DW Audiobooks

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Nick
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DW Audiobooks

Post by Nick »

Audible UK have To the Devil a Daughter and DRO as downloadable audoio books unabridged. £1899 each. Not too sure about the reader though. The sample I've heard seems a bit bland. See what you think.
ken68
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Post by ken68 »

TDRO and one other are also available on spotify, read by chris lee.
ericmocata
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Post by ericmocata »

I have been wanting to get the ones that Christopher Lee read that are available on iTunes, but have not as yet bought them. Did anybody listen to them yet? I heard the samples and those seemed good.

On the other hand, I did recently snag a copy of the Anton Rodgers reading of The Devil Rides Out on cassette for all of a dollar (I paid more for the shipping, about 4 bucks, than the item itself). He does some pretty amusing voices for the different characters, especially his ridiculous American accent for Rex. Which reminds me, is Rex's name pronounced "Rinn" or "Rine"? Anybody know? I always thought it was "Rinn", but Rodgers says "Rine".
Darren
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Post by Darren »

Hi folks,

Following on from Nick's initial posting about Audible Studios (a subsidiary company of Amazon) releasing TDRO and TTDAD at the end of 2012 - these are full unabridged versions read by Nick Mercer.

I haven't heard any of them but they must have been successful as Audible Studios have recorded and just released six more DW titles - all unabridged and all read by Nick Mercer.

Strange Conflict (12 hours 48 mins)
Gateway to Hell (11 hours)
The Forbidden Territory (10 hours 52 mins)
The Ka of Gifford Hilary (16 hours 38 mins)
They Used Dark Forces (21 hours 5 mins)
The Haunting of Toby Jugg (16 hours 37 mins)


It's interesting that they have thrown in The Forbidden Territory as all the others are DW's occult books. If The Forbidden Territory sells then they may continue with DW's wider range of work.

They are available on Amazon and iTunes as downloads.
Regards,

Darren.
Darren
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Post by Darren »

I have started listening to the new Nick Mercer DW audio books recently released by Amazon. Nick Mercer has got a hard act to follow. I am already familiar with Denholm Elliott’s heavily abridged reading of THOTJ and Christopher Lee’s Strange Conflict. Both are great readings as you would expect.

I decided to start with one of my all time favourites – The Haunting of Toby Jugg.

I enjoyed Denholm Elliott’s reading but I had two problems with it. The book is written in the first person so whoever reads it is telling the story as if they are Toby Jugg. Toby Jugg is a young man and I only know Denholm Elliott as Marcus Brody (in the Indiana Jones series) and Henry Beddows (in To the Devil a Daughter) both of which are mature characters. I cannot picture him as Toby Jugg as I’m listening.

My second problem is that the editing is excessive. It is 2 hours long, whereas Nick Mercer’s is about 16 hours long – even taking into account different reading speeds there is at least 80% of the book missing.

So I was looking forward to an unabridged reading of THOTJ.

My first concern was Nick Mercer's voice. It is not your typical Dennis Wheatley, upper class, public school educated voice. The accent is indistinct – but has a more northern roundness, and the pitch is high - much higher than the deep, velvety texture of Christopher Lee that I would expect with a DW reading. I had to get used to Nick Mercer before I started enjoying it.

But I quickly accepted him as Toby Jugg – more so that Denholm Elliott. Nick Mercer’s higher pitch gives him a young sounding voice, and as I don’t know Nick Mercer I can picture a young Toby Jugg telling the story. Also the character of Toby Jugg has working class roots in Sheffield, he was educated in Cumbria and is now living in Wales so Mercer’s accent adds to that background in his reading.

THOTJ is, to me, DW’s most frightening book and Mercer manages to inject mounting panic and fear as the suspense builds. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it for this particular DW book.

I am not so sure that Mercer will be able to pull off the more upper class performance required for the Duke de Richleau and co. I’ll let you know.
Regards,

Darren.
Darren
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Post by Darren »

There are a few DW audiobooks currently available free to listen to on YouTube.

Christopher Lee reading The Devil Rides Out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyjmu918Es4

Christopher Lee reading Strange Conflict - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEAcCKSItnM

and,

Nick Mercer reading The Haunting of Toby Jugg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMDj9I1cyQk

CL's readings of TDRO and SC are abridged. I am familar with his brilliant performance of SC and am pleased to have the opportunity to listen to CL's TDRO (although I am currently 3/4 the way through Nick Mercer's unabridged version so will be having TDRO overload).

The Nick Mercer reading of THOTJ is also unabridged, and I can highly recommend it (see previous post). I have also heard him read The Ka of Gifford Hilary and TTDAD which I thoroughly enjoyed. He is very good at using distinct voices for the different characters. Very different to the CL delivery, but very effective when you have got used to him. This might not be available for very long on YouTube - I don't think Audible will be impressed when they find out it is available there.

:smt108
Regards,

Darren.
ken68
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Post by ken68 »

I've heard the Nick mercer ones and was not at all impressed. There's an art to audio books and I thought he, like many others who have attempted it, don't have it. There is no drama at all.
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Post by shanedwyer »

I've listened to Christopher Lee's TDRO. I thought it magical. It was (almost) like coming across the book for the first time.
Darren
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Post by Darren »

shanedwyer wrote:I thought it magical. It was (almost) like coming across the book for the first time.
It is a very different experience. Nick Dow mentioned in his audiobook talk at the 2009 convention that you "always pick up something new every time".

I really enjoyed listening to The Ka of Gifford Hilary. I had read it twice before I listened to it but I "picked up" lots of things I don't remember from reading - I even enjoyed listening to the 40 pages of DW's political view of the world (that he offers you the opportunity to skip in the book).

:smt032
Regards,

Darren.
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Post by Jim »

I see that Book Depository is now scheduling the Mercer DW audiobooks at $9.99 (USD). At that price, I am certainly going to get The Forbidden Territory, and see how I like it...
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Post by KLP85 »

I was going to download one of these but listening to the sample by Nick Mercer has put me right off, I think i could inject more passion than that. It's like listening to the talking clock.
Darren
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Post by Darren »

Well I think it’s refreshing to hear a Yorkshireman reading Dennis Wheatley. The term “Dukeâ€￾ is often used up ‘ere as a term of endearment - albeit with an added “câ€￾ and a missing “eâ€￾.

More please, Mercer. :smt101
Regards,

Darren.
Darren
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Christopher Lee DW Uaio Books

Post by Darren »

:rofl
Last edited by Darren on Sun 28 Apr, 2019 02:17:25, edited 1 time in total.
Regards,

Darren.
Darren
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Christopher Lee DW Audio Books

Post by Darren »

I see that Audible have finally made Christopher Lee's readings of TDRO and SC available via their service - www.audible.co.uk.

About time too - I have them on CD but who listens to them anymore?

They are the classic readings of the Duke de Richleau by the actor that played the Duke de Richleau and using the voice that I hear in my head when I read the books.

Bliss. :-)
Regards,

Darren.
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