The Traveler

Part I of The Fourth Realm trilogy is a fast-paced thriller that portrays cutting-edge technology along with thought-provoking ideas. Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are Travelers, part of a small group of prophets who influence history and attain pure enlightenment. Maya, who is part of the protective warrior group called Harlequins, is helping them evade the Tabula, a ruthless mercenary group focusing on world domination. Scott Brick has some difficulty maintaining Maya's British accent but, otherwise, does a commendable job augmenting the suspense and menace of this complex plot. In a nanosecond, listeners move from the ancient back alleys of Prague to the modern worlds of Los Angeles and New York. S.C.A. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

May 30, 2005
This production opens with an unintentionally hilarious interview with the author, who "lives off the Grid," according to his bio, and protectively distorts his voice for a discussion of his book's relevance to the contemporary matrix of governmental and corporate interference in daily life. The author's grandiose paranoia is overblown, but Carradine does a solid job of keeping a straight face with his reading. Carradine's gravelly, folksy voice conveys the twists and turns of Hawks' action-adventure narrative, lending a weary dignity to his tale of Maya, a twentysomething scion of a group of mercenaries whose sworn duty it is to protect the Travelers, a secret group of great men. Maya yearns to break free of her obligations, but she is forced to help Gabriel and Michael, two brothers who discover that they are Travelers. Carradine may not be able to save Hawks' book entirely from its aura of pompousness, but he makes a fine effort nonetheless.