Our family loves to listen to books in the car when we travel – and since we live 45 minutes from our library and just about everything else, we do a lot of listening! So when we were offered the chance to try out Wulf the Saxon by G.A. Henty, an audio drama by Heirloom Audio Productions, we were excited – it sounded perfect for us.
The sound effects aren’t the only plus to the audio drama format. The voices are done by different actors, not just a single reader who can change up his or her voice. We’ve listened to myriads of stories over the years, and the best ones are read by readers who can really change up their voices and accents – and the worst sound robotic, with little change for characterization at all. You won’t find any of that here – the actors have all worked on at least one other major, famous project with a name you’ll recognize. The level of talent is impressive! Their voices are easily distinguishable and, with the sound effects, you could close your eyes and think that you’re listening to a movie.
I enjoyed the progression of Wulf’s character. Without spoiling the plot, he had definitely not reached maturity in the beginning, but over the course of the drama, his selflessness, generosity, and work ethic all improve greatly. He is a wonderful role model in the end, and there are many actions from which could spring lively family discussions.
There are several villains whose actions are despicable, and they, too would make great conversations, but even better are the actions of the King Harold Godwinson and his love. Both choose to sacrifice their heart’s desire for the sake of the greater good, and these choices could be greatly debated – and turned into dating and marriage conversations. As you follow these characters through the rest of the drama, more consequences come into play that will make the earlier decisions even more debateable. Can you see how hard I’m trying to be clear but not spoil anything should you give this a listen? And you should – it’s really good – but these characters had me wanting to yell at them in the car, because, really, were they really going to choose that? I could see it … it made sense …. but, NO! The personal pain! The agony! The sacrifice! The romance! I could see using these as a springboard for serious discussions about sacrifice, love, and loyalty. It would be interesting, as well, to have each person look up scripture relating to each theme as you discuss them. You could also talk about the differences that the culture of the day made in people’s actions, the changes in political climate, and more.
The story Wulf the Saxon itself is deep and complex. It’s set in Europe in 1065, and the politics of the day play a pivotal role in the story. It’s been a few years since we studied this time period, and a few times we had trouble following who was friends with whom and who the enemies were.
I really liked the way that the story began with an explanation of royalty and how the landowner system worked. I really didn’t know the order of the ranks, and this explanation helped me tremendously. My Big Helper expressed trouble partway through the story, however, saying that she was still a bit confused about the ranking order.
That didn’t stop us from being excited about the story. Every time we re-entered the car, My Little Man would start yelling, “Please, Mommy, can we listen to Wulf?” He loves that we own the CDs and that he can listen to the story over and over – and I love that he’s listening to a story with such strong, moral characters.
