nougat37 reviewed on 9/22/2010

The audio book has a separate speaker for when a character is speaking from his or her point of view. I felt that all of the speakers did a great job in setting the mood for each portion of this book.

The novel is about a collection of seven characters who are traveling together on a pilgrimage, each for their own reasons. Because they have a lot of time during the journey, each takes a turn telling his or her story about what led them on the pilgrimage and for some 'why'.

Some of the stories were more compelling for me than others. Simmons' writing is detailed and I enjoyed it for the most part; however, I feel like if I hadn't been listening to it on audio book, I probably wouldn't have finished it. The tales I didn't enjoy were hard to get through even though I was just listening. While I know they are all important and will come together in the next book, some of them just weren't that interesting to me.

I found the Priest's tale to be fascinating because it involved researching an unusual people, culture, and religion on a different planet. The Scholar's tale interested me because it involved an unusual occurance of space-time. And, finally, the Consul's tale interested me because it was a tragedy-romance type story.

The Soldier's tale in many places just seemed silly to me, but I have to admit the conclusion to it was interesting. The Poet's tale was mostly boring to me, but it did have a few high points. I didn't enjoy the Detective's story, but that has a lot to do with my dislike of that particular genre anyway.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable experience, but I'd warn the reader that it is heavy and detailed reading.

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