It's finally here, folks, my reading of the first book in "The Dumarest Saga," by E.C. Tubb. Tubb wrote a series of books about the galaxy-traveling hero Earl Dumarest between 1967 and 2008, and though they have a cult following, they've never been done in audio before (to my knowledge).
This was a more difficult undertaking than the other books I've recorded, though not for the same reasons. There are probably thirty or forty characters with speaking parts, and it was hard to know who would be significant and who would never appear again. I tried to give anybody major a recognizable, individual voice, and made notes about them I hoped would help me through the next installments.*
I've complained about cover art before, about whether it's very important or only slightly important, and when you look at the art they've chosen for this one, it opens up a whole new page of discussion.
"The Winds of Gath" introduces the Dumarest character, awakening him on the planet Gath, where he is effectively abandoned, with no money to get off-planet. He runs into an old friend, and gets in the middle of a couple of groups at odds with each other. In my favorite part of the book, to earn money, Dumarest enters himself in a gladiatorial battle to the death with the Prince of Emmened's champion (that's the scene I chose to exemplify the book in the sample).
Here is the link to the audiobook and the sample: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_4?asin=B00EUE9ULC&qid=1377787753&sr=1-4
Recently, my uncle asked me to send him a link to something I had recorded, and that made me feel good. But his exact words were, "Whatever you feel your best work is," which actually kept me from sending him anything. I don't know if he likes Horror, or Sci-Fi, or bad religious Y.A., something long or something short, so I didn't know what to steer him toward. But this one would probably be a good example to play for anyone. It's not gonna be for everyone, that's for certain, but it's good work, on both my part and Mr. Tubb's.
Rish Outfield, Narrator
*I'd write the character's name and my description of the voice I did for them, but though not all of the good and bad guys die in "Winds of Gath," the only character who has come back for the second book (so far) has been Dumarest himself.
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