Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story
By Leonie Swann
Tantor Media, unabridged fiction, 8 CDs, nine hours, $34.99, read by Josephine Bailey; also available as a download from www.audible.com, $17.49
Eifelheim
By Michael Flynn
Blackstone Audio, unabridged fiction, 14 CDs, 17 hours and 30 minutes, $72, or 12 cassettes for $59.95, read by Anthony Heald; also available as a download from www.audible.com, $31.47
Airman
By Eoin Colfer
Listening Library, unabridged fiction, 9 CDs, 11 hours and 20 minutes, $44, read by John Keating; also available as a download from www.audible.com, $32.73
Let's admit it: We've all judged audiobooks by their covers, myself included. Therefore, in an effort to expand my horizons, I purposely chose audiobooks that I wouldn't ordinarily be drawn to, either by their artwork or subject matter.
"Three Bags Full," by Leonie Swann, may be an international bestseller, but the thought of many hours spent with anthropomorphic sheep did not appeal. These sheep, however, actually have something worthwhile to bleat about, and their interpretations of our everyday words are surprisingly witty and refreshing.
Though first published in Germany, the story takes place in the cozy seaside village of Glennkill, Ireland, where a shepherd named George has been murdered. His sheep, an uncommonly clever flock, are so disturbed by his death that they set about solving the crime.
These are not thinly drawn, whimsical animals, but critters of substance, which is why they hold one's attention. Part of the reason they are so well informed is that George read to them every evening, from descriptions of diseases of sheep to romantic fiction featuring red-haired women called Pamela. Thereafter all romances become "Pamelas" to the sheep. Such interpretations of human action and speech cause these ruminants to ruminate when George is killed. Cordelia the ewe explains, "We must find out what sort of story this is," and she helps the ovine investigators locate the right track to follow.
Helping to keep the story moving is Josephine Bailey's narration. Each sheep has its own personality, from Miss Maple, the smartest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world), to the mysterious black Othello, and all are distinguished from the two-legged characters. Overall, both the production and narrative are outstanding, and far less baa-nal than expected.
"Eifelheim" at first looked dull. The cover is a real yawn, and a quick glance revealed that it was a mystery set in the 1300s. Since it did not look like my cup of tea, I grabbed it.
Although overlong, the story is surprisingly gripping. It travels back and forth from present-day scientists to a town in Germany that disappeared in the 14th century. Most of the action takes place in 1394, a year in which both a sorry bunch of aliens and the plague arrived in the village. The modern part of the tale focuses on two mismatched scientists, domestic partners, he a historian and she a physicist. They approach the missing village from different vantage points that eventually converge.
Much like the sheep in "Three Bags Full," the aliens, though technologically light-years ahead of the Europeans, construe human language and culture with a naiveté that makes them endearing and tragic. When the aliens embrace religion - an integral part of Europe in the Middle Ages - they interpret aspects of it so literally that the listener is forced to see things from a different, and provocative, perspective.
Audiobook veteran Anthony Heald has a deep, lovely voice. Each character has a different accent, pace, and personality, though his female voices don't sound realistic. His German accent, however, is on the mark, and he smoothly expresses the irony running throughout the story. The only real flaw is a narrative that desperately needed editing.
Eion Colfer's "Artemis Fowl" books are cool beans, but the cover of "Airman" looks like it was lifted from a graphic novel, and the idea of an 11-hour novel geared toward 10-year-old boys just did not appeal. Wrong again. Though this dark tale of a boy hero is definitely aimed at boys and young male adults, it is still a ton o' fun.
Set in the 1890s on the sovereign Saltee Islands off the Irish coast, it spins the yarn of young Conor Broekhart, an islander whose father is the king's bodyguard. A series of unfortunate events lands Conor in a dungeon-like cell, where the story becomes a kind of "Papillon" for the Clearasil crowd. But heck, "Papillon" is a great book.
Much of the appeal for adults is Colfer's sly humor and an imaginative use of language. Also, he deftly weaves the science of flight into an action-packed story, so that we are left informed, enlightened, and entertained.
Narrator John Keating is an absolute treasure. His voice bends and twists to fit a myriad of characters, from nasty prison guards to kindly royalty to our protagonist. He is a narrator with that rare ability to give each character a clear personality, not just a different timbre. The entire production is a joy that should not be missed.
Rochelle O'Gorman is publisher and editor in chief of audiobookcafe.com.
