Narrator Lorelei King had her job cut out for her while performing an audiobook with many unfamiliar futuristic concepts such as microscopic machines that build items from molecules in the air and all sorts of permutations of the cyberworld. But she makes it sound easy, not even pausing at the strange words, confident they will be understood in context. She is equally comfortable with slang from some not-too-distant future and the new communications methods that have been developed. She is perfect as heroine Verity Jane, who is asked to test a new "digital assistant" named Eunice. The AI (Artificial Intelligence) learns at an exponential rate and is soon sought after by nefarious people on two continents. Suspenseful, titillating, and more than a little scary.
Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2020
Duration: 10 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780525498421
Publisher: Penguin 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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