I have listened to many Discworld audiobooks, and my favourite narrator is, and will always be, Stephen Briggs. Stephen Briggs was a fan before he was a narrator and it’s possible to tell from listening to his narration. These new editions all have three narrators – a main narrator which changes with the series, Peter Serafinowicz who plays Death, and Bill Nighy as the footnotes.
Continue reading “Audiobook Review: New versions of the Discworld books”Category Archives: Audiobook
TBR Pile/Audiobook Review: False Value, by Ben Aaronovitch, Narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Published February 20th 2020 by Orion Publishing Group Limited
Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner’s brand new London start up – the Serious Cybernetics Company.
Drawn into the orbit of Old Street’s famous ‘silicon roundabout’, Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant’s favourite son.
Because Terrence Skinner has a secret hidden in the bowels of the SCC. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological – and just as dangerous.
My Review
The blurb is a lie. Everything is a deception. No, really, Peter has gone undercover, using his gardening leave and the investigation that caused it (death in custody of a suspect – see Lies Sleeping) as a cover. What he finds is a 19th century mystery and a tech guru who thinks he’s created the first true A.I. using a completed analytic engine and a song about Ada Lovelace.
Going under cover brings conflicts for Peter and Beverley, especially after they get to know Peter’s immediate superior and his family (Beverley Brook runs along the end of their garden), and the Librarians of New York start interfering in the operation.
There is the usual explosions and car chases, Peter getting trapped by magical devices, Nightingale being acerbic, Discworld references, and this time with bonus heavily pregnant Beverley.
I listened to this one while I was out and about, or at home crocheting. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is really good at giving Peter Grant a voice. His intonation and reading speed is perfect.
Highly recommended.
TBR Audiobook Review: Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao
Published September 21st 2021 by Penguin Teen
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labelled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
Audiobook Review: A Kind of Spark, by Elle McNicole
Narrated by: Emma Tracey
Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 28-07-21
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Studios
A Kind of Spark tells the story of 11-year-old Addie as she campaigns for a memorial in memory of the witch trials that took place in her Scottish hometown. Addie knows there’s more to the story of these ‘witches’, just like there is more to hers. Can Addie challenge how the people in her town see her and her autism, and make her voice heard?
A story about friendship, courage and self-belief, perfect for fans of The Goldfish Boy.
My Review
I listened to this book on the recommendation of other members of the Narrative of Neurodiversity Network, it’s the subject of this month’s Salon.
The best representation of the autistic experience I have read in fiction. The characters are very realistic and Addie is an absolute darling.
I have been both Addie and Keedie, but without the knowledge I was autistic. I didn’t quite have a Ms Murphy as a teacher at primary school but I had two teachers who combined would have been her. It was awful.
Keedie’s campaign and her developing friendship with Audrey is at the heart of the story, with her relationship with her sisters being a close secondary plot. It was heart wrenching. I cried a lot.
Brilliantly written and narrated. Highly recommended.
Audiobook Review: Doctor Satan, by Ryan Green
Author: Ryan Green
Narrator: Steve White
Audible.co.uk
Release Date:14 December 2021
Publisher:Ryan Green Publishing
Unabridged
Language: English
Blurb
In March 1944, as the Nazis occupied Paris, the French Police and Fire Brigade were called to investigate a vile-smelling black smoke that had been pouring from the chimney of 21 Rue Le Sueur for days. Inside the house, they were confronted with a scene from a nightmare.
The thick black smoke was rising from a series of wood-burning stoves throughout the property that were stocked with human remains. In the basement, they discovered a furnace with larger body parts and a pit filled with quicklime and decay. There were suitcases full of the deceased’s belongings, and in the other rooms, they came upon something like a factory line of bodies. This was not mere murder – it was methodical processing of corpses.
The homeowner was Dr. Marcel Petiot, an admired and charismatic physician. When questioned, Dr. Petiot claimed that he was a part of the Resistance and the bodies they discovered belonged to Nazi collaborators that he killed for the cause. The French police, resentful of Nazi occupation and confused by a rational alternative, allowed him to leave.
Was the respected doctor a clandestine hero fighting for national liberty or a deviant using dire domestic circumstances to his advantage? One thing is for certain: The police and the Nazis both wanted to get their hands on Dr. Marcel Petiot to find out the truth.
Doctor Satan is a chilling account of Dr. Marcel Petiot and one of the most disturbing true crime stories in French history. Ryan Green’s riveting narrative draws the listener into the real-live horror experienced by the victims and has all the elements of a classic thriller.
CAUTION: This book contains descriptive accounts of torture, abuse, and violence. If you are especially sensitive to this material, it might be advisable not to listen any further.
Continue reading “Audiobook Review: Doctor Satan, by Ryan Green”Audiobook Review: The Custard Corpses, by M.J. Porter
The Custard Corpses, a delicious 1940s mystery.
Birmingham, England, 1943.
While the whine of the air raid sirens might no longer be rousing him from bed every night, a two-decade-old unsolved murder case will ensure that Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is about to suffer more sleepless nights.
Young Robert McFarlane’s body was found outside the local church hall on 30th September 1923. But, his cause of death was drowning, and he’d been missing for three days before his body was found. No one was ever arrested for the crime. No answers could ever be given to the grieving family. The unsolved case has haunted Mason ever since.
But, the chance discovery of another victim, with worrying parallels, sets Mason, and his constable, O’Rourke, on a journey that will take them back over twenty-five years, the chance to finally solve the case, while all around them the uncertainty of war continues, impossible to ignore.
Purchase Link – mybook.to/TheCustardCorpses
Continue reading “Audiobook Review: The Custard Corpses, by M.J. Porter”Audiobook Review: Vows of Gold and Laughter, Tale One of the Immortal Beings by Edith Pawlicki and narrated by Zachary Zaba
Blurb
The meeting of four lonely immortals will change them – and the world.
High in the Heavens, an immortal court celebrates the betrothal of Jin, Goddess of Beauty, and Xiao, God of Pleasure. But as soon as the vows are made, the Sun Emperor collapses from a death curse.
Raised away from the Sun Court after her mother’s murder, Jin is called a useless goddess, but she is now the emperor’s only hope. The curse’s cure is locked in the Underworld, and even though the court dismisses him as a hopeless alcoholic, Xiao vows to help his betrothed find the lost key.
They hire a thief who is more interested in stealing the groom than recovering the key, and begin their search at the legendary grave of the Great Warrior – only it turns out he never died. Tens of millennia old, he is a master of everything but his own heart.
Their journey takes them from the icy peaks of the White Mountain and the lush banks of the Kuanbai River to the palace of the Sea Dragon and the halls of the Moon Deer, through court intrigue and bloody battles, power struggles and magical traps. The Heavens, Earth, and the Underworld will forever celebrate their triumphs – and mourn their mistakes.
Buy Links
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56935634-vows-of-gold-and-laughter
Author Bio
Edith Pawlicki lives in Connecticut with her husband, twin sons, dog, and rabbit. She fell in love with words in fourth grade and finds writing necessary to free the worlds and characters in her head. When she isn’t busy being a mom and author, she enjoys cooking and crafts. In addition to the Immortal Beings series, she has also written a YA science fiction novel, Minerva.
Audiobook Review: The Ryan Green True Crime Collection, Volume 5, written by Ryan Green and Narrated by Steve White
Narrated by: Steve White
Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 29-07-21
Language: English
Publisher: Ryan Green Publishing
ummary
Four chilling true crime stories in one collection.
Best-selling true crime author, Ryan Green, has complied four fascinating stories in one collection. Volume five contains some of Green’s most intriguing accounts of violence, abuse, deception and murder. Within this collection, you’ll receive:
The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman
Growing up under the brutal rule of his father took its toll on Charles Whitman Jr. He could not live up to the impossible expectations or accept the failures. His life started to unravel. He wasn’t going to slide into mediocrity or go silently into suicide. The world needed to know his name and what he was truly capable of, for the rest of time.
The Kentucky Cannibal: The True Story of an Outlaw, Murderer and Man-Eater
In 1850, Boone Helm headed “Out West” to chase the Californian Gold Rush. During his travels, Helm killed and consumed the flesh of his enemies and travelling companions, earning him the nickname “The Kentucky Cannibal”. In California, where violence was the law of the land, Helm’s savage set of skills could finally be recognised and rewarded.
Vampire Killer: A Terrifying True Story of Psychosis, Mutilation and Murder
In 1978, Richard Chase was influenced by constant commanding delusions that had devastating consequences on the City of Sacramento. The crime scenes were so disturbing that the police were not equipped to deal with them. Within the space of a month, six victims were found mutilated, disembowelled, abused and missing vast quantities of blood.
Gorilla Killer: A True Story of Betrayal, Brutality and Butchery
Before Bundy and BTK, there was Earle Nelson. Serial Killers were unknown to the American public in the 1920s but the local authorities and press were fast becoming aware of the devastating and horrific reality that unfolded before their eyes. The roaming “Gorilla Killer” became the first real ‘superstar criminal’ who everyone talked about and feared.
The Ryan Green True Crime Collection contains chilling accounts of some of the most brutal and bizarre true crime stories in history. Green’s riveting narrative draws the listener into the real-life horror experienced by the victims and has all the elements of a classic thriller.
My review
I received an email from Ryan Green about a month ago, the day this audiobook was published on Audible and received a code for a free copy in return for an honest review.
Three of these books were new to me; I’ve listened to The Kentucky Killer before, so that one was not a surprise to me, and I’ve heard of the Gorilla Killer from a podcast. I’ve heard of Richard Chase but not the details, and I hadn’t heard of Charles Whitman at all.
The narratives of each of these men is told in an easy to understand and easy to digest. Some of the material is very graphic so it should be approached with caution. The lives of the murderers is told in chronological order from birth to death. Some of the possible origins for their behaviour and their self-justification are explored.
Steve White is a very good narrator and he does the material justice.
Audiobook Review: The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri, narrated by Shiromi Arserio
Published June 8th 2021 by Orbit
ISBN:154910487X (ISBN13: 9781549104879)
Series: Burning Kingdoms #1
Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne begins the powerful Burning Kingdoms trilogy, in which two women–a long-imprisoned princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic–come together to rewrite the fate of an empire.
Exiled by her despotic brother when he claimed their father’s kingdom, Malini spends her days trapped in the Hirana: an ancient, cliffside temple that was once the source of the magical deathless waters, but is now little more than a decaying ruin.
A servant in the regent’s household, Priya makes the treacherous climb to the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to play the role of a drudge so long as it keeps anyone from discovering her ties to the temple and the dark secret of her past.
But when Malini bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to steal a throne. The other is a powerful priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.
Continue reading “Audiobook Review: The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri, narrated by Shiromi Arserio”TBR Pile Review: The Gendered Brain, by Gina Rippon
Published February 28th 2019 by Bodley Head
ISBN:1847924751 (ISBN13: 9781847924759)
Blurb
Do you have a female brain or a male brain?
Or is that the wrong question?
Reading maps or reading emotions? Barbie or Lego? We live in a gendered world where we are bombarded with messages about sex and gender. On a daily basis we face deeply ingrained beliefs that your sex determines your skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choice and salaries. But what does this constant gendering mean for our thoughts, decisions and behaviour? And what does it mean for our brains?
Drawing on her work as a professor of cognitive neuroimaging, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains. Taking us back through centuries of sexism, The Gendered Brain reveals how science has been misinterpreted or misused to ask the wrong questions. Instead of challenging the status quo, we are still bound by outdated stereotypes and assumptions. However, by exploring new, cutting-edge neuroscience, Rippon urges us to move beyond a binary view of our brains and instead to see these complex organs as highly individualised, profoundly adaptable, and full of unbounded potential.
Rigorous, timely and liberating, The Gendered Brain has huge repercussions for women and men, for parents and children, and for how we identify ourselves.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 