Love to Listen: Audio Drama Reviews – Peter Pan, Interview with the Robot, Beezer

 
 

I had an Audible subscription for a few months last year, and each month they offered a selection of Audible Originals, so I had the chance to listen to a few. Me being me, I always went for the sci-fi and fantasy options!

I was new to audio dramas (and still haven’t listened to many), but they can be a fun break from books since they don’t have narration but do have full casts and sound effects. I like this trend of more audio entertainment being created.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the few audio dramas I listened to!


Peter Pan: An Audible Original Drama

Peter Pan: An Audible Original Drama

Peter Pan is one of my favorite classic novels, if not my favorite, so I was really excited to see this in the selection of Audible Originals. This was a great adaptation, one that removed some of the darker elements of the book and added a bit more fun and silliness (though whether it was based more on the book or the play, I don’t know, since I haven’t read the play). All the voice actors were great, but Rupert Everett (who I was not familiar with until listening to this) as Captain Hook was especially phenomenal. You can just tell he was having fun. Overall, I had a great time listening to this.

Listen to a Sample or Purchase on Amazon

Interview with the Robot by Lee Bacon

Interview with the Robot by Lee Bacon

I’m not really the intended audience for this, so kids may really enjoy this, but I thought it was only ok. The voice performances were great, but the story was a little silly and unbelievable at times, leaving something to be desired.

It was quite a heavy story in the end, about grief, but also hopeful, about what family really means. It really glossed over the whole sentient robot thing, not even touching on the fact that David managed to create not only a lifelike robot, but one with emotions.

It did have a bit of a thought-provoking element though about whether sentient robots would be their own beings or whether they’d belong to the people who created them. (Also a thought-provoking element in regards to giving artificial memories to robots. Similar to clones. If they had the memories of a certain person, would they really be that person? How would they feel about knowing their memories and whatnot are false?)

Overall, not bad, just not really for me.

Listen to a Sample or Purchase on Amazon

Beezer by Brandon T. Snider

Beezer by Brandon T. Snider

I loved this little audio drama! It had laugh-out-loud moments. It had touching moments that made me say awww. I didn’t expect to enjoy this so much.

The plot was about Beelzebub, son of Lucifer, being banished to Earth, but the story was all about family. About how sometimes the family you’re born into isn’t so great. About how growing up with bad parents or a bad home life can affect people and the way they treat others. About trying to rise above that. About how it’s ok to cut abusive, toxic family from your life. About how adoptive families and found families can be just as meaningful as blood. About how every kid deserves love and support. It also touched upon topics like bullying and financial struggles. The only thing I felt was kind of iffy for a kid’s story was the way Beezer dealt with the bullies through violence, and it was never addressed.

Mostly though, this was a light-hearted and silly story, what with Beezer trying to get used to having a human body and all the functions and emotions that come with it. This was a complete enough story on its own, but the ending made it seem like there might be more in the future.

The voice acting was great too.

Overall, this was cute, funny, and touching with a lot of great messages about family that is fun for all ages!

Listen to a Sample or Purchase on Amazon

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

Have you listened to any of these audio dramas?
Do you like audio dramas in general?

 
 
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Your Thoughts

 

12 thoughts on “Love to Listen: Audio Drama Reviews – Peter Pan, Interview with the Robot, Beezer

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  1. Greg

    I like the idea of more audio offerings as well, even if I don’t listen to a lot of them? It almost reminds me of radio plays and stuff like the old War of the Worlds… IDK, sounds fun (plus obvs it’s good for people wo just like audio or need it because they can’t read).

    Everett as Hook sounds pretty good.

    Interview with the Robot sounds really interesting it didn’t work for you. That’s definitely a bummer! And the fake memories thing reminds me of Blade runner.

    1. Kristen Burns

      It’s just nice that so much is available, different strokes and all. But yeah, audio stuff is cool!

      I haven’t seen Blade Runner, but fake memories is definitely an intriguing topic to think about.

      1. Greg

        Blade Runner is weird haha but the cyberpunk vibe is ON. I love it just for that. And the fake memories part is cool and is a pretty big part of the story. I sometimes just want to walk around in that ambienc even though it’s horrible in a lot of ways!

  2. Cee Arr

    It always throw me which people are known/not known around the world – most people’ve heard of Rupert Everett in the UK! 🙂