The Ghost Brigades: Now Out in Audio
Posted on March 16, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 6 Comments
The audiobook version of Old Man’s War apparently sold well — which makes me happy — so now The Ghost Brigades is out in an audio version as well. As with Old Man’s War, this one is narrated by William Dufris. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I thought Dufris did a bang-up job with OMW, so I can’t imagine he’ll do any less well here. And it appears TGB is being priced pretty well, too — under twenty bucks, on both Audible.com and iTunes. It doesn’t appear to be on Amazon yet, but given that Amazon just snapped up Audible, I don’t imagine that will take long.
So if you’ve been waiting for the audio version to find out what happens next after OMW, now’s your chance to catch up. And to anticipate the question, no, there’s been no contract signed yet for an audio version of The Last Colony, but for various reasons I would be mildly surprised if one doesn’t eventually show up. Personally, I’m itchin’ for an audio version of The Android’s Dream — I want to hear a professional reader get all the way through that first chapter.
I should say I really am enjoying the concept of audiobooks more as I go along — I think they add another dimension to the writing, and I really enjoy hearing an audio performance of my words that isn’t me, and which doesn’t necessarily sound like the voice (or voices) in my head. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to play there. We’ll see where that goes over time.
I love audiobooks. I own a professional window washing business and while I’ve been listening to audiobooks while I work, now my employees have all caught the bug. It’s a great way to occupy your mind while doing otherwise mindless work.
I both read OMW and listened to it. They were two different experiences, both enjoyable.
I bought TGB and it’s in my queue for this season. I’ll be certain to snatch any others, John, when they are available. Keep us informed.
Audio books are wonderful things. My first experience with them was Coraline; since then I’ve read the book, but it was not the same. (And I also read another adaptation that’s Coming Out Soon. Different again. And then there’ll be the movie. Different again….)
The other thing about audio books is that they bring out an extra something in the writers who care about rhythm in their writing. Tolkien read can be boring sometimes… Tolkien heard is always a joy to me, on the other hand. Even in that friggin’ long council meeting.
So I’ve been reading Wil Wheaton’s blog since year dot and finally downloaded OMW from Audible after hearing about you in awe inspired tones for a while. I’ve been listening pretty much non stop all weekend, just downloaded TGB and if they don’t have TLC at my local library I’ll buy it on Amazon. (Can’t wait for the audio which says a lot) Oh, and I joined Whateveresque yesterday too. I think I just became one of your 1000.
That is all.
Is OMW or TGB going to get an appearance on EMusic’s audiobook list? If so, I’ll download them the next time I get audiobook credits.
Agreed on Dufris’ performance of Old Man’s War (and the book itself was paced well for audio IMO). I’ll be buying TGB shortly.
An audio version of TAD will have an awful lot of tape left on the cutting room floor. They will need to have the reader go over that first chapter A LOT to get a take that doesn’t have the sound of a body hitting the floor and gasping for air through the laughs. I know I couldn’t do it.