Paradise Lost

If you're in the mood for a heart-pounding morality tale, this is the book for you. This seventeenth-century classic has survived all these years for many reasons, not least of which is that it portrays Satan as a sympathetic hero. Narrator Simon Vance is equipped with a forceful British accent, which he uses to accentuate the text and bring the story to life. His subtly changes his tone and emphasis as the story moves from heaven to hell to earth, and he enables us to appreciate the story's different personalities without providing character voices. Vance's most effective attribute is his ability to interpret epic poetry by delivering the lines with rhythm and superb pacing. R.I.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine


One could hardly hope for a more intelligent reading of Milton's epic poem, relating Satan's temptation of Adam and Eve and their fall. Anton Lesser's clarity, expressiveness, and careful weighting of each phrase deserve high praise. The dialogue comes across like Shakespearean drama, and while Lesser doesn't vary his voice much, he strikes the right note for each character. In Satan's soliloquies, when he whispers, Lesser's reading is thrilling; but when he thunders, his somewhat thin tenor makes him sound querulous rather than grand, so where we expect tympani, we get a snare drum. Still, Lesser provides so much else it seems small-minded to cavil at this flaw. He makes Milton exciting. W.M. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine