A Market of Dreams and Destiny

A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey

Merchants, magic and london. It ties together some way, but I really can't tell you how.

Captains Courageous

Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling

The narration of this audiobook left a lot to be desired. There were some kids that were out on a see somewhere on the east coast of the US. The kids come from a moneyed background. There are trains and other "modernish" technologies. Things happened, but I had trouble having any interest in what they were.

The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

This book has to do with a Toad and some other animals. I had trouble with narration and just could not focus on it.

Brief Lives Volume 2

Brief Lives Volume 2 by John Aubrey

I listened to the Librivox version of this. (Also available on Project Gutenberg) I tried listening to this volume at a slower speed, and still had trouble with the narration. The content could also be challenging. At times there were big chunks of Latin. Then it would switch over to gossipy information about some famous characters. This one also includes a few appendices. 

Brief Lives Volume 1

Brief Lives Volume 1 by John Aubrey

I listened to the Librivox version of this. (Also available on Project Gutenberg) I could not understand it very well. I had trouble grasping why. I thought the narrator may be too fast, so I slowed down a lot. The language also did not seem to difficult once I was able to focus on it. The accent of the narrator was also not very bad. According to wikipedia, he had a collection of manuscripts that was later assembled by editors after he died. I used his death date as publication date. The content is an opinionated history of famous figures. Most lived around his time, though there were some going further back. 

Convergence Problems

Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi

The "smooth voice" of the narrator for this audiobook made it difficult to follow. While I was lost on the longer stories, some of the shorter ones were quite intriguing. There are a number of explorations of artificial intelligence and convergence into human thought. In one story, computers start to create "art" in their way. This may result in things such as stock markets going briefly wild. In another story, work is done to control human thought through complex understanding and manipulation of stimuli. In another story, somebody signs up to be a guinea pig for various painful experiments. Then there were some other stories that just lost me.

One of my favorite parts of science fiction story collections is the "about these stories" that the author provides at the end. This one does not disappoint. The author discusses the stories and provides some of his background. He is a Nigerian engineer who writes science fiction. His background and experience tie in to some of the works that he creates.

The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World

The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World by Marie Favereau

The narration of this audiobook makes it difficult to follow. It explores the life and culture of the Mongols. They were nomadic, yet they had an advanced culture. They were capable of concurring much of Asia and made incursions into Europe. They would adopt the parts of the people they ruled rather than attempt to instill their culture. The book had some interesting content, but suffered from delivery.