Set in Stone

[Samfan]

Just finished my second Robert Goddard book reading by MK. During the summer, I had listened to 'Caught in the Light.'

I really liked Set in Stone, although not as much as Caught in the Light. It did seem to sort of follow the same pattern as Caught in the Light: a basically good person gets into trouble. And maybe Goddard's other novels follow the same pattern. I don't know, as I've only listened to these two so far.

I really liked the 'haunted house' aspect of Otherways, and I wish that Goddard would have delved into that a bit more. I was intrigued when Cedric Milner brought up the subject of his surveying Otherways, and always found that the walls moved (the measurements were never exactly the same each time he measured), or something like that.

Once again, Goddard inter-weaved the past and present. I really liked the idea that the house made people dream of both the past and possible futures.

Once again (like in Caught in the Light, it was sad that so many people died: Marina, Lucy, and Daisy. Its fun to think of how Marina died--was it an accident, or was it murder? And at the end--what was the significance of the letter? On his website, in the "Behind the Books" section, Goddard indicates that maybe he should have explained more about that letter that Tony received at the end; but, he thought that would take the fun out of it. In this section, he also gives more of an explanation on what inspired him to write the book [a real circular house]: .

Finally, I got a bit lost in the reasons of why Cedric Milner gave nuclear secrets to the Russians.

I often had to rewind during this audiobook; but, I think that is more me thinking about other things [my job] then anything complicated about it.

I recommend this audiobook. MK is of course smashing in his reading of it.

Samfan

ETA: corrected Marina's name.

[Pers]

I love Set in Stone - it's one of my favourites of Goddard's novels (I've now heard or read nearly all of them - mostly read since MK has only recorded 4). I was hugely disappointed, however, that the CDs I borrowed from the library had a glitch on several of them, so that the narrative jumped forward and I missed what was going on. I ended up buying the book so I could finish the story. (Not happy because I wanted MK's mellifluous tones reading it to me!)

Oh and the wife's name is Marina - judging by your misspelling of it, I'm assuming you found Michael's narration unclear on the point?

[Samfan]

Thanks for the spelling correction, Pers I simply didn't look up the correct spelling when writing my original post.

I downloaded my listen from Audible.com, and I too noticed annoying glitches. Audible must have made their digital copy from glitched CDs.

Samfan

[Pers]

[jewell]

I listened to "Set In Stone" about a month ago and I second both of your opinions. Mr Kitchen's ability to use different voices for the characters is amazing. He changes his voice just enough that you recognize the character but not so much that it becomes distracting.

I had cassettes that were previously library copies but I was lucky with this set.

On this same trip I was listening to a former library copy of "Painting the Darkness" a very long (20 hours!) tape set and of the 16 tapes, the last four had been damaged beyond listening.

Oh! I was beside myself. Luckily, I had Set in Stone as a sop for this disappointment. When I got home I checked out the book Painting the Darkness from the library to finish up the mystery.

Painting the Darkness is very good. It's set in the late 1800's with a few jaunts into the past. Caught in the Light is still my favorite.

Jewell

[Pers]

Painting the Darkness is the only one of the four audio versions I've not yet listened to as finding 20 hours to listen to it isn't something I can easily do. At least with the print versions of the stories, you can pick them up and put them down as and when.

I think I've got 5 novels left to read - I'm actually reading one at present - Past Caring. And there's only one I didn't really enjoy and struggled to finish was Blood Count (because I didn't really like the lead character).

[Samfan]

I'm re-listening to Set in Stone. I still like it. And since its been awhile since I listened to it the first time, it''s relatively 'new'--I don't remember all the plot details and events.

Samfan

[starlight]

All the Robert Goddard ones are so intricately plotted that there's always something new - or some twist you forget next time you listen. I find them utterly absorbing. Mesmerising, even. And Himself is such a clever reader - totally in charge of every bit of narrative, enriching my perspective on the story; every character-voice is subtly nuanced to bend the listener whichever way the plot demands. I'm very much in awe of those performances of his. A giant talent.

What a lot of hard work it must take to do the preparation for a reading. I was very interested to hear an interview with Davina Porter, a veteran voice-artist, about the various skills required for audio book performance. Worth a listen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx41EU74tiQ

[amiga]

[Wolesley]

Very interesting, and such a great voice to listen to.

I've also experienced those awkward moments of misreading a character's voice, on a much smaller scale, as a teacher-librarian reading picture books to young children. I've been known to skip over the later text that describes the voice.

And, yes, kudos to MK for all the hard work he puts into his many wonderful recordings!

Lesley

[vicky]

What a fascinating interview. Each time I listen to Himself narrating an
audiobook, I marvel at the seamless way he switches voices of the various
characters, and I've wondered about how much preparation time is
needed to achieve such perfection. After listening to this interview, I now
have a much greater understanding of the time and effort involved.
Thanks for the link, starlight, and I agree that Our Man has enormous
talent, and a mesmerising voice.

[BookwormKate]

Fascinating, thanks for the link, Starlight! Such effort and skill. What a delight our Man's voice is, and now I shall enjoy it all the more!

[Samfan]

I just spent an hour driving around in my car, listening to Set in Stone. MK's reading is so delightful. I listened to that scene where Tony dreams that Matt drove his car into the lake. Love it when MK says, "I opened my mouth and..........Screamed." I love that pause.

Sigh. Back to real life....

Samfan