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by Scott Danielson
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The Reader's Chair -- Bujold on Audio
The Reader's Chair is a company that produces audiobooks with all three of these qualities. They have published
audio versions of nearly all of Lois McMaster Bujold's novels, and they have plans to finish the collection. I've
listened to the first three of Bujold's Vorkosigan novels so far, and am looking forward to finishing
the entire series. Falling Free is the first, though it doesn't directly involve the Vorkosigans, but is set
earlier in the same universe. Shards of Honour and Barrayar start the Vorkosigan saga.
The team of Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan performs all of Bujold's works. This duo is a perfect fit for Bujold's
writing. They trade off reading, often acting against each other while telling the story. The result is unique and very satisfying.
Falling Free introduces us to Leo Graf, an engineer hired to teach zero-g welding techniques to students at a space
station. He's not told initially that the students are genetically engineered people (Quaddies) who were created
to be efficient zero-g workers. The company that hires Graf owns the patent, and therefore believes that it owns the people.
Barrayar is best known for the first appearance of Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, whose life is the subject of many
of Bujold's other novels. In this one, Bujold explores the difficulties of the relationship between Cordelia and Aral,
and Cordelia's personal struggle for acceptance in a new society.
The audio versions are first-rate. Hanson and Cowan read the books with enthusiasm, providing different characters with
different inflections. Great care was taken to make these novels a listening pleasure.
The Reader's Chair recently announced that they are going to re-issue all their titles on MP3-CDs. These will be available
in addition to their cassette versions. The MP3-CDs have many advantages -- they can cram 11 hours of quality sound on
one CD. This allows a much lower price (from what I can tell, it's about half the cost). Their web site contains links to
audio samples -- I invite you to give them a listen.
I hope to see The Reader's Chair branch out into more authors. They tell me
there are some possibilities on the horizon, but offer no specifics yet.
Their attention to quality in production makes me look forward to
listening to many more authors in their list of offerings.
NEWS from the world of SF Audio
A new Star Trek release from Simon and Schuster Audio -- Star Trek: The
Eugenics Wars, The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, by Greg Cox, 3
hours, read by Anthony Stewart Head.
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Scott discovered the world of SF audio years ago, when he spent two hours a day in his car. His commute has since shortened considerably, but his love for audio remains. |
There are three things that make an audiobook great. First: (obviously) it has to be a good story. No one I know
can listen to a 10-hour audiobook version of an uninteresting novel. Even stuck in traffic. Second: the reader
has to perform the book, not simply read it. If the reader sounds uninterested, or is just reciting the author's
words, it is difficult for the listener to pay attention. Again, not even if stuck in traffic. Third: it has to
be unabridged. Abridgements are rarely satisfying and often disjointed. I want the entire author's work; if I
want an abridgment, I'll go to the movies.
Shards of Honour gives us the story of Cordelia Naismith and Lord Aral Vorkosigan, who are on opposite sides of a
war. Stranded on a planet together, they share many experiences in their struggle to survive.
All three of these books are well written, and I'm not the only one who thinks so -- Falling Free is a Nebula
winner, and Barrayar won the Hugo. They are wonderful entertainment. The characters are interesting and well-rounded;
the plots very quick and at times surprising.
 
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