Penguin Audio To Double-Release Max Brook’s Minecraft
MINECRAFT: THE ISLAND. Max Brooks. First version narrated by Jack Black. Second version narrated by Samira Wiley. Penguin Audio.
Cover courtesy of Penguin Audio.
Minecraft, due for release on July 18, takes the skeleton of a story-line we first encountered in Treasure Island and gives it a broad new dimension. Here, a person washes into the universe of Minecraft. As the story unfolds, a lone castaway on an unknown island looks for food and shelter in the spiked mirror of a world beset with zombies and other unspeakable horrors. The book is worth a long look because Brooks brings the ability to create a biting and original plot that blends suspense with intrigue. Like the very best fiction, he leaves you having to know what happens next. But going further, this audio production is special because Brooks’ vision didn’t stop with the writing. Instead, he set out to transform his narrative into a piece of performance art – into the soundtrack of a play where reader gets to be producer, deciding if they want to hear the story told in the male or the female voice. Jack Black (Gulliver’s Travels, Bob Roberts), tells one version (available to sample here), while Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black) tells the other (available to sample here).
Electric Review 