The World Beneath

By: Robert J. Crane

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

From Million-Selling Author Robert J. Crane...

One girl, infinite magical worlds. Where will she find herself next? “When I ran away, aged seventeen, I didn’t do it for the usual reasons...I did it because I was looking for adventure.” My name is Mira Brand, and I'm a Seeker – a treasure hunter who can cross between worlds seeking long-forgotten treasure hoards of ancient races. My home is London, but I work in the worlds beneath our own, traipsing through places where no one has walked in a thousand years. Except for that time I happened to cross paths with another Seeker. Wealthier than me, less pleasant in disposition...okay, downright angry, especially when I made off with the loot. I didn't expect he'd chase me, but he did, and he's not the only one. Pursued by my foes, outnumbered by enemies, running short on friends, it's all part of the life of a runaway and a treasure hunter. If you like J.K. Rowling, Jeff Wheeler, Bella Forrest, Brandon Sanderson, Charlie N. Holmberg, or Cassandra Clare, you will LOVE the first installment of the Mira Brand Adventures.

Virtual Voice was better than excpected.

The story was well-written, but wasn't really the reason I listened to this audiobook. I wanted to hear the virtual voice and see how well it compared to a human narrator. In short, it was very good. I've listened to hundreds of audiobooks, many with some truly great narrators, and in no way could this have replaced the best ones out there. However, it could easily replace a narrator who was just average. Most of the time I was listening, I forgot a computer was involved at all.

That said, there were a few glaring issues. There were a few, and just a few, big mispronunciations of fairly common words. But the bigger issue was that the computer got the accent wrong for a major character. The character was described as having an American accent, but the computer used a british accent instead. Even though the accent was wrong, it was still well done, and wasn't too distracting. I got the impression that with a few keystrokes from a competent editor, the problem would have completely gone away.

I wouldn't hesitate to listen to a virtual narrator in the future if it was for pulp sci-fi (I read a lot of it) or some other title I considered a quick, fun, low stakes read. However, if I cared about what I was reading, I'm going to want a talented human. There was a reason this one only got four and not five stars.