I've got one, "Black and Red" (I know, I can see it too) which is about SoB being called in to assess a world's piety immediately after first contact.
Anyway, the voice actors do the best they can and the direction is what it is and it's all a bit, er, how I would have wanted it to sound had I produced it in 1982. Lots of forced reaction and caricature with a predictable shoot out at the end. Now the idea behind the audio book was a good, solid premise for a Grim Dark story. But it could have been a bigger story, in a book and been quite the piece, instead of being crammed onto one planet in an audio book. Jus' sayin'.
So they're now offering this:
Which I am really interest in - I really quite liked 'Flight of the Eisenthing'. Any way. Here's the rub; I have almost no time in my life to listen to things (really listen, I mean. The radio may be on the background, but that's background stuff). Whereas I do read. I'd like this as a book. Or books. Or e-book or e-books. And having been disappointed by 'Black and Red' I'm not really in the place where I'm gonna blow £50+ on a punt that this might not be as awful.
Another thing is the way in which I consume my hobby product - bit of weird language there, but I hope you get what I mean. I would want this to sit on my shelf, with the other books I like. Not be crammed and lost in with the Jason Donovan and Take That CDs. Oh well, £50 saved, I suppose.
Do I have a point ? Not really, just sharing an opinion.
OBTW, Astrubel Vect has a facebook page ! Who knew ?
I have similarly been frustrated, having liked the Garro character in FotE to find these exist only as audio books.
ReplyDeletewhere I would be compelled to forgoe my morning Radio 4 in order to hear overly earnest struggling voice actors bang out childish aphorisms like "for the emprah!"
I'd much rather read.. shame the rest of the world feels increasingly less inclined to do so.
No idea what the Garro audio is - an audio anthology? If so - they are pretty good, but not worth 50 squids by any means. Infact, I don't think ANY of the BL audiobooks and dramas are worth as much as they charge.
ReplyDeleteOddly, I was half expecting a couple of people to say "Nah, your fears are unfounded, go ahead, spend the money, they're great !" So to get two 'regulars' saying more or less the same thing is sort of nice.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't solve the problem, though.