LORDS OF THE EARTH

The Yali people of Indonesia call themselves "Lords of the Earth," and they live by a set of rules designed to appease a wrathful god. But when a disillusioned member looks for another mythos, or framing story, he can't find one until an Australian missionary arrives. There follows a testimony to the transforming power of the gospel. The story takes place in the 1950s and 1960s, not the 1800s. Raymond Todd is a capable reader. His voice is clear, and he smoothly articulates Yali names and common phrases. But his reading of dialogue is flat, with no hint of a cadence or articulation different from that of standard English. This is due in part to the writing, but he also lacks an appropriate degree of emotion. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2008]