June was Audiobook Month, which I forgot, because it’s not like Halloween where everybody keeps reminding you it’s coming up (which seems unfair because audiobooks are at least as awesome as chocolate eggs). But allow me to make up for this with some Videos of Me.
First I go behind the scenes with Alan Cumming, audiobook narrator of the Leviathan series audiobooks and all-around awesome actor. (Floop! Nightcrawler! And now MacBeth!)
If you want to hear a sample of Alan actually reading the books, we can arrange that too. Click for the first chapters of Leviathan, Behemoth, or Goliath.
And lastly, here’s me in one of early prototype ads for Levaiathan. (You can see how much I’ve aged over the last three years. Touring does that.)
Hah, fooled you! Not actually me, but MaxSanKoll. A young YouTube talent who made this and a much weirder sequel, which gets bonus points for the Imogen Heap soundtrack,
Okay, return to your homes. FAF will return next Friday (or maybe Saturday) when I get to my dad’s house to chill out after my exhausting trip to New York. While there, I’ll be doing an online chat with Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan, co-authors of the upcoming book, Team Human. Mostly we’ll be discussing what it’s like to collaborate on a novel.
Figment.com Chat
Sunday July 8
8PM US-ET (5PM Pacific Time, 10AM Monday AUS-ET)
Click here to find out more.
Now go buy some audio books or check them out from the library, even though it’s July.
First!
I have all the audiobooks on my IPad. Alan does a great job!
My first comment was a squick short, because I was in a rush trying to make sure no one else got there first, so here’s my “first comment” victory dance:
YAAAAAAAY I GOT FIIIIIRST I GOT FIIIIRST COMMENT OH YEAH OH YEAH HAPPINESS!!!!!!
A bit much, yes, but it has been my goal since I first started commenting to get first comment. 😀
Third! …Just not the same.
I was in New York last week! It was awesome! Good for summer break to actually start now though. Nice videos!
I haven’t listened to the audiobooks, but they look very interesting. I like Mr. Cumming’s accent. 😀
SteampunkJedi, technically my friend you are the second commenter, and i am the third, the highest i’ve ever been. yay!
I like that kid. He deserves a cookie.
I need to get the aduiobooks, but sadly my library only has them in an mp3 format that is not compatible with any device people are likely to have. I will save up my money and hopefully be able to make the purchase!
p.s. have any of you tried to turn on the captions on youtube? its hilarious!
Just went to see Brave!!! Awesome movie! And I saw 4 people that I knew.
@5: Right! Second is great! Let’s be tied for that idea, my friend.
@7: That movie looks different from the other Pixar movies. Is it really that good? I think I’ll go see it if so.
I adored the audiobooks, but as soon as I made the connection between face and voice, I kept imagining Eddie Malone looking like the government official from Reefer Madness. Also, various of the german/austrian characters as the MC from Cabaret…which is slightly uncomfortable, but mostly hilarious.
And YAY, MACBETH! One of my friends is one of the authors (A.J. Hartley), and that book is fantastic! He recently told us there were FOUR different versions of the Macbeth play they researched and pulled from for the book. I didn’t even know more than one existed!
I cannot express how much that last video (and that kid) remind me of my brother and something we would do. That was amazing.
That child deserves a lifetime supply of SpagBol , & a hug . He just wins . Also , his cat could have played a MUCH better Bovril if he had a moustache … just saying !
Scott! I saw you in New York (i think :P) this weekend and started freaking out >.>
That boy.
I MUST HAVE HIM AS MY SON.
His sequel is hilarious! I showed it to a couple of my siblings (neither have read Levithan) and they both loved him. So, flameo, hotman, flame-EE-o.
Looooved the last video!
The sequel to that last video made me laugh so hard! 😀
That kid is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!
@8-It is probably the best Disney princess-y type movie I’ve ever seen.
YEAH I LOVE THAT KID!!!! HE HATES TWIGLIGHT TOO!!!!!!
OH GOD I loved the sequel! Scott, Rick, and Suzanne all in one! My three favorite authors in the whole entire world murdering each other and wearing completelt ridiculous getups! MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!
I love all these! This is so perfect, to come back from a rather long trip to Ashland (though I do very much love this Shakespeare town) and find these all in a row waiting! The last one made a tensy mistake, though, unless it was just me that read ‘1912’ instead of ‘1914.’ I;m reading Uglies now, too! I love hoverboards!
And the kid was TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT TWILIGHT.
Alright, so I listened to all the first chapters (remind me never to jump between books like that again), and I think my favorite was Behemoth. What’s funny is, I never imagined Deryn’s voice so soft, or Alek’s voice so posh. I love just the narration in general, although some things are said different;y than I say them. Because I read these books out loud to myself in my room to cheer myself up…. Wow, totally nerdy. <3 And when I get annoyed with my sister's obsession with Shadowhunters, Downworlders, demons, and Saint Jem Carstairs.
Okay, so yeah, Behemoth was my favorite. I had a weird moment of "That's Dr. Barlow?" with Goliath, and I love Newkirk. His voice reminds me of someone from a movie I love, but I can't remember who…. I also love how the lorises' words echo the people they learned them from.
Alek was less posh in my head, but I guess he *should* be more posh. Deryn I've always imagined more….loud? boisterous? lively? swagger-ish? I also have the problem that I can't do Austrian accents in my head, hence the reason it took me a moment to get used to things with Alek and such. I can do Scottish (if I think about it for a moment) and British is no problem. British actually the only accent I can do aloud. Stupid impossible American accents….
Other than these moments of confusion, it was awesome! I love that he gave Franz his own voice as well in Leviathan! I have a maddening urge to hear Lilit's voice now, and (though I hate him) Tesla's. Next time I'm at the library, to the audiobooks I go!
(Unless they don't have them because my library (and school library) are stupid in the fact that they don't have any of the actual books. In the public library, you can have them retrieve it from another library in the same county, but at school there's just nothing but Uglies, Midnighters, So Yesterday, and Peeps.)
Also, did anyone else get a sense that–even in Goliath–Alek was a squick uncomfortable speaking English? He talks with that way of saying every word just to make sure you know what you’re saying, the way I do with Spanish and German. (But not French or Japanese, because all I really know in those languages are lyrics (both) and ballet words (French).)
And I just noticed that many people are talking about Brave. BEST DISNEY/PIXAR MOVIE EVER! No Prince Charming to rescue/help Princess-With-Problem-She-Can’t-Solve-Herself. I loved it! And the Scottishness…. I wonder if My Scottish Friend has seen it yet. Because I really do have a Scottish Friend, who loves her heritage just as much as I do (and rubs it in my face). I have English, Welsh, and Irish, but NOT SCOTTISH and German, but NOT AUSTRIAN. Sigh….
What is with these four comments in a row?
@21-Barlow does sound odd, doesn’t she? This is really my opinion, but she sounds older than I think she is. I think maybe she’s about thirty, but she sounds forty. Or fifty. I guess it’s cause Alan is a guy and she’s a woman. And just so you know, Lillit sounds *okay* and Tesla sounds just as I imagined-a bit proud, strong accent, deep-ish voice.
Also, don’t worry, cause I read the books aloud too. You’re not the only nerd in the house! Or blog. I do it because there’s so many different accents and I love accents that aren’t mine, and when I’m reading Leviathan is when I like to practice. Does that make sense?
@23-YES YES YES I LOVE BRAVE TOO!!! And the four comment thing? I can post about seven commemts in a row without pausing for BREATH. I think I even may be the all-time commenter on here, with Person With Hat at a close second.
@6- SPAGBOL!!!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I’m just glad that you WERE NOT eaten by gigantic pink carnvorous monkeys like I thought.
@20: I was in Ashland in April! Did you see any plays? I liked Animal Crackers a lot! Romeo and Juliet, not so much. I’m not a huge fan of Shakespeare’s tragedies. But it was interesting, I suppose. If you didn’t see any plays I’m not sure why you were there and this comment is utterly pointless.
I think you need to hire that kid as your new sales rep Scott-la!
i officially have a crush on that tiny mustached child…. hehehe
-Lizzy-wa OUT!
@29- .-.
Yeah, I JUST watched the video of “you” and it’s hilarious.
“… Aleksandar, and that’s with a “k” and an “s”, not an “x” *begins to laugh maniacally.*”
OMG that kids was amazing!!!! I died laughing, 🙂 It was just awesome, and he is right, Twilight did ruin my love for vampires, but not fantasy +points finger* but nice try…
I’ve emailed the Leviathan vid to all my friends… Some of them LOL’d but some said GET A LIFE
This kid deserves a metal