Audiobooks!
Great news from my agent —nine of my novels are being signed to become audiobooks! I am excited. I've been wishing for this ever since I became hooked on listening to audiobooks myself. This package does not include my Chaos Chronicles book, and won't affect our homebrew full-cast audio production of Neptune Crossing (still in the "we hope to get started again realsoonnow" stage). It does include most of the Star Rigger books and several of my standalone novels. Nothing's ever final until the contracts are signed, of course, so I should probably hold off on more specific details until things are official.
My own love affair with audiobooks started when I discovered you can download them for free from the public library and listen to them on your favorite MP3 player (a Zune, in my case). I love listening to books while walking the dog, which I do for at least an hour every day. I've been listening to a lot of books outside my own genre, books I'd never find time to sit down and read, even as ebooks carried in my pocket. I started with Robert Parker mysteries, and moved on to some thrillers. I've learned that the voice of the narrator makes an enormous difference even with a good book. (With a bad book, it just makes it harder to decide when to give up.) In some cases, I've stumbled onto some fine listening simply by looking for other books read by a narrator I like. Here are some of my recent favorites:
- The Jack Reacher series, featuring a retired MP turned wanderer, by Lee Child (read by Dick Hill)
- Cold Choice, a well-crafted and realistic submarine thriller by Larry Bond (read by Dick Hill)
- The Myron Bolitar series, featuring a pro sports agent who sidelines as a detective, by Harlan Coben (read by Jonathan Marosz) [The last couple in the series were narrated by other readers, including the author. Not even in the same universe.]
- Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath—a young adult, alternate history, SF series by Scott Westerfeld (read by Alan Cumming) [This one the library only carried on CD.]
- Ender's Game, the SF classic, by Orson Scott Card (read by Stefan Rudnicki, with Gabrielle De Cuir and David Birney, Scott Brick, Jason Cole, Harlan Ellison, Christian Noble, Don Schlossman, M.E. Willis and Orson Scott Card) [Ditto, on CD.]
Labels: audiobook, personal news, publishing, science fiction
posted by Jeffrey A. Carver @ 3:21 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
ok, this would be more of a young adult/youth fiction--"inkheart" by cornelia funke, narrated by the incredible lynn redgrave. it is available only on c.d. but it is so well done.
Yes! That's another one I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, if I recall correctly, Lynn Redgrave did not read the following books.
Great news!
I've been Audio Booking for over 25 years. Back when they were on Tape.
And I too, use the library. Books on CD: "Rip" to your laptop or computer and then transfer to the MP3 player. (Mine is a Creative Zen (8GB). The nice feature is that you are not strapped to earphones. It has a built in speaker.
Recommend checking (free) http://librivox.org/. There are some good readers there, but you have to look for them.
Also: So B. It by Sarah Weeks. A mentally challenged girl and her child, look for the girl's father. Keep a tissue handy!
And: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. Another "tissue" book.
Both of the above are technically YA, but so well written that you won't notice.
I'm just finishing the 12th book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. Read by Lisette Lecatt. Excellent series and reader!
Those are all new ones to me. Thanks for listing them.
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