People who live and work in and around London spend an inordinate amount of time in their cars or on public transport. It is generally unproductive time that can be used for conversing with friends (because talking to strangers seems to be outlawed under some obscure public transport by-law). Some people do try to work, delicately balancing folders of paper or laptops on their knees but this is not really advisable during (c)rush hour. Listening to music or reading a book, or other works of fiction such as the tabloids, seems about the only way to keep yourself distracted, unless you really enjoy people watching, or have a PSP or Gameboy. Unfortunately, even reading a book can be a challenge when your herded into a bus or train carriage, but there is a viable alternative that will make use of all the empty space on your iPod. Audio books.
Audio books, or talking books, have been around for a long time and were originally created for the blind as an alternative to Braille. Soon other people realised what a good idea they were and they were made available to the general public, mostly on cassettes although some were available on vinyl (remember those?). Although cassettes are still available most audio books come on CD or, more recently, as MP3s, which is great for iPods or even other devices such as Palm PDAs.
What is great about audio books is you get a story you can listen to on the tube or in the car, and for parents they are a Godsend on long journeys. No more, “Are we there yet”. Put Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter on the stereo and you could drive from London to Scotland without complaints.
Most publishers now produce their best-selling titles on CD, which are usually read by respected actors, although some authors do their own readings, which isn’t always a good idea. One of the biggest producers of audio books is that august British institution, the BBC. For sci-fi and fantasy fans this is great news as they have the rights to such favourites as Dr Who, Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, Narnia, Tolkein and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, amongst others.
There are also other sci-fi franchise staples also available such as Star Wars, Star Trek and Blake’s Seven. For fans of Terry Pratchett most of his books are available, which are usually read by Nigel Planer or Tony Robinson, so you get all the silly stories with lots of silly voices.
One of the problems with audio books on CD, especially the unabridged versions, is they occupy so many discs, which makes them expensive, and bulky to carry. If you want to listen to them on your iPod then you have to convert them into the appropriate format, or you can buy them ready-ripped. iTunes has a great selection, but the best place to get them is from Audible, who produce a lot of content of their own as well as supplying from other places. Their prices are low, and if you are really keen they have subscription programmes that make them even cheaper and if you pick the annual one they will even give you a shiny new iPod to listen to them on.
Apart from the titles already mentioned they have a lot of the classic sci-fi authors such as Asimov, Wells, Huxley, Clarke, Dick and Heinlein as well as contemporary books like this year’s Hugo winner, Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell (at an epic 32 hours). I even found one, with Robin Williams interviewing George Lucas, John Lasseter (Pixar) and Bing Gordon, the founder of EA Games, which was both hilarious and informative.
So if you want to listen to stories on the go, check out Audible. Check out their sci-fi/fantasy titles here.