-
The Dragon’s Eye (Erec Rex Book 1) by Kaza Kingsley
Reader: Simon Jones
Extra: Introduction by author Kaza Kinglsley in which she explains how she got the idea of Erec Rex and some of her process of creating the first book.Short Review: Entertaining fantasy in which a 12 year old boy discovers a parallel but hidden world of magic. Fun characters plus a great reader makes for a captivating audio book.
-
The Precipice by Ben Bova (The Asteroid Wars)
Readers: Scott Brick
, Amanda Karr
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.
-
Local Custom by Sharon Lee and 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.
-
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Author: Neil Gaiman
Reader: Neil Gaiman
Short Review: A stunning story beautifully read by the author. Coraline’s boredom leads her to a place just beyond our reality. What at first seems just odd and fun becomes creepy and worth escape, but only by delicate inches. Gaiman’s voice lulls and tantalizes. He is just so good at painting images with the combination of words and his own voice.
-
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga, Book 4)
Reader: Ilyana Kadushin and Matt Walters
Short Review: Your patience is rewarded and the camera pulls back to show you the full picture of where we have been headed across the landscape of these 4 extravagant novels. For me this was a very satisfying conclusion to the Twilight Saga.
-
Storm Front (Dresden Files, Book 1) by Jim Butcher
Reader: James Marsters
Short Review: Down on his luck detective Harry Dresden also happens to be a real, live wizard. This introduction to Harry’s world includes magic, potions, a talking skull named Bob, werewolves – and of course a murder mystery. James Marsters is brilliant.
-
The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyer
The Host: A Novel
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Reader: Kate ReadingShort 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.
-
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga, Book 3)
Eclipse (Twilight Saga, Book 3)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Reader: Ilyana Kadushin and Matt WaltersShort Review: Meyer gets better with each book. With this book, she has found a good rhythm. The quieter bits of this story have a stronger voice than those in the first 2 books of the saga. Book 3 digs deeply into Bella’s relationships and finally starts to ask the question of “Why?”. We still get good action scenes (because there is always action in a world that has vampires and werewolves) – but we also see Bella make conscious choices with an eye to the consequences in her future.
-
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga, Book 2)
Reader: Ilyana Kadushin
Short Review: The good: a fresh and creative version of vampire and werewolf legends with characters you care about and great action scenes. The less good: lots and lots of Bella’s internal angst-ridden dialogue (not that there is anything wrong with that, if you have a taste for that sort of thing).
-
A Hat Full of Sky: The Continuing Adventures of Tiffany Aching and The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Reader: Stephen Briggs
Short Review: If you loved Wee Free Men, you will love Hat Full of Sky. Same great reader – same fun mix of humor, youth, adventure and self-discovery. Tiffany Aching is now 11 and training with a mountain witch. She finds herself faced with a new opponent called a Hiver. It takes all her strength of will (plus the help of the Nac Mac Feegle and a number of other witches) to make it to the end of this entertaining story.
-
The Wee Free Men: A Story of Discworld by Terry Pratchett
Reader: Stephen Briggs
Short Review: Fabulous and laugh-out-loud funny. Tiffany Aching, 9 year old witch-in-training, takes us on a wild ride to fairyland to rescue her baby brother and save the world from the evil queen. She has the help of the Nac Mac Feegle who happen to be 6 inch tall, fearless, phenomenally strong, kilt-wearing, blue-skinned, red-haired little men who speak with a strong Scottish brogue and are prone to thieving, drinking and fighting. Stephen Briggs reads this brilliantly. It is Terry Pratchett and Discworld at their best.
-
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Reader: Ilyana Kadushin
Short Review: One 17 year old girl who always felt different (and is a klutz to the extreme) crosses paths with a family of exquisite vampires. Romance and intrigue ensues. It grew on me, but it took a while.
