an outstanding book in writing and reading

this is an outstanding book , a labor of care , intelligent and passion... well writing and beautifully read

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4 people found this helpful

Good

Very dry, but fascinating. Beautifully read.

Not ideally suited to an audio book though

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Fascinating

I liked the breadth and the detail. This is the biggest story ever told so, finding, it needed great concentration, I slowed the speed to .9x. I also found it essential to have a clear guide to the periods of Earth’s four and a half billion year history next to me. However, it was worth the effort. Mind opening and fascinating.

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Missing visual reference material which said was part the audio file. Which really ruined the performance

Good, well read and performed audio book, but missing visual refference material which is being discussed in the book and state is included in the audio file

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A fascinating tour of evolutionary history

I really enjoyed this, it has plenty of detail so perhaps not ideal as a first introduction but wonderful if it's a topic you are already lightly familiar with. A touch repetitive here and there, I think reflecting a text not designed to be converted to audio really. Still engaging and informative throughout though.

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Fabulous

Takes the listener through the geologic history of the earth covering the development of life over billions of years.
I love the insights on geology and detail on the categories and development of life. A wonderful book so full of information and insight. Loved it!
(I skipped the first chapter as I couldn’t quite follow why it began on that subject. But the rest of the book is amazing. It may be that the first chapter issue is me alone I mention only to encourage others to push/skip through if they don’t like ch1).

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Very interesting

For a difficult and complicated subject, this work was written and read well enough for the layman to understand.

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Oddly compulsive listening

Brilliantly written and read mostly completely forgettable book in terms of detail. But discussion of extinction events, different geological periods and marine life memorable. Just don’t expect me to remember so many beautifully spoken unpronounceable names of fossil life forms.

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Interesting, but …

This seemed to want to strike a middle ground between layman & professional. At times really interesting, at other times just felt like a very long list of Latin names. Full marks to the narrator for ploughing through them. At these times your concentration can easily wander as these names mean absolutely nothing to the general listener. If the whole book had been written in the manner of the epilogue it would’ve been excellent.

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A good, interesting listen

I'm a second year undergraduate science student and I very much enjoyed listening to this book. It tells the story of life on our planet in a complete, easy to follow fashion and interwoven with science history. The author's love for his subject clearly shone through with the help of the narrator. This book was free but I would have been happy to pay for it as it is a well written piece.

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1 person found this helpful