Book Review: A Night of Blacker Darkness by Dan Wells

A Night of Blacker Darkness: being the memoir of Frederick Whithers as edited by Cecil G. Bagsworth III

By Dan Wells


I first learned about Dan Wells through Brandon Sanderson, who has been one of my favorite authors for several years.  I've read a few of his books and also listened to several of his works on Audible (Zero G and its sequel are both pretty good).

So far as I can tell A Night of Blacker Darkness seems to be exclusive to audible, though the listing says "for a limited time" so it may come out in print eventually or on audio elsewhere.  Regardless, you should definitely check out this volume if you enjoy fantasy and/or historical fiction and have a good sense of humour.  The Audible description actually does a great job of summarizing the book.

"The book is Extremely Silly: imagine a horror story, as written by Monty Python, in the style of the old screwball comedies like The Producers, What's Up Doc?, and Some Like it Hot, and then imagine that for some reason it's also in the style of a Victorian frame story starring John Keats and presented by a fake historian. A delightfully funny novel full of witty dialogue brought to life by the narrative voice talents of Sean Barrett."

I was definitely laughing out loud quite a number of times as I listened to the story unfold.  It started out pretty crazy with the narrator (Frederick Whithers) faking his death to get out of prison.  He wakes up as the coffin he'd been smuggled out in is about to be buried.  However, as he pounds on the lid the gravedigger remembers his promise and opens the coffin, only to run away a short time later as the grave is surrounded by vampires.  These rather inept creatures keep turning up as they follow Frederick and his companions all around town convincing themselves and others that because Frederick isn't susceptible to any of the normal vampire failings (garlic, crosses, holy water, sunlight) he must be the prophesied "great one" who can control all of the undead armies of darkness!

Do yourself a favor and check out this delightful short audio tale and give your funny bone a good workout.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary: A delightfully comic Victorian fantasy of a con artist who must chase a madcap cast of characters (some of whom are also chasing him) across southern England in an effort to con a bank into giving him a £90,000 inheritance.
Technical: 6 hours 18 minutes in length, narrated by Sean Barrett.  Available via Audible.

~Matt

Audible Fantasy

When I was a kid I really enjoyed reading.  Now that I'm an adult (and even an old married adult, ;-)) I still enjoy reading--even more in some ways--but I find that I don't have as much time.  When I was young, in the days before I discovered the joy of sleeping in, I would make sure I had a book by my bed so that I could read first thing when I woke up.  I even went through college not always finishing my assigned reading, but definitely read plenty of other books.  One way I've found to deal with this is to listen to audiobooks.

Several years ago I signed up for a membership with Audible.com and I've yet to regret it.  For a small monthly fee (I think it is $14.95) I get one credit--in the past I had one of their higher plans, but in the interest of balancing the budget I scaled back.  Each credit may be used to buy a book--most books sell for one credit, though a few are two credits.  I've found it a good deal since the list price of most books, even at the members price (which I never pay, I only buy books with credits) is more than what I pay each month.  I've listened to many hours of books while driving to work and on trips.  Even if a few books that I've downloaded are duds, most have been excellent.  It has occasionally let me get through books that I didn't have time to read (recently I listened to Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas).

Currently I'm listening to the Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams.  I first encountered Tad several years ago when I picked up Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn and I enjoyed a read through the Otherland saga.  One warning about Tad's books--they tend to be long.  The third book of MST had to be split into two for paperback publication (I think I read that the hardcover was over 1,000 pages and the paperback would have been longer).  I tend to read faster than audiobook narrators, but the recorded length of a book can still be a good indication of its length.  The entire Shadowmarch series (as sold by Audible) spans almost five complete days of listening.  I'm somewhere less than half-way through the first volume, so I won't be done for a while yet.  I'm enjoying the listen however.  Because of the stereo I installed in my car last fall (with the help of my nephew Erik) I can plug my iPhone directly into the stereo and control playback with the stereo controls.  I should mention that one of my coworkers (Chris) helped me to find the site where I bought the stereo.  I do like the fact that I can be listening to one book on my commute while I'm reading another book during part of my free time.  I also like the fact that I have the files for all of the books I've purchased saved--but I can re-download them if necessary, so that just as I've re-read books in the past I'll have the option to re-listen to books in the future if I so desire.

~Matt

Yeti

You can tell what I've been thinking about lately. I have Disney on the brain. When I snapped this picture just after being stopped in traffic I didn't think of mythical creatures from the snowy mountains of Central Asia.

No, I thought of the version that currently resides in Florida at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Yes, I speak (er, type) of Expedition Everest, the new ride at Disney World. I've never been there, but I almost feel as though I have been.

I've been listening to several Disney podcasts and they have included both audio and video of the ride as well as much talking about it. If you're at all lonely for the Disney parks or want to know what you've missed by not visiting then you should check out the Window to the Magic, one of the best unofficial podcasts that I've had the good fortune to stumble across. Try a recent episode or two, and then if you're truly hooked you can do as I did and download them all from the start! ;-)

I started this back in December and just finished up earlier this week--but I usually just listen at work (Givaudan and bigg's) since that is the only free listening time I have. Anyway, I'm now kicking myself for not visiting Disneyland more growing up, or even when I was in college. Hopefully I'll be able to visit my Aunt who works with Wycliffe (now headquartered in Orlando!) sometime in the next few years and pay a visit to the Mouse's world.

~Matt

1453

Earlier I entered item 1453, which of course led me to remember the Byzantine Empire. It was in that year that the last remnant of the Roman Empire finally fell to Muslim invaders as they conquered Constantinople. Even though they renamed the city Istanbul it was known as Constantinople for centuries afterwards throughout many parts of the West.



Of interest is the fact that the name Byzantine was never used to describe the empire by its citizens. They were Romans (even if in later years they spoke Greek instead of Latin) and theirs was the Roman Empire dating back to Julius Caesar, and further back to the formation of the Roman Republic Check out this podcast series if you want to learn more about the Byzantines. I highly recomend this fascinating selection of programs (which are still being produced--so keep checking back for more). The series is up to Basil II, but in 13 episodes still has not covered more than nine of the promised twelve rulers! :-) I'm enjoying that rate of progress as it means more shows to listen to!



~Matt

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Podcasting

No, I'm not about to start podcasting, though that is an interesting idea. Rather I've started listening to podcasts on my PDA. They make great listening along with Old Time Radio when I'm busy working on items that allow me to listen. Right now I'm listening to BBC news that I downloaded last night. It is a good distraction as I catalogue parts.



~Matt

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