Writing In Obscurity: Wil Wheaton

Monday, April 26, 2021

Micro Mention "The Martian"

While I loved R.C. Bray’s narration of Andy Weir’s “The Martian,” I am also a big fan of Wil Wheaton—so now I own both versions, and if I’m honest, I think Bray did it a little better… sorry, Wil.

I think what's happened is I'm so biased by how much I enjoyed the initial audio version of "The Martian" with Bray as narrator that I was unconsciously prejudiced against Wheaton's performance before it even started. So, I've considered that there is a possibility that if I had heard the Wheaton version first, maybe it would be my preferred version of this audiobook.

But! To play devil's advocate against that point, Wil Wheaton is an immensely talented guy who does many different things. Primarily, though, I'd say he's an actor, which certainly gave him a leg-up voice acting out this book, but RC Bray's whole bread and butter is his talents as a voice actor. To me, at least, there seems to be a whole depth of skills when just using your voice to act out a story that Wheaton hasn't quite sharpened yet to the same level. In short, Wheaton's acting skills are more generalized while Bray's are more specialized to this task.

If you'd like my full review of "The Martian" you can find it here.

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Author's Website: https://www.andyweirauthor.com/

Monday, February 1, 2021

Micro Mention "The Collapsing Empire"

Between "The Collapsing Empire" and "Redshirts," no one writes a better prologue than John Scalzi. On the shitiest day, I can always reread these, and the day is better—well, funnier, at least. Nothing is actually better, but you get my point, and Wil Wheaton's delivery is on point in the audiobook.

Prologues aside, Scalzi's sci-fi is equal parts soft sci-fi epic and humorous adventure with poignant interludes. If you've ever watched "Guardians of the Galaxy," of the books of his that I've read so far, they all feel like that. There is just something about the irreverent way he writes both the dialogue and narration that is unbounded and, above all else, fun.