The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
From AudioFile Magazine:
Simon Vance and Stieg Larsson are to blame for an exhausting 10 days in which I spent every spare daytime moment and most of each night listening to Lisbeth Salander outwit Swedish bad guys. Though I am groggy, I am grateful. This is a terrific finale to the worldwide bestselling Swedish series about the skinny, bisexual, socially hostile computer wizard Lizbeth Salander, ace reporter Mikael Blomkvist, and a host of nefarious criminals, bureaucrats, police, and politicians. The compulsively listenable Simon Vance personifies men, women, young, and old so well that one hesitates to interrupt their conversations by turning off the book. And he propels the narrative with fine timing and a seductive voice that leaves the listener satiated and happy. Get this book and start listening now. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010
This book was nominated for an Audie in two categories – Distinguished Achievement in Production and Thriller/Suspense – it won in the latter of the two!
Paul is Undead by Alan Goldsher
Recorded May 2010 for release in June 2010 – Blackstone Audio
From the publisher:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT’S TIME TO REALLY MEET THE BEATLES.For John Lennon, a young, idealistic zombie guitarist with dreams of global domination, Liverpool seems the ideal place to form a band that could take over the world. In an inspired act, Lennon kills and reanimates local rocker Paul McCartney, kicking off an unstoppable partnership. With the addition of newly zombified guitarist George Harrison and drummer/Seventh Level Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, the Beatles soon cut a swath of bloody good music and bloody violent mayhem across Europe, America, and the entire planet.
In this searing oral history, discover how the Fab Four climbed to the Toppermost of the Poppermost while stealing the hearts, ears, and brains of smitten teenage girls. Learn the tale behind a spiritual journey that resulted in the dismemberment of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Marvel at the seemingly indestructible quartet’s survival of a fierce attack by Eighth Level Ninja Lord Yoko Ono. And find out how the boys escaped eternal death at the hands of England’s greatest zombie hunter, Mick Jagger.
Through all this, one mystery remains: Can the Beatles sublimate their hunger for gray matter, remain on top of the charts, and stay together for all eternity? After all, three of the Fab Four are zombies, and zombies live forever. . . .
Audies History
Below, on this page and the next, are all the Audie nominations and finalists I have read since 2002.
If you want to go straight to particular years you can page down or go back to the drop down menu above and click on the individual years….
2010 Audies – May 25th NYC
While there are four books listed here I suppose I should, more honestly, have put “two and two bits”! I read one of The Canterbury Tales (The Clerk) and the preamble or introduction to The Turn of the Screw. Kushiel’s Scion and The Midnight Charter are both solo narrations… keeping my fingers crossed.
The Midnight Charter by David Whitley
From the Publisher:
In a society based on trade, where everything can be bought and sold, the future rests on the secrets of a single document-and the lives of two children whose destiny it is to discover its secrets. In this spellbinding novel, newcomer David Whitley has imagined a nation at a crossroads: misshaped by materialism and facing a choice about its future. He has brought to life two children who will test the nation’s values-and crafted a spellbinding adventure story that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end.
For readers who love Philip Pullman, THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER combines great storytelling with a compelling vision – a many layered adventure with powerful and timely implications.
From AudioFile Magazine:
Young readers who enjoy tales of mystery and fantasy will find much to admire in Whitley’s story, which follows the fortunes of Lily and Mark as they struggle to survive in the isolated city-state of Agora. While the two seem to be on different paths—Lily is devoted to service while Mark strives for personal power—a dark prophecy known only by a powerful few binds them together. Simon Vance’s thoughtful, unrushed narration is the perfect foil for the book’s brooding atmosphere. Vance is a master narrator who brings characters of every type to life. M.L.K. 2010 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2010
Great Classic Science Fiction: Eight Unabridged Stories
Authors: H.G. Wells, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Lester Del Rey, Fritz Leiber, James H. Schmitz, Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert, Andre Norton
Read by Simon Vance, Nick Sullivan, Robert Fass, Katherine Kellgren, Stephen R. Thorne, Greg Itzin, Scott Brick, Barbara Rosenblat
With its eight unique tales, fans will enjoy this audiobook by masters of both science fiction and narration. The collection proves to be a great sampler as each story provides a different genre motif. The narrators are well selected for their pieces, and their range is bittersweet since listeners will want to hear more from each. Of particular note is Barbara Rosenblat’s performance of Norton’s “All Cats are Gray,” in which she elicits the smooth and matter-of-fact tone of the nameless narrator so well that her performance blends seamlessly with the text. Scott Brick’s rendition of “Missing Link” by Herbert also proves especially enjoyable, in part because of Brick’s extensive experience narrating Herbert’s works. L.E. 2011 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2011
Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey
From AudioFile Magazine:
Imriel was once a pirates’ slave. It’s no wonder that he’s sometimes unpredictable and seemingly lost in a dark place—but he’s always loyal to the few he calls friends. During his sojourns, he studies at university and then travels to a friend’s wedding, ending up in a city under siege. There he fights for his life in an army led by a friend who has been possessed by the spirit of a dead general. In the hands of Simon Vance, this long book never lags. He’s adept at creating characters that quickly become familiar. His narrative voice is intimate and confiding. During the long preparation for the sustained siege, Vance keeps the action fresh and steady. J.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
From AudioFile Magazine:
Simon Vance reads the brief frame story of James’s novella; Vanessa Benjamin narrates the story itself, told by a governess who believes the evil ghosts of a former governess and servant stalk the young children in her charge. Both narrators are skilled and capable, and render James’s complex prose as clearly as it would be on the page, if not more so. Benjamin conveys the classic question of the governess’s reliability by making her voice pleasant and reasonable yet increasingly self-justifying and high-strung. However, her lower-class accent for the estate’s housekeeper is too broad, and the accent she gives the children seems oddly coarse. But through her narration the eerie, claustrophobic effect of James’s tale is heightened—just what a good audiobook should do. W.M. 2010 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2009
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
From the Publisher:
At the Tabard Inn, thirty travelers of widely varying classes and occupations are gathering to make the annual pilgrimage to Becket’s shrine at Canterbury. It is agreed that each traveler will tell four tales to help pass the time and that the host of the inn will judge the tales and reward the best storyteller with a free supper upon their return.
Thus we hear, translated into modern English, twenty-some tales, told in the voices of knight and merchant, wife and miller, squire and nun, and many more. Some are bawdy, some spiritual, some romantic, some mysterious, some chivalrous. Between the stories, the travelers converse, joke, and argue, revealing much of their individual outlooks upon life as well as what life was like in late fourteenth-century England.
Featuring:
Martin Jarvis as Chaucer
Jay Karnes as the Knight
Ray Porter as the Miller, the Summoner, and the Monk
John Lee as the Reeve, the Physician, and the Nun’s Priest
Malcolm Hillgartner as the Cook, the Merchant, the Pardoner, and the Canon’s Yeoman
Ralph Cosham as the Lawyer
Amelia White as the Wife of Bath
Mathew Wolf as the Friar, the Squire, the Sailor, and the Manciple
Simon Vance as the Clerk
Kenneth Danziger as the Merchant
W. Morgan Sheppard as the Franklin
Carolyn Seymour as the Prioress
Rosalyn Ayres as the Second Nun
Mark Bramhall as the Parson
2009 Audies – Two Books: One Category
Although I had two books in the running I was only going to win once as they were both in the Classics category… Of course, I could have come out with nothing – but Dickens came through and I won with Great Expectations.
