Comments on: The Silk Code

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:24:39 +0000

I enjoyed the story, the “science” seemed kind of silly at times and the last part seemed to drag a bit, but otherwise it was enjoyable. The main problem was that the reader’s “British” accent is absolutely terrible–I almost stopped listening because of that. Also, the sound effects were kind of bad – use a modern phone sound! Otherwise, this was a pretty good production if you can get past the terrible accents.

By: Cayce

Cayce — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:23:20 +0000

I really enjoyed the first part of this book with the allergies and the Amish. Then, some other story starts; I had to double check that I hadn’t missed an episode or two in my downloads. I just couldn’t get into the second story, got tired of it and stopped listening; which is a shame because the beginning of the book was really good!

By: Jennie

Jennie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:07:46 +0000

Loved the book – just the sought of thing I like! The story keeps you on the edge trying to guess what will happen next and being shocked when the opposite happens. The only downside is the English accent – it was a bit too distracting and some times laugh out loud hilarious at the phrases either not used in 40 years or never used (I’m English!). We say quid as slang for pounds (as in money) – bob was really used for the old money before we went went metric in the 70′s! Copper is slang for policeman – Bobby is hardly ever used now – even by my 89 yr old Gran’s generation. This is just meant as useful criticism – perhaps a little extra research on local terminology and prononciation! Anyway, I will definitely be downloading any future story published here by Paul Levinson.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:20:20 +0000

Let’s see… Terribly written, poorly read dialogue; unsympathetic characters with implausible motivations; and poorly thought-out plot developments combine to form a dull, flat, “who cares?” story. Skip this one unless you have a fetish for evil Amish.

By: Zack Olson

Zack Olson — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:13:02 +0000

To me, the more interesting the characters of a book are, the better the book itself is. It felt like the characters in The Silk Code were a secondary of even a tertiary part of the novel. If felt like the sciene of the story took presidence over the characters. It was entertaining, but didn’t grip my attention in the way other podiobooks have.

By: Shaun Farrell

Shaun Farrell — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:54:14 +0000

Hi Steve. 19 episodes? Nice! I’m glad you’re enjoying it. It was truly an honor for me to read the book, and I look forward to doing another one so I can build on the experience.

By: Steve Goss

Steve Goss — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:41:50 +0000

… then again, you are mostly speaking from the person of Phil D’Amato. As a New York detective he woundn’t have much occasion to get out to Lancaster county, PA, and probably would not know how to pronounce all those names either.

And so much for not being drawn in; I’ve listened to 19 episodes so far.

By: Shaun Farrell

Shaun Farrell — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:51:06 +0000

You say tomato, I say Toemato? Nah, probably not. Paul and I spent hours going over pronunciations, but I was bound to mess up a few. All errors are mine and have nothing to do with Paul’s fine novel.

By: Steve Goss

Steve Goss — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:08:04 +0000

The first is very intriguing, although I’m not entirely sure that I could believe that any of the Amish are secretly super scientists.
I think I’d rather read this instead of hear it though, because the narrator does not know how to pronounce the words Lancaster or Stolzfus. At least he didn’t trash the word Amish…

By: Paul Levinson

Paul Levinson — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:15:03 +0000

You’re very welcome, Julio – and thanks, too, to everyone else who commented here – much appreciated.

Thanks as well to Shaun – who made The Silk Code podiobook such a captivating reality.

If you’d like some further adventures of Phil D’Amato, you might enjoy some of my books in this list – http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2007/06/my-books-novels-and-nonfiction-and.html

And here’s “bio” of Phil, for your delectation – http://paullev.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=241319

By: Julio Figueroa

Julio Figueroa — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:57:20 +0000

Mr. Levinson, I am enjoying your novel as I listen to it on iTTunes. Many of the theories you voice in it are actually based on archaeological and historical findings. Michael Crichton touched upon it briefly in his rendition of the tale of Beowolf, “Eaters of the Dead”. Also I read an article a few years back in National Geographic about the mixing, racially and genetically of the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons in northern Spain. Also touched briefly was the possibility that they warred against each other and possibly even hunted each other for food.

I think, like most good sci-fi, your story creates an eerie plausibilty that can in all likelihood be proven true by future archaeologists and historians.

Thank you for making your book accessible to a whole new audience.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 01:21:16 +0000

Interesting take on genetics, human history, and science fiction. A great weave of a detective story with a dash of history and a whole lot of great science fiction.

By: Duane

Duane — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:52:34 +0000

I’m digging the story, the first part caught my attention enough that I’m forcing myself through the guys sailing around the islands. But I’m sorry, the narrator is killing it for me. He is so busy making sure that he over-annunciates every single word that it’s just impossible to get into it. The dialogue for me never sounds like people talking, I can’t escape the “Someone is reading this to me” feeling. It hasn’t made the book intolerable yet, but it’s borderline.

By: Christine Miller

Christine Miller — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 02:51:52 +0000

Loved it.
However I was really confused for a long way through until the end.
I finished it but wanted to know more…….

By: Michael from Denmark

Michael from Denmark — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 20:58:47 +0000

Great premise for a story – and the writing has you hooked right from the start!

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:43:02 +0000

It does start slowly but it is starting to build my interest. Don’t give up on it too soon!

By: Barry Bounous

Barry Bounous — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:34:12 +0000

It is growing on me, but it was tough going at first. The last couple of chapters (8 & 9) were the best so far. It’s been hard to get know the characters in a believeable vein.

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 03:28:34 +0000

Gave it three chapters and just couldn’t get into the story.