Author: Stephen King
Reader: Raul Esparza
Available on Audible.com
Special feature: Author’s Afterword read by Stephen King
Short Review: A beautiful autumn day in the small town of Chester’s Mill, Maine is interrupted by a clear impenetrable dome which cuts it off from the outside world. Our story carries us along to meet a broad cast of local characters. Great reader and a captivating (but long) story.
The Precipice (The Asteroid Wars)
Author: Ben Bova
Readers: Scott Brick
Short Review: Well-woven story set in a not-too-distant-future full of corporate intrigue and environmental chaos, both on earth and in colonized outer space. The amazing readers bring our cast of characters to life – I highly recommend it and am scheming for when I can start the next book in the sequence.
Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Reader: Michael Shanks
Short Review: Star crossed lovers set in an intricately woven universe including space ships, elements of magic and linguistics. The reader needed someone to insist on better pacing in an otherwise very solid performance.
Anathem Author: Neal Stephenson Reader: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, Neal Stephenson Short Review: A pretty good but overly long book from one of my favorite authors, read less-than-ideally. This alternate future tale depicts a world where the intellectual elite are forcibly cloistered in pseudo-monastic communities around the world where they’re free to think [...]
Going Postal Author: Terry Pratchett Reader: Stephen Briggs Short Review: Another very entertaining Discworld novel read wonderfully by Stephen Briggs. This story follows forcible-reformed former con-artist Moist von Lipwig (a.k.a. Albert Spangler) as he attempts to reform the Ankh-Morpork post office at the behest of Lord Vetinari. The story teems with great characters, intrigue, technomancy, [...]
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: A Novel Author: Michael Chabon Reader: Peter Riegert Extra features: The audiobook includes an interview with Michael Chabon about his inspiration for the book, his favorite books and genres, and his writing process. Short Review: Chabon’s Hugo and Nebula award-winning alternate history of a world without Israel but with a temporary [...]
Fragile Things: Stories Author: Neil Gaiman Read by: Neil Gaiman Short Review: A solid book of short stories read beautifully by the author. Long Review: I am a fan of Gaiman’s, so I was bound to pick this up eventually. Jeanne’s glowing review spurred me to pick it up at the library, and I was [...]
The Host: A Novel
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Reader: Kate Reading
Short Review: Meyer’s first foray into sci-fi is very satisfying. Officially an adult novel (in contrast with the young adult label applied to the Twilight series) The Host explores a post-invasion world from the perspective of one of the invaders. It is well written, well read and is still haunting me weeks after I finished listening.
Mostly Harmless Author: Douglas Adams Reader: Martin Freeman Short Review: A good reading of my least favorite book in the series. Long Review: The disappearance of Fenchurch, the appearance of Random, the multiple Trillians–it’s all too much, and too dark to fit well into the series. Adams himself was open about his disappointment in the [...]
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games Available from Audible.com Author: Suzanne Collins Reader: Carolyn McCormick Short Review: Creative, captivating and intense young-adult drama with a strong 16-year-old female protagonist and set in a brutal far-future. Decent reader, but I kept wishing for a bit more emotion in her reading. That said, the story was so captivating that I [...]