Comments on: Now releasing: Paraffin Winter by Peter Chowney

By: Georg

Georg — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 23:22:31 +0000

Paraffin Winter is one of my favourite e-books on Podiobooks (and elsewhere).
The story is well built with interesting characters and full of details of the early 1960s.
I like the straight reading with the lovely british accent that commanded my full attention as a non-native speaker.
Allison Crowes Song provides the perfect brackets for a story packed in ice and snow.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:50:36 +0000

Thank you Peter Chowney for Paraffin Winter. I just finished the last episode and I feel as if I experienced the time and flavor of 1963 Poole and knew Ronnie and Jenny. Excellent story and recording. ‘In the Bleak Mid-Winter” is an very good choice to set the tone. Thank you for the clear recording, perfect accent and lack of distracting bed music, sound effects, etc. This story educated me about a time when I was too young to observe outside my east coast mid-sized American industrial town. I hope for your next novel.

By: Amm4070

Amm4070 — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:40:35 +0000

Love the story and how it unfolds. The song wore on me over time but I just hurried past it. Thank you!!

By: Daniela

Daniela — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:30:28 +0000

This is simply one of the finest audio/books I have read. The characters are so well done and finished…complex and interesting.

The romance of Ronnie and Jenny is so touching because it is REAL….we see the highs and the lows, the realistic tug of war between lovers. I cried my eyes out at the end.

Pleeeeeease Peter, write more! And if you find the time please also narrate. Peter’s narration is flawless. Well done!

By: canyonal

canyonal — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:03:59 +0000

without doubt the best book on podiobooks and audible.

the story has believable characters and the plot unfolds patiently, by this i mean it holds you spellbound but without the frenetic space filling of other novels.

the reading is extremely good too. peter chowney should be taken up by the audiobook community to read other novels too. but lets hope that he is writing another spellbinding novel to follow this one.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 03:44:05 +0000

Superb narration and audio quality. Great writing, I really felt transported into 1960′s England. I did think the pacing was a bit slow at times though. It was a long book and I’m guessing there were some things that could have been cut in order to pick up the pace a bit, but otherwise a really great book.

By: Dariclone

Dariclone — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:49:23 +0000

I loved this book! I felt like I was actually there, in the ’60′s , in England, even though I’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing.
Ronnie and Jenny were great fully fleshed out characters. I also really appreciated the background on English politics and Communisim. I found it fascinating! I hope Mr. Chowney will write more for us soon.

By: Peter Chowney

Peter Chowney — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:35:19 +0000

Thank you for the encouraging comments – especially Jeff’s, there, considering it’s my first attempt at an audio book. I’ve just uploaded another episode, it should appear soon.

By: Jeff Birkes

Jeff Birkes — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 15:44:49 +0000

A tremendous book on all levels.

In a nutshell, Paraffin Winter is on par with the best of audiobooks produced by the big publishing houses.

The audio production quality and narration is excellent – being both technically supurb and artistically well rendered. I often notice that new comers struggle with finding the appropriate balance between using audio to provide support for the story and having it become an intriusive element. Peter Chowney through his narration quality, voice acting, and production choices has walked this line with great result.

I am enjoying the story greatly. Even though 1960s England is well outside my personal experience, Mr. Chowney brings me there in a believeable manner. However, I find that the story is enjoyable as more than a period piece: the plot is interesting, changing and compelling in its own right – it would stand on its merits whether in 1963 England or 1980 Chicago.

Well done and thank you, Peter. I look forward to the rest of the story and wish you well on the publishing efforts that you have referenced.

Best regards.

By: Barry Bounous

Barry Bounous — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:45:34 +0000

Good luck on the book deal. Mistakes there may be but not obvious to us Yanks. Hope to hear the next chapters soon.

By: Peter Chowney

Peter Chowney — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:32:20 +0000

Apologies again, I’m on holiday for a while – next recording will appear around the end of September. Getting near the end now!

By: Peter Chowney

Peter Chowney — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:56:35 +0000

Apologies to all those who are waiting for the next episode (I’m told there are some!). I’ve been landed with a load of other time-consuming commitments, which mean I haven’t been able to do any more recordings. I’ve also been workshopping the book with a group of helpful critics who have pointed out loads of mistakes and errors, which I need to put right. But I’ll get back to recording more episodes soon. Promise!

By: Steve Bickle

Steve Bickle — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:57:33 +0000

Although I was born in 63, this book really evokes the times I remember from my early childhood. I’m up to episode 6 now and its building up into a really good story. Well worth listening to, another gem in the Podiobooks library.

By: PhillyMac (Phillip Zannini)

PhillyMac (Phillip Zannini) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:52:23 +0000

I’m into the story, well done. Love the British accents and even learning about what paraffin is! When will there be another episode released? Last one was mid-May…

By: Barry Bounous

Barry Bounous — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:20:42 +0000

Vivid characters, interesting story, and superb reading. Time well-spent!

By: Beck

Beck — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:22:22 +0000

Really enjoying this audio podcast; authors voice really fits in with the story.

It’s good to have a non SF/fantasy podcast arrive and it being British is all the better.

Looking forward to the rest of the episodes.

By: Adele Ward

Adele Ward — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:36:42 +0000

It’s good to listen to all of this again faster than I read it first time. In the first chapter it all sounded so natural, but there was one part I wasn’t sure about. It’s when Ronnie says he doesn’t read much of his paper and ‘the only thing I ever read is the car mags’. I don’t think non-readers tend to say this about themselves. It’s a bit self-aware and self-denigrating and could be fitted in without him being so aware of it. Apart from that it’s a fantastic chapter absolutely crammed full of detail that really comes to life, as do the characters and the accents.

By: phignewton

phignewton — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:37:07 +0000

first rate!

By: Adele Ward

Adele Ward — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:57:57 +0000

This really captures the feeling of England in 1962-1963. The attention to detail really brings it to life just as I remember it, and yet it doesn’t feel over-researched. The characters and story seem very alive. I have no idea what the twist or resolution will be so I’m looking forward to find out who’s up to no good in this novel.