20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Taken prisoner aboard the rogue submarine Nautilus in 1873, a French professor of marine biology travels an underwater world with his captors, while discovering the philosophy and technical knowledge of the vessel's strange Captain Nemo--Latin for "no one." Battling giant sea creatures, collecting sunken gold, sinking enemy ships, and eating unknown aquatic delights provide nonstop adventure for all ages. Michael Prichard's deep, pleasant voice does no accents for the three languages involved but, nevertheless, captures the action and drama of this classic novel, which is guaranteed to entertain and surprise listeners with its prescient predictions of modern know-how. One would never suspect that such eloquent English was translated from French. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

January 2, 2012
Verne’s classic journey into the ocean follows professor Pierre Aronnax and his two companions as they are captured by Capt. Nemo and find themselves trapped aboard the Nautilus, a high-powered submarine that traverses about the world revealing the mysteries of the sea. James Frain provides clear and crisp narration. His intonation and tone are good, but not good enough to overcome the tedious cataloguing of every crustacean, fish, and shell that Verne includes. Equally problematic, Frain stumbles through some of his reading and has trouble maintaining the voices he provides for the different characters, particularly Nemo, whose voice is quite inconsistent. This, at times, can lead to listener confusion. While this audiobook is, on the whole, enjoyable, it doesn’t stand up to other Listening Library productions.