Audiobook Blog Tour: Expeditionary Force: Paradise by Craig Alanson

About Audiobook #3

Author: Craig Alanson

Narrator: R.C. Bray

Length: 15 hours 53 minutes

Publisher: Podium Publishing⎮2017

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Expeditionary Force, Book 3

Release date: May 23, 2017

Synopsis: While the crew of the starship Flying Dutchman have been trying to assure people that hostile aliens do not have access to Earth, the UN Expeditionary Force has been stranded on the planet they nicknamed “Paradise”. The Flying Dutchman is headed back out on another mission, and the UN wants the ship to find out the status of the humans on Paradise. But Colonel Joe Bishop warns that they might not like what they find, and they can’t do anything about it without endangering Earth.

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Good story development in this one. I’ve grown accustomed to hearing Skippy’s snarky remarks on Joe Bishop as they embark on another wacky journey across the universe. R.C. Bray really gets into character “as usual” with several “LOL” moments! The fact that someone can craft something like this is remarkable. The strong narrative and dialogue make you feel part of the adventure.

NARRATOR INTERVIEW WITH R.C. BRAY

Did you find it difficult to “break into” audiobook narration? What skill/tool helped you the most when getting started?

I had two great champions get me through the door: Pat Fraley and Scott Brick. Bringing my years of acting experience to narration impressed them enough to make suggestions, introductions, and continued support. Also, ACX was launched the same time I got into narration. Being able to use that as a means to navigate the process (along with many patient authors, rights holders, and independent publishers), was a godsend. Several of the titles I did via ACX garnered attention from bigger publishers and off I went.

A lot of narrators seem to have a background in theatre. Is that something you think is essential to a successful narration career?

It’s not essential, but it does help.

What type of training have you undergone?

I was a CTA (Communications/Theatre Arts) major in college that performed Off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I also attended the Connecticut School of Broadcasting where, because of my theatre background, I excelled during the voiceover portion. It was my abilities in voiceover that was a catalyst to getting the job at Kaplowe Studios.

How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for narrating?

I keep from burning out by thinking of my past jobs. I don’t ever want to have to go back to doing any of them. The thought of that lights a massive fire in me.

Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?

I used to listen to them nonstop when I was a commuter.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of narrating an audiobook?

Unless it’s really brilliant writing, my least favorite part is when I get to the middle and realize I’m only halfway done. My favorite part is being exposed to books I would likely have never picked up.

Is there a particular genre you feel unsuited for? Have you ever declined a project because you didn’t think you were right for it?

I’d love to be suited for children’s/YA novels, but I’m afraid my deep voice doesn’t jibe well with them.

How closely do you prefer to work with authors?

Enough to get certain information but definitely not so much they start to direct. You wrote it, now let me read it.

Who are your “accent inspirations”?

Frank Muller, Paul Michael, Scott Brick

What types of things are harmful to your voice?

No idea. I’m not a vocal warm-up kind of guy. I just go for it. Pneumonia sucks though.

Has anyone ever recognized you from your voice?

No, but after I tell people what I do (only if they ask, I don’t like bringing it up) they inevitably “hear it now!”

About the Author: Craig Alanson

Craig Alanson is a NYT best-selling author. His first audiobook ‘Columbus Day’ was one of five finalists for Audiobook Of The Year 2018 Visit craigalanson.com for FAQs, blog posts, merchandise, etc.

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About the Narrator: R.C. Bray

From an early age Audie, Earphones, and SOVAS Voice Arts Award-winning audiobook narrator R.C. Bray despised reading. Truly hated it with a passion.

And audiobooks? Even worse. Those were for people too lazy to read (not to be confused with those like himself who didn’t want to read to begin with).

R.C. eventually got older and wiser (he was always good-looking) and eschewing his capricious convictions fell head-over-heels with reading. Not just to learn words like “eschew” and “capricious” so he could use them in a bio line, but because someone was actually going to give him money to do it.

Note: R.C.’s gorgeous wife and three beautiful children begged him not to make this his official bio. Clearly he misunderstood.

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About the Publisher: Podium Publishing

Podium is an industry-leading independent audiobook publisher built upon the foundation of successful partnerships with self-published authors and narrators. With deep share of voice in the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Romance, the company has enjoyed quick commercial and critical acclaim, releasing almost 1,300 audiobooks, numerous best-sellers, winning an Audie Award and 13 Voice Arts Awards. Podium is best-known for supporting, nurturing and discovering independent authors and narrators from the U.S. and around the world. The company gained international notice when it took a risk on one-time unknown author Andy Weir (The Martian) and turned his e-book into the largest audiobook seller in the world.

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March 10, 2020 0

Expeditionary Force Blog Tour: Columbus Day by Craig Alanson

About Audiobook #1

Author: Craig Alanson

Narrator: R.C. Bray

Length: 16 hours 23 minutes

Publisher: Podium Publishing⎮2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Expeditionary Force, Book 1

Release date: Dec. 13, 2016

Synopsis: Nominee, 2018 Audie Awards — Audiobook of the Year

We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn’t win. And that was the good news.

The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the Native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon came ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There went the good old days, when humans got killed only by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits.

When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn’t even be fighting the Ruhar; they aren’t our enemy. Our allies are.

I’d better start at the beginning.

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An extraordinary story that made me feel transported into the cosmos! In this case, the planet Paradise with the Ruhar and the Kristang alien species. The sheer depth of each chapter is remarkable, and almost seems like a story in themselves. Narrator R.C. Bray delivers, of course, adding another level of entertainment. I didn’t know how funny this until I got into it. The interactions between the UN Expeditionary Force and the ancient Artificial Intelligence, “Skippy”, is hilarious. Good springboard for the rest of the series.

INTERVIEW WITH NARRATOR R.C. BRAY

When did you know you wanted to be an audiobook narrator?

When I heard Frank Muller for the first time (The Dark Tower, Book II: The Drawing of the Three). I always thought a narrator just “read” the book. When Frank started doing character voices and acting and just all-around engaging me as a listener, I knew that with my background it’s what I’m supposed to do.

How did you wind up narrating audiobooks? Was it always your goal or was it something you stumbled into by chance?

My last job before becoming a full-time narrator, was as Senior Producer and Voiceover for a company owned by a wonderful guy named Mark Kaplowe who was the voice of HBO, Butterfinger, Zest, and other big businesses in the 90s. When his son was born, he wanted to eliminate traveling into NYC so he could be around him as much as possible. So he combined his love for automobiles and voiceover prowess, and began an ad company for local car dealerships. His big thing was “growing his business” and he loved audiobooks that were related to just that. Since I had a commute of about 45 minutes (both ways) he wanted me to listen to them as well. I listened to countless business audiobooks before I decided to try a fiction title – The Dark Tower, Book I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King seemed like a good, short place to start. George Guidall was an outstanding introduction to audiobooks (Fiction), but it wasn’t until Frank Muller that I actually made an effort to find out more about becoming a narrator.

Did you find it difficult to “break into” audiobook narration? What skill/tool helped you the most when getting started?

A lot of narrators seem to have a background in theatre. Is that something you think is essential to a successful narration career?

It’s not essential, but it does help.

What type of training have you undergone?

About the Author: Craig Alanson

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February 25, 2020 1

The Obsolescence Trilogy: Reset by Chris Muhlenfeld

Humanity teeters on the edge…

…One wrong move could mean extinction

Will anyone survive obsolescence?

About Audiobook #3

Author: Chris Muhlenfeld

Narrator: Price Waldman

Length: 9 hours 52 minutes

Publisher: Chris Muhlenfeld⎮2018

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: The Obsolescence Trilogy, Book 3

Release date: July 23, 2019

Synopsis: Humanity teeters on the edge…

…one wrong move could mean extinction.

James is lost in the desert, and may never find his way back. While his friends go on a desperate search to find him, the planet continues to unravel. Will they find him before it’s too late?

Humanity’s next great leap in evolution is starting to look like the trap that Alexa had always suspected it was.

A frantic escalation of action drags the world unwillingly to a mind-bending climax that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Will anyone survive obsolescence? Grab your copy now.

Reset is the final book in The Obsolescence Trilogy. Plausible, near-future sci-fi that’s full of rich, insightful characters and compelling ideas. Make time now because you’ll be hooked instantly once you start listening to this thrilling pause-resister. Get it now.

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Review

Very entertaining read. Laughed out loud several times! Some of the concepts are quite bizarre but the execution and narration was done so well it made an excellent story. The Point of view alternates between two couples struggling to cope with the end of the world, artificial intelligence gone haywire, and the effects on they’re relationships. Great trilogy.

About the Author: Chris Muhlenfeld

Chris has been reading and writing science fiction since he was a teenager. After roaming all over the world, he finally settled down in the beautiful mountains of western Montana where he publishes Distinctly Montana magazine with his wife. When he’s not hiking, biking or camping in the Montana wilderness, he and his wife are traveling the world.

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About the Narrator: Price Waldman

Price Waldman is an actor and singer, born and raised in NYC. Classically trained, and working professionally in the theater for over 20 years he is new to the world of audiobooks. As an actor he has performed multiple times on Broadway, toured nationally and internationally and appeared on film and television.

February 3, 2020 0

Audiobook Review: Aries Red Sky by James Young

About the Audiobook

Author: James Young

Narrator: Jennifer Jill Araya

Length: 16 hours 21 minutes

Publisher: James L. Young Jr.⎮2018

Genre: Science Fiction; Space Opera

Series: Vergassy Chronicles, Book 1

Release date: Aug. 27, 2018

Synopsis: “[S]pace opera that plays out on a grand scale, and Young conduct[s] it with aplomb.”–-Pop Cults, the website of Geek and Alternative Culture

For over seven hundred years, the Spartan Republic’s citizens have known one truth: Terra is coming. Descendants of exiles who dared to defy an emperor, the star nation’s 70 billion citizens spent the centuries training, arming…and waiting.

In 3035, Lt. Ian Campbell, Spartan Defense Forces (SDF), discovers a strange anomaly on his corvette’s sensors…and realizes the wait is over. The Spartans must convince the Terrans of the cost of subduing their nation. If they succeed, the Republic survives. If not, the SDF will be forced to paint the stars red with their enemies’ blood.

The Confederation of Man was born in the terror of the Harran Empire’s death throes. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, humanity now spreads from its cradle on Earth to hundreds of stars across the Milky Way, and seeks out new worlds to add.

Captain Marcy Cochran was hoping to find a habitable planet; she didn’t expect the system to already have hostile humans. Now a captive, Cochran must contend with a crew proving to be as dangerous as their enemies, and prevent what has started out as a misunderstanding from becoming a full-fledged interstellar war. For Terran law is quite clear: All humanity will answer to the Confederation. For the Spartans, that makes the government on Earth no different than the empire it supplanted…and they would rather die on their feet than subjugate themselves once more.

Aries’ Red Sky is the newest novel in James Young’s Vergassy Chronicles universe. A prequel to An Unproven Concept, it is the first in the Spartan Trilogy. If you like space opera with compelling characters, military sci-fi with high body counts, and capital ship battles on a galactic scale, pick up the the latest work in a series whose previous entry was recommended Amazing Stories, Pop Cults, and The Midwest Book Review.

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The worldbuilding in this book was amazing. Weapons, military hierarchy and dynamics of character relationships were impressive. Had some trouble grasping the overall concept, or staying with the storyline though. There was so much information I think better use of the narrative could’ve been used to ground, or acclimate the reader into the book. Besides that, very creative and impressive.

About the Author: James Young

James Young is a Missouri native who left small town life to attend a small, well-known Federal institution in upstate New York. After obtaining a degree in military history from West Point, Dr. Young spent six years repaying his education via military service in various locations (both foreign and domestic). Along the way he collected a loving, patient, and beautiful spouse (Anita C. Young)…and various animals that only fit those descriptions when it suited them.

Upon leaving the Army, James returned to the Midwest to obtain his Ph.D. in U.S. History from Kansas State. When not tormenting his characters, Dr. Young spends his spare time reading Anita’s first drafts, finishing that pesky dissertation, and trying to figure out how book eating shelter animals keep ending up in his office. Outside of Amazon, he can be found at conventions throughout the Midwest selling books and merchandise as James Young, Slinger of Tales.

In addition to his positive fiction reviews, Dr. Young is also the winner of the United States Naval Institute’s 2016 Cyberwarfare Essay Contest and runner up in the 2011 Adams Center Cold War Essay Contest. He has also had multiple articles published in Proceedings and the Journal of Military History since 2010.

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About the Narrator: Jennifer Jill Araya

Jennifer Jill Araya has been listening to audiobooks since she was a young child, and the fact that she now gets to narrate audiobooks for a living is a dream come true. Jennifer’s training as an opera singer and orchestral cellist lend a musicality and depth of understanding to her narration that help bring her authors’ stories to life. She loves nothing more than giving life and breath to the printed word.
When she’s not narrating, Jennifer can be found hiking, biking, running, or generally exploring her home city of Cincinnati with her husband Arturo (aka “Partner in Crime”) and their two children.

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October 25, 2018 2

Audiobook Blog Tour: Legacy The Biodome Chronicles

About the Audiobook

Author: Jesikah Sundin

Narrator: Sunil Patel

Length: 12 hours 30 minutes

Publisher: Forest Tales Publishing⎮2017

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: The Biodome Chronicles, Book 1

Release date: Dec. 11, 2017

Synopsis:

She is from the past, locked inside a world within a world.

He is from the future, haunted by her death.

A sensible young nobleman and his fiery sister live in an experimental medieval village. Sealed inside this biodome since infancy, Leaf and Willow have been groomed by The Code to build a sustainable world, one devoid of Outsider interference. One that believes death will give way to life.

All is ideal until their father bequeaths a family secret with his dying breath, placing an invisible crown of power on Leaf’s head. Now everyone in their quiet town is suspect. Risking banishment, the siblings search for clues, leading them to Fillion Nichols, an Outsider with a shocking connection to their family. Their encounter launches Fillion into battle with his turbulent past as he rushes to decode the many secrets that bind their future together–a necessity if they are all to survive.

Cultures clash in an unforgettable quest for truth, unfolding a story rich in mystery, betrayal, and love.

Are you ready to discover what is real?

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This was a very unique book! It took me a while to get a grip on what kind of story it was—then once that was settled, it really is a fascinating book! Two really different worlds that are related in more ways than one, begin to intertwine.

I was impressed with the authors ability to craft great scenes throughout the book. It really sparked my interest and kept me turning the pages. This certainly helps to draw the reader deeper into the book. The second was the point of view. I admire the skill to not only craft scenes, but also convey the moods, feelings of the characters involved.

See the music playlist that helped inspire the story of Legacy: The Biodome Chronicles!

Follow the link to Spotify: Legacy: The Biodome Chronicles

NARRATOR PERFORMANCE

Narrated by: Sunil Patel

Narrator-Story Connection: 8/10

I thought the narrator did a job of immersing himself into the essence of the story.

Voice Quality: 10/10

This is a strength of the narrator in my opinion. I loved Sunil Patel’s unique voice. Very distinct that brings a certain quality to the story.

Voice Switch Over: 6/10

This is where I rate how well the narrator creates character voices, and switching between them. I thought this was the weakest point of the performance. At times it was difficulty to discern who was speaking.

Pacing 6/10

A bit fast paced for my taste but not bad. It still kept me going, but at times I lost track.

Emphasis 7/10

I thought the character voices could’ve used more emphasis to bring out their personality. There good emphasis in some parts, so probably this is more inconsistency.

Reader-Story Connection 7/10

The performance kept my interest, intrigue going. The beginning was probably the most challenging, but after that it improved.

Sound Quality: 7/10

Publisher: Forest Tales Publishing

The sound quality could definitely use some work. There’s a slight background noise that detracted from the story, but once I got used to it I was able to tune it out.

Overall Performance: 7/10

I think the narrator has a quality voice that is very rich and unique. His emphasis and narrative voice make up for the other parts of the performance. When it’s all said and done, it kept me listening.

About the Author: Jesikah Sundin

Jesikah Sundin is multi-award winning a sci-fi/fantasy writer mom of three nerdlets and devoted wife to a gamer geek. In addition to her family, she shares her home in Monroe, Washington with a red-footed tortoise and a collection of seatbelt purses. She is addicted to coffee, laughing, and Dr. Martens boots and shoes … Oh! And the forest is her happy place.

Other Interesting tidbits:

Jesikah owns Forest Tales Photography, and boasts a varied background in business administration and marketing, though her heart has always belonged to the arts and sciences.

In college, she pursued a degree in geophysics and oceanography. And, as a teenager, she attended a performing arts school for musical theater and opera, performing in several theater productions, while also serving as editor-in chief of her high school’s newspaper.

She is married for over twenty years to her high school sweetheart and raising three awesomely geeky children. When not writing, she’s often found in her garden, hiking, gaming, baking, fangirling over all things Star Wars and Firefly, or attending various conventions in cosplay, notably Comicon and FaerieCon.

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About the Narrator: Sunil Patel

My name is Sunil Patel and I am a professional British male Voice-Over artist. I was born and bred in London, UK, and woke up with a deep, rumbling voice when I neared adulthood. As a result I have pursued the lifestyle of a Voice Actor / Voice-over artist, not wanting my unique voice to go to waste. I have recorded for multinational companies like Herbal Life, and organisations like The Billy Graham Evangelist Association. I have also narrated an audiobook called Legacy: The Biodome Chronicles. I can also do voice-overs in other languages, which includes Hindi and Gujarati.

I have been voice trained by coach and mentor, Gary Terrza (https://www.vomasterclass.com), a successful and and well-known voice actor who has been doing his craft for over 25 years. I have also received additional voice training by my acting mentor and coach, Gavin MacAlinden, (https://www.actinggymnasium.co.uk/)

Other interesting facts about myself: I worked as a Police Community Support Officer for the London Metropolitan Police for four years; Travelled to 16 countries; Climbed 3 mountains, including a Himalayan peak; I speak 5 languages and most importantly I am also pursuing a career in acting and have performed in local theater in Camden, London.

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February 12, 2018 0