Tag: Sophie Aldred

Shards of Earth

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit, 2021); audiobook read by Sophie Aldred (Pan Macmillan, 2021) A well-wrought fusion of space opera and high-concept SF. Tchaikovsky presents big ideas through the lives of small, relatable people, dialling up the action and thereby raising the stakes on both levels. Sophie Aldred’s audiobook reading evokes a zeitgeist of frontier-punk moxie.

The Barren Author, Series 1

The Barren Author, Series 1 by Paul Birch (Spiteful Puppet, 2021) Freewheeling, frothy and irreverent. Richard O’Brien puts in a bravura performance as Baron Munchausen, Rudolf Erich Raspe’s famous teller of tall tales—updated here by way of Paul Birch’s outrageous script and unleashed upon the 21st Century. Sophie Aldred offers well-pitched support.    

Doctor Who: At Childhood’s End

Doctor Who: At Childhood’s End by Sophie Aldred (BBC, 2020); audiobook read by Sophie Aldred (BBC, 2020) An unexpectedly proficient debut novel. The prose rarely sparkles but Aldred builds the story well, bridging the 30-year divide between Season 26 (dark manipulations) and Series 12 (sparkly rainbow TARDIS family). Her audiobook reading affords Ace’s journey a further layer of authenticity.  …