Packed with hilarious puns and clever nods to Thomas Pynchon, Treasure Island, 1940s cinema and notable historical figures, Greenbeard, from author Richard James Bentley, has been masterfully elevated to its full, rum-soaked splendor in the newly released audiobook narrated by multiple award-winning voice artist Colby Elliott.
“Greenbeard is a really fun listen on one level that also rewards those who are secret smarty pants,” said Elliott, who has been producing and narrating audiobooks since 2010.
Perfect for fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean and Doctor Who franchises, Greenbeard introduces audiences to Captain Sylvestre de Greybagges, a 17th-century Cambridge-educated lawyer turned Caribbean pirate, as comfortable debating the virtues of William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton and compound interest as he is wielding a cutlass, needling archrival Henry Morgan and parsing rum-soaked gossip for his next target. When a pepper monger’s loose tongue lets out a rumor about a fleet loaded with silver, the Captain sets sail only to find himself in a close encounter of a very different kind.
After escaping with his sanity barely intact and his beard transformed to an alarming bright green, Greybagges rallies The Ark de Triomphe crew for a revenge-fueled, thrill-a-minute adventure to the ends of the earth and beyond.
"What made this book so special (and difficult to produce) was that it was challenging on every level,” Elliott said. “Some characters pretend to have a second personality while disguised as a third. A chapter might start as a lyric poem, then have five characters with different accents in conversation, and end with an entirely different character singing a bawdy sea chanty. Greenbeard is intoxicating."
Ultimately, Greenbeard offers a mélange of delights that will captivate audiences with its rollicking adventure, rich descriptions of food and fashion, and learned asides into scientific, philosophical and colonial history.
“The characters, the wordplay (puns especially), and the whimsical nature of the story just builds and builds,” Elliott added. “This is a fun, wonderful listen that audiences will be talking about and quoting for many months to come.”
About the Voice Artist
Colby Elliott graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University with bachelor’s degrees in Speech Communication/Theatre Arts, English (Literature Emphasis) and Language Arts Education. He has worked as a freelance journalist, voice-over artist and opera chorus cast member.
Elliott also worked as a theater instructor for 12 years, teaching both middle and high school students while earning his master’s degree in Applied Communication from the University of Denver.
In 2010, he launched Last Word Audio while also being a stay-at-home dad. Elliott is also the author of the Stay-at-Home Shaman series of urban fantasy novellas and the Nerdly Travels series of travelogues
For more information, visit www.lastwordaudio.com, or follow the author on X (@colbyelliott), Instagram (colby.elliott), Threads (colby.elliott) and Facebook (colby.elliott1 or Last Word Audio)
No comments:
Post a Comment