So here's a review for the ElfQuest audio book - or audio movie, if you want to call it like that. I listened to my crowdfunding backer's version, which should be the same as any public version content-wise, just in one block, high bit-rate mp3 (no FLAC or OGG-Vorbis option, though). It is free of digital restriction management.
For those who need an introduction:
ElfQuest is a "fantasy with teeth" comic series that was established roughly 1978 and has been around since then. It was created by Wendy and Richard Pini (WaRP), with Wendy doing the artwork and both doing the story-line.
Later, for subsequent series, also other artists came in, though few reached the original art style.
ElfQuest has gained an international fan base with people doing fan-art, conventions and so on. I started reading it roughly 20 to 25 years ago.
A real movie (animated cartoon, 3d, whatever) was long hoped for but has yet come to be (was just announced several days ago).
Now for the audio movie.
(My background: I listened to various audio drama cassettes for children when I was young, so this is a familiar area for me. I do have some experience with creating small audio dramas, even some ElfQuest related ones. We do this as a fun thing during ElfQuest conventions so I might have some insights in the basic schemes of audio drama creations.)
I must admit I was skeptical at first, if they'd get it done correctly. But I would say they definitely did. Of course, an audio drama is different from a movie which is different from a written book which is different from a comic that contains both art and letters. So with the use of different media things will not be a 1:1 copy from the comic, obviously. But it is fine how they managed to implement it.
I guess it makes a difference if you are already familiar with the comic or not, but - at least from my perspective - it should be well possible to enjoy this, even if you haven't read the ElfQuest comics yet.
By the way, it is (yet) only the first chapters of the original quest that were brought to audio.
I can't completely judge the cast, I think everybody might have different expectations if you're familiar with the comic. One should not always compare the comic, the inner imagination, with the output of a filmization - or in this case the audio drama. (Like for LotR, it helps to not cling strictly to your previous imagination from the books if you see Peter "Brain Dead" Jackson's movies. Both are great pieces of art, the book(s) as well as the movies.)
The choice of Savah (the elder mother of memory of the elves of the Sun Folk) as the narrator is a good one. It makes sense to have her telling the story.
So I was listening with long knowledge of the series and I was pretty fond. Of course, especially in the beginning it's hard to tell the characters apart, though they do have different voices. They are distinguishable, one simply has to get used to them. As a helpful aid, they're often called by their names, especially for the introduction, until the characters are established.
The pronunciation is clear (American) English which helps a lot, esp. If you're an international reader / listener with a native language different from English. Not the super crisp and distinct Oxford-English, but it's absolutely fine. Some names might sound different than what one is used to, if one has read the series already.
Also, sound effects and music are used appropriately.
The very narration and plot follows the original quest very closely. However, I wondered about a few sentences thrown in, if they were in the written original. They were likely not, but they help a lot to understand, especially if you're not yet familiar with the EQ series. I think it is a valuable addition, especially since we have the shift of media here, from text and images towards audio.
Thus, the listeners might even gain a little more background information than in the comics (wherein one would discover that information in later published subsequent series).
The audio movie has dramatic moments, suspense, funny moments and portions of sadness. Of course I already knew the story, but it still had a certain emotional grip on me. (Poor Rayek!)
The voice actors do a good job of bringing the characters to life.
The audio drama covers some of the first comics so far and one would hope for a subsequent scoring.
Bonus point: Later there was the release of a version for people with hearing challenges (gesture language). Very nice addition, though I don't understand a "word" of it. ;)
I'd recommend this audio drama to fellow ElfQuest readers, but also to people new to ElfQuest. If you have an interest in fantasy novels and the like, give it a go.
