[tubemonkey]

SYNC Audio -- Weekly Offers -- FAQs -- exp 19 May @ 11:59 pm ET

NOTE -- you MUST use the Sora app in order to download these books for free

Week 3 -- During the week of May 13 through 19, we’re exploring fantasies and folklore rooted in Chinese traditions. Thanks to Dreamscape Audio, you can download and hear at your own convenience Joan He’s DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE, performed by Nancy Wu. Wu has given voice to many stories with Asian origins—for more of her performances, check whether any of these audiobooks are available for you to borrow locally.

MONKEY, by Wu Ch’êng-ên, translated by Arthur Waley, and read by Kenneth Williams, is one of the classics we offer SYNC listeners this season, thanks to Naxos AudioBooks. This Earphones Award-winning performance will fill your ears with traditional deities and tricksters. You can learn more about the roots of this folktale and compare it to other stories featuring the Monkey King's antics here.

FREE -- Monkey -- Wu Ch’êng-ên/ Kenneth Williams -- 13.7 hrs -- classic

Kenneth Williams--best known from the British "Carry On" films--gives an extravagantly theatrical performance of Waley's adaptation of a Chinese classic (JOURNEY TO THE WEST), matching the fantastic world of the story, filled with Chinese deities and monsters and Monkey's larger-than-life shenanigans. Williams provides many character voices, some rather silly, rolls his r's, exclaims, declaims, and verbally "carries on," but avoids going over the top by changing to a sedate narration at well-chosen intervals. He fills China with an assortment of British class and regional accents, but it works. An echoing sound in this archival recording, no worse than in some theatrical recordings, fades from notice without distracting. It's a bravura performance of a delightful text; Naxos deserves thanks for making a great listening pleasure available again.

FREE -- Descendant of the Crane -- Joan He/ Nancy Wu -- 12.6 hrs -- YA fantasy

In this Chinese-inspired fantasy, narrator Nancy Wu makes Princess Hesina’s reluctance to be heir to the throne fully believable. When her father is murdered and Hesina becomes queen at age 17, Wu transforms her as she learns to focus on the well-being of her subjects while also finding out who killed the king. Wu maintains a well-balanced pace through the extensive world-building as she weaves an atmosphere of political intrigue. She draws upon a broad range of voices to help the listener navigate the complex plot. Wu also proves to be adept at using tone to distinguish older people who seek to advise Hesina, particularly her mother and senior military advisors, from her contemporaries.