Friday 11 April 2014

Blake's 7: Rebel, Traitor, Liberator

Official Blurb

In the third century of the second calendar, the galactic Federation, once a beacon of democracy and peace, has become a corrupt tyranny.

Freedom and Justice are things of the past.

Roj Blake stood up for the ordinary people. When the establishment tried intimidation he laughed in their faces. When they tried to crush him he fought back. When they tried to brainwash him into obedience, he broke their conditioning. Finally they framed him and sentenced him to permanent exile on the notorious prison planet Cygnus Alpha.

The Federation thinks it has seen the last of Roj Blake.

The Federation will wish it had...

My Review

I remember watching Blaske's 7 when it was first run on television. As a kid I was glued to this amazing series. As an adult I saw some re-runs and realised just how low the production values were!

I've been listening to Spotify of late and was rather pleased to discover that it includes some audio books. Mostly these are the classics, some from Librivox and the other free locations, but I was supremely delighted to discover some "new" material too., including this particular presentation.

This full cast audio drama was produced in 2010 by a professional audio company and includes everything that entails. Good acting and great sound effects!

This three part (3 CD's I guess) story starts with Blake breaking free of the Federation and building his team, just like the TV series did. I can't say if this follows the same story path as the TV version as I don't recollect but if was a fun ride. It's a straight up adventure of world building, narrow escapes and brave stand offs. Throw in some space battles and the mysterious ship "Liberator" that has a life of its own and you have everything for a great story.

There are 3 significant episodes in this story. That is, the story is episodic, just like a TV or radio series, it does not follow a single story arc.  And that was where this superb production let me down. I like my audiobooks to have a beginning middle and end, but this is just the first three episodes of an ongoing story. If I'd known that going in, I wouldn't have had the disappointment factor when I reached the end. It was just an expectation thing, and does not reflect on the book itself which is great!

In fact, there are other stories in the series on Spotify, and knowing their episodic nature I'm still interested in them. Watch this space.

In summary, Good.

Reading 3/3
Production 3/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 8/9

Listen for free on Spotify