This is the third recording of one of Lois's books that The Reader's Chair has made. It contains the complete text of the book and is once again read by Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan.
Barrayar continues the story started in Shards of Honor. It re-introduces us to Barrayar and the Vorkosigan family. Once again the problem with trying to review this tape is do you review the story or the performance?
I'm going to assume that the story is familiar and concentrate on the performance, as this is what makes this different.
As was the case with the previous tapes Carol and Michael effectively divide the story between them. As the story once again revolves around Cordelia Vorkosigan, Carol get a lot of the lines but Michael gains honor as Bothari, Piotr, Aral, Kou and a "young" Gregor and Miles. The range of different voices for each of the characters is amazing. Their skill gives this the quality of a radio play, yet retains every word written by the author. Lois has said that a story is created by author and reader combined. The Reader's Chair productions prove that a third creative presence can be added to create an even better story.
The Reader's Chair is a small company, but has produced a number of award-winning audio books. To introduce listeners to their products, the firm has produced a sample tape of its books, which may be requested by calling (800) 616-1350. This is the same number that may be used to order Barrayar.
© 1998 by Michael Bernardi
Added to The Bujold Nexus: January 17th 1998
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Last updated: November 20th 2002