This is the second recording of one of Lois's books that The Reader's Chair has made. It contains the complete text of the book and is read by Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan.
Shards of Honor was Lois's first published novel. It also first introduces us to Barrayar and the Vorkosigan family. 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 Falling Free Carol and Michael effectively divide the story between them. They effectively manage to provide different voices for description and each character. 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 tape concludes with Aftermath, which could be used as a short example of how The Reader's Chair adapts material, for those who haven't discovered them before. There are also short extracts from both Barrayar and Falling Free.
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 Shards of Honor.
© 1997 by Michael Bernardi
Added to The Bujold Nexus: September 26th 1997
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Last updated: March 20th 2007