If you can imagine the imperial Roman conquerors in late-first-century Britain being exactly like Americans in the twenty-first century, then you’ll find this audiobook entertaining and plausible. Author Jane Finnis has her Romans using American slang, idioms, and clichés. Narrator Rebecca Rogers furthers this portrayal of Americanized Romans with her accents and intonation. (The English barbarians speak with a variety of English accents.) Heroine Aurelia Marcella sounds believable as she engages in her murder investigation, mainly because she sounds just like detectives on TV. As the suspense builds, listeners are drawn into a world of tribal warfare, fraternal strife, and buried treasure. Rogers acts as a guide to the story’s historical period with confidence and authority.
Pub Date: June 10, 2008
Duration: 10 hrs
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ayla, one of the "others," is adopted by a clan of Neanderthal cave people. She struggles to conform to their ways, but her advanced human traits overwhelm and threaten their primitive culture in this initial installment of an immensely popular series. Although the story might benefit from abridgment, Rowena Cooper easily carries out the formidable task of enlivening the mostly silent and stereotypical characters with consistent, diverse personalities and human dimension. Through skillful phrasing and inflection, she maintains the reader's interest and suspense, especially with Ayla and her plight, throughout this rambling and imaginative story.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America/ Chivers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This lyrical, sensual novel of woman's lot in Manchu, China, is as well researched as it is well written. Authentic in tone, it's nonetheless written for Westerners by a Western expert on China. Moreover, Susan Clark performs the demanding text superbly, with only occasional signs of fatigue. For the most part she not only sustains the quaint diction and Asian atmosphere, but also, creates whole worlds with her voice. She acts the book, rather than reads it, and, in so doing, turns a pretty trifle into a stupendous beauty.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Literature
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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