Skandinavien

Hello!

This week I'm back with an audiobook review, yes you read that correctly. The wonderful author Albion Byrd reached out to me to review his horror audiobook, and I have lots to say! Albion himself is impressively producing the entire audiobook, from writing to recording and it's done brilliantly.

Firstly, let's give a little story synopsis. Skandinavien is an episodic horror audiobook that follows the life of Conrad, who lives a life of solitude in an ancient windmill in a remote area of Scandinavia. What's so interesting about Conrad, is that he has zero memory of being a functional cog in the machine we call society. Conrad's day job is disposing of dead bodies. We follow the story of how important politician Albert Finz winds up on Conrad's autopsy slab. It's a story of discovery, the unravelling of truths, and intense drama. 

The first instalment includes three parts, and predominantly follows Albert and the crooked things he gets up to as a politician. The instalment is 18 chapters long including the beginning and end credits, it's about an hour long and is voiced by Albion and Jane Banks.

The element I enjoyed the most was the sound effects that were added to the narrative, it really made the story feel more intense. It felt like I was listening to a film. This first instalment of the series was a brilliant introduction to the series and it ends with a cliffhanger. I'd like to see more of Conrad in the upcoming parts as his characters fascinated me the most. Equally, it will be interesting to see how Albert winds up dead. 

As a writer myself, I struggle with dialogue and I am in awe of how effectively Albion uses dialogue to push the narrative. It feels natural and every word is necessary. There's a great balance of narrator-to-character dialogue. 

Prior to listening to Albion's audiobook, I had only ever read horror books, however, this has changed the entire experience for me. Listening feels similar to watching a horror film, and I now prefer listening to a horror book to reading one. It makes the atmosphere more intense and brings the narrative to life more.

Since listening, I have reached out to Albion for some extra information about the series. The next instalment is currently in production and will be released in the next six months. I'm very excited to continue following the story. 

You can access Skandinavien via most audiobook platforms!