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Differently Morphous  By  cover art

Differently Morphous

By: Yahtzee Croshaw
Narrated by: Yahtzee Croshaw
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Publisher's summary

A magical serial killer is on the loose, and gelatinous, otherworldly creatures are infesting the English countryside. Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret.

After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country's magical history - and magical citizens - to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.

On the trail of the killer are the Ministry's top agents: a junior operative with a photographic memory (and not much else), a couple of overgrown schoolboys with godlike powers, and a demonstrably insane magician.

But as they struggle for results, their superiors at HQ must face the greatest threat the Ministry has ever known: the forces of political correctness....

Differently Morphous is the latest and greatest tale to emerge from the mind of writer (and narrator) Yahtzee Croshaw.

©2018 Yahtzee Croshaw (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

What listeners say about Differently Morphous

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not for everybody

My reaction to most of this book was "It ain't makin' me laugh, but I get it." There were a few chuckle worthy moments. Maybe this novel works better if you're already a fan of his other work. The 'OMG isn't this over the top PC stuff just soooo zany!?' got old fast. It also would have been better if it were shorter. There were too many times where I was bored and seeing just how much of this book was left. The narration would have been a 5 except for the voice effects which made the shogs and the possessed characters too difficult to understand.

For the stellar ratings, I felt really let down.

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248 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Was I listening to the same book???

Having read the reviews I can only surmise that I was listening to a completely different book than the reviewers who raved about it. I found nothing funny or compelling about it at all. And the over-the-top, beat-you-over-the-head political correctness of the story line just grated on my nerves. I kept listening (although I finally gave up at chapter 13) telling myself that it just HAD to get better. It did not. I'm disappointed and wish I could go back in time and not select this book.

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171 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Friendly Warning

Do NOT listen to this audiobook while driving or at least don't listen to it while driving at high speeds, because at various points of the story are moments that are so funny that you will nearly pass out from laughter. I've had a few close calls myself and I was lucky enough to narrowly avoid losing consciousness and hitting anything or wandering off the road, but others might not be so fortunate.

P.S. in the event you do not need my warning and you do end up getting in a car accident as a result, I would kindly ask that you do not sue Mr. Croshaw. He does good work.

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136 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Witty and amusing but too on-the-nose

There are genuine laugh out loud moments of wit and humor, usually punctuating the end of a chapter like the punchline of a joke six minutes in the making. Unfortunately, the satire of PC culture is too broad and too, to steal the word from another reviewer, cringeworthy to be funny. Not that I don't think the subject matter is worthy of satire, but it was applied with the subtlety of a trowel, providing no insight.

The world building had promise, but never achieves much. Secondary characters are drawn as stereotypes and the main characters lack depth. The denouement opens the door for a sequel, but not enough was done in this story to earn another installment.

The performance ranged from quite good to strained, depending on who was speaking.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience, and give it a mild recommendation.

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100 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Laugh out loud funny!

Every time I listen to one of Yahtzee's books I prepare to be embarrassed in public. I can't count how many times a snort, giggle, or outright guffaw has slipped out in public because one of his books is on in my headphones. The plots are clever, the dialogue is hilarious, and Croshaw narrates them perfectly.

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72 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Meddling Muggles Muddle it Up

The Ministry of Occultism has quietly for centuries suppressed magical powers that manifested themselves in children, creating schools for magical kids designed to repress those skills. In Yahtzee Croshaw's world, the Muggles are in control of the magic. Allison is expelled from that school when it turns out her power -- eidetic memory -- is not a magical power. The Ministry hires her at the same time that magical creatures from another dimension, blobs called Fluidics, enter England and are accepted as citizens.

Jokes start piling up about strange-looking refugees, dual personality creatures, and the politically correct way to refer to them. The initial droll response to these jokes morphs into groans as they are repeated too often. Doubly frustrating because the mockery of PC zealots on one hand is treated equally with racists who want to kill the "differently morphous" and "dual personality" creatures, which are easy to project onto real life groups like Syrian refugees and transgender people.

But at the heart of it all is a murder mystery -- who is killing the Fluidics, how and why? The answers are actually clever. Put it all together and you have a decently constructed world that includes magic and monsters, the emergence of a decently plotted murder mystery, some decently developed characters (especially the loony tune Dr. Diabolory), and uneven but still satisfying humor of the Douglas Adams type.

The author's own narration is pretty good, he certainly brings his characters to life with his voices, and maintains his smarmy tone throughout. His voice is not, well, mellifluous, to say the least, so it does sometimes grate. But minor quibble, he still gets the job done. Decently.

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46 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • jh
  • 08-26-18

Just ok

The performance was good but I just couldn’t get into the story. I would skip it if I could go back.

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Cynical Harry Potter meets Dirk Gently

What other book might you compare Differently Morphous to and why?

What starts off as a cynical/burocratic take on a magical universe like Harry Potter turns on it's heel to be more a kin to Dirk Gently.
I lovely mystery being to be investigated...
I deep world of magic and monsters...
All told through a quiet comedic performance that would sit comfortably next to Monty Python.

What about Yahtzee Croshaw’s performance did you like?

The vocal performance was top notch, every character has a unique voice and their own life inside the authors head. It's the kind of story that can't be on just as background noise.

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good enough that it kind of pisses me off.

So this is the second audio book that I have listened to by Croshaw, the other being 'Will Save the Galaxy...' And as with that other book he is parodying a genre, this time it's Monster Hunters / Wizard School. What annoys me is that his parody stories are better than half of the 'serious' writers out there. Yahtzee got more than his share of talent.

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40 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Childish and Clumsy

When the moral of the story is “sometimes you’re right when you find foreigners and minorities revolting or dangerous,” your political satire might be a touch off-base. Croshaw can turn a phrase, make fun jokes, and do silly accents with style, but that doesn’t make up for the abundance of sloppy strawmen and caricatures.

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23 people found this helpful