/hob/ - Hobbies

I finished the portal war saga and it is fantastic.
7 books, each around 7 hours long, with all of it reasonably interesting.
Don't want to give too much away but it's about a young mage who just wants to study magic in peace and goes through world changing means to achieve that goal.
The coolest thing is the author actually was the one to put up all of his audiobooks on YouTube for free. And they are all high quality and professionally done.

I will probably check out his other novels next week.
Dude's name is James E. Wisher. Seriously worth a look.

I really have to find a reliable place to get modern free audiobooks other than YouTube and torrents.
Nether are actually reliable and most sites only offer public domain stuff.

I refuse to pay audible, especially not getting a subscription where I don't even own the books and the author only gets 25% of the cut for each book sell.

Finally off my fantasy book kick.
This one is Pig. Short but good.

>>63776
Myanonymouse is a private torrent site, they have interviews a few days a week where they check you have read the rules. They have a lot of audiobooks if you want.

Looks like this is the last of the early magic the gathering books that have any sort of audio book version. Pain in the butt to find digital copies for the other ice age books, so I might just have to be satisfied with plot summaries and skip a huge chunk until I get back to fan audios again.

Even the physical books beyond this point are rare and expensive.


Oh, and as a brief book review, The Gathering Dark was pretty good in my opinion. I enjoyed it more than both The Brothers War and The Thran.

>>63776
I personally have a library card at my local library and then get audiobooks via the Libby app. Not ideal as I don't get to keep them, but it gets the job done.

>>63776 You began this, but since I'm so sharing and caring, I'll share my scripts for dealing with audiobook, be it searching and downloading, or creating.

For files and plaintext from stdin, I use this script[1]. It's mostly commented. It expected voices [2,3] or the built-in kal16 in certain places (since the files are newer than what comes in my distribution's repository).

For searching audiobookbay I used [4] and for adding torrent therefrom [5].

Afterwards listen from whatever media player at whatever speed. Reading alongside from a pager or ebook reader, physical or digital, facilitates comprehension. I just like low voices.

I give y'all permission to use and or edit these. Save, shit expires in 30 days.

[1] https://termbin.com/ogo9
[2] https://www.festvox.org/flite/packed/flite-2.1/voices/cmu_us_fem.flitevox
[3] https://www.festvox.org/flite/packed/flite-2.1/voices/cmu_us_slt.flitevox
[4] https://termbin.com/4j5o
[5] https://termbin.com/s32d

Listened to a rather long one (3 parts) over the past 3 days.
Wizards First Rule (The Sword of Truth series) by Terry Goodkind
The naration of the version on youtube is pretty good, and it being up for years means it's unlikely to be randomly taken down. That said as a mini review of the book…I am conflict.
It's very derivative, to the point of near plagiarism at parts, has a lot of conveniences and the magic system is honestly pretty shit in it just does whatever it needs to for the plot to happen.
As for the good, I did mildly enjoy the writing style/prose and characterization. The plot beats, while predictable, were intresting, and the attention to detail made it easy to visualize exactly what was happening at any given time thus allowing me to lose myself in certain scenes.
All that said the book committed the cardinal sin of springing weird fetish shit out of nowhere for a solid 5th of the book once I was already too invested to leave.
Like ultra hardcore bdsm bullshit involving a "beautiful" succubi in a full tight leather outfit in the fantasy equivalent to a dominatrix cult spend pages and pages, chapters and chapters, sexually suggestively torturing the MC for like a month straight, breaking them in to falling in love with the torturer
Then because of him accidenting into magic bullshit he just nopes out of all that trauma and suffers literally no lasting effect of that torture besides a few bad dreams and dramatically increased pain tolerance. Whole part just made me feel dirty, as I wasn't expecting it and it doesn't tonally fit with the rest of the book.
Really, all the romance in the book felt weird and I didn't appreciate it, and I am not just saying that because I am a aromantic wizard. I can appreciate well written romance in fantasy stories, and even tolerate mediocre poorly developed love interest type plots if it raises the stakes, but in this book shit just made me uncomfortable. Not like physiological horror book uncomfortable, but more like I felt like the author has issues that they probably should see someone about rather than work through them in published book form.

Anyway, I don't think I will keep going in the series, as I heard this was the peak of the Sword of Truth books, and if this one is the peak then I remain unimpressed. I might consider going on if the books weren't obnoxiously long for no good reason.
Anyway, links if you want them.
part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tufLvmjU3ZU&list=LL&index=4&pp=gAQBiAQB
part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-DbCi039qs&list=LL&index=2&pp=gAQBiAQB
part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtLoR2CK-cQ&list=LL&index=1&pp=gAQBiAQB

>>51296
Anyone ever read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand? I found a copy of it in a box by the side of the road along with A Clockwork Orange.

>>66371
It's on my to read/listen to list, but no I haven't yet gotten around to it.

>>66371
I listened to Ayn's Anthem on cassette tape and We the Living on mp3. While I don't agree with her ideas, I'm so desperate for any kind of utopian escapism from our current society, that even the darkest dystopias relax me as something different.

i'll take the devil i dont know, over the 1 i do.

Tried getting through Man in High Castle but gave up because it's really really boring.

It also is unrealistic and has a dozen little things that are annoying or off about it.
I get that during the time it was written information wasn't as available and alternative history basically had zero standards, but even with that in mind it was bad alternative history.
How it won awards is beyond me.

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Each book I read/listen to by Rand convinces me more an more that she was indeed autistic.
That said I liked the last few chapters. Made sitting through the rest of the book up until that point almost worth it.

Also the narration on this particular version is great. Pro level reading despite him doing it for free.

>>66415
If I ever wrote a novel, I imagine it would be in her style, of just having characters as stand-ins for philosophical ideals, and their monologues being prose essays shoved into their mouths

>>66416
The funny thing is I really don't mind the monologs.
I mean I am sure they are much for fustrating when reading, but in audiobook form they are probably my favorate parts of her books.

It's just that Rand's writing of basically everything else is fan fic level, only with a better editor so less grammar mistakes and typos.
Basically she is a better esayist than a story teller, but she tries anyway with no respect for the craft.
She cares more about getting the point across than crafting a well made story and it shows in all of her fictional work that I have seen so far.

That said I still haven't gotten around to The Fountainhead, which many claim is her best fictional work.

>>66421
That reminds me even the great Plato, his early dialogues are heated debates of the historic Socrates with a lot of back and forth. By the time you get to the Laws and Timeous, it's just a long essay with the interlocuter saying I agree.

I tried to get through The Witching Hour (first book of the Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy) by Anne Rice.

While I liked most of her vampire books I couldn't even make it past the 3rd chapter of The Witching Hour. It is frustratingly boring, meandering, and felt the need to give the birth to death life story of basically every plot relevant character even though it has very little to do with the current plot and just drags everything to a painfully dull crawl where nothing of consequence happens for hours.
Hated it.
Do not recommend. Boring to the extreme.

Shadow Magic, Book 1 of The Divine Key Trilogy

From the same writer of (so far) my favorite fantasy series, The Portal War Saga, James E Wisher.
I enjoyed it very much. Action, adventure, planing, scheming, failures and complications, hard won victories that feel earned.

I enjoyed it a great deal and will probably listen to part two of the trilogy tonight.
I just wish the magic system was as fleshed out as it was in Portal War Saga. It feels like it's happening in the same universe with a similar magic system but different planet with different culture and slightly different approach to magic.

What Maisie Knew by Henry James

The reading of this version is quite good. The book however…

The 3rd person narration has excellent prose and a delightfully extended vocabulary aiding in precise descriptive use of the English language. However that starkly contrast with the abominable state of the dialog. The contrast of which makes the dialog bordering on intolerable in it's vague repetitive simplistic irritating way of poorly getting things across. While naturalistic in approach it doesn't make for pleasant reading/listening. To put it plainly I quite dislike the dialog.

Overall, it's a very character driven book wholly focused on character relations with a lack of focus or direction when it comes to plot. I would say this book is basically old fashioned chick-lit or the precursor to it.
Overall the book isn't bad, but it's very much not for me. That said I was able to get through the whole thing, though at times my focused was strained. Mainly due to the dialog heavy portions being painfully vague and repetitive with all parties in the conversation stalling because they don't want to say what they mean and don't mean what they say, but not in a interesting or clever way.

I don't know what my next book will be but I need a palate cleanser.
Something plot driven with lots of action and masculine values.

An audiobook biography of Hotwheels and the history of Wizardchan is coming out soon!

https://www.audible.com/pd/Black-Pill-Audiobook/B0CLGW7P6C?

>>66630
a female from cnn who is obsessed with in cels, white supremacists and its links to chan culture. She looks like a disabled subhuman so your typical cnn journalist.

>>66629
I ain't paying money to listen to propaganda.
Audible can suck a dill pickle and choke on it.

Matilda by Mary Shelley

I was curious on what her other writings were besides Frankenstein and this was short so I gave it a shot.

It is a work of art, plain and simple. I can scarcely remember ever seeing/hearing prose expertly crafted to such a high level. I was enthralled and awed by how each line was elegantly crafted.
This reader (some libervox rando) reading and sound quality did proper justness to such a masterwork.
Simply beautiful. Never has the depths of sorrow and death ever been so appealing through labor of words.

I think you will also find that the running theme through out, or at least my interpretation of it, is quite wizardly. I was dubious of this, it being label and listed in many descriptions as "erotic" but consistently all romance depicted does nothing but transmute happiness into the deepest and darkest of pains.
The author also understand the beauty and healing powers of solitude better then most.
Oh how this book fed my soul.

5 out of 5. Probably the best thing I have heard/read all year. I can think of no flaws and can give only praise.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Abridged version.

Supposedly it's considered "Modern Gothic Literature".
Honestly felt very YA to me. It's not that it's bad, but the word choice and bluntness felt like it was made for ether children or dumb people.
While it has some intresting ideas and I liked the tone of the story, it overall didn't impress me and I will likely not remember or think of this story a year or two from now.

Because it's a abridged version it's only a hour, so it's well worth the time investment. And the reading is decent too.
So I give it a soft recommend.
3 out of 5.

Demon DIY
Not sure how long it's going to stay up at the current link but figured I embed it anyway.

Anyway, it's a cheesy campy low class book that was quite enjoyable and put a big goofy smile on my face.
It's trashy but in a fun way that doesn't really aim to be more then what it is.

Some of Cioran's books are now on Audible, although strangely not Heights of Despair

AI TTS has a bright future. If they can do celeb voices so good, just doing a generic narrator should be even easier.

>>67288
I was hopeful when some stuff started coming out with AI voice but the reality of it has set in.
99.9% of it is lazy low quality junk that the uploaded didn't bother to do even basic audio editing of.

Pretty clear VA and other such people still will have job security for the foreseeable future.
Sort of like how AI art is hyped to the moon but without skillful editing 99.9% of it is garbage.

Could be a game changer for the skillful few willing to put the work in to polish the stuff generated, thus saving time and money allowing solo and small team to metaphorically punch way above their weight. But ai mainly attracts the incompetent, the lazy, and the scammers/hustlers who just want a quick buck without providing any value to anyone.

I now don't even bother to deal with ai generated content. It sucks. Partly because the tech ain't ready for prime time yet and partially because most who use it suck.

What a fucking let down.

>>67295
https://www.businessinsider.com/publish-books-amazon-kindle-reviews-2019-2

I listened ton an entire AI read audiobook by this Ukraine company without realizing it was fake, they even made a fake Linkedin for a narrator. on another book it was more obvious and i did more digging.

idk if AI readers can sometimes pass "the turing test" on me, we're getting there.

Eaters of the Dead
Was alright. I think this is the abridged version though.

Doc Savage and the Fortress of Solitude.

Don't quite make them like they used to. Full cast for the audio which was a treat, though there were a couple of dead air gaps from the upload.

If you are in the mood for a straight forward action adventure story then this will scratch that itch. That said it does way too much tell not show for the main bad guy so it made confrontations involving him feel pretty hollow imo.

A Monster Calls

Pretty sad book. Not a bad book though.

I've listened to lots of podcasts and audiobooks. Complete waste of time. You just don't retain that information very well when you're multitasking, and if you aren't then why not just read to begin with and use all of your brain?

>>67727
>he multitasks while he "listens" to audiobooks
>meaning he really doesn't listen because he isn't paying attention
>he doesn't even take notes
>he thinks it's a complete waste of time
>he isn't learning his 4th language and then using audiobooks for input learning

lol

>>67727
>You just don't retain that information very well
Pure projection.
I still remember audiobooks I listened too nearly a decade ago.

If it's good stuff then I will remember it regardless of format. If it's mediocre then it will fade from my mind rather quickly.
Don't blame the format, ether blame yourself for not paying attention or blame the content for not being memorable.

>>67729
I admit, my memory retention is terrible. But despite having bits and pieces of the audiobooks I've heard over the years while driving, I wouldn't say I have strong mastery of any particular one. There is lots of evidence suggesting multitasking is very bad for information encoding

>>67730
Then don't multi task.
That doesn't mean you should shit on audiobooks as a format because you personally have a problem of shitty retention and instability to pay attention. That is a problem with you and your behavor. Not a problem with audiobooks.

>>67731
lol. Don't make a thread if you don't want to hear my thoughts on the subject. Books are better, you retain much more and are using more of your brain in the process of encoding

>>67732
scrolls are better actually, the linearity of scrolls structurally retains the oral transmission that preceded their writing. books grant an illusion of greater density by way of reference to previous pages, chapters, and sections, but information encoded across these boundaries is lost

>>67732
So you are basically admitting to just being a shit stir who has no actual interest in the subject and just here to troll.

Good to know, you can fuck off now.

>>67733
Wouldn't by that logic mean that listening to the information in the form of oral recitation be the optimal method?
Which is why college puts a premium on lectures as the bedrock to their pedagogical method.

>>67740
the optimal method is probably reading the books aloud yourself

>>67741
You assert that but there isn't real world evidence of that, which is why learning institutions aren't structured around such a practice.

Instead from the lowest to the highest it's build around lectures or in other words listening to a instructor.

>>67742
I'm not >>67741 but I don't think he may answer to such idiocy. trolling enough about the cuckery of sheeple compulsory "education"
>learning institutions taken seriously as reference
This is the type of mental failure when you people disregard conspirationist as "theorists" instead of giving them a serious look.

>>67744
>bad faith and non-arguments
What was even the point of this post other then to make yourself look bad?

The Squire
From one of my favorite fantasy novelist James E Wisher.

This one was pretty good. Especially as a stand alone.

Lord of High Reaches by James Haddock.

Second book I have listened to from James. Liked the narator's range of voices even if some of the accent choices were a bit odd.
Was decent but I liked Mage Thrown Prophecy more.

Listening to Werewolf books on a Hunter’s Moon. Few things match such a feel.

Wolf Blood - by Matt Tyler

Has a wonderful gothic horror feel throughout. I wonder if they will keep it up with other books in the series. I will listen to book 2 later tonight unless I get distracted with something.

>>68181
Book two really is trying my nerves. Somehow the AI voice has gotten significantly worse or the editing of it has gotten lazy. Ether way it's now a drag to listen through.
The story meanders. The themes trite and preditable. The borderline retarded social comentary and virtue signaling is lazy and clumbsy, and I dislike all of the new charcters. Also India sucks as the new setting but it seems that the bulk of the last 3 books of the series are taking place in it. It doesn't have the same gothic horror vibes at all. Instead the whole thing feels more genearic modern fantasy trying to follow trends in mainstream publishing. Which is to say, follow the DEI agenda rather than craft a decent story or stick to the more interesting setting.
Worst yet, basically all of the charicture progress of the people from the last book has been frozen because too much time was spent fleshing out 2 of the new characters. Mind you not all of the new characters, just two of them. Both being kinda shit and I am a bit disappointed nether died. I mean one was wounded but this being now a basic bitch fantasy book, that means basically nothing.
Worst yet, I can already pretty much predict where the story is going and I don't like it.

So disappointing.

Something I didn't think possible happened.
I had written off litrpg entirely as a genera because every single book and webnovel I had been exposed to was extremely bad.
But on this day I actually found one that I enjoyed and was actually halfway decent.
Probably because it isn't remotely styles after anime tropes and doesn't use fanfiction tier writing.
Basically it's a war vet trying to retire to a farm but being unable to stay out of trouble. To go into more detail I think would spoil it.
I haven't been so surprised by a book I thought would be shit actually being decent since Demon DIY.

Battle Mage Farmer #1 - Domestication