Two Tales: Jamali Kamali and ZundelState

De: Karen Chase

Narrado por: Vikas Adam

Beautifully narrated by Golden Voice narrator Vikas Adams, these two tales of outsiders, one from the distant past and the other from the far-off future, explore love and beauty in the context of fear and threats and reflect upon one another in surprising ways.

Jamali Kamali is a book-length poem about two men who lived in 16th century India. For hundreds of years, the story that these men were lovers has been passed down through the generations. Jamali Kamali is a fictional account of their love, longing, separation, and death. ZundelState, a novella in verse, takes place a thousand years in the future in a repressive land where history is banned, and dreaming has vanished. Joe, a lover of history, is rebellious and secretive. Marianna is a model worker for the State where she works in the HistoryShit Apparatchik Division. They fall in love against all odds. Original ZundelState music by Galen Wade.

"As soon as I read these stories I knew they must come to life on audio, and that Vikas Adam must narrate them," said producer Alison Larkin. "The result is quite magical."

©2025 Karen Chase (P)2025 Alison Larkin Presents

• Two Tales: Jamali Kamali and Zundel State •

• Two Tales: Jamali Kamali and Zundel State
• By Karen Chase
• Reviewed by William Kornblum

Poet Karen Chase spins two beautiful tall tales of love and adventure. Jamali and Kamali are historic figures in Indian history, a noble and his servant, whose vivid feelings and erotic love for each other were never recorded. Chase brings lovers to life here in finely crafted fictional monologs. Zundel State projects us into a future five hundred years hence where people must hide their individuality and take on the collective personalities they learn through government regulated dreams. The main characters, Marianne, Joe, and Pavel, stumble through a fabulous post-apocalyptic, timeless, and boundless landscape where they encounter Albert Einstein in a Seven Eleven on Long Island’s North Fork and much more.
Both are reading experiences of the could-not-put-down variety.
I listened as well to the Audible audio production. The narration and production values, sound, music, were outstanding.

A powerful book, BEAUTIFULLY read by Vikas Adam

I've never heard anything like this before! A sexy, evocative love story in verse about two lovers in 16th century India is followed by a story set in a dystopian future where Art and all that is beautiful is being stamped out. What do they have in common? Love - and Vikas Adam - who is undoubtedly one of the great narrators of our time. His melodic voice takes this extraordinary little book, written in beautiful verse - not something you come across often these days - and brings it to a whole new level. I've never heard anything quite like it. I had chills and loved it. And I'm still thinking about it.