[Editor’s Note: The following is a combined review with MOSTLY HARMLESS.]--Cosmic ridicule abounds in these last two novels that sprang from the author's BBC Radio serial, “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.” The magnum opus followed hero Arthur Dent on absurdist and just plain silly adventures through time and space, beginning with the destruction of Earth. The plots of the wildly popular print, dramatic, film, comic book, and audiobook versions are hard to describe, indeed often incomprehensible, and ultimately beside the point. One listens to enjoy the inexhaustible fecundity of the author's prankish genius. Narrator Martin Freeman played the hapless, clueless Dent in the film version. A light touch of special effects and musical bridges nicely augment his spirited and suitably dotty reading. The narrative unfolds in his native London accent. The numerous characters gain humor from his chameleonic voice and ear for dialect. A tour de force for both writer and reader.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2006
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Multiple award winner Card is one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction; here he delivers a history fantasy of the Wabash Valley circa 1800, a world of hexes and folk magic. This is the first book about Alvin Maker, the seventh son of a seventh son, who has remarkable psychic powers. Card is a very good narrator, expressive and well paced. One can hear the excitement of an author as he brings his own well described characters to life. There is one momentary technical glitch, the only slip up in an exemplary presentation. Highly recommended for fiction collections everywhere.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: The Literate Ear
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Asimov's sweeping tale of the disintegration and fall of the Galactic Empire has never been more relevant or poignant. In the third book of the original trilogy, Dan Lazar handles the material adequately. He uses his limited range of voices nicely, if sometimes amusingly--he sometimes sounds like a foreigner attempting to mimic American accents. Varying pitch and pacing make for a lively narration, and his reading of a precocious young woman, who is ultimately an important figure, is delightful. Technical and editorial problems plague the title. Hearing Lazar repeatedly mispronounce a word that the text itself explains how to pronounce is very frustrating. Intermittent fade-outs on one channel; inconsistencies when switching sides; and low, rumbling background noise mar the sound quality.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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