Month: February 2009

Voodoo Planet
By Andre Norton; Read by Chuck McKibben
3 CDs – 3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Realms
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781897304372
Themes: / Science Fiction / Adventure / Space Travel / Africa /

Voodoo Planet is the tale of three crew members from The Solar Queen spaceship who are invited to go on a hunting safari on a Khatka, a planet colonized by people from Africa. Dane, Medic Tau, and Captain Jellico soon run up against Lumbrilo, a local witch doctor, who has strong reasons for not wanting outsiders to explore the jungle. After their flitter crashes in the wild, the spacemen and their local hosts soon become the targets of bizarre attacks from wildlife as they try to make their way back to civilization. Tau has studied magic on many different worlds and a battle of wills emerges as he must counter the attacks and provide the edge to overcome their enemy.

This is a short and simple tale of adventure, it is best enjoyed at face value – a sampling of classic science fiction. It makes foe an exciting story as one waits to see what Lumbrilo will next launch against the heroes. Andre Norton is a legendary author in science fiction and fantasy, but this is one of her earlier and lesser works. That does not mean that one should ignore the book, but simply that one should not expect a master work.

The narration of the story is fine with slight shading added to various characters’ voices to provide both personality and help the listener differentiate when a conversation is occurring. However, the editing is not very careful. There were several occasions when a sentence or two was repeated as the narrator corrected a misstep. Failing to catch a duplication is common enough in free podcasts but when one is paying for an audiobook it is inexcusable. One hopes that the editors will more carefully proof the other books from this publisher.

Overall, well done and recommended.

Posted by Julie D.