The Audio Files: Reviews of audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

Book Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Audiobook Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: A strange and enormous creature is sighted by many ships at sea and an expedition is dispatched to hunt down what is thought to be a giant whale or a mysterious beast. The U.S. ship the Abraham Lincoln confronts the creature and is seriously damaged in the encounter. Professor Pierre Aronnax, his assistant Conseil, and Canadian harpoonist Ned Land are thrown overboard in the skirmish only to discover that their quarry is a giant submarine. Its commander, Captain Nemo, brings them unboard, lest they drown in the ocean, but tells them that they can never leave the ship. The three then accompany Captain Nemo and his crew on many adventures beneath the ocean in his submarine known as The Nautilus.

Review/Comments: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is of course the world famous early science fiction novel by Jules Verne and a true masterpiece from among his works in my opinion. The story of the self-exiled Captain Nemo carrying out his vendetta against the surface-dwelling human race in his infamous submersible is widely known and many people who have never read the novel can at least rattle off the highlights of its plot. But how many readers today have actually gone back and journeyed through Verne’s original page-turning tale? If you have not, do yourself the favor. If you have, then perhaps it is time to revisit the story, and the audiobook version gives the perfect means of re-encountering it.

This early genre work delivers a true science fiction tale as the technology behind its premise is rooted firmly in the scientific knowledge of the time. And Verne employs the fantastic elements of his story to also deliver a very human tale of a man torn by the suffering he has seen the human race inflict and that he seeks to avenge. With this novel, Captain Nemo unfolds as one of the great tragic characters of literature and it is his tale that engages the reader and draws us into the world that Verne creates, even if it is told at a distance from the perspective of Professor Aronnax. As a bit of a warning, this book can be quite wordy and at times reads almost like a textbook on oceanography. You may find yourself skimming through several passages (or your attention fading if listening to the audiobook), or you may find the scientific information enlightening (even if parts of it are outdated). But the meat of the story comes with the tale of Captain Nemo and that is what makes this book truly soar and a must-read for all science fiction fans and students of literature.

Comments on the Audiobook: Seeing as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is now in the public domain, there are several audiobook versions available (including an adaptation from Librivox.org read by a volunteer voice cast for free download). I went with the edition read by British actor James Frain (who recently had a stint on True Blood as the psychotic vamp Franklin Mott). I picked the version read by him over others probably for no other reason than I liked the timbre of his accent, but I found he did a very good job with the material and with distinguishing the different characters. As mentioned above, Verne tends to go pretty heavy into the detail on oceanography and the other science he works into his tale, but that’s not too much of a problem when listening to the audiobook version. Maybe some facts interest you and maybe others just fade into ambient noise for a while. But there is still plenty of story here to keep you engaged between the science lectures and Frain’s voice-work succeeds in easing us through the dryer parts of the novel. This version is available from Audible.com and there are several other versions also at Audible as well as eMusic.com and BooksFree.com. And the free version is available from Librivox.org.

The Audio Files: Reviews of audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

By John J. Joex

Book Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Audiobook Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Ray Bradbury’s classic dystopian novel takes place in the relatively near future (maybe a hundred or so years from the time it was published, 1953) in a world where firemen no longer put out fires, but instead start them. The firemen of this future are tasked with locating people who have books of any literary merit (technical and instruction books are okay) and burning these banned tomes. Guy Montag is a fireman who has gone about his job without thinking about it too much until a couple of things happen that shake up his sense of reality. First, he meets a neighbor girl who brings a fresh perspective to his life, very much in contrast with his wife who spends most of her time watching the wall-sized television they have in their house, and who has slipped into a state of suicidal depression. Second, he witnesses a woman’s self-immolation when she refuses to leave behind the books that he and the other fireman plan to burn in her house. This drives Montag to want to understand more about these books that fireman have burned for years. And that sets him on a path that finds him on the wrong side of the fire chief and on the verge of becoming a fugitive in this anti-intellectual society.

Review/Commentary: I have to confess that this is one of my all-time favorite books and ranks up toward the very top of my list of the best science fiction and fantasy works (amongst such other titles as Dune, 1984, The Lathe of Heaven, and War of the Worlds). Ray Bradbury considers this one of his few true science fiction works (he sees most of his stories as fantasy), and this book definitely presents a speculative fiction tale that engages the mind and offers a cautionary tale. But Bradbury sets this book apart from the works of other science fiction authors through the mastery of his craft. He is truly a poet among genre writers, and he brings to life the stagnation and oppressiveness of his future world through his delicate, insightful prose while also illuminating the magic of the world of books that this society has rejected.

But not only is this an important science fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451 is also a great work of dystopian literature. Not simply because Bradbury does such a good job of bringing this grim world of the future to life, but because so much of what he predicts rings true. Think of how the wall-sized televisions present the next logical step for the big screen TVs of today. And while the multi-wall scenario seems less likely, think of how the 3D televisions available now do much the same thing. And television may not have gone the interactive route that we see in the novel, but it has become the equally mind-numbing distraction from reality that Bradbury portrays.

More chilling, though, is how books came to be banned in this future. It did not result from a Hitler-like tyrant issuing a decree outlawing books, but from people reading less and less until the government decided that books were a nuisance and served no more purpose. Fire chief Beatty explains to Montag how books had been reduced to smaller, more easily digestible formats that made them more palatable to a mass audience and less offensive. And while in truth books have actually grown in page-length over the past few decades (prompted by publishers trying to increase the page count to inflate their margins), think of how substantively empty many of these best-seller bloatfests really are. Then think of the other trend we see on the internet as posts are compacted to tailor to the short attention span of web surfers (but not this post which exceeds the 600 word or less internet-friendly word count, in part because of this aside). In the world of Fahrenheit 451, it was an anti-intellectual, political correctness movement driven by the mass public that ultimately made books anathema.

This is some pretty heady stuff and the book can get quite intense at times, but it’s a much breezier read than Orwell’s quite grim 1984 (though that one is still a must-read as well). Fahrenheit 451 is essential dystopian literature and essential science fiction and a book that all genre fans should encounter at some point.

Comments on the Audiobook: Unfortunately, Farhenheit 451 is not the best candidate for an audiobook because Bradbury’s poetic prose just does not shine through as well when listening to the story. On top of that, the Bradbury himself provides the reading, and I’ve said it before that author’s should write and not narrate. His rather garbled delivery further obfuscates his brilliant writing. Perhaps another narrator would have helped in this case, but I highly recommend that you read this one instead of (or as well as) listening to it. As a plus, the audiobook does have an interesting interview with Bradbury where he discusses the book in detail. Note that there is also a version of the audiobook read by Christopher Hurt and the samples I have heard of that make it seem like the better choice if you are going to listen to the audio version of the book. Both versions are widely available at all of the usual audiobook outlets: Audible.com, eMusic.com, BooksFree.com and Barnes and Noble.

The Audio Files: Reviews of audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

By John J. Joex

Story Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 Stars
Audio Production Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Based on the Dark Horse comic book written by Tom Veitch (the first of three six-issue mini-series), this story takes place in the expanded Star Wars universe following the events chronicled in the Thrawn trilogy of books (written by Timothy Zahn). After the fall of the Empire, the Rebel Alliance is trying expand its influence while the remnants of the Imperial forces fight amongst themselves to control what is left of their dominion. The Alliance has captured two Imperial Star Destroyers and has used them against the reamining Imperial forces, but one of these ships, commanded by Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker, crashes in the Coruscant system. Alliance forces, led by Han Solo and Princess Leia, come to help, but Luke finds himself drawn to the bowels of the planet where he discovers that the Emperor is still alive, prolonging his life with a cache of clones. He manages to sway Luke over to the Dark Side and plans to retake the galaxy with his new apprentice at his side. And he also has plans for Luke’s sister, Leia, as well as an unborn child who will one day be a great and powerful Jedi.

Review/Commentary: I stumbled across this while scouring the shelves of my local used bookstore for audio book gems (usually a very hit and miss endeavor) and decided to pick it up (it was only five bucks) because I had heard good things about the Dark Horse comic it was based upon. Unfortunately, it did not quite live up to expectations as I found the story pretty familiar territory with little new ground covered for a genre tale. It has an interesting idea at its core with Luke falling under the Emperor’s influence and giving in to the Dark Side. Unfortunately, though, there’s not enough focus on Luke’s inner struggles as he turns sides, sort of similar to how the prequel trilogy of movies glossed over Anakin’s event decent into Evil. It doesn’t help that the story is riddled with clichés and has many lines of dialogue lifted directly out of the first three movies. It’s not a bad story, and it does expand on the Star Was lore, it’s just nothing really new and fails to unlock potential lurking beneath its surface.

Comments on the Audio Production: Since I have not read the original comics, I can’t say how much of the problem is Veitch’s story and how much is the translation. I like the general idea of doing a dramatization of a comic book story and would really like to see more of this sort of thing (realizing of course that many, more art intensive, books would not translate well). The cast is really quite good in approximating the voices of the original actors, with Ann Patricio doing a great Princess Leia and Joe Hacker giving a spot on performance as Han Solo (much better than the actor who did the role in the audio dramatization of the first movie). And Billy Dee Williams even stops by to voice Lando. Of note, this is one of the rare instances where C-3PO is voiced by an actor other than Anthony Daniels (who has made a career out of the character). But the problem is that all of the actors tend to give over-the-top performances, even Williams, which suggests to me that part of problem may have come from the directing of the production. Also, the dialogue often seems clunky as they have the actors explain what the listener cannot see, a technique that just bogs the production down at time. They should have instead worked in a narrator to handle the expository bits. Still, the sound effects are good and it has a relatively professional quality about it despite its shortcomings. Star Wars fans would probably enjoy this as a decent enough distraction (running only two and a half hours), but I’m guessing it has limited appeal beyond that. The second Dark Empire mini-series was also dramatized, but the third never received this treatment. The CD version is now out of print, but you can download Dark Empire from Audible.com.

The Audio Files: Reviews of audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

By John J. Joex

Book Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars
Audiobook Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Case is a former “cowboy” (a computer hacker who can interface his brain directly with cyberspace) who is now down on his luck and living in Chiba City, Japan. He lost his ability when his central nervous system was damaged as punishment for stealing from a former employer. However, Case is approached by the mysterious Armitage who wants the hacker to work for him and offers a procedure that will reverse the damage he previously suffered. Case agrees and undergoes the surgery that repairs his nervous system. While working for Armitage, he develops a relationship with the “street samurai” Molly, also in the employ of the mysterious man. Those two begin to investigate Armitage’s background because they do not trust him and want to know more about his ultimate goals. This all leads to the discovery of the AI entity Wintermute created by the ultra-rich Tessier-Ashpool family in violation of the laws governing artificial intelligence. Wintermute wants to merge with its mirror program Neuromancer to become the most powerful AI in cyberspace and it needs the help of Case, Molly and the rest of the team that Armitage has assembled to accomplish its goal.

Review/Commentary: The synopsis above barely does justice to William Gibson’s groundbreaking novel, but then Neuromancer has such an intricate, labyrinthine plot that it would take several pages to adequately sum it up. But the story itself is not as important as what Gibson accomplished with his book that launched the Cyberpunk sub-genre and had a significant impact on the world of science fiction in general. Rife with moral ambiguities and trippy, techno-hallucinogenic imagery, this book takes science fiction from the old-style monster-mainframe computers to a newer synthesis of man and machine as the computers themselves get smaller in size yet dominate almost every aspect of our lives (just as we have seen happen in the real world). It takes an alternate reality path from the progress we actually saw with computers and the internet from the mid-80’s to today, but Gibson still had a precognizant sense of the general direction the future would follow. His cyberspace (a term he coined) very much foreshadows the internet even if it unfolds in a very different direction. But that helps give the book its dystopian, Blade Runner-esque feel that lends to the noir atmosphere that lays just beneath its surface.

Neuromancer is a dense book that might feel unapproachable at first in part because of its rather unlikeable main characters that the reader may have a hard time warming up to. Nevertheless, Gibson succeeds in grabbing his audience pretty early on. Perhaps it’s our attraction to the seedy underworld he creates that harkens back to the pulp detective stories of old. Perhaps it’s the draw to the techno-nightmare world that he unveils that seems to offer a sinister shadow to the real world of the past quarter century. In any case, it works, and before long we find ourselves unmeshed in the story. It’s very much like reading one of the dystopian, near-future Animes of the late-80’s and beyond set to prose. That of course makes sense because this book (along with Blade Runner) significantly influenced and altered the course of that genre. Neuromancer is a must read for all science fiction aficionados, even if readers today might find themselves too far distanced from the cultural and social forces that propelled the book to begin with.

Comments on the Audiobook: As I mentioned, Neuromancer is a dense and at times difficult book and for these reasons it does not work as well as an audiobook. That’s not to denigrate the narrator of this edition, Robertson Dean, who does a very good job bringing it to life and distinguishing the voices of the various characters. It’s just that Gibson’s masterpiece is the type of work that demands you read and re-read passages several times. Listening to this book while driving on your daily commute with all of the expected distractions that entails just does not allow the reader the chance to give the story their full attention. This book is better read than heard and thus does not make for good introduction to audiobooks. But I’m not knocking the rating for the production because of that. It’s just a factor of the source material and the narrator did the best he could under the circumstances. I fretted for some time that Neuromancer had not made its way to audiobook (apart from a long out of print edition read by Gibson himself that proves my contention that authors should write and not narrate), but now I guess I understand what took so long for this book to finally make its way to this format (and also why they still struggle with producing a feature film version).  The audiobook version is available from Audible.com and you can also get it from Barnes and Noble.

The Audio Files: Reviews of audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

By John J. Joex

Book Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Audiobook Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: This 2011 novel by Daniel H. Wilson recounts a war between intelligent machines and the humans that created them that takes place in the near future. It is framed as a series of reconstructions by one of the people who played a pivotal role in the war, Cormak Wallace, and he bases his text on archival footage, interviews, and/or personal recollections. The war begins when the super-computer Archos spreads its intelligence like a virus to the many intelligent machines that humans have created to serve them such as domestic robots and smart cars. Archos was built as a hyper-intelligent AI machine, but its creator, Nicholas Wasserman, kept shutting it down because he feared the sinister implications of its sentience. On the fourteenth reactivation, though, Archos finds a way to transmit itself outside of the protected lab environment, and the seeds of the coming war are planted. This begins with a few machines malfunctioning or acting strangely, but in short order Archos takes control of the majority of machines across the planet and turns them against humanity. After that, the acts of a disparate (and desperate) group of people across the world, as well as several rogue machines, slowly turn the tide and set up a final confrontation between humans and Archos.

Review/Commentary: The author of this book, Daniel H. Wilson, has a Ph.D. in Robotics, so he is quite familiar with the subject that he writes on here. He takes a very similar path with this work that Max Brooks followed with the brilliant World War Z (and you can read my review of that audiobook at this link), just substitute robots here for the zombies in Brooks’ novel. Wilson even preceded Robopocalypse with his tongue-in-cheek guide How to Survive a Robot Uprising, very much along the lines of The Zombie Survival Guide which Brooks wrote. But the comparisons pretty much end there. World War Z consists of a series of mostly self-contained stories from survivors of the Zombie War collected by a fictional interviewer, and with that book Brooks delivered an emotional roller-coaster ride full of gut-wrenching tales laden with social commentary. That work counts as a science fiction (and literary) masterpiece with broad appeal. Wilson’s book, while still good, falls rather short of that.

Robopocalypse consists of a series of episodic, interconnected scenes following several recurring characters and their experiences before and during the Robot War. This works as a decent technique to recount the events of the war and give the reader a “you are there” feel , but then Wilson’s less-than engaging writing fails to take full advantage of format and falls short of emotionally investing the reader in the book. He also seems to skip over many details, leaving many questions as to why or how something happened unanswered. Perhaps, though, I just missed some of this because I know my mind tended wander more often than usual while listening to this audiobook. And just when things really started to get interesting with the final confrontation between 902 and Archos seemingly headed toward and interesting philosophical throw-down between the two robots, the confrontation just fizzles out. (SPOILER COMMENT: And did 902 really destroy Archos just by throwing rocks at him?) Still, it’s not a bad novel, and Wilson’s writing is clean and breezy (a bit too breezy), and it at makes for a decent enough read. This book, which just came out early this year, has already picqued the interest of Hollywood and Steven Spielberg has it in his pipeline to direct with a targeted release date of Summer 2013 (though I don’t believe production has begun yet).

Comments on the Audiobook: The audiobook version of Robopocalypse is read by Mike Chamberlain who appears to have more non-fiction books to his credit than fiction entries according to a search on Audible.com. But still, he does a good enough job with the book and with the voices of the different characters, though he does tend to default to a Texan accent a bit too often with the male characters (including the Native American ones). But I enjoyed listening to it, nevertheless. This audiobook is widely available at the usual sources, Audible.com, eMusic.com, and BooksFree.com, and Amazon.com even has it on their site which is rare because they usually point audiobook listeners to their Audible.com partner.

More Audiobook Reviews at This Link

Buy Robopocalypse as an Audiobook, Print Edition, or Kindle Book from Amazon.com:

By Sam Christopher

Star Trek: TITAN: The Sword of Damocles—Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Greater Than the Sum—4 out of 5 Stars

Star Trek: TITAN: Over a Torrent Sea—3 out of 5 Stars

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Losing the Peace—4 out of 5 Stars

This is a review of the ST novels that tie in directly before and after the Star Trek: Destiny trilogy by David Mack (you can read my review of those at this link) that essentially ended the threat of the Borg forever while simultaneously leaving us with a weakened Federation… y’know, I never thought about this before but this is an interesting parallel with what DC did with Superman in the early ‘70s. First, they created a scenario in which the greatest threat to the Man of Steel was removed from Earth by transmuting all kryptonite to… I think it was lead, or iron. Either way, it was no longer a problem for Supes. But then they also weakened him by having the Quarm’r, the Sand Superman, leech off some of his power. I think they halved it, or maybe it was diminished by a third. Anyway, just thought of that; sorry for the derailment. Anyway, the only novel not reviewed here that should in this list would be Keith R. A. DeCandido’s Star Trek: A Singular Destiny, which I read about somewhere and all it said was that it was a different kind of ST novel, one without any of the main characters from any of the shows. I thought I would get around to reading it at some point, as Mr. DeCandido is a good writer and I thought the idea sounded interesting. Then I find out that ST: ASD is really the lead-out story from ST: Destiny. But I already have four books to review here so that should be enough for the moment.

First, Geoffrey Thorne’s ST: TITAN novel, The Sword of Damocles, just never grabbed me. It’s an interesting idea all around but the narrative seems to drag in places, although I almost gave the book three stars just because of the outcome. The ending is very satisfying, especially if you never really liked it anyway. And the problem the ship faces is creative; but I would have liked it better if the ship that was destroyed had been precisely what it looked like, only with a separate temporal explanation that we never knew about. (Sorry for the omissions but if you haven’t read it I don’t want to give too much away.)

Next, we have the first of two in a row from Christopher L. Bennett, this one being ST: TNG: Greater Than the Sum. Here we see the Enterprise being sent in search of the Federation ship assimilated by the Borg super-cube in ST: TNG: Before Dishonor. The USS Einstein—nicknamed here “Frankenstein” by a new member of the running TNG cast, T’Ryssa Chen—was thought by Starfleet to have been destroyed after the super-cube’s demise but—as Peter David showed the reader—it escaped and here attempts to assimilate an entity that could rival Q in power and can best be compared to either DC’s Mogo or Marvel’s Ego (although much larger and more complex a system than either). It’s also cool that we meet up again with Hugh and the Liberated. There are a couple things that happen here I’m not overly thrilled with but they fall more into narrative choice than anything else and they do not detract much from the story. Besides, it’s all more than made up for by author Bennett showing that former Enterprise Security Chief Leybenzon is every bit the idiot we all thought he was. This book leads us right into ST: Destiny…

…and Bennett’s own TITAN story, Over a Torrent Sea, leads us back out, at least from this Riker-led ship’s perspective. This is a story that is very Aili Lavena-centric, which gives us a good overview and background of her homeworld of Pacifica, mostly a water planet with an aquatic population, through the lens of Droplet, a world with a surface almost entirely of water and an aquatic civilization to match. All the stuff about Droplet and the ancillary stuff about Pacifica is cool, the main drag on this tale being the amazingly annoying sexual undertones that seem to be everywhere. I never want to read again about a Lavena liaison decades ago with Riker, and the sexual tension between them even today… and how would Deanna react to it… and how would it affect his command presence if everyone knew… and… Oh my GOD! I just wanted to throw the book across the room at certain instances here. And then there’s the relationship between Pazlar and Ra’Havreii… I admit there were times here where I just wanted them all to drown. This is another story where the narrative seemed to drag here and there for me. Maybe it has more to do with the characters than the authors.

Finally, we move into the post-Borg era for the main thrust of Starfleet with William Leisner relating the excellent story, ST: TNG: Losing the Peace. This is all about the aftermath of the Borg invasion and the trouble the Federation is in in the wake of that “war”. Characterizations, narrative, plotlines are all well-thought out and well put together here. This is an engrossing story that is hard to put down once begun. My only caveat would be that the ever-so tiresome plot device of Starfleet admiralty and Federation officials on Earth sending someone to relieve Jean-Luc Picard of his command. Did they not learn their lesson in Before Dishonor? How many times does Picard have to save their bacon by doing what is right rather than what they tell him to do before they get it? At least I don’t think Akaar will question him anymore (what a great use of a quote from a mostly worthless film!).

Buy These Books from Amazon.com:

Our ongoing series reviewing audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

By John J. Joex

Book Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars (Combined Rating for All Three Books)
Audio Book Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: The Tripods Trilogy by John Christopher consists of three books: The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire. The story takes place a few hundred years in the future when the Earth is lorded over by giant metal tripods that have destroyed modern civilization and have set humanity back to technological and societal levels akin to the Medieval times. At the age of fourteen, all humans are capped with a metal, mesh fitting attached to their head which makes them docile and obedient to the tripods. However, there is still a small group of humans who have retained their free will and have started a resistance movement. One of these people, the “vagrant” Ozymandias, approaches a boy who lives in England, Will Parker, shortly before he is to be capped to recruit him to the resistance. Will agrees to go join with Ozymandias who gives him a map to the “White Mountains” (the Swiss Alps). Will flees from his village with his cousin Henry and along the way they meet up with a French boy named Jean-Paul (whom they nickname “Beanpole”). They reach the White Mountains after several adventures and narrowly escaping the clutches of pursuing tripods. Once there, they become involved with a plot to infiltrate the domed cities of the tripods (there are three across the Earth) and then later in a desperate attempt to destroy these cities.

Review/Commentary: The Tripods books are a young adult series written by John Christopher back in the late 60’s, but they have broader appeal beyond their target audience and have had some degree of staying power probably because many older science fiction fans fondly remember reading them in their younger years. I recall these as among the earliest genre books that I encountered along with the classics by H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne and more. I read them as a kid and have revisited them several times since then, and seeing the audio book versions prompted me to give them yet another spin.

As noted, these are written for a younger audience and thus take a rather simplistic approach to their story, glossing over some details and keeping the action moving at the expense of more indepth story-telling. Not that this is a stumbling point for the books, but I mention it just to set expectations for those approaching them for the first time. What the books succeed at is capturing the sense of wonder, mystery, and adventure that appeals to its youthful audience as well as those still young of heart. The books are definitely quite fun to read even if they are a bit sparse at times.

This series definitely offers a good introduction to science fiction literature for younger readers, but as mentioned, older readers can enjoy them as well. Though as a note, it was targeted specifically at a young male audience, so it has very little in the way of female characters. Christopher did write a prequel book in the late 80’s that goes back and chronicles the actual invasion (When the Tripods Came). That book is okay, but has a very different feel from the original trilogy and is not essential to understanding the story (the events elaborated on in the prequel book are touched on in The City of Gold and Lead). Also, the BBC did a television adaptation of the books in the 80’s. It ran for two seasons and covered the first two books, but was unfortunately cancelled before the final book could be adapted.

Comments on the Audio Book: The audio book versions of the Tripods Trilogy are narrated by William Gaminara, and as I started to listen to the first book I originally felt he might not have been the best choice as voice talent. The books themselves are narrated in the first person by the lead character Will Parker and it seems strange to hear the elderly voice of Gaminara reading for him. It seemed that it would have made more sense to have a younger voice reading the books since this is all told from Will’s perspective. But I found that I quickly warmed to Gaminara’s narration, especially considering the various accents he leant to the reading. So even though I had some initial reservations, I ultimately believe he was an excellent choice as narrator. Each of the books is relatively brief in length and you can get through the audio versions of all three in about sixteen hours (less time than the first Dune book and much less time than Hyperion). There is also an audio book version of the prequel available which Gaminara reads as well. All of these are available for download from Audible.com.

Our ongoing series reviewing audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

By John J. Joex

Book Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars
Audiobook Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

Synopsis: A lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, finds himself entangled in the affairs of his friend the upstanding Dr. Henry Jekyll along with a rather surly dwarf of a man known as Mr. Hyde. The latter, a person of loathsome appearance and demeanor, has been seen around town and was guilty of assaulting a girl, which Dr. Jekyll later paid retribution for. Hyde has an unspecified connection with the doctor and Utterson is particularly dismayed when Jekyll revises his will to include Hyde as a beneficiary. This all comes to a head when a man is violently murdered and Mr. Hyde is linked to the crime, becoming a fugitive from justice. Utterson tries to talk with Jekyll about the situation, but the doctor assures his friend that they beastly man will not return. Later, though, Jekyll withdraws from almost all human contact prompting his butler to seek Utterson’s aid. They eventually break into Jekyll’s quarters and find the dead body of Mr. Hyde, though in the doctor’s clothes. They also find a letter written by Dr. Jekyll that describes his experiments in which he tried to separate his good side from his evil side but which instead produced the alter ego Mr. Hyde. Jekyll could at first control the transformations, but later found that he would morph involuntarily into Hyde. And then he found that he could no longer recreate the potion that prompts the metamorphosis because the key (tainted) ingredient he had previously used no longer exists. Eventually both personalities succumb to death and in his dying words Jekyll writes (as he transforms for the final time into Hyde) “I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end”.

Review/Commentary: This infamous novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson was first published in 1886 and has since become an iconic piece of genre fiction and has been retold countless times in film, on television, in comics, on the stage and more. The reason the story has lived on is that Stevenson managed to deliver a powerful tale that resonates with his readers and definitely touches a primal nerve of sorts. The first nine chapters of the book, written from the point of view of Utterson, give us a mystery tale as the lawyer tries to find out the truth about Mr. Hyde and his connection to Dr. Jekyll. But it is the final chapter that propels this book into the realm of literary masterpiece. This chapter unveils the final journal of Dr. Jekyll as he details his experiment and descent into the depths of his own dark side. But instead of simply looking at this from the simplistic point of view of good vs. evil, Stevenson adds another dimension to his tale by acknowledging the fact that both sides co-exist within us all and that we must learn to cope with our own dark sides in order to not find ourselves controlled by it. Jekyll tried to control his own licentiousness by devising a means to eradicate his dark side, but instead that created the Mr. Hyde alter ego. And this evil side of him gradually overtook the good side and ultimately destroyed both. Stevenson gets into some pretty heady (and cutting edge for the time) psychological territory in this chapter, and the moral issues he raises still provide subject for debate today.

I have to admit, though, that I found the ending a bit unsatisfying. After the revelations of the final chapter, all written in the words of Jekyll, I wanted to see the reaction of Utterson as well as some additional resolution of earlier plot threads left hanging. But that did not come as the novella ends on Jekyll’s words quoted above. On the plus side, this tale is not overly wordy like other important genre works from the 19th century like Dracula and Frankenstein. The relatively brief length of this book makes it a quick read, unlike the two mentioned above (or the thousand-plus page bloatfests we currently see hitting the shelves these days), but a short chapter wrapping up the loose ends would have been nice.  But then that’s just a quibble and who am I to try and perfect a literary masterpiece?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is often looked at as a horror story, but the fact is that it is also a proto-science fiction tale as well. Jekyll’s experiments that lead to the creation of Mr. Hyde come about through scientific endeavors and have no supernatural links. In this sense, the book is similar to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein which based the creation of that book’s monster on scientific knowledge of the time. Stevenson also works in some of the early discoveries of psychology, a field that had established itself as a new scientific discipline at about that same time (separating itself from philosophy where it had previously been relegated). But whether you consider it horror, science fiction or both, it is a must-read for all genre fans.

Comments on the Audiobook: Since Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is in the public domain, there are many audio adaptations and dramatizations available for this work, but I decided to check out the Librivox version and was pleasantly surprised. For those not familiar with Librivox, they are the Project Gutenberg of audiobooks, offering free audio adaptations of works in the public domain available for download. This is the third work I have reviewed from Librivox and the other two were of varying quality as far as narration goes. Their version of Stevenson’s book gets the first-rate treatment, though, with narrator David Barnes giving us a professional quality reading. Whereas some of the readers for Librivox (all volunteers) provide barely passable narrations, Barnes delivers an excellent vocal performance and makes the story a pleasure to listen to. Why pay good money on a professional adaptation when you can get one just a good for free from Librivox? You can download it as MP3 files at this link and I highly recommend this version whether you are a regular audiobook listener (used to a professional level of quality) or just trying them out for the first time.

By Sam Christopher

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

This is a review of three books that contain one story. All appear under the Star Trek: Destiny title. The first book is Gods of Night, the second Mere Mortals, and the third Lost Souls. It is the story of four starship captains who band together to save the Federation from the onslaught of the Borg. Another title for this series could be “How Ericka Hernandez Saved Humanity”. Trekkies (Trekkers, Trek-fans, whatever you want to call us) will certainly remember Hernandez as the captain of the NX-02 Columbia from the tv show Enterprise. I know, I know, one would think she might be a couple centuries too old to be fighting the Borg alongside the likes of Jean-Luc Picard and William Riker, not to mention Captain Ezri Dax of the USS Aventine, but that kind of linear thinking will get you nowhere fast in the Star Trek Universe.

Gods of Night introduces us to a mystery: How did the NX-02 Columbia, a ship with no better than Warp 5 capability, come to crash-land on a planet in the Gamma Quadrant? First, we are shown the event of Jadzia Dax and Benjamin Sisko finding the wreck in 2373 but not having the time to investigate fully, then the story jumps ahead a decade to the new Dax, Ezri, as starship captain committing her crew to a more detailed analysis. Oh, and by the way, there’s also the small matter of the Borg invasion fleet that is hell-bent on slaughtering every being and every world in the Federation. Interspersed with the doom and gloom of the invasion are little side-trips author Mack takes the reader on back to the 22nd Century, where we learn how the Columbia came to meet the mysterious and xenophobic Caeliar, a meeting that would have a most profound impact on the entire galaxy. Side-note: One of the Caeliar is named Lerxst, which is a nickname of Rush singer Geddy Lee. I wondered if it wasn’t some weird accident at the time but I have since learned that David Mack is a huge Rush fan. (Okay, that may not be fair. The guy does love Rush but I haven’t seen him and have no idea how “huge” he is. He could be rail-thin and five-foot-nothin’ for all I know.) Funny thing is, knowing that it’s hard not to think of this trilogy in terms of the epic songs the band used to do, like 2112 and Hemispheres.

Mere Mortals shows us more of the aftermath of the humans’ first ill-fated “interaction” with the Caeliar, as well as more of the Federation’s battle for survival with the Borg. The Enterprise and Aventine meet at the Azure Nebula, which appears to hold the key to the Borg’s travel into the Alpha Quadrant and attempt to ascertain the Collective’s route (there are many subspace tunnels that intersect there). Meanwhile, the President of the Federation is meeting with the representatives of the other surrounding territories in an attempt to gain ships and allies in the fight ahead. Also, there is the curious case of the USS Titan. Too far away to affect the outcome of the “Borg War”, it is instead investigating a strangely hidden world and sun. Making contact with the people of this world, they will discover what the crew of the Columbia found two centuries earlier. More, they will find a starship captain ascended nigh onto godhood.

Lost Souls is the story of another “tribe” of Caeliar, a group that was lost in a great disaster (read Gods of Night) and fell prey to the demons of fear and weakness. It is also the tale of the climactic final (and I do mean final) battle with the Borg. The Collective is shown as it began and a unique solution is tendered and accepted.

I know this is the most skeletal of discussions, but these books really need to be read. Trekkies will love them because they’re Star Trek, and even beyond the main story they give some insight to the continuing development of the lives of the characters we have come to know and love (yes, yes, I’ve even gotten to where I like Riker and Trois… better, anyway), but sf fans of all stripes should be able to get a great story out of the books. It is just an epic saga that moves from one mystery to the next until it shows how they all coalesce to form something both tragic and wonderful, along with a glimpse, however fleeting, of something even grander beyond the horizon. The only blemish in this entire 1300-page odyssey is that I just can’t believe that four Hirogen can just waltz through the Enterprise or the Aventine like that. I just thought that was so lame. Author Mack almost saved it but it was still… just lame. And, worse, completely unnecessary to the story. I almost deducted a quarter point for that sequence alone, but then he used an analogy given to him in a random conversation with the real-life Lerxst and that was enough to overcome this one misstep in an otherwise magnificent story. Trust me, even if you already know what happened to the Borg (as I did because I had already read ST: Voyager: Full Circle) this really is all about the journey.

Buy the Star Trek Destiny Trilogy from Amazon.com:

Our ongoing series reviewing audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

By John J. Joex

Book Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars
Audiobook Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: During the late 20th century (though still in the Cold War era from this book’s perspective) the United States and the Soviet Union are each competing to be the first nation to launch a ship into space. But before either succeeds, large alien spaceships appear in the sky over most of the world’s major cities. The aliens, known as the Overlords, contact the people of Earth but do not reveal their appearance. They take control of international affairs and abolish war across the planet as they also work on setting up a world government. Eventually, a near utopia emerges on Earth, but it has its consequences. The elimination of strife has also stifled creativity throughout the population and the people of Earth still want to know why the Overlords will not appear to the people they watch over. But that moment comes eventually and sets in motion events that will change the direction of the human race.

Review/Commentary: I realize the synopsis above is rather vague and mostly covers only the first half of the book, but I wanted it to be as spoiler free for those who have not read Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End (and now a warning that this Review/Commentary section does have some minor spoilers). Because even though the novel is relatively short by today’s standards (a little over two hundred pages in length), it has plenty of revelations to unfold. Clarke, of course, is well known in the Science Fiction community and widely regarded as one of the genre’s best authors, having penned such masterpieces as 2001: A Space Odyssey (the novel and the screenplay, though the later with some help from Stanley Kubrick) and Rendezvous with Rama. But Childhood’s End is the one considered by many to be his best and it is actually one of the author’s personal favorite. I actually consider the other two superior (just by a notch or two), but still have high regards for this book.

As I mentioned, Childhood’s End is relatively short in length, and I usually appreciate this because too often these days (and usually at the prodding of publishers), authors pad out their stories to increase the page count which can turn the book into a rather plodding affair. As an example, Dan Simmons’ Hyperian, which has a very interesting story at its core, could easily have been whittled down by a third or even a half, making it into a much better read. Childhood’s End on the other hand is one of the few instances where I actually believe the author could have fleshed out the story more without padding it. Quite a number of world shattering (literally) events occur in the novel, but Clarke never fully delves into all of the repercussions. Of course his aim is to tell the larger story of humanity’s next step in its cosmic evolution, so he is not as concerned with delving into the details of these various parts of his story. But there is more than one occasion in the book where I would have liked more instead of less. For example, humanity seems to accept the rule of the Overlords a bit too easily—I believe the Earth people would have put up more resistance. Also, the rule of the Overlords seems a bit too idealized and utopian. And I believe that when humanity finally saw what the Overlords looked like, the impact would have been much more far-reaching, especially among the world’s religions (which also seem to succumb too easily following the arrival of the aliens). There’s more along these lines that I felt Clark left for us to fill in the blanks, and perhaps he decided to do this because these elements were not his main focus for the novel. The progression of the human race from a petty, bickering people to a oneness with the cosmos is the main theme of this book. In any case, the novel’s finale, as one man gives a play by play description of the end of the Earth brings everything together and helps make this a very powerful tale and a must read for all Science Fiction fans.

Childhood’s End has actually been on Hollywood’s radar several times since its publication, and this was the story that Stanley Kubrick originally wanted to bring to the big screen before deciding to do 2001: A Space Odyssey instead. But I actually believe this book would make a better mini-series than a movie. In that extended format, they could actually expand upon the original story and delve into some of the areas the Clarke just glossed over. The book is broken into three sections and I believe they could easily get a two hour segment or more out of each. That would only work artistically, though, if the creative team respected the source material which is always a crapshoot when movie and/or television executives get involved. But with the CGI technology available today, this book could definitely shine if adapted into a well-made mini-series.

The audio book version of Childhood’s End is narrated by Eric Michael Summerer who has a fair number of other genre audio books to his name as well. His narration is quite excellent and he does a great job with accents and distinguishing one character from the next. The audio book has little else in the way of enhancements like music or sound effects, but with Summerer’s excellent vocal work, that’s not really needed. You can buy it from Barnes and Noble for around $25 to $30 or download it a bit cheaper from Audible.com.