Senlin Ascends - booktrack edition

"...so, what's a 'booktrack edition'?" I hear you ask and in all honesty, I was wondering exactly the same thing, until audible.co.uk came up with the explanation. As you may be aware, my audio book version of Josiah Bancroft's fantastic story, the first of his 'The Books of Babel' series, was originally available in January 2018 and now, this new addition has seen the light of day. Here's what audible have to say about it:

Senlin Ascends: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience!*

The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of luxury and menace, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.

 


Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.

Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he'll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassins, and the illusions of the Tower. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.

This quiet man of letters must become a man of action. 

*Booktrack is an immersive format that pairs traditional audiobook narration to complementary music. The tempo and rhythm of the score are in perfect harmony with the action and characters throughout the audiobook. Gently playing in the background, the music never overpowers or distracts from the narration, so listeners can enjoy every minute. When you purchase this Booktrack edition, you receive the exact narration as the traditional audiobook available, with the addition of music throughout.

 
























Written by Josiah Bancroft, Performed by John Banks & Produced by Neil Gardner


Length: 14 hours - 15 minutes

©2017 Josiah Bancroft (P)2020 Hachette Audio

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Starting with 'Senlin Ascends', followed by 'The Arm of The Sphinx', then 'The Hod King' 'The Books of Babel' series is high up there in my list of all time favourite audio books - at least, of the ones I've had the pleasure of narrating! Rather than tie myself in knots, trying to explain how and why these stories are so unique, immersive and original, here's Josiah himself, talking us through the basics:

I love these stories and hope you will too; time to ascend The Tower of Babel!

Here's a link to the audible.co.uk sample: Senlin Ascends booktrack edition  

...all for now; more just as soon as it happens!

  

Chains of Blood: The Chaos Cycle Book 1

A quick update on an audio book released yesterday from Podium Publishing and available via Amazon & audible. Here are some details:

Chains of Blood

The Chaos Cycle, Book 1

He thought he was born Rylan Marshall...until he found out he wasn’t.

Rylan was attacked, his young son murdered, his baby daughter taken. But his assailant left him with two gifts: the gift of magic...and an oath to darkness.

Gil Archer is the son of a legend and one of the most powerful battle mages in the Lyceum. He is sent on a mission to recover Rylan, but ends up on a far more dangerous path.

And war is coming for them both.

Will Rylan use his newfound power to make a stand, or will his oath to darkness guide him to the enemy? And will Gil live up to the legacy of his father, or will his fate lead him to a much darker destiny?

If you love grimdark fantasy filled with vivid realism, brutal warfare, and raw emotion, this new adventure is just for you.

Xiana & Rylan

 

Produced by Neil Gardner & Performed by John Banks


Length: 13 hours - 40 minutes

Darien

©2019 ML Spencer (P)2020 Podium Publishing

Artwork by: Felix Ortiz 

Podium Audio 

I'm very pleased that this project came together in the way it did. I was originally approached by Podium Publishing over a year ago and because they're based in Los Angeles, I think they assumed I would record form a home studio, as many American narrators have been doing for years and (familiar theme manifesting itself here!) many UK based narrators are now having to consider, myself included! 

Unfortunately, after much discussion, that first project didn't get off the ground, so I was particularly delighted to hear from them again earlier this year, offering Chains of Blood. Long story short, we arranged to record the book in Neil G's Ladbroke Audio studios, with Neil co-producing; we had great fun with it and the finished product is now available. It's Book 1 of, I think, a trilogy, so fingers crossed that we get to record Books 2&3!

audio sample link

...all for now; more just as soon as it happens!

 

Mr. Atkinson's Rum Contract

Good afternoon and welcome to today's lockdown-update. Despite the enforced 'inactivity' of the last few weeks, officially announced here in the UK on the evening of 23rd March, I've actually been pretty 'active'. 

As I mentioned in the last update, my industry, like many others, has effectively closed down for the time being and none of us can work, with the exception of those narrators and actors who have access to a home studio and are able to record 'remotely'. I've been doing my very best to acquire the necessary basic kit to record from home and there's still much to do. I've been learning how to use the recording equipment I now have and that's going well, although the learning curve is initially, quite steep. 

The most critical element in the whole set up, is of course, the actual recording environment. The electronic gadgetry required to record to professional industry standard, can be severely compromised by a badly 'sound-proofed' room. Creating a workable recording room is a considerable technical challenge and so, as a speedy and hopefully professional sounding alternative, I've been researching the kind of audio booth which can be bought as a self-assembly kit. I'm pursuading myself that to acquire such an isolation booth would be a 'sound investment' (sorry...), so if I can find something that will not only do the job, but also physically fit into my house, that looks like the next logical step to take. At the moment, I have created a makeshift temporary 'studio' environment, which sounds fine, but would easily pick up the sound of passing cars, barking dogs, grass cutting and any one of a thousand other things my equally locked-down neighbours might come up with; so a proper solution has to be found soonish as I'm losing work, which never sits well, whatever the reason.

Just before lock-down kicked in, I recorded the audio book detailed below, for Harper Collins. It was published in all formats on 16th April and is available to download via amazon and audible:

Richard Atkinson was in his late 30s and approaching a milestone he had long feared - the age at which his father died – when one day he came across a box of old family letters gathering dust in a cupboard.

This discovery set him on an all-consuming, highly emotional journey, ultimately taking him from the weather-beaten house of his Cumbrian ancestors to the ruins of their sugar estates in Jamaica.
Richard’s searches led him to one forebear in particular, an earlier Richard Atkinson, a brilliant but flawed West India merchant who had shipped all the British army’s supplies (including thousands of barrels of rum) during the American War of Independence and amassed staggering wealth and connections along the way. ‘Rum’ Atkinson died young, at the height of his powers, leaving a vast inheritance to his many nephews and nieces, as well as the society beauty who had refused his proposal of marriage; 40 years of litigation followed as his heirs wrangled over his legacy.

Drawing on their personal correspondence, Richard writes with rare candour about his worldly ancestors and their involvement in the slave trade – for, like many well-to-do Georgian families, the Atkinsons’ wealth was acquired at a terrible cost, through the blood, sweat and lives of enslaved Africans. When the first of the Atkinsons sailed to Jamaica in the 1780s, the island was the jewel in the imperial crown; when the last of them returned to England in the 1850s, it was an impoverished backwater. This vivid tale of a single family, their lives and loves, set against a panoramic backdrop of war, politics and slavery, offers a uniquely intimate insight into one of the most disturbing chapters in Britain’s colonial past.

Produced at RNIB Camden Studios by Tom Harrison & Narrated by John Banks


 Running length: 12 hours - 40 minutes

©2020 Richard Atkinson (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

As a neat little segue, during the recording of Mr. Atkinson at the RNIB studios, I was asked if I'd like to contribute to an RNIB Connect Radio program, hosted by author Red Szell. Now, as the idea of the interview was to talk about my various audio adventures, including the Mr. Atkinson story, I thought it churlish to say anything other than a gleeful - 'yes'!

The interview can be heard below; my ramblings start from around the 32 minute mark:

* * * * *

Just to round off today's posting; Thursday at 8pm here in the UK, has become the time we all briefly step out of our houses and flats, to applaud NHS staff and thank them for the amazing work they are doing at the moment, under incredibly difficult and dangerous conditions, dealing with this awful C-19 pandemic, which has impacted on all of us.

Over the last couple of months, my friends Christopher, Oliver and Tamara, along with family members, Sasha, Jamie, Benjie, Isabelle and Alex, have all had the coronavirus and have all, mercifully, come through without need of hospitalisation, which, as I'm sure you will appreciate, is a great relief. 

Keep safe & stay well.

...all for now; more just as soon as it happens!