DOUBLE STAR by Robert Heinlein

Narrated by Tom Weiner

     Command Performance

A classic tale of Science Fiction that may be Heinlein’s most satisfying novel. The plot so tight that there is no room for anything extra. Just story. .Every element advancing toward the inevitable end.

Tom Weiner reads the book competently. His pacing sometimes falters during dialog scenes as he tries to jump form one character voice to another, but his voices are appropriate for each person in the story. 

I MUST SAY by Martin Short

Narrated by Martin Short

     Comedic Trip to the Freak Show

Interspersed throughout with the character voices Short has made famous over the years, this entertaining autobiography is entertaining, retrospective and poignant by turns. He relates his show-business exploits from Canadian SCTV to SNL and the Stage with a series of funny anecdotes. Short is great in his narration, managing to keep his account seeming spontaneous with his quirky voices. The ending gets a little maudlin as Short recounts his life with his great love, Nancy. Her death brings the story down to earth and one realizes that even a self-styled one-percenter lives and loves as the rest of the ninety-nine. The one detraction for me was his compulsion to take jabs at conservative politicians—just in time for the current presidential campaign—even as he is in mourning for his wife. It seems that liberals can’t cease to push their agenda even when smiling through the grief. 

WARSHIP by Joshua Dazelle

Narrated by Mark Boyett

     Trek Prior to Kirk

If this book seems strangely familiar—and it should. I don’t this it was marketed as such, but this is a Star Trek novel. The Federation of Planets is just beginning. The starships travel about using Warp Drive, and the ship is ruled by a loose cannon Starship Captain that often has to break the rules to get things done. The novel has a slow beginning section but then things begin to happen. There is plenty of ship-to-ship battle action in the later sections. The one element of Star Trek that is painfully missing is: humor. I often lament the shortage of serious Science Fiction, but I do appreciate a little levity interspersed with my space battles.

Overall, Warship is a book with some potential. I will probably listen to the next installment when it is released, but without the infusion of a little humor I can’t imagine that I will stick with it beyond that.

Mark Boyett is a great narrator for military Sci-Fi.. I greatly admire his work on the Undying Mercenaries series. His voices for female characters are so good that sometimes it is creepy. Mr. Boyett has a deep voice, so when he speaks the female voices they come out sultry. Knowing that the attractive voice of Celesta is coming from male vocal cords is a bit unnerving. 

LOCK IN by John Scalzi

Narrated by Wil Wheaton

     Pure Sci-Fi Extrapolation

Scalzi deserves praise for putting forth the effort to give the Science Fiction fan that which we crave. We want demonstration of skills in world building, technology advancement, and most importantly, sociological extrapolation. Scalzi delivers. John Scalzi rose up through the ranks of Sci-Fi fandom with his online articles, opinions, and stories.. You might say that “he gets it!” In LOCK IN Scalzi begins with the premise of a world-wide epidemic, and then extrapolates that world to the point where the victims, with the aid of advanced technology, are able to lead fulfilling lives, even to the point that they see their affliction as an advancement in human consciousness. He even manages to weave these elements into central elements of the plot. So, for these reasons, I give this book high marks.

There are, however, some low points: While Scalzi is improving in his dialog, he still overuses “he said” in his speaker identifications. He abuses this term so badly that sometimes I lost track of who was speaking because everyone in the conversation is a “he” and designating their words with a “he said” does not help. Lastly; as a faithful Science Fiction insider, Scalzi populates his book with the obligatory criticisms of conservative politicians, and, of course, religion.

Wil Wheaton is a fine reader, but I, for one, would have appreciated a bit more character individuality. He is much better in his more recent work in Armada. 

WHERE THE HELL IS TESLA? By Rob Dircks

Narrated by Rob Dircks

     Chip and Pete’s Excellent Adventure

The most impressive thing about this book is not that it is consistently funny, frat-boy sarcastic, and paced like a comic book; no, the appeal of this audiobook is that the author narrates it himself and—unexpectedly—handles the task expertly!  While listening it is clear that Dircks tailored his characters and their snarky dialog to his own range of voice techniques. The production quality is top-notch and the voices are spot on. If you have listened to many audiobooks you know that a book narrated by the author is usually the kiss of death. But not here. Dircks it quite good.

The story has more of a comic-book feel to it than it does a Science Fiction story. This is comic fantasy. I found that it is also prime material for the cinema. I could visualize every scene in my head as if it were on film. Some of them make for some excellent visual slapstick comedy.  

AMERICAN CAESAR by William Manchester

     MacArthur Writ Large as Life

This book was my introduction to the narrative histories of William Manchester. It opened up for me an interest in WWII in general and in the great figures of that era in particular. Manchester is a wonderful prose craftsman. He can put together a paragraph like the finest fiction writer. Manchester is also adept at filling the need we have for hero worship, the idea that the men who determined the fate of civilization, and saved us from tyranny, must needs be great—larger than life. He manages to downplay their personal foibles, suborning such short-comings to the personality traits that make them great. This biography of Douglas MacArthur is no exception. When listening to this biography we quickly learn that Manchester pulls no punches. We quickly learn about MacArthur’s narcissism, his inability to accept blame, his need to be in control of every detail. On the converse, we also learn about his almost transcendent competence in organizing a battle theater and for commanding the respect and loyalty of his staff. This sympathetic biography will give you the impression that no one else in the entire world could have possibly directed the forces in the South Pacific to victory with to few American lives lost other than MacArthur. Larger than life? Perhaps. Entertaining and engaging? Certainly. Manchester’s work has an epic quality to it, that quality that not only are you learning about a great moment in history, but that it mattered.

At the end of the production the narrator comes on to announce that “this book has been narrated by Tom Parker (aka. Grover Gardner). I found Gardner’s voice less grating than his effort on Shelby Foote’s Civil War series—although here he never reaches the level where he could be considered to enhance Manchester’s work—at least here he is not an obstacle to the text. Words that you will never hear me say about Gardner are: soothing, pleasant or relaxing. But, as I have said before, Gardner’s voice has the one admirable quality of being easy to differentiate from background noises. His diction is always crisp,  always clear and always understandable in even the most noisy environments. 

WAR AND REMEMBRANCE by Herman Wouk

Narrated by Kevin Pariseau

     Romantic Exploits in the Backdrop of Global War

This is the less a sequel to The Winds of War than it is part two of one huge novel. The account of the Henry family is laid out here. I found this book to be less significant than the first volume. The people are so driven by their romantic passions, both in and outside the bounds of marriage that is becomes a bit of a Soap Opera for the greatest generation. I found the Henry saga to be tedious.

The inexorable march toward the Jewish Holocaust is excruciatingly slow and tragic. But the result, for some of the main characters, is so oft foreshadowed that the culmination is entirely anti-climatic.

As in the previous volume, Wouk intersperses historical sections liberally through the novel. He has constructed several imaginary historical works from which to quote to allow him to promote his historical opinion. Victor Henry reads lengthy sections from his translation of the memoirs of a German General. And we are also treated to the musings of Aaron Jastrow through his journal entries as he slips further and further into the Nazi concentration camp system.

I knew this was a long book when I began, and so did not expect a rapid pace, but I eventually tired of following the adventures of the main characters. Once my fascination for the fictional characters ws lost the book became a slog.

Kevin Pariseau is again excellent possessing a wide range of male character voices. He is somewhat limited in his expression of the female voice but manages to make them sound distinctive, if not convincing. 

THE WINDS OF WAR by Herman Wouk

Narrated by Kevin Pariseau

     How FDR’s Lend-Lease Won the War with Russian Blood

This novel and its sequel, War and Remembrance, form one long, long story.  Covered in its pages is the account one American family. Wouk follows the Navy career of Victor Henry in the years leading up to WWII. I found WINDS to be a faithful portrayal of American sentiments in the years between the two world wars.

This book is every bit a narrative history as it is an historical novel.  Wouk gives an insightful opinion on the motives of FDR in instituting the Lend-Lease armament program. His theory is that FDR was a brilliant strategist, carefully calculating how to win the war with as few American lives lost as possible, but at the expense of Russian lives. I think he has a point.

Kevin Pariseau does well in bridging the gap between the story sections and the historical sections. He gives a fine performance; every character gets their own individual voice—a useful skill in such a book with many important characters.