Audio Books

Would you like to have your books as audio books too? I know I would. I enjoy listening to books while I work. Of late, it's about the only way I can enjoy a good read. It doesn't seem like I have the time for a book these days. First I listened to the Dune trilogy by Frank Herbert, and then it occurred to me how writing styles have changed over the years. Something I've been told to avoid abounds in the Dune stories - head hopping. And yet Dune won the Hugo Award in 1966, and is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. I'm a fan. I've read the books frequently, though I've watched the movies far more recently and many more times. Reading the book again made me realize how different the various movies are from the book, and I have three different versions of the movie.

Another book I listened to is The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry. This story is something akin to The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I'll have to listen to that one again too. Steve Berry has eleven million books in print - I think that qualifies as successful. However, at least as far as audio books is concerned, he made several small mistakes. On the written page, it's fairly easy to follow who's talking to who, but if you're listening, the 'he said' tags can get a bit confusing if there's too many people in the room; dropping a name now and then can be rather helpful. And one thing you need to be careful of, audio book or otherwise. Make sure your character can know what he knows. There was more than one instance when someone conveniently knew something he had no way of knowing. Kinda disappointing if you ask me, especially for an author who is so successful. I got over it though. I kinda liked the story, though it was a bit short.

Just now I'm listening to The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I only have the first one in audio, but I've borrowed the books. Too bad the whole trilogy couldn't have been made into movies. I liked the first one and it kinda left you hanging at the end. I can't wait to get into the second book to see what happens next.

~~~~~ July 26 ~~~~~

Now I know why no other movies were made from the Golden Compass trilogy. They so changed the ending of the movie they couldn't go on to book 2. They would almost need to have another small movie in between. In the book they do go on to find Lyra's father but that's pretty short and maybe not so sweet. I found out that Lyra's father is just like her mother (shudder). The ending really tweaked me too but I suppose it's understandable. When a child makes decisions based on her assumptions and very little education, it can be expected she would make poor choices. Why else would Lyra leave all her friends and all those who cherished her? I suppose I will find out in book 2.