As narrator, John Hodgman captures the thin and often wry tone of Nick Carter, an aspiring copyright lawyer tasked with saving the planet. Aliens have come to earth because they love our music, and they’re not quite sure whether they should work through painful negotiations around our complicated and obtuse music copyright laws—or simply induce the planet’s self-destruction and take the music. Apparently, human music is pure bliss to the rest of the universe, but our laws proportionately obnoxious. Hodgman keeps provides a good vocal momentum for the prose, and he shines in the character voices. He adds just the right amount of personality to these intergalactic characters. Without overdoing it, his deadpan exaggeration makes this an amusing production.
Pub Date: 2012
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780449009451
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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