The Lost Level

By: Brian Keene

Narrated by: Earl Hall

When modern-day occultist Aaron Pace discovers the secrets of inter-dimensional travel via a mystical pathway called The Labyrinth, he wastes no time in exploring a multitude of strange new worlds and alternate realities. But then, Aaron finds himself trapped in the most bizarre dimension of all - a place where dinosaurs coexist with giant robots, where cowboys fight reptilian lizard people, and where even the grass can kill you. This is a world populated by the missing and the disappeared, a world where myth is reality and where the extinct is reborn. Now, side-by-side with his new companions Kasheena and Bloop, Aaron must learn to navigate its dangers and survive long enough to escape...The Lost Level.

Apex is proud to present the first book in Grand Master Award winner Brian Keene's long-awaited new series, a loving ode to lost world classics like Burroughs's Pellucidar, Howard's Almuric, and Lansdale's The Drive-In, but with a thoroughly modern twist that only Brian Keene could conceive.

©2015 Apex Publications (P)2017 Beacon Audiobooks

Narrator sucks

I so wish Chet Williamson could narrate all books and the world would be a better place.

Fun story destroyed by poor narration

The first thing to note here is that the Lost Level is a fun little pulp-era throwback story. You don't have to know Keene's Labrynth mythos (or really have any familiarity with his work) to enjoy the story. It's not high art. It's fun and an amusing distraction...
...if you read it to yourself. The fault of this story is 100% the narration. When I started listening, I honestly thought the narrator was doing an ironic imitation of William Shatner with awkward pauses in the middle of sentences (and sometimes in compound words). It quickly became a distraction in terms of trying to enjoy the content of the story. Then there was the constant mispronunciation of words- glaring mistakes that should have been caught. I don't know if this was the result of a disinterested director, but there really is no excuse for this not being corrected and cleaned up.

Bad narration

The story is great, but listening to the narrator read reminds me of when my 6th grade teacher would call upon the stuttering kid to read from the class textbook.
You would think that a guy who gets paid to read for a living would know how to pronounce words correctly. His awkward pausing and emphasis on wrong syllables is pretty distracting.
Overall, a great book read by a lackluster narrator.

Great story, subpar narration.

This story is so bizarre and gets more so as it progresses. Even so, it sucked me in. I’ll be checking out more in the series as they come out.
The narration had a lot of issues, however. First of all, the narrator had an odd speaking pattern where he would pause at the wrong part in sentences. He would clear his throat or grunt here and there. Also, there were intervals where you hear background sounds. A chair squeaking, clicking of the mouse, etc which proved distracting. I feel like all of this should have been edited out. Other than that, solid book.

Narrator Issues

I struggled with this novel because the narrator did not pronounce some words correctly and it drove me bonkers!