Booklog 52/2023: Patrick Stewart: Making it So – A Memoir (Audiobook)

Patrick Stewart reads his own memoir, starting with his childhood in WW2 Mirfield, his war damaged dad, his hardworking mum and the kind of innocent exploits that boys got up to. His love of theatre developed early with school and am-dram productions and though he tried jobs in journalism and shop-work he eventually secured a place at drama school in Bristol. This takes us through his early days in walk-on parts - the disappointments and highlights until he finally achieved his ambition of joining the Royal Shakespeare Company before Star Trek called. He doesn't dwell on details of his first two (eventually) failed marriages and his happy third one except to intertwine them with the progress of his acting career. You probably need to be a fan to enjoy this, but I am, so I did.

Booklog 53/2023: Jodi Taylor: White Silence – Elizabeth Cage #1 (Audiobook)

This is a re-read, or rather a re-listen. It’s the first Elizabeth Cage book, and most unusually for a Jodie Taylor audiobook, this time not read by Zara Ramm, but by Katie Scarf. She makes a good job of the reading. Elizabeth Cage can see colours surrounding people – their auras, though she doesn’t use that term. She can tell their moods and their state of being, whether they are happy or unhappy, troubled or serene, good or evil. When her husband Ted dies she is tricked by Sorensen, his boss into staying over at the Sorensen private clinic and is kept there under threat of being sectioned. Sorensen, it turns out, has been curious about Elizabeth’s abilities and has been watching her for years. Now he has the opportunity of finding out what she can do. Enter Michael Jones, another inmate at the clinic – or is he? Well, yes he is, but he’s more than that. No spoilers. Elizabeth begins to trust him, but should she? The ending is not quite cliffhanger but it’s definitely open to a follow-up.

Booklog 54/2023: Jodi Taylor: Dark Light – Elizabeth Cage #2 (Audiobook)

More adventures of Elizabeth Cage who can read people's colours (auras) which makes her at the top of Dr Sorensen's wanted list. He's not quite sure what she can do, but he knows she'll be an asset to both him and his government bosses. This book open immediately after White Silence finishes, when Elizabeth is once more on the run from Sorensen's flunkies and from Michael Jones whom she was beginning to trust, but is no longer sure about.

This is a re-visit via audiobook. The first Elizabeth Cage book was read by Kate Scarf whose voice is light and easily listened to. She’s not a million miles away from the timbre of Zara Ramm who has voiced all but one of Jodi Taylor’s St Mary’s books and their spin off series featuring the Time Police. Julie Teal’s voice is heavier, more produced. She’s a good reader, but my expectations of Elizabeth Cage’s narrative voice was set by Kate Scarf’s reading of White Silence, and since I bounced straight on to Dark Light, the tonal quality of the two voices was jarring. It rankled a bit and took me about half the book to get used to the new voice. I note that the third book, Long Shadows, is being read by Zara Ramm. I’ll get to that one next…