Check out their Alice in Wonderland audio special page for:

• A free download of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland read by Michael York (courtesy of Blackstone Audio)
• Recorded conversations with narrators Michael York and Jim Dale and audio producer Gabrielle de Cuir
• Editors’ reviews of recommended Alice audiobooks and links to additional online resources for fans.
• Three different readings (Michael York, Jim Dale, and Christopher Plummer) of the Mad Tea Party passage together for a side-by-side comparison.

Fantastique!  It could be interesting to hear what a dramatized version of Alice would sound like, but Michael York does a tremendous job of voicing the different colorful characters of Carroll’s adventure.

Here’s the link again: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/event/0310_landingpage.html

Don’t be late!  The free audiobook is only available until March 16.

8 out of 10

A literate literary patricide.

Written by Joe Hill

Read by Stephen Lang

Published by HarperAudio, February 13, 2007

9 CDs, 11 hours and 6 minutes.

Availability: in print.

Language: English

“Hell is talk radio – and family.”

Joe Hill’s debut novel Heart-Shaped Box is accomplished, polished, and hauntingly familiar. Although a malevolent ghost stalks the hero, a more powerful shade looms over the author: his father, Stephen King. I approached Heart-Shaped Box with sympathetic curiosity: how do you forge your own path when you’re the son of the world’s most famous horror writer’ Well, you might try and write something King wouldn’t or couldn’t, like a comic book (Hill has) or an academic work of history (hasn’t). (Hey Joe, I don’t think King ever wrote an original audio drama . . .)

Or if you’re Joe Hill, you could stare down the master of the Dark Tower and beat him at his own game. You might even do it with a story about rebellion against powerful, over-reaching fathers. Perhaps Joe Hill deserves to have his work critiqued without reference to his father’s oeuvre; perhaps he doesn’t. I’ll leave that question to others wiser than me. For better or worse, this longstanding King reader can’t ignore the connection. Guess that means I’m haunted too.

Heart-Shaped Box relates the tale of one Judas Coyne, an aging, jaded heavy-metal rock star. Coyne is an appealingly gruff misanthrope. He’s as contemptuous of his poor upbringing (son of a pig farmer) and his sycophantic public as Gene Simmons or Ozzy Osbourne, but not nearly as ostentatious. It’s impossible to imagine the reclusive Coyne creating a reality show about his life, because unlike those real-life rockers he’s never had a family. Childless, the once-married Coyne has gone through a succession of young goth lovers whom he refuses to call by name, labeling them by home state. The story revolves around two: current flame Georgia (Mary Beth), and Florida (Anna), who committed suicide after a break-up with Coyne.

Like a raven with a disinterested interest in glittering trash, Coyne keeps a collection of macabre items as trappings for his Heavy Metal nest. He owns the skull of a medieval peasant, trepanned to release the demons inside, the signed confession of a witch, and a snuff film, among other things. The story opens when Coyne’s assistant Danny brings his attention to an online auction for a ghost embodied in an old suit. Intrigued and compelled, Coyne orders it on the spot. The suit arrives – you guessed it – in a black heart-shaped box. It is soon revealed that the ghost is quite real, and that Coyne’s purchase was part of a diabolic revenge plot involving his deceased lover. Now he and his friends are stalked by the spirit of Anna’s grandfather Craddock McDermott, a former soldier, hypnotist, and dowser who mesmerizes with his glittering razor.

Stephen Lang reads Hill’s words at a measured pace with gray baritone gravitas. He gives Jude a dead seriousness and terse growl that mask the rocker’s conflicted affection for others, and invests his supernatural opponent Craddock with a Southern lilt that glides from courtly to craven. Craddock is so well realized in all his moods and cadences that the audio springs to life whenever he manifests. Lang’s female characters are sometimes interchangeable, but read with an empathetic conviction that makes you forget you’re listening to a low-voiced man. As a narrator Lang supplies the frankness Hill’s economic text requires, leavening it with a hint of foreboding. Between them, Hill and Lang paint a landscape that is overcast, introspective, and raw.

There is much of Hill’s father in the text. True, Randall Flagg doesn’t flit through these pages, Craddock doesn’t have hands without lines on the palms, and familiar King catch phrases like ‘you don’t get to win’ and ‘that’s not in the script’ are mercifully absent. But the Southern villain does strongly recall the politely murderous, implacable John Shooter of King’s Secret Window, Secret Garden, scribbles over the eyes are kissing cousins to palms without lines, rock and roll references abound, and evil once again boils down to inexplicable meanness for its own sake. In King stories, the most frightening motive is not to have one, and here too we never really find out what drives McDermott to his crimes. Most significantly but hardest to describe, Hill’s style of wrapping personal with actual demons betrays his bloodline.

The similarities between father and son are so strong it sometimes feels like King might have written this book. That is, on his best day. The young Hill is a better wordsmith and craftsman than his veteran father. Much better. King seems to write novels on the fly, burning up pages with feverish imagination, letting tales take him where they will. This often gives his novels a freshness, as if both reader and writer are discovering the story for the first time. But spur-of-the-moment invention doesn’t always lead to great resolutions, and King’s endings fail spectacularly as often as they succeed, trailing a welter of unresolved plot points behind them. (Ever read Gerald’s Game or The Tommyknockers, or even the finale of Dark Tower‘ Don’t. Hell, even King himself advises you not to read the final pages of Dark Tower.)

Hill writes with deliberation and poetic economy, wasting nothing. There is not a phrase or idea in this book that doesn’t serve his larger narrative purpose. This makes for a tighter read than Hill’s more prolific father usually provides. It also gives his characters more substance and weight. Many of King’s characters never shed the taint of stereotype – even his most famous creation, Roland Deschain, is more idea than person. Hill begins with stereotypes (disaffected aging rockstar, overeager flunky, lost and depressed goth girl) and builds genuine people upon their foundation.

Finally, Hill has that rare gift of putting subtle sensations into words that you wouldn’t think could be articulated. He surprises you, as great authors like Italo Calvino or Herman Melville do, by aptly describing things we’ve all felt or thought but never thought about. Hill is no Calvino or Melville yet, but the gift is surely there. Here too, he has already surpassed King.

Hill’s debut novel may well have been his own heart-shaped gift to his father. It carries a poison promise: I can do your craft, your genre, and even your own style better than you. But sons become fathers, and Hill should take care that this box doesn’t become his own coffin. (‘Heart-Shaped Coffin’ was Kurt Cobain’s original title for the Nirvana song that gives this book its name.) He has revealed by doing that King’s style is a formula that can be learned and mastered. Done once and done well, that is a fascinating achievement. Done again and again, it will make Hill rich. But like all successful formulas, it comes at a price: confinement.

I’d like to think that Hill has laid his father’s shade to rest by invoking its voice so eloquently. In his next novel, I hope Hill will find his own.

7 out of 10

Brimming with Gothic atmosphere, Larry Brent’s first audiobook adventure is a nostalgic reminder that as good as dramatic adaptations can be, an author?s original text has a charm all its own.

Dan Shocker?s Larry Brent #1: Das Grauen schleicht durch Bonnards Haus
(Dan Shocker?s Larry Brent #1: Horror creeps through Bonnard?s House)

Written by Dan Shocker (J?rgen Grasm?ck)
(23. Januar 1940 in Hanau; ? 7. August 2007)

Read by Rainer Schmitt.
Produced by Lausch for Europa

3 CDs

Language: German

There?s something about a hero named ?Larry? that kills me. The name is so salt-of-the-earth that one of the minor characters in the movie?Pee-Wee?s Big Adventure, ?Amazing Larry?, was funny mostly because his name sounded like an oxymoron. Don?t get me wrong ? I love the Larrys in my life, including one of the sweetest and most honorable elderly men I?ve known and a college buddy with the most infectious laugh I?ve ever heard. But Larrys are sadly neglected when it comes to hero names. Well, Larrys of the world, take heart: in Germany your name is the stuff of legend.

That is, the legend of PSA secret agent Larry Brent, investigator of the paranormal. What, another German occult detective? Not another one, my friends: the first one. Dan Shocker?s (J?rgen Grasm?ck) square-jawed, laser-gun toting adventurer debuted in 1968 in Das Grauen schleicht durch Bonnards Haus, spawning a long-running series and inspiring a new horror-themed genre of German pulp publishing. This audiobook production of Das Grauen carries some historical interest then, since Larry Brent?s first adventure kicked off the occult detective trend that still defines a large segment of the German audio drama market.

What?s most unusual about the character Larry Brent in this day and age is his nationality: American (United States). German pulp writers, as a general rule, steadfastly avoid creating German heroes, generally preferring English-speaking protagonists (John Sinclair, Gabriel Burns) and exotic locales like Britain or Canada. Americans aren?t all that popular in Germany now, and it?s rare to see an American hero in a new German serial. Back in the 60?s and 70?s, though, West Germany was generally very positive about Americans (One German fellow pursued my mom for over a year with no success, poor guy) and American heroes were more prevalent in German pulps.

Larry is introduced to us as an FBI agent on vacation in France, but he never gets to enjoy the quiet charms of the Maurs district. Rumors are flying about giant bats attacking the local populace, strangely singling out those possessing blood type A. Shortly after arriving Brent discovers the corpse of one of their victims, a man whose self-destructing ring identifies him as the agent of a secret organization. His curiosity piqued, Brent investigates the horrific experiments of Dr. Canol and ultimately pursues the case to the forbidding manse of Egyptologist Dr. Bonnard. Are vampires plying their unholy trade in France, or is something even more bizarre at work?

Originally published in 1968, Das Grauen has its share of dated spy novel trappings. When else but the sixties could you get away with codenames like X-RAY-18? Nostalgia is definitely a selling point of this new audiobook series, which was made with long-time fans in mind. Europa produced 15 much-loved, bloody but very campy Larry Brent audio dramas back in the 1980s and has re-released them on CD as part of its ?R?ckkehr der Klassiker? (?Return of the Classic Writers?) line. Rainer Schmitt, the reader of this audio book, played hero Larry Brent in those productions.

Although Europa?s 1980?s audio dramas anticipated and inspired much of the contemporary work coming out of Germany, Europa itself hasn?t aged well as a producer of adult audio drama. (They still publish the popular children’s?series Die Drei ??? / The Three Investigators.)? Europa attempted to get into the newly rejuvenated adult audio drama market with two new Macabros recordings, but these were poorly produced by modern standards and weren?t well received. Wisely they?ve opted for the cheaper, less creatively demanding option of releasing Larry Brent as a series of audio books, and contracted production out to Lausch, one of Germany?s hottest young audio drama companies.

So how does it sound?

Rainer Schmitt ? considered THE voice of Larry Brent by German fans due to his audio drama portrayals of the hero back in the 80s – turns out to be a superlative reader. He breathes vibrant life into Shocker?s stock characters, giving the stolid French police chief grumbling presence and the morally conflicted Dr. Canol a delightfully anemic rasp. Schmitt has that rare ability to make you forget you?re listening to one man rather than a cast, and his versatility and verve makes this production compelling from start to finish. For this reviewer, Schmitt has become a name to watch out for.

Some German commentators have complained about Schmitt?s pacing, which is relentlessly fast. A more relaxed tempo wouldn?t hurt; it sometimes seems as though Schmitt is racing through Shocker?s text to squeeze it onto 3 CDs. But while Schmitt?s?rapidfire delivery?would have ruined Wuthering Heights, it?gives this pulp?adventure story a fitting rush of adrenaline.

The choice of music is interesting: Lausch opted to create a soundscape that evokes the 60?s / 70?s trappings of the original Brent novels. The music sounds like a basement Jazz combo, with a drum, piano, and some strumming violins added for Gothic tension. It?s a different approach than WortArt took with its modern, cinematic production of Jason Dark?s John Sinclair audiobook, Die R?ckkehr des Schwarzen Tod (Return of the Black Death). The music, like the story, is never really scary, but its exaggerated menace fits the material. Synthesized high-pitched bleats work particularly well in evoking the cries of giant bats and the pain of their piercing bites. The introductory / closing theme with its over-the-top maniacal laughter is, well . . . very, very German. I?ll leave it at that.

It is disappointing that Lausch has opted to use the same music tracks for both of their initial Larry Brent audio book releases instead of giving each its own soundtrack and individual feel. But I suppose this is a cost-cutting measure, and 14,95 Euros for 3 CDs is a tough price to beat.

There are few sound effects in the production outside of a well-placed thunderclap.

As supernatural detective stories go, I found this one surprisingly inventive. The plot doesn?t proceed in the direction you?d expect, and the characters, while 2-dimensional, all entertain. This is an origin story, and thus there are two interweaving plots ? the evil goings-on and the story of Brent?s first encounter with and adoption into the PSA, a paranormal investigative branch of the FBI. Shocker lays out some of the serial?s principle players such as the shadowy, blind director of the PSA and his gangly assistant, Bony. Brent himself is a likeable enough square-jawed type, although his introduction suffers from the principle ill plaguing German pulp-horror: a Deus-ex-Machina resolution. This is, in fact, the most literal Deus-ex-Machina ending I?ve ever heard. In a series named for its hero, you might expect Brent to resolve the situation through the application of his singular skills and intelligence. Not this time.

But if you want clever resolutions you should probably stick to straight mysteries. Occult detective stories, like horror tales, thrive more on generating a haunting atmosphere than ratiocinative logic. In this Larry Brent succeeds, after a fashion. You?re unlikely to be frightened, but as with a classic black-and-white horror film, you?ll likely fall under the spell of its outdated Gothic charm anyway. I don?t know if Bela Lugosi?s Dracula really scares people anymore, but he?s still a captivating presence onscreen.

All in all, ?Larry Brent? is a nice addition to an audio drama field crowded with occult detectives. Das Grauen schleicht durch Bonnards Haus is a welcome reminder that as good as audio drama adaptations can be, an author?s original, unedited text has a charm all its own.

Next Week: Malleus takes an exacting look at Highbridge audio?s Star Wars universe spin-off, Crimson Empire (English). Is the force with this audio drama?s charismatic anti-hero, or does his story choke on the stale ideas of an outworn franchise?

A post-apocalyptic audio book / drama packed with steel-jacketed entertainment for your inner libertarian.

Deathlands #73: Labyrinth

2006 The Cutting Corporation
Directed by Richard Rohan
Starring: Richard Rohan, Terence Aselford, Colleen Delany, Delores King Williams, Nanette Savard, Casey Jones, Ken Jackson, Karen Carbone and David Coin.

Availability: In print. (Audio CD, MP3 CD, WMA download)
Approximate running time: 8 hours

Language: English.

Try before you buy: sample available at http://www.graphicaudio.net/p-82-73-labyrinth.aspx

Rated Mature by the publisher for graphic violence.
Although Deathlands titles often contain graphic sex scenes, Labyrinth does not.

The post-apocalyptic genre draws its power from making the familiar strange. Half the interest comes from seeing how social mores and lifeways would be transformed by a (typically nuclear) holocaust. There?s a Teddy Roosevelt / Robert E. Howard sense of stripping away civilization to reveal a rougher but more authentic, usually hyper-masculine, core. What emerges from the ashes may be broken, but it has primal honesty lost to our world of comfort and appearances. It?s a fantasy with a dubious pedigree, with roots in Cold War anti-Communist paranoia and the potential racism and sexism attending any Wild West vision. In knowing hands, though, these unfortunate legacies can be navigated and compelling tales can be told.

Compared to straight sci-fi and fantasy, there haven?t been many post-apocalypse audio dramas. A few stand out, including John Reed?s 1981 adaptation of A Canticle for Leibowitz, Darker Projects? more recent (and sadly seldom updated) amateur serial Alive Inside (http://www.darkerprojects.com/aliveinside.html), and CBC?s unreleased Adventures of Apocalypse Al by J. Michael Straczynski (http://www.sffaudio.com/2007/07/commentary-radio-drama-from-j-michael.html.) But with almost seventy 6 to 8 hour episodes in release and more on the way, it?s hard to top Graphic Audio?s Deathlands for sheer scope and ambition.

Deathlands is a post-apocalyptic serial penned by ?James Axler?, the collective pseudonym of several authors. Rather than adapt Axler?s novels into tighter dramatic scripts, Graphic Audio performs the unabridged novels verbatim as plays. The results sound like audio drama but move at the slower pace of an audio book. Adjusting to this novelistic tempo takes time, but is well worth the effort: these are the most effective fusions of audio drama and book I?ve heard. The Deathlands releases have casts, a cinematic musical score, and elaborate sound effects. (Often, when gruesome wounds are inflicted, ludicrously elaborate. Who else would use sound effects to depict a bullet?s violent passage through human flesh and bone ? as heard from the bullet?s perspective?) Although Graphic Audio titles feature heavy narration, unlike other audio drama/book attempts (Listening Library?s stilted ?Words take Wing? titles, Yuri Rasovsky?s Jurgen) they wisely do not follow actors? dialogue with the narrator intoning ?said Ryan?, ?hissed Playvik?, ?Mildred said stubbornly?, etc. A good example I wish more audio book / drama directors would follow.

The Deathlands series concerns a band of survivalists wandering post-nuclear America. Deathlands is pulp, and as per pulp convention characters are kept familiar and simple. Leading man Ryan Cawdor is a tough as nails warrior sporting an eye-patch and a wicked blade. Think Mad Max, Roland Deschaine, or Snake Plissken. His companions largely consist of stock types, such as the antiquated, wise old scholar and the beautiful love interest who taps into the power of the Earth Mother. Graphic Audio?s repertory cast play their Deathlands roles so well, though, that the characters rarely sound as two-dimensional as they are. Richard Rohan?s versatile voice becomes absolutely chameleonic when he adopts Ryan?s direct, hard-bitten persona. Terence Aselford injects just the right measure of grizzled humor into gunsmith J.B. Dix, and Colleen Delany leavens grit with poise as Ryan?s lover, the mystic Krysty Wroth.

Labyrinth is a hybrid of the story type Stephen King calls ?the strange town? and Aliens-style survival horror. The tale begins when Ryan and his band discover the idyllic town of Little Pueblo in the canyons of New Mexico. Desperate for food and water, they interrupt a local gathering inside an abandoned theater. The townsfolk consist of wealthy alpha male ?Pilgrims?, poor beta male laborers, and female slaves who are bought and sold like cattle. Under the guiding hand of spiritual leader Playvik, they follow the polygamous cult of ?Bob and Enid?. The cult is a blunt satire of patriarchal, fundamentalist religion, an insane fa?ade erected to mask the darker reality lurking within a nearby dam. Sadly, while Labyrinth was recorded in 2006, current events in Texas make this aspect of the story seem very topical. There is even a substantial sub-plot that involves rescuing an under-aged pregnant teen and liberating her from this oppressive male-dominated system.

Overwhelmed by the cult?s superior numbers, Cawdor?s group is soon divided: Most escape to an ancient laboratory complex, but Ryan and J.B. are caught and offered as sacrifices to the ?demons? of the dam. Inside the lab Dr. Mildred Wyeth (Delores King Williams) examines evidence to unravel the mystery of the dam, providing exposition on the town and its background. I enjoyed Mildred?s investigation, but I wish the writer hadn?t leaned so heavily on her convenient knowledge of everything under the sun. After awhile she starts to seem less like an informed character and more like an all-too convenient expository device for an author in a hurry. Still, a smart, three-dimensional black female character in men?s pulp fantasy ? how often do you get that? Mildred is a strong character but never becomes the stereotypical ?strong black woman?, and her speech is mercifully free of the heavy-handed blaxploitation slang white writers often use. She doesn?t say ?you go girl? when talking to a female ally, or hoot ?that?s what I?m talking about!? after she aces a foe.

Meanwhile, inside the dam Ryan and J.B.?s struggle to survive the demons? predation provides horror-movie tension and gruesome thrills.

Congratulations ? it?s an it.

Any Aliens-style adventure ultimately stands or falls on its monsters. Labyrinth?s demons are gruesome enough, but not particularly novel save in one respect: speed. Endowed with the reaction time and agility of fleas, the man-sized demons? ability to maneuver faster than thought makes them an intimidating tactical challenge. Deathlands routinely offers up an NRA-lover?s dream of gun fetishism, but the demons? incredible velocity makes conventional weaponry all but useless here. Good sound design gives these non-verbal creatures frightening presence. Chittering, burrowing, or flying past in a blur of motion, they sound uncanny and ruthlessly efficient. My only criticism would be consistency: sometimes sound effects underscore narration of the demons? actions, sometimes not. It?s an odd shift between cinematic and straight audio book styles that could have been better handled.

Labyrinth succeeds in reinvigorating a long running series with genuinely fresh antagonists. Hopelessly outclassed, Ryan?s band is forced to rely on their wits and sheer luck. Aside from Dr. Wyeth?s clunky exposition, if Labyrinth has one fault it?s that it is too long to sustain its break-neck pace. On the other hand, that length turns what could have been a moment?s escapism into an immersive epic. And after experiencing the brutal truth of the Deathlands you may not want to hurry back to your boring, civilized life.

Next week: A return to German gothic with a review of a new audio book production of the Grusel-krimi that started it all, Larry Brent #1: Das Grauen Schleicht durch Bonnard’s Haus. (Larry Brent #1: Horror Creeps through Bonnard’s House.)

8?out of 10

A welcome interlude in the Middle Ages vampire serial for longtime fans and an accessible, self-contained starting point for newcomers.?

Blutkrieg ? Die Edition
Blood War ? the (collected) Edition

(This series was previously released on 5 individual CDs.? Although the stories are all self-contained, they are interconnected and build on one another.? I recommend this collected edition, which is considerably cheaper than buying the 5 singly.)

An audiobook by Wolfgang Hohlbein.? Read by the author.?
5 CDs, 377 minutes
ZYX music, 2007.

Blutkrieg is situated between books 8 and 9 of the dark fantasy series Die Chronik der Unsterblichen (Chronicle of the Undying.)?

Language:? German.

Try before you buy:

The first chapter of Blutkrieg, Die Schwarze Gischt, was premiered in segments on the German ?Neurotainment? podcast and is still available.? Use the links below to download this free and fully authorized broadcast.

http://www.audioads.de/files/254/np00004.mp3
http://www.audioads.de/files/255/np00005.mp3
http://www.audioads.de/files/256/np00006.mp3
http://www.audioads.de/files/257/np00007.mp3
http://www.audioads.de/files/258/np00008.mp3

Perhaps we are dead.? And this is Hell.

? Abu Dun

Germany?s horror novelist Jason Dark / Helmut Rellergerd is sometimes compared to American author Stephen King, but for emotional resonance, stylistic range, and page-turning eloquence I find Wolfgang Hohlbein a better analogue to the American master.? Hohlbein is an interesting hybrid:? he has roots in pulpy German grusel-serials (Der Hexer, Raven) but seems equally comfortable penning more sophisticated fantasy / horror novels (Unheil, Der Inquisitor, Dunkel.)? Of the many German authors who have tried to bridge these genres, Hohlbein has been the most successful, particularly with his middle-ages vampire serial Die Chronik der Unsterblichen.? Chronik began in 1999 with solid fantasy novels featuring elaborate plots and sizable casts.? With Blutkrieg, Hohlbein pauses his epic narrative for an interlude of elemental pulp fare.?

Die Chronik der Unsterblichen series currently rests on the shoulders of two protagonists:? haunted swordsman Andrej Del?ny and his comrade-in-arms, stolid ex-pirate Abu Dun.? Both are vampires, which in Hohlbein?s world means they regenerate quickly, have above-average strength, age slowly, and are subject to a demonic thirst for blood, something Andrej and Abu Dun choose to resist.

Abu Dun?s grim assessment,? ?Perhaps we are dead.? And this is Hell?, sums up Blutkrieg?s bleak Waiting for Godot / Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead atmosphere.? After being tricked into slaying a ship?s innocent crew, a repentant Abu Dun and Andrej set out to do the only decent thing left:? return the corpses to their Northern homeland for burial.? But the vampires soon find themselves alone and out of their depth in a frozen landscape that threatens their very survival and renders their physical and moral progress pyrrhic.? As their Scandinavian Odyssey becomes a personal hell the companions are forced to fight or make devil?s bargains with a host of malign powers, including werewolves, zombies, witches and dreamspiders.? The frigid wastes themselves are arguably the vampires? worst foe, perpetually threatening to swamp their lives and souls in a vast grey limbo.

The companions? saving grace turns out to be their devotion to each other, which not only gets them to watch each other?s backs but gives them heart and purpose.? In this sense Blutkrieg is a true ?buddy? narrative not unlike the bi-racial ?buddy cop? Hollywood films of the 1980?s.? Movies like Lethal Weapon steadfastly avoided contemporary racial schisms with a ?pass the popcorn? ethos of straight action and camaraderie.? Chronik adapts this approach to religious difference, with European Christian Andrej and Nubian Muslim Abu Dun regularly engaging in the teasing banter of their cop movie counterparts.? They maintain what anthropologists call a ?joking relationship?, defusing potentially schismatic differences through friendly one-upmanship.? It?s not hard to read a contemporary German wish to rise above the country?s sometimes nervous relationship with its large Turkish minority into Andrej and Abu Dun?s playful, empathic bickering.? Regardless, Hohlbein invests his characters with enough human depth that the selfless commitment beneath their mocking repartee remains credible and moving throughout.? Blutkrieg is ultimately a dark paean to fraternal love.

As in the first Chronik audiobook, the author himself narrates this release.? Although Hohlbein lacks an actor?s baritone timbre, his voice has the sincerity and urgency of a young priest?s.? He doesn?t so much perform these morality plays as testify them, drawing listeners in with his mesmerizing, quasi-confessional undertone.?

Hohlbein?s narration is supported by the series? infectiously melodramatic theme song and quieter musical passages featuring an erhu.? While this traditional Chinese instrument might seem out-of-place in Chronik?s European setting it somehow works, giving the story an otherworldly, melancholic air.? The recording?s sparse sound effects are less impressive:? canned metallic clangs and horse whinnies occasionally disrupt Blutkrieg?s potent spell.

For this long-time fan, hearing Hohlbein spin new tales of Andrej and Abu Dun feels like returning to a desolate but beautiful homeland.? Hohlbein puts out a new chapter of Chronik der Unsterblichen every year, but so far only the first two books and Blutkrieg have been produced as audiobooks.?

Here?s hoping for many more.

Next week:??Cleanse the pallet of angst and moral ambiguity with?the high impact Malleus?review of Graphic Audio’s post-apocalyptic adventure, Deathlands #73:? Labyrinth.? (English language.)

Below – The vampire Andrej returns home in the comic book adaptation of the first novel in the Chronik der Unsterblichen series.

That?s why it was with great enthusiasm that I picked up Jonathan Lethem?s ?Men and Cartoons,? an unabridged audiobook with 9 of Lethem?s stories published by Random House. I first ran across Lethem when I found out he?d be a faculty member at a writing conference up here in Maine, and voraciously starting reading any of his work I could get my hands on. I found his work (Mother Brooklyn, especially) almost painfully clever, delightfully bizarre, and thoroughly intelligent. He weaves unexpected language, hapless characters, and basic human situations together in a way that almost looks easy. And the stories in ?Men and Cartoons? don?t disappoint.

9 stories over four CDs averages to about 2 stories a CD, meaning I could listen to an entire story in one commute and let it sink in as I first sat down at my desk to begin (or end) the day. The stories are all read by different voices from a capable cast, and sprinkled with little bits of production magic that make the listening experience that much nicer. The highlights of this collection for me were ?Access Fantasy? and ?Super Goat Man.?

The former is about a city where the privileged and the underclass are separated by a forcefield, a division enforced by robots. Those in the underclass yearn to be on the other side, and one man sets out to get there. Twisted social commentary and a murder mystery keep the suspense going in this tale (though it takes a few minutes to figure out what the hell?s going on). This is also probably the production highlight of the collection. Sandra Bernhard has great wryness and inflection, and when the robots come to talk business with the protagonist a voice filter delivers great life to the piece. Though it?s far from out-and-out drama, a captivating reader and good use of the reverberating effect delivers a more interesting listening experience.

?Super Goat Man? is the tale of a retired comic book hero and his influence on a young man?s life. This is a surprisingly epic tale, spanning the main character?s boyhood to middle age. While it might seem bizarre to have an impact character with pointed horns and hooves, Lethem is quite adept at suspending your disbelief, and paints Super Goat Man as tragic a character as any, a super hero that fails at saving anyone, embodying an entire generation of failed ideals. Read by the author, ?Super Goat Man? exemplifies Lethem?s ability to weave the hypernatural into the traditional short story.

I?m impressed with Random House?s effort with this collection, as it?s little details that make the listening experience delightful. The filter effects I mentioned, plus there is triumphant music bridging the stories that wraps the stories up into digestible doses and makes everything feel like a finished product. Kudos to Random House and Jonathan Lethem for a great example of how a little production value goes a long way in an audio work, and let?s cross our fingers that they?ll seek dramatization one day as the logical next step.