StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils Audiobook

Read by: Neil Kaplan
Written by: William C. Dietz
Published by: Simon & Schuster
ISBN (Audio): 978-1-4423-0021-7

Average Retail: $17.00 - $23.99

Introduction:

Please scroll down to the bottom for a free preview of the first chapter!

Heaven’s Devils, the latest in a long series of StarCraft novels, recently arrived at bookstores across the country. It’s notable because it’s the first out of several books to focus entirely on Jim Raynor, the main human protagonist from the first two games. It’s also the first book to introduce the new character, Tychus Findlay, who was seen in the opening cinematic for StarCraft II. The book also fleshes out the Terran Confederacy a bit more, the corruption within, and a lot of Jim Raynor’s past.

That’s one of the key differences between the WarCraft and the StarCraft franchise. It’s hard to focus on a single character when the universe encompasses more than a few worlds but instead focuses on an entire galaxy. The Confederacy, the Sons of Korhal, the Dominion, and other plot elements of the Terrans are all but a drop in the bucket before you add in the Protoss history and the development of the Zerg. So having a book focus on a single character, like Heaven’s Devils does, can shed light on a lot of events but won’t cover the entire story.

Of course, the issue with books is that it can take a long time to get through even a short book when you have a busy life. It’s even harder to get through a single book when you have a giant stack of books lying on your table that you’ve yet to read. That’s where the convenience of audiobooks comes in. Simply load up the MP3s onto your iPod or Zune and listen to it while you work, jog, or during other daily activities. Of course, audiobooks are a great boon for those with dyslexia or bad vision.

That’s when my interest in the Heaven’s Devils audiobook started. A simple, quick download gives you over twelve hours of Neil Kaplan, a professional voice actor, reading the book from front to back. Who is Neil Kaplan you ask? You may know him from any Fox Kids productions such as their dub of Bleach where he did the voice for Ugaki’s doll, Gesell from the Bount or Bounto arc. He also did the voice of Optimus Prime in the dub of Transformers: Robots in Disguise. More importantly for us video game fans, he did voices in EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky and Final Fantasy XIII. For StarCraft fans he’s the voice of Tychus Findlay in the game.

Being a professional voice actor doesn’t mean that you can instantly be great at reading a book. You have to be able to have a smooth, calm voice but at the same don’t read in a completely monotone voice. It has to have emphasis, but not read in a zealous manner. Does the audiobook accomplish this?

Yes, it does, and it does a really good job of it. I listened to the latter half of the book which I had not yet finished and found it to be very enjoyable. Neil Kaplan does a wonderful job of doing voices for each character in a way that doesn’t distract from the book but makes it easy to understand and enjoyable to listen to.

My only complaint is not with the audiobook itself, just the nature of audiobooks. I find that they’re great to listen to while working, but it’s not something you’d want to use for the entire length of the book. It’s a wonderful companion to the book, especially for busy people, but listening through the whole thing might be a bit much. One thing I'd like to note though is that you can read a book in four to eight hours, but this is tweleve hours long. It's great a supplement to the book or to listen to while working, but reading will be faster. One great use? Driving cross country to BlizzCon.

So is this worth the purchase? Yes, especially since the book itself is a great addition to the StarCraft library. If you’re busy and have long stretches of the day where you’d like to listen through the book, then this is for you. If you’re not a huge fan of audiobooks then this won’t change your mind, but if you love or use audiobooks then this is a great one to snag.

We have the first chapter available for your listening pleasure if you’d like to try the audiobook out before you buy it. Press the play button below to listen in.

First Chapter:

You can purchase both the book and the audiobook at Amazon ( quick link to Audible for the Audiobook) or just the audiobook from iTunes.

Questions or comments? Come to the Ten Ton Hammer forums and share your thoughts.