry's discovery and subsequent total mishandling of his feelings for Cho are extremely relatable. Draco Malfoy...isn't totally insufferable. (Malfoy/Crabbe/Goyle are realistic schoolyard bullies for 11 year olds, but why Harry/Ron continue to get riled with their same antics as 4th/5th-years is beyond me) One downside: this is the third book in a row where Bad Things Happen To That Big Oaf Hagrid Just To Move The Plot Along, but at least it explores wizard society while doing so.
Anyway...

I'm approaching these audiobooks as a native English speaker and learner of Spanish. As a learning aid, I 100% recommend these audiobooks--the narration+accent is clear and comprehensible. I did the same when learning German (using the absolutely amazing Rufus Beck audiobooks from Audible) and got great results.

I've marked the performance down for a couple of reasons. First, Carlos Ponce does a great job with character voices, and puts good energy into his delivery, but tends to deliver almost all dialogue the same. I mean, if there's one thing J.K. Rowling is known for as an author, it's adverbs--every single piece of dialogue comes with instructions, so to speak. But whether Filch "screamed" or Hermione "whispered" or Dumbledore said "calmly", Ponce delivers them all roughly the same.

My second problem might not lie with Ponce, but with the production: the text is barely given any time to breathe. Scene changes within chapters (something happens, then we transition to our heroes discussing it in the Common Room or whatever) receive absolutely no pause/signaling, which can be really jarring. Momentous or climactic events are not read or edited dramatically, but almost rushed through. In this book, that's...basically every challenge, plus the graveyard showdown. This might be on Ponce as the narrator, but (along with the same-y dialogue) it feels like a lack of production/preparation--like they handed Ponce the book and had him do it all in roughly one take, without allowing him to get a feel for the rhythm of the text.

This stuff might sound like nit-picking, but it's at the core of what separates good oral story-telling from great oral story-telling. Without the text in front of us, we are reliant on the narrator to give us a sense of when tension is rising or falling, and where the narrative climax falls. This isn't just for entertainment, but to actually make sense of the events as they happen. The Pottermore/Rufus Beck German editions of these books do a phenomenal job of this.

Overall, while I enjoyed this audiobook, I hope (but doubt) that the editing+delivery are improved for books 5/6/7.

7 people found this helpful

great way to improve Spanish as second language

Carlos Ponce is an amazing performer--I loved Jim Dale for the English version, and was worried that the quality wouldn't be as good, but I'm hooked. And, for those learning Spanish, the vocabulary is much more interesting than "how do I get to the train station?" Nick Casidecapitado, or mortifago, come up in everyday conversation all the time!

2 people found this helpful

Horrible French accent

I loved this series in english so I wanted to try the Spanish version. Everything was great until Madam Maxime spoke. He did TRY with the French but half the time I could not understand what he was saying unless I was REALLY paying attention.
He also makes half the characters sound the same, which would be fine if he didn’t make them all sound lazy. This is something that I thought would be improved by now since this was the readers issue since the first book.
I am a Spanish speaking woman born to Spanish parents, so I’m not rating this as if I did not know the language.
The story itself is great, but the voices and accents could use some work. Honestly a little disappointed since this is my favorite book in the series.

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic!

Thank you so much for the great work! I have been anxiously waiting for these books in Spanish and I'm so happy to listen. Carlos Ponce really gives 100% and the audio quality sounds excellent. It has been worth the wait.

Thank you. :)

1 person found this helpful

Amazing narration.

yo puedo leer y entender espanol pero escribiendo todavia no esta facil para me asi yo escribiré en ingles: Was very impressed with the narrator's ability to use different voices with different characters, while still being clear and easy to understand. It made an already great story that much more engaging. Highly recommended!

Genial

Me encantó la historia, te va envolviendo a cada minuto, definitivamente recomendable hace volar la imaginación.

Increíble

Este título me hizo dar tristeza en varias partes esa muerte arruga el corazón y la interpretación del narrador hace todas las emociones juntas posibles un libro lleno de muchas novedades descubrimientos melancolia
Como siempre me encanto!!

Me fascinó

Me encantó la narración, Carlos Ponce hizo un buen trabajo. Mi admiración por lo que hizo, todas las voces actuó me encantaron, pero la del Lord Voldemort mi favorita y la de Dombledore. Denle una oportunidad a este narrador, no se van arrepentir. De todos lo lobos de Harry Potter, este es mi favorito.

Unbearable voice for the female characters

I tried to listen to the these, but the narrator's voice for the female characters was unbearable. Very disappointed.

Muy interesante

Aunque lo sentí un poco largo, vale la pena poner atención a los detalles, me gustó mucho.