THE GOLDEN COMPASS

Part of the fantasy trilogy, this first book begins Lyra Belacqua’s journey to discover the meaning of “dust” and her role in the struggle against evil that threatens to destroy the universe. Listening to this complicated tale with its multitude of unfamiliar names, places and words is a challenge. Case’s rendering is fairly successful as he differentiates each character’s voice--no mean feat given the number of characters--and, for the most part, he manages to keep them all straight. The least effective part of the recording is the narrative. The clipped diction, which emphasizes the final consonants, sounds very upper crust and snooty. Performance aside, this book is particularly difficult in audio form unless the listener has read the print version first. S.S.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 98]