Embassytown

Affecting a British accent and using strong projection, narrator Susan Duerden provides an engaging voice for this complicated novel. The presence of a new ambassador, a translator who is genetically programmed to communicate between humans and aliens, destabilizes the human colony on the planet Ariekei. Returning from years of working in space, Avice Benner Cho finds herself caught in the middle of the tension. In voicing this first-person narrative, Duerden gives Cho a confident yet intimate voice. As the story shifts back and forth between Cho's childhood and adulthood, Duerden expertly changes her tone to portray the age difference. Overall, Duerden's vocal characters are consistent and authentic. L.E. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine