Oh My God!! Domino....thank you so much for this. Best Christmas present ever? Absolutely! And even more so because it was so unexpected! Am really tempted to just download the whole thing now..........
I'm currently listening for the 2nd time....I'm so excited I hardly know what I've listened to. I fear I might prove to be rather unsociable on Christmas day, and by this time tomorrow I may well know this entire 30 mins by heart!
Without giving away too much, I am delighted to confirm Damien does all the narration and all the voices of all the characters in different voices and accents and his narration voice reminds me of someone familiar to us all (won't spoil it but the more you get into it, you will knwo exactly who!)
Referring back to an earlier comment in this topic, the prologue with the extract of Edgar Allen Poe's poem 'Raven' IS included.
Downloaded, unzipped, and added to my Amazon cloud. I now have Damien my pocket and have been enjoying him in my ears for almost two hours. The accents are really good, particularly Raven's. Not gonna lie, the first time I listened to the 30 min excerpt so kindly shared by domino, I couldn't follow the story, was too focused on the voice. Now his narrating voice has drawn me in properly and I visualize each character in turn. I just got to a particular bit where I had to stop what I was doing and just listen, as the writing got a bit poetic in it's descriptors and I was mesmerized. Storywise I feel I've only just gotten to the meat of it. No Spoilers.
Been saying would love to have audiobooks read by Damien, not disappointed in this first (of many I hope) venture. Well done Damo!
__________________
papillon... pamplemousse... bibliothèque... un baiser A lilt in his voice. Every sentence like music... #kisskisskiss A terrible beauty is born. Love me some #Jacksass
Yeah, happen to me too Whimsy, I had to start over again and again cause I was too focused on his voice and not the story And yes, hopefully there will be other audiobooks!
I really, really need this audio book in my life! Santa failed to deliver either the download, or the promise of the cd's so I guess I'll just have to order it for myself. The only reason I haven't already is because I'm staying with family and it would've just made me too unsociable. But I'm back home tomorrow......
Loved the 30 minute preview! Thanks domino and fantom films! I do enjoy Damien's narration voice. Will definitely be getting the rest of this as I can't wait to find out what happens.
We've all be dreaming of the audiobook thing since the beginning - now it is here and well worth the wait! And it feels luxurious to have a full novelisation to indulge and get lost in...
The story 'Raven' is a magical one too, myterious, there is something beguiling about it and I am so glad that Damien's first audiobook is of that ilk.
The whole magical package is perfect for the UK's cold winter days, like a big blanket wrapped around you and drifting, escaping to another place.
whimsy, good idea to add to a cloud - to listen on all devices. portable Damien, yes indeedy.
Jozie, me too! repeat listenings will be happening for all of the foreseeable future....
fifi, that is today! Oh you will not be disappointed.. look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Rosie, you are very welcome.... and it just gets better after those first 30 minutes!
So - I downloaded it on Monday....finished listening yesterday.
Eeek! I love it!! I love the story....it's very children's tv drama - if you get what I mean. But I happen to love children's tv drama!! I was a little surprised that the story hasn't been in any way adapted to make it more up to date....it's still very much set in the 70s - not that it bothered me at all.....I was just surprised.
But yes.....5 hours of Damien's voice - it was always going to be a winner, wasn't it?! I can't decide whether I prefer using headphones and having that voice in my head, or listening on the computer where the speaker makes the floorboards vibrate a little. lol! And I can just picture him reading it as I'm listening - made me think about the word theatre events I've been to..... I love listening to stories, and Damien brings them to life so well - even just using his voice he can create very distinctive, real characters and totally draw you into a story. I shall be listening to this a lot! Now I just need to get the CDs......I really need to have a hard copy which I can hold in my hands and put on my shelf where, hopefully, it will eventually be joined by many more....
Hello all, sorry I've been MIA with holiday busyness, but I did want to come weigh in on this. I finished Raven a couple days ago and started re-listening today. I was somewhat surprised and a bit disappointed when I got to the end the first time as I felt it came rather abruptly. Though the story is resolved, personally I felt a bit dissatisfied, as if this was (our should have been) a set-up for a larger story. I'm thinking along the lines of Stephen Lawhead's Song of Albion trilogy (first book called The Silver Hand). It has a similar feel with the mysticism of ancient magic and an average guy drawn into a larger purpose. But Raven seems to only skim the surface of it. As you say fifi, definitely in a young adult/older children's category, and dated. I actually giggled at some of the dated references. But overall I enjoyed it. Some good characters, though they could have used more fleshing out, and good passages and turns of phrase. In fact that's why I'm relistening, for the language. Just to hear the words and phrases, picking out my favorites.
Story side, the reading was excellent. As previously demonstrated, especially in TBOAA, Damien has an aptitude for accents. This differs in that all the accents are from the UK, and he has successfully given each character distinct voices with just minute changes in inflection. Rather enjoy his female voices. hehehe All kidding side, there is one Irish character, and I loved hearing that one the most, though it is a stronger accent like in Student Stories. I recognized Hal's voice as well, though not in his narrating voice. And although it isn't my favorite type of accent, the underlying Damien voice completely disappears with Raven himself, if that makes any sense. What IS that accent called? Whatever it is, he does that one really well. That's my unprofessional American assessment! Lol
This is definitely worth a listen (or two or three) and addition to collection. Not sure if I will order the physical copy as well since I've moved away from that into storing audio on several different cloud accounts. Nice to have it at my disposal at all times on any device!
__________________
papillon... pamplemousse... bibliothèque... un baiser A lilt in his voice. Every sentence like music... #kisskisskiss A terrible beauty is born. Love me some #Jacksass
Oh and also, I echo your sentiment. This just leaves me wanting more Damien read audiobooks!
__________________
papillon... pamplemousse... bibliothèque... un baiser A lilt in his voice. Every sentence like music... #kisskisskiss A terrible beauty is born. Love me some #Jacksass
Raven is a children's book but more of an older children's book, not like a bed time story book, there is no dumbing down, it's intelligent, engagingly imaginative and the themes raise some timeless questions. It is impossible not to be drawn into the mystery of it all and Raven's story. It appeals in the same, ageless way Doctor WHO does, except it has a more enigmatic, mystical aura.
I have vague memories of the actual TV series so there is something extra magical about it for me. I'm also into the mythology, the mysticism and themes set in a realism context... love anything supernatural and the archeological elements too, That one of the main characters is wheelchair bound is a big plus for me too, not a big fuss made of it, but important to represent.
I see Raven along the same lines as 'Children Of The Stones', also a 1970s TV series novelised by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray, high quality drama, has longevity and larger than the sum of its parts. (also available on Fantom Films website). I've got the books, and also 'Return Of The Stones'.
(Note of interest: Trevor Ray wrote for Doctor WHO in the 1970s.)
This is the first time I have heard such a variety of accents from Damien, incredibly impressive switching, especially from the Irish back to standard UK narration then Raven's voice which sound to me like a home counties southern england / bordering London ish accent.
And I can definitely hear traces of Hal in one character.....
Very happy to own the digital and hard copy, definitely need both for my collection!
I'm in China. So I bought the full audio download by PayPal. Oh god, I want the CD!! And my network didn't work well, the download speed was 5kb/s! It took me whole night and it failed!So I downloaded it this morning in my office, 1mb/s, just took me 10 minutes. I've been listening it for almost whole day till my bluetooth headset power off. (Please forgive my poor English.)
My CD arrived today from Fantom films! Very quick as I only ordered it on Monday evening. I went for the CD for added nostalgia, although in my childhood I had story tapes rather than CDs.
I wish I had spotted the package in my postbox earlier though as I spent the day ill in bed and listening to Damien would have helped!
And yes, hopefully there will be other audiobooks!
