THE ALCHEMIST & THE EXECUTIONESS

Award-winning science fiction authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell have teamed up to create a world in which the practice of magic is forbidden, authority is to be avoided, and the landscape is covered by a deadly “bramble” that shuts out the sun and maims on contact. These are no Disney princess stories. The main characters, Bacigalupi’s Alchemist and Buckell’s Executioness, are middle-aged, weary, and tough. Both narrators reflect those qualities perfectly in their voices. Jonathan Davis sounds exactly like a magician with the weight of the world on his shoulders while Katherine Kellgren uses her wonderful talent for accents to give the reluctant Executioness a timeless Eastern European sound. Both characters illustrate the extraordinary measures ordinary people will take to protect their families. B.P. 2011 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2010]