Doug D. Eigsti

This was written by William Manchester and Paul Reid. Manchester died before he could complete his biography of Churchill. And Churchill’s life story must be told. Reid was Manchester’s hand-picked co-author for this capstone to the biography and this book has a character all Reid’s own. The second volume takes us to the brink of war, Hitler is rampaging through Europe. Britain is standing alone against the Axis powers. We all know how it all came out, but at the time the end result was far from certain. Winston Churchill must be given his due: he must be allowed the fight he was built for. Events at this time of history are moving swiftly and Churchill is at the center of them all. He is the architect of the Allied victory but not even he can be said to deserve all the credit. In this third volume, the events of WWII take center stage so this volume becomes more history at times than biography, but that is to be expected. You must first understand the times before you can understand the man. This capstone of the biography trilogy is essential. Without it Winston Churchill would be like the Flying Dutchman, forever poised on the brink of cataclysm, never victorious. It is necessary that Churchill be vindicated, in print at least. Any listener of the first two volumes will be compelled to see Churchill through to the end.

The first two hours of this book, covering the prologue, are narrated by the author Paul Davis; who has a pleasant and decidedly American voice. The remainder of the book is narrated by Clive Chafer who has the appropriate British accent and does a yeoman’s job in delivering the over one-thousand pages of print material to the spoken word. His voice has a pleasant tone which is mandatory for such a weighty tome.

Be a Better Scientist. Put the Facts of Malaria in your Trove of Knowledge

This is a serious attempt to explore the limits of Darwinian Evolution. The Neo-Darwinian view is that organisms evolve by means of an accumulation of small gradual changes in the genetic code. Michael Behe’s view is that the limits of such changes in the DNA are far below the limit of the boundary between different kinds of organisms. To prove his point he uses the example of the rapidly reproducing malaria bacteria as his real-world test case. Because of malaria’s rapid reproduction and wide-spread dispersion it has undergone many times the number of reproductive generations, in just the past few centuries, than all the mammals on the earth in all the time of supposed evolutionary history. These many generations have afforded malaria the equivalent chances for random evolutionary change that should have allowed it to reach the limit of Darwinian evolution. The fact that malaria has not managed to kill all of mankind shows that the limits for macro-evolution are very low. In all its millions of generations malaria still has not conquered the cold temperature problem. It can only reproduce when the temperature is above 50 degrees. This is why it is almost unknown in North America and yet is so prevalent in Africa.

Behe explains why bacteria can easily develop immunity to drugs, such as chloral quinine. In many cases such drug resistance can be accomplished by a single point mutation of the DNA strand. Two such point mutations, in fortuitous locations, are less common but do occur. A triple set of advantageously placed DNA point mutations is quite rare and represents what Behe believes to be the limit of Darwinian evolution, “the edge of evolution,” if you will.

Behe’s argument is an important one for all interested parties to reach a real-world understanding of what evolution, through the accumulation of small gradual changes through random mutation and natural selection, can and cannot do. His argument must be answered by Neo-Darwinists, Common Descent adherents, Intelligent Design proponents, and even Scientific Creationists alike. Behe comes to the conclusion Darwinian evolution does not explain the evidence uncovered by modern micro-biology; Intelligent Design does.

Behe briefly touches on Common Descent but only long enough to state his bias in favor of it but does not deal with the alternate explanations that his conclusions for an Intelligent Designer certainly raise in the mind of the reader. The explanation for similarities between the genetic codes of different organisms can be explained by realizing that all organisms had a common Designer. One advantage of using similar genetics for different organisms is that this allows us to learn about the workings of DNA without resorting to the moral quandary of experimenting on human beings. This is to be expected when the Creator is a moral being.

This book is useful for Scientific Creationists because it forces us to grapple with the fact that mutations do happen, and they do have an effect. It is useful for our case since these accumulations of small genetic changes through mutation and natural selection can be proven to have a very limited scope. Organisms can experience micro-evolution through such processes but the macro-evolution of one kind of organism evolving into another kind of organism is beyond the realm of possibility, as is evidenced by the limits of change in the malaria bacteria over the course of millions of generations of such mutation. Malaria is still malaria.

This book is well narrated. The style employed by Patrick Lawlor is very clear. His diction is nearly flawless. This is very difficult material to listen to. Have your rewind button set to make it easy to go back and review.

I recently undertook the personal challenge to listen to five different versions of DRACULA because listening to Bram Stoker’s classic years ago made me a fan of audiobooks. I enjoyed that experience so much that I decided to try to determine if I had just gotten lucky or if there was an even better version available. Besides, I wanted to listen to it again. With most books I feel fortunate to have just one audio version available, but with DRACULA there are so many versions offered that listening to them all is not practical. I first figured that I could handle maybe three different versions but then discovered two more that I thought deserved attention. The Audible list had these five that I thought might be contenders:

Listed in my order of listening preference:
1) Susan Adams & Alexander Spencer (Recorded Books 1980)
2) Peter Sciarrio & Kris Faulkner & a FULL CAST, (Books in Motion 2008)
3) Greg Wise & Saskia Reeves (BBC Audiobooks 2008)
4) Robert Whitfield (aka Simon Vance), (Blackstone edition 1998)
5) Alan Cumming & Tim Curry & cast (Audible edition 2011)


Review for this version:

5) Alan Cumming (m) Tim Curry (m) & additional cast, Audible Edition 2011 [run time 15:28],

This is the newest version on my list and the one produced by Audible Inc. This is billed as having a full cast and features Alan Cumming as Dr. John Seward, Simon Vance as Jonathan Harker and the usually fabulous Tim Curry as Dr. Van Helsing. This is a fine version even though it was my least favorite of the five in this group. My chief criticism is the failure to utilize the cast at every opportunity. This novel is a compilation of a series of journals, diary entries, telegrams, newspaper reports and transcripts of phonograph recordings. The editorial strategy for this version was to employ the actor reading his own journal even when that journal entry contains the quotes and dialog of other characters. Because of this Alan Cumming as Seward and Simon Vance as Harker get the lion's share of the men's voices. Tim Curry as Van Helsing gets scant air time because the character rarely writes down his own words. This under-utilization of Curry is a shame for he is wonderful when he does appear.
In chapter 12 Alan Cumming does all the talking during the reading of Dr. Seward's diary account of Lucy’s death, despite the many different characters whose words are captured. This is baffling since there are actors on the cast that elsewhere portray these characters and could have contributed to the variety and energy of the performance. I do not understand the decision of the producers to, at the onset of the project, hire multiple actors to portray the various characters, then fail to use those actors at every opportunity, instead choosing to restrict the actors to reading their character’s lines strictly to those instances where their character makes his own journal entry or sends a telegram. The producers seemingly want to preserve some of the charm of the diary format, that of Mina relating the professor's words, and also add richness by giving Van Helsing his own voice on occasion. But since Van Helsing's words are most often remembered by other characters we seldom get to hear Tim Curry.
Lest I start sounding as if this is a poor version, let me assure that it is good by any audiobook standards. I would be overjoyed to have a production of this quality available for many of my favorite novels that will probably never ever become audiobooks at all, but with four other quality versions to compete with, this version comes in fifth place. If this is the only version you ever listen to you will be pleased with it and become immersed in the novel DRACULA. You will, however, not be getting the greater enjoyment you could get from the novel in one of the other versions. Why not try several and see?


TECHNICAL NOTES
Chapter stops match book chapter numbers.
The sound quality is very good. Very high production values.
00:00:33 Includes the brief introduction: “How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made clear in the reading of them…”
7:18:39 (Repeated phrase) Mina’s telegram inviting Van Helsing is read twice.
10:27:40 Mispronunciation of “sentience.” (as SEN-t-ence)

Follows the text of THE ANNOTATED DRACULA (TAD)
1:25:00 “Occupied in bygone days,” (TAD p. 38.1) When listening to this it sounds like there is a break between the words "occupied" and "in bygone days." It is as if the words "by the ladies," as in the text of THE ESSENTIAL DRACULA, were initially read by Cumming then edited out in post production to match a different text.
2:00:32 “To-morrow night, to-morrow night is yours.” (TAD p. 53.5)

I recently undertook the personal challenge to listen to five different versions of DRACULA because listening to Bram Stoker’s classic years ago made me a fan of audiobooks. I enjoyed that experience so much that I decided to try to determine if I had just gotten lucky or if there was an even better version available. Besides, I wanted to listen to it again. With most books I feel fortunate to have just one audio version available, but with DRACULA there are so many versions offered that listening to them all is not practical. I first figured that I could handle maybe three different versions but then discovered two more that I thought deserved attention. The Audible list had these five that I thought might be contenders:

Listed in my order of listening preference:
1) Susan Adams & Alexander Spencer (Recorded Books 1980)
2) Peter Sciarrio & Kris Faulkner & a FULL CAST, (Books in Motion 2008)
3) Greg Wise & Saskia Reeves (BBC Audiobooks 2008)
4) Robert Whitfield (aka Simon Vance), (Blackstone edition 1998)
5) Alan Cumming & Tim Curry & cast (Audible edition 2011)

Review for this version:

4) Robert Whitfield (aka Simon Vance, m) Blackstone Edition 1998 [run time 14:11],

This is the Blackstone Edition read by Robert Whitfield, better known in the audiobook world as Simon Vance. His is the most speedy version, and by more than four hours compared to the longer versions! And this is not because any of the text has been cut out. This is the complete novel. Listened to by itself this might not be a factor but when directly compared to the other versions it seems hurried, almost as if he is intentionally rushing things in order to minimize the run time. For me, the rapid pace did not suit the material well. This is a gothic horror novel and as such the slow building of dread and deliberate mood building are key elements.
Compare this version to the Audible Edition where the same narrator, as Simon Vance, portrays Jonathan Harker. The two renditions of the Jonathan Harker material seem to be read by two different actors. This demonstrates the range of the narrator. Whitfield's diction is impeccable and is always very clear and easy to follow. He is a fine sight reader. In the early chapters his accent for Count Dracula seemed to be changing from one scene to the next, but once he hits his stride the narrator became transparent.
Throughout the course of the listening to the five versions, this solo performance of Whitfield continually gained in favor. On one occasion I failed to notice the chapter break while listening to this version and continued well into the next chapter; thus proving that one can become immersed in the story with this version.

TECHNICAL NOTES
Chapter stops match book chapter numbers.
00:00:19 Includes the dedication, “To my dear friend Hommy Beg;” the only version to do so. Also includes the brief introduction: “How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made clear in the reading of them…”
4:21:51 (Repeated phrase) "did not have full opportunity of examination as I should wish."
4:30:00 (Correct word use) “madmans” (TAD p. 111.3.10). This is the only version that uses a word here that in found in one of the print versions. The other versions use “madmen,” or “madmens,” which do not find textual support.
10”38:00 (Repeated phrase) “as though overhead some dread bell would peel out powerfully.”
9:56:10 Mispronunciation of “sentience.” (as SEN-t-ence)

Follows the text of THE ANNOTATED DRACULA (TAD)
1:26:10 “Occupied in bygone days,” (TAD p. 38.1)
2:02:27 “To-morrow night, to-morrow night is yours.” (TAD p. 53.5)

I recently undertook the personal challenge to listen to five different versions of DRACULA because listening to Bram Stoker’s classic years ago made me a fan of audiobooks. I enjoyed that experience so much that I decided to try to determine if I had just gotten lucky or if there was an even better version available. Besides, I wanted to listen to it again. With most books I feel fortunate to have just one audio version available, but with DRACULA there are so many versions offered that listening to them all is not practical. I first figured that I could handle maybe three different versions but then discovered two more that I thought deserved attention. The Audible list had these five that I thought might be contenders:

Listed in my order of listening preference:
1) Susan Adams & Alexander Spencer (Recorded Books 1980)
2) Peter Sciarrio & Kris Faulkner & a FULL CAST, (Books in Motion 2008)
3) Greg Wise & Saskia Reeves (BBC Audiobooks 2008)
4) Robert Whitfield (aka Simon Vance), (Blackstone edition 1998)
5) Alan Cumming & Tim Curry & cast (Audible edition 2011)

Review of this version:

3) Greg Wise (m) Saskia Reeves (f), BBC Audiobooks 2008 [run time 18:24],

Of all the actors displaying their talents in narrating DRACULA, Greg Wise is the best single overall performer. At times his well-modulated voice fooled me into thinking that I was hearing several actors doing the different character voices. He has more range than any other single actor and more variety in his one voice box than the entire male cast of the Audible edition.
One of my favorite scenes came early in the novel. It was when Jonathan Harker is riding in a coach that is overtaken by another coach driven by Count Dracula himself. Greg Wise delivers the line, “My horses are swift,” as if the word was “svvift.” This was my first indication that Wise was going to be great. In chapter 18, Wise doing Renfield is amazing! He brings out his intellectual craziness!
Had Wise's partner, Saskia Reeves, been more exuberant, this would have been the best overall version. Sadly Reeves gave a less than energetic performance in places and caused me to give this Wise & Reeves version a third place ranking. Reeves chose to play Mina Harker with a touch of warm lethargy that never seems to match the dialog or the image one gets of an energetic, and even high-strung, brilliant young woman, depicted in the text.


TECHNICAL NOTES
Chapter stops every 102-116 minutes do not match book chapters.
No text duplications or omissions!
Very good sound quality. High production values.
12:16:20 Mispronunciation of “sentience.” (as SEN-t-ence)

Follows the text of THE ANNOTATED DRACULA (TAD)
Examples:
1:43:24 “Occupied in bygone days,” (TAD p. 38.1)
2:28:59 “To-morrow night, to-morrow night is yours.” (TAD p. 53.5)

I recently undertook the personal challenge to listen to five different versions of DRACULA because listening to Bram Stoker’s classic years ago made me a fan of audiobooks. I enjoyed that experience so much that I decided to try to determine if I had just gotten lucky or if there was an even better version available. Besides, I wanted to listen to it again. With most books I feel fortunate to have just one audio version available, but with DRACULA there are so many versions offered that listening to them all is not practical. I first figured that I could handle maybe three different versions but then discovered two more that I thought deserved attention. The Audible list had these five that I thought might be contenders:

Listed in my order of listening preference:
1) Susan Adams & Alexander Spencer (Recorded Books 1980)
2) Peter Sciarrio & Kris Faulkner & a FULL CAST, (Books in Motion 2008)
3) Greg Wise & Saskia Reeves (BBC Audiobooks 2008)
4) Robert Whitfield (aka Simon Vance), (Blackstone edition 1998)
5) Alan Cumming & Tim Curry & cast (Audible edition 2011)

Review for this version:

2) Peter Sciarrio (m) Kris Faulkner (f) & a FULL cast. Dramatized, Books in Motion 2008 [run time 18:11].

This is the only true Full Cast version. Every character, major or minor, is read by a different actor. This version is also unique in the insertion of sound effects in many key dramatic moments. When wolves are mentioned in the story we get to hear their howling. When Van Helsing rides away on the train we hear the locomotive chug. This version also eliminates most of the dialog identifiers, such as "Harker said" and "replied Dr. Seward" because the different actors reading each character make such designators superfluous. It is like listening to a stage play.
The actors are very good. Cameron Beierle’s portrayal of Count Dracula was the standout best Dracula of all the versions. Strangely the accent used for the Romanian Count sounds to my ear to be Spanish. His deep tones always brought to mind the voice of Zorro. But, somehow, this worked wonderfully. When Dracula listens to the wolves howling and delivers the famous line, “The Children of the Night, Ahh! What Music they Make,” the scene is painted in your mind. Of course, the sound of wolves baying at the moon in this version certainly adds to the effect.
The portrayal by Reed McColm as insane Mr. Renfield at the end of chapter 18 pleading to be released from the asylum is magnificent; an over the top emotional performance! I compared all five versions of this scene and this one is the most dramatic.
This is the most Americanized version. In chapter 1 when Jonathan Harker writes “memorandum” in his diary this version inserts the Yankee term “memo” instead.
The sound effects and the full cast of characters make this the most distinctive of the versions of DRACULA. There is incidental music to indicate the chapter changes. I always looked forward to the rendition of this Books in Motion edition.

TECHNICAL NOTES
Chapter stops match book chapter numbers.
There were not any duplicated passages.
The production values in this version are high.
Volume level is high.
12:20:20 Mispronunciation of “sentience.” (as SEN-t-ence)

Follows the text of THE ESSENTIAL DRACULA
Examples:
1:34:20 “Occupied by the ladies in bygone days.” (TED p. 70.-1.-5)
2:14:25 “To-night is mine. To-morrow night is yours.” (TED p. 80.3)

I recently undertook the personal challenge to listen to five different versions of DRACULA because listening to Bram Stoker’s classic years ago made me a fan of audiobooks. I enjoyed that experience so much that I decided to try to determine if I had just gotten lucky or if there was an even better version available. Besides, I wanted to listen to it again. With most books I feel fortunate to have just one audio version available, but with DRACULA there are so many versions offered that listening to them all is not practical. I first figured that I could handle maybe three different versions but then discovered two more that I thought deserved attention. The Audible list had these five that I thought might be contenders:

Listed in my order of listening preference:
1) Susan Adams & Alexander Spencer (Recorded Books 1980)
2) Peter Sciarrio & Kris Faulkner & a FULL CAST, (Books in Motion 2008)
3) Greg Wise & Saskia Reeves (BBC Audiobooks 2008)
4) Robert Whitfield (aka Simon Vance), (Blackstone edition 1998)
5) Alan Cumming & Tim Curry & cast (Audible edition 2011)

1) Susan Adams (f) Alexander Spencer (m), Recorded Books 1980 [run time 18:19],

This was my audiobook of gold, my “Golden Hearing” if you will. It is still my favorite version of DRACULA. Susan Adams is the voice of Mina Harker for me. She imparts every emotion superbly and she has the most exquisite upper-class British accent: Sincere yet aloof. She has an aristocratic bearing to her voice that suits the material well. When reading "really" it sounds like "reaally." This adds a great deal to the charm of this edition. The early chapters read by Alexander Spencer, as Jonathan Harker, at a very slow and deliberate pace match exactly the gothic horror mood of Dracula that I first felt when reading the print version.
As to the production: The audio quality is the lowest of the five, it was produced in 1980, but is always clear and discernable. I think the slightly tinny sound of this version gives the production a sense of antiquity that is most appropriate for this late Victorian story. The diaries of Dr. Seward and Lucy Westenra are sometimes said to be heard, in the novel, on a new, at the time, wax cylinder phonograph. The pitch of this recording brings to mind such a device and instead of being a deterrent becomes a feature that enhances the experience. Incidentally, this slightly high pitch makes this version easier to hear in noisy environments.
It was when listening to this Recorded Books version years ago that convinced me of the viability of audiobooks as a delivery system for great literature. The duet performance of Adams and Spencer trading off between the female and male roles is perfectly suited to the material. At one point in the listening I was so immersed in the story that I could not remember who voiced the words of Van Helsing. When you hear Susan Adams declare “Mirable dictu” (time marker 3:49) when the schooner is blown into the harbor you will know that you are listening to something special.

TECHNICAL NOTES
The recording is slightly noisy, but this does not detract from the impact.
Chapter stops every 45-49 minutes do not match book chapters
12:21:15 (Missing words) “For a few seconds she didn’t (recognize me) but looked at me with a sort of blank terror.”
12:29:38 (Low volume for a few seconds) “I suppose it is one of the lessons we women have to learn.”
13:30:55 (The only version to correctly pronounce “sentience:” (SEN-shunch)
13:49:32 to 13:52:41 (Repeated paragraphs) Starting with Mina’s phrase, “She said solemnly,” about three minutes of the scene just previous are repeated.

Follows the text of THE ESSENTIAL DRACULA (TED)
Examples:
1:38:17 “Occupied by the ladies in bygone days.” (TED p. 70.-1.-5)
2:24:17 “To-night is mine. To-morrow night is yours.” (TED p. 80.3)

All these versions are essentially based on the same unabridged 1897 text of DRACULA. There are some minor differences, some of which are mentioned in the individual audiobook reviews.
It is ironic that twice in the text of DRACULA sound recordings of diary entries are said to be “read” when they are played audibly. The first is in chapter 17 when Mina uses an early wax-cylinder type phonograph machine to “read” Lucy’s diary by means of, “putting the forked metal to my ears and began to listen.” And, again in chapter 25 Jonathan Harker similarly gives his imprimatur to the validity of audiobooks saying, “When I read to Mina, Van Helsing’s message in the phonograph, the poor girl brightened up considerably.” So, it seems, Bram Stoker anticipated the advent of audiobooks as a viable medium for literature.
I decided to listen to the novel chapter by chapter, hearing all five versions of one chapter before advancing to the next. Unexpectedly, I learned several things about audiobook listening in general. It is remarkable how much I found I could remember from one version to the next. This capability helped me discover some slight textual variants and the head-to-head comparison brought out the differences between the versions in a striking fashion. See the reviews for each version for some examples.
This textual comparison is an unexpected feature of this project. I did not expect to find textual variants, but listening to five different versions draws attention to the smallest difference. Also interesting is the way in which some details in a scene are not noticed until the third or fourth listening. There are strange forces at work in this project: Sometimes the smallest change jumps out at you and at other times whole sentences are not even noticed until listening to the third or fourth version. This repetition allowed me to appreciate the stylistic aspects of the prose much more than the plot. Different narrators will, by the inherent variety of their delivery, bring out emphasis on different words or syllables. They all read the same story, which requires the telling of many words to advance; and so changes only very slowly, and this repetition is thus multiplied when listening to several versions back-to-back, forcing the listening mind to latch on to nuances of pronunciation or accent and immerses the listener in the very words rolling off of the narrator's lips.
This novel was already very familiar to me, having read it twice and listened to it another two times. Unlike a typical audiobook experience, where after a while the narrator becomes almost transparent allowing the listener to interface directly with the text, for this one I found that I became less and less interested in the story and more fascinated as to how each narrator was about to perform a particular line or phrase. After the first listen of a chapter there are no plot surprises. I had anticipated becoming almost numb to the words after four or five retellings of the same material, but I soon learned to listen for reasons other than to find out what happens next. I learned how to listen to the tapestry of the novel made apparent by the individual performances of the various actors reading the same words. At the end of a passage my impression of the novel was elevated because of the gestalt of all the different audio versions allows the mind to compile an impression of the material that truly transcends the individual narrators. If I were to edit together a “best-of” audiobook version of DRACULA it would include passages from each of the five different versions.
Perhaps someone else will take up the challenge to listen to all five audiobook versions.

I found this to be a pointless and depressing book. The characters are very human in their frailties and susceptibility to Political Correct thinking. I can see echoes of our own society in this book, but what I see is coming from the statists already in power and not from the religious wing of the populace. Hypocrisy is, of course, a theme in any such work, and, ironically, this one gets quite preachy when it comes to the dangers of religiosity. Several times the subject of the abolishment of abortion is raised as if it were some great symbolic tragedy indicative of the decline of the America that once was. I found the protagonist to be as sort of anti-heroine. She does not inspire us to greatness. But her plight does cause us to reflect on what we might do in similar circumstances. No causes are offered. No solutions. The life of the Handmaid is pointless.

Clare Danes is a fine reader. I found her narration quite droll and sarcastic throughout which fits the text. After a few chapters her voice warms up and some emotion occasionally creeps into the text.

My recollection from first reading the print version of DEMON is that it makes the first two volumes of the Gaea Trilogy pale in comparison. I read TITAN and WIZARD shortly after they were first released and was awe-struck. The immensity of the world-building that author John Varley engaged in had me completely immersed in the story. I wanted to visit Gaea. I could see Gaea’s panoramas in my head and wanted to hike all around the place, to witness the vistas for myself. Then it was a long four years wait before Varley released DEMON. At that time I re-read the first two and loved them even more than I did the first time; then I read DEMON and realized that the first two were just setting the stage for the main event. This trilogy starts out great and keeps getting better. After setting the stage in books one and two, DEMON delivers a spectacular climax.

The setting is one in which anything can happen because Gaea is so technologically advanced that her talents seem like magic, and what is more, Gaea is absolutely insane. Awesome power combined with capricious unpredictability is a recipe for a wild ride. This is high adventure on a grand scale. It is what classic Science Fiction is all about. Gosh, Wow! Sense of wonder! Grab the popcorn.

This novel has numerous cinematic and movie-making references. This is because John Varley is a movie buff. In the years in between WIZARD and DEMON Varley spent time working in Hollywood and became sorely disillusioned with the movie industry. His dissatisfaction manifests itself sarcastically all through this novel and it makes things very funny.

Allyson Johnson gives a superb performance. If you have read my reviews for TITAN and WIZARD you will know that I found much to be desired in Johnson’s vocalizations in those volumes. In the first novel I found Ms. Johnson’s reading to be an obstacle to be overcome before I could enjoy the book. In the second book I found her narration to be much improved and one that added to the experience. Now in John Varley’s third Gaea book I can honestly label Allyson Johnson’s effort as a true performance; more than a mere reading or competent narration. One of the qualities we look for in a novel is good character development. Well, over the course of this three-volume series we get to witness another dimension: narrator development. Allyson Johnson gets better and better. She made me laugh out loud with her characterization of the slurred speech of Luther. Her portrayal of the 50 foot tall Gaea with the Marilyn Monroe voice evokes images of the screen goddess Norma Jean herself. All the characters have their own distinct voices, and they are all really good. She manages the difficult task of rendering the male characters’ voices with her female instrument quite nicely. She brings a new dimension to this novel, which is already one of my favorites. Nicely done! Highly recommended.

After the introduction that is the novel TITAN this second volume in the trilogy widens the scope of the story into a vast playground. WIZARD lets us foray into the inner workings of the living artificial world that calls herself Gaea. She is insane, and that is the basis for all the fun. In this volume we learn the true lay of the land through what amounts to a travelogue of the wheel. There is much that much be laid out and put in place before we can feel we know our way around the place. This necessary tour sets the stage for the main event. This story unfolds and we are allowed to see the nature of the conflict that is brewing; never mind that it is a struggle that Gaea has carefully orchestrated to suit her sense of celluloid drama, she is, after all, crazy. When reading this for the first time I felt the ever widening sense of wonder that I had come to love from Science Fiction, and even now, twenty-five years later, I still enjoy this story for that amazing rollicking appreciation of strangeness. Varley has invented a scenario where almost anything can happen and still remain in the preview of Science Fiction. The being Gaea is so significantly advanced in her technology for her works to seem like magic. This is a fun book and a grand adventure on its own. But when you are done with this one realize that the next one, DEMON, escalates the conflict to Hollywood Epic proportions. I labeled TITAN the prolog. WIZARD can be thought of as the introduction. DEMON will be the main text. Let the games begin.

Allyson Johnson’s effort here is much more satisfying than in the previous book. Thankfully there are many more characters in this novel for her to explore her vocal range. She manages to cast her voice in a deeper tone much of the time which suits me better for long hours of listening. I liked how she assigned different accents to the various Titanides. The character with the French name carries a French accent. I liked it.

Delving into this sub-genre always leaves me with the need to wash my hands. Climbing inside the mind of a sociopath is, and very well should be, unsettling. This chapter is unsettling. This brief excerpt rings true. But I'm glad I don't have to think like these characters, one a call girl, the other a serial killer, like the detective who tries to apprehend him will surely have to do. At least that is how the book should progress if there is any sanity in the world.