I had never “read” and audio book before so when I heard about Stories from the Golden Age I was interested in checking it out. These books are done using three-dimensional sound production, which I thought was really interesting. I chose to review The Great Secret from the Sci-Fi category which also included Space Can, The Beast and The Slaver. It was spread over 2 discs, each one about an hour long. They are unabridged so if I had the book I could follow along without anything being missing!
I kind of wish that I did have the books to read along with, just to keep my attention. But the sound on these books really is amazing. I imagine most other audio books are simply someone reading the book. These books are almost like watching a movie but being unable to see it. There is the narrator and background noises (and yes, a few did make me jump a mile!) and then if characters are talking to each other there are other people who play those parts! The books are really fun and suspenseful as well (hence the jumping a mile haha) and I loved the narrator’s voice. He did great with inflection on words and kept me interested in continuing to listen.
Each of the stories are broken up in to several tracks and even the intro music before each book is awesome and amazing. If you’ve never used an audio book before, consider these Golden Age Stories to be your first! And if you have listened to an audio book before, check these out too because I doubt you’ve ever heard anything like this!
You can find out more about these stories at http://www.goldenagestories.com and even get a free catalog.
I received a free CD copy of The Great Secret for free from GoldenAgeStories in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.
About the book
Fanner Marston was raised as a slave as a child, became a petty street thief as a teen, and now masters his own craft and crew as a grown man. He’s also gone completely mad.
Drive by privation, with a vicious greed and slavering lust for power, Marson alone of forty men has survived the perilous trek through a blistering desert to the magical city of Parva, where legend says a secret awaits which will give him absolute control over the Universe. However, Marston finds the key to all power is not at all what he expected…
Originally published in the April 1943 issue of Science Fiction Stories
About the Author
With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 230 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most acclaimed and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and ’40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarecly a master or imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard.
A multicast performance with music and sound effects featuring Bruce Boxleitner.
In addition to his remarkable voice work, Bruce Boxleitner starred in several TV series including How The West Was Won, Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Babylon 5, as well as thirty-five TV movies and feature films including Tron, The Babe, Kuffs, Gods and Generals and many more.
Also starring: Lynsey Bartilson, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen, Josh R. Thompson and Chuck White
Directed by Jim Meskimen