I’m a big fan of audiobooks. The radio doesn’t work for me during a commute or while running errands anymore. Since I acquired the iPhone, I’ve got even more reason to enjoy audiobooks every day. The connection in the car is great, and all it takes is a set of earbuds to get me mobile.
Over the years, I’ve learned to tell good readers from lesser ones in only a matter of minutes. Sometimes the book suffers from the experience of a weak reader who is just not capable of doing a good job of keeping all the various characters separate with only one voice.
However, GraphicAudio is a great little company whose slogan guarantees “a movie in your mind.” After listening to Batman: Inferno, I have to agree. They have a full ensemble cast and provide myriad background noises and sounds that pull listeners into a scene the way that Old Time Radio does. They also restructure the story to take advantage of those aural anchors that keep the imaginary world sounding so real. I’m looking forward to more of their books.
But onto the book review. I really enjoyed Alex Irvine’s take on a Batman novel. I thought he kind of overplayed the whole “Batman’s gonna kill the Joker” mantra, but the Joker parts were totally entertaining. They were also a mix of the recent movie Joker played by Heath Ledger and the Clown Prince of Crime from the early Batman issues. The Joker’s really not tied into the real world, and brings real menace to anyone who lives there.
The plot in this book also offers a new villain that I hadn’t before encountered in Batman mythos. His name is Enfer, and he’s an ex-fireman turned pyromaniac with delusions of grandeur. As it turns out, he’s one of Dr. Crane’s (Scarecrow) pet projects. With all the psychological “care” he’s given Enfer, the patient becomes dedicated to the destruction of Batman and Gotham City.
Article comments
1 - Jeremy
Great review, I'll definitely be checking out this audio book.