Ender's Game Alive: The Full Cast Audioplay

First, I'm not going to focus on the content of Ender's Game Alive other than to say it captures the essence of the book. So, if you don't know the book, read review/synopsis for it.The folks at Skyboat Media have breathed new life into an old format: the radio play. Ender's Game author, Orson Scott Card, has rewritten the novel from ground up as an audio play. I've been pretty excited about this new art form (or, at least a form pushed to new levels) ever since I became aware of the project. This is a first rate audio play.Be fully immersed. Don't go into this like it's an audio book. You'll look for the narration to tell you where you are in the story. Here, it's done with sounds and theme and dialog and a little monologue, but not straight out narration. Let me emphasize the quality of this production. One way to bring this out is how I rip and experience this. I typically listen to audio books while mobile so I rip them. I often "save space" if I own CDs of audio books, I'll rip them at 128 Kbps. After all, spoken word doesn't have the same level of complexity as a symphony. Not this production. I rendered it with a lossless codec although around 320 variable bit rate mp3 would be fine. I listened to most of it on Grado SR 80s (quite decent cans). This is an amazing experience. They use left and right channel well with a large sound stage even while being immersed in the sound. You feel as if you're in the dialog, a part of the conversation and the action.While content is king and the best production can't make up for bad story or lousy acting, what really sets Ender's Game Alive apart is a focused script of a great story (not a slightly edited text to account for being read aloud), terrific actors and narrators and first rate production value. They are truly boldly going where, oh wait, that's another franchise... they are pushing the edges of the audio play to new levels and Ender's Game Alive shows off the audio play at its finest.For full review: wp.me/p2XCwQ-nw

It's a brave step to try and turn Enders' Game into a narrative storybook, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it actually works in practice. The story has been extensively re-written by Orson Scott Card for this version, and for Ender fans there is a lot of additional detail that is absent from other versions of the story; e.g. I think the relationships between Ender, Valentine and Peter are much better defined in this version, and here links are forged to other branches of the Ender saga that were absent in the original book.The production values are superb overall, and really brings the story to life in a way that the basic audiobook cannot. Acting quality is excellent throughout, and Kirby Heyborne is a superb Ender. I wasn't entirely convinced about Emily Rankin voicing Bean at first, but she won me over eventually.Minor criticisms - sound design is so important at creating the right atmosphere, and although it's very good, I felt that it just fell short of being outstanding. The 8-bit sound effects for the 'game' sounded particularly anachronistic, and some of the background atmospheres could have been a bit more developed. There are a couple of moments where the dialogue has to resort to characters providing descriptions of what's going on, which can sound a little contrived; but you have to balance this against the heightened sense of immersion and realism that having a full-cast audioplay with soundscape provides.Overall, I'd give it four and a half stars.

Superb adaptation of a brilliant story. Really well put together and voice acted. The story loses nothing in this medium and affords a new and enjoyable way to experience Ender's game. I would be thrilled if they decided to do the same treatment with Speaker for the Dead..please! :) :)

Just got my copy last night. Feels like Christmas. Listened all day today. I have been in love with all the audiobook versions of Ender's Game (including the Shadow Series and the Alvin Maker novels). The author has recently written this audioplay; it has over one hundred characters, it was performed by over 25 actors, it is scored by Tony Award winning John Rubinstein and Grammy Winner Janis Ian, it has full foley effects, and is all dialogue scenes without a narrator. It IS Ender's Game, with some added scenes to make the transfer from novel to audioplay. It's a one of a kind production. It's over seven hours long, full stereo. So whip out your Bose's or crank up the surround sound and go for it. The cast includes many audiobook favorites like Stefan Rudnicki, Kirby Heyborne, Emily Rankin, Scott Brick, Roxanne Hernandez, and a few celebrity surprises like author Harlan Ellison, Academy Award Nominees Samantha Eggar and Theo Bikel; CSI MIAMI's Rex Linn and AGT's Impressionist Jim Meskimen. Lots of backstage videos and information about the cast and who plays who is listed on the Skyboat Media's website. I'd like to see other mega-series done this way: Harry Potter, LOTR, Game of Thrones, Hunger Games. What a trip that would be? Forgot to say: this is a 7 CD version. I'm giving these for holiday gifts. At this price $10??? The kids loved it, too (I was surprised; didn't think 'radio style" drama would hold their attention (ages 11 and 12.) A deal in my book. Be fun to compare to the film.PROS: Great cast, amazing stereo sound effects, completely true to the novel, completely draws you in, never heard anything this complex on audio.CONS: I didn't get anything done today cause I listened all day. Not long enough. Sequel?

Having read the novel dozens of times and listened to Stefan Rudnicki's performance on audiobook countless times as well, I can say I was quite pleased that OSC and Brilliance Audio would be bringing Ender's Game "alive" with 30 voice actors in over 100 roles. Needless to say, I picked up the MP3 CD as soon as I could.Because MP3 CDs are not the same as typical CDs, this may or may not work in your CD player - it depends on your device. But if you have a media player (and who doesn't?), loading the MP3s into iTunes or your media player of choice is a snap on PC or Mac. The disc comes in a DVD case with a jacket, and has 21 tracks in 192 kbps, which - though compressed - sound quite clear.Now that the meta stuff is out of the way, the actual audioplay is fascinating. Rather than a straightforward read of Ender's Game (since Rudnicki's read was so solid), the audioplay incorporates material from Card's other pieces in the Enderverse, such as some of the prequels and short stories. In some respects, the play weaves a more complicated tapestry than the novel does and gives backstory that even seasoned EG veterans might not know.While I can't say I agree with all of the casting choices (just like in the recent movie, Ender is too old), I wouldn't say that anyone involved does a bad job. This is far and away one of the best productions of this story available (besides the novel itself). While I would certainly recommend this to fans, I would not submit this as my choice for anyone's first exposure to the story. As one might expect, the novel (and Rudnicki's read) take pride of place.If you're a fan of the story, give this a listen. Though it does not measure up to the source material or Rudnicki's original read, it beats the movie and the graphic novels by a long shot. With its intriguing music, plausible foley work, and diverse cast, the audioplay paints a vivid picture of the scifi classic we all know and love.