Two Plays for Voices

Snow Glass Apples and Murder Mysteries

By: Neil Gaiman

Narrated by: Brian Dennehy, Bebe Neuwirth, full cast

These are two original plays for voices from the critically-acclaimed, best-selling, and award-winning author of American Gods.

In Snow Glass Apples, once upon a time there lived a young princess with skin as white as snow, with hair as black as coal, with lips redder than blood. Most people think they know what happens to this young unfortunate girl. Most people are wrong. Tony-award winning actress Bebe Neuwirth stars as a wise queen who wants nothing more than to reign over her kingdom peacefully but is forced to match wits with an inhuman child who has an unnatural taste for blood.

In Murder Mysteries, a mystery noir set in heaven's City of Angels before the fall, the first crime has been committed. It is an awful one. While the angelic hosts labor to create the world and its workings, one of their number is mysteriously slain by one of their own. Brian Dennehy stars as Raguel, Angel of Vengeance, who is mandated by Lucifer to discover both motive and murderer in this holy dominion that had so recently known no sin.

©1999, 2001, 2002 Neil Gaiman (P)2003 HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc.

One of my favorite audiobooks ever.

Wow! Neil Gaiman, to me, is the best writer alive today. He may be one of the best writers ever. This is a treat. I had read Snow Glass Apples before, but listening to the whole Audio production with Bebe Neuwirth as the Queen made it even better. I've read Smoke and Mirrors and I remembered the first part of the Murder Mysteries story as a real-life anecdote that Gaiman lived when in LA. Either I'd never read the fictional story, or I had completely forgotten, but I doubt it. It's fantastic. Every word, every character, every dialogue... the whole production, casting, production, music and, of course, Gaiman's prose, receive five ginormous stars from me.

Just Wow.

I truly love Gaiman's descriptions, his plot twists, and how he never talks down to the reader! It gives us something to figure out.

Masterpiece

This was one of the first audiobooks that I listened to and, after 15 years, I still listen to it every once in a while. The second play, “Murder Mysteries” helps me sleep at night! I wish Brian Dennehy would narrate more audiobooks. His voice is melancholic and soothing.

The first play is an entertaining, macabre take on a classic Disney story. The second blends religion, noir mystery, scifi, romance (maybe?). As a testament to Neil Gaiman’s genius, it all blends together as very entertaining stories that reward multiple listens. I wish there were more, maybe Raguel the Angel of Vengeance, going around and solving mysteries. Haha.

One of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to….

First story was predictable only because everyone knows the trajectory of the tale, but it has an interesting twist. The second story on the other hand had me park the car in a supermarket parking lot so that I could give it my full attention. I don't think I ever did that for any other audiobook.

Though all of the performances were brilliant, one of the characters in the second story is supposed to be English, yet all I could hear is a slight southern accent. I just couldn't shake off how my brain kept thinking that the guy is from Savannah, Georgia. LOL. (Sorry!!!)

It doesn't matter what accent I was hearing (or couldn't hear), download this audiobook folks. You will not be disappointed.

Loved "Snow Glass Apples"! Confused by 2nd story.

Absolutely loved "Snow Glass Apples"! Bebe Neuwirth did a brilliant job as the queen. I was riveted. Neil Gaiman's writing is poetic and beautiful, like always.

Was really confused and sometimes bored by "Murder Mysteries." I sort of get what he's doing with his tale of angel murder in heaven before the fall of Lucifer, but I didn't see how the second angel story related to the first story of the British narrator in LA. The ending was too ambiguous for me. I see many Internet interpretations, but it's not satisfying. Liked all Gaiman's abstractions, but they were also too confusing for me to enjoy as much as "Snow Glass Apples."

I Love this Author

Neil Gaiman is an absolute treasure of a writer. I could say he takes familiar stories and reworks them from unique perspectives. But that would be a gross understatement. These "plays" have a really high "Oh My God!" count.

But I was disappointed with these recordings. They come from the sci-fi channel's original series called "Seeing Ear Theatre", which is published on their website. The problem is that there is an awful lot of "production noise" (music, background sounds, etc) which is intended to add to the ambience of the performance. Unfortunately, on my Otis player the noise tended to obscure the dialogue.

So here is my suggestion. Buy this recording for the pleasure of listening to it on some really good speakers on your PC. The performances are truly wonderful.

Gaimen Never Disappoints!

Not only was the story fantastically Gaimen, but the performance that often accompanies it is almost immersive! Great and thanks!

Perfect Neil

More perfect stories from Neil. Performances are fantastic, and the twists are divine. The sound effects and production really make the difference.

Mixed review

The first story was well written, but I figured out the retelling pretty quickly, so the last line, which I guess was supposed to be a zinger, wasn’t. The second story, on the other hand, had me enthralled from the beginning and still does! Great acting for both stories.