While co-authors Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen bring impressive credentials to their task, this novel is a pretty standard alternative history, imagining a different course for the Civil War. The level of detail is impressive and ranges from the food and clothing of the common soldier to high-level political and tactical maneuvering. But the actual writing is clunky and melodramatic at times. The broad cast of characters poses a problem for narrator Boyd Gaines, whose voice is always clear and often dramatic, but not always distinct. Some of the regional accents shift a bit through the course of the book, making it harder to differentiate among characters.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2004
Duration: 15 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
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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