Audible.com has granted Skyboat Media the honor of hosting the divine Christian Rummel in our studios for the past few years, and we’re thrilled that he’s the voice behind our first featured finalist. The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Invincible marks the eighth novel by New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell (a.k.a. John G. Hemry) that Christian has narrated, but this is his first Audie nom—first of many, we’re sure. Some say seven is the luckiest number, but maybe in audio-land, it’s eight.
This project was recorded at our Beeman location, nestled in the heart of Studio City, California, on a quiet tree-lined street. Our lovely Claire Bloom directed Christian, and our post-production team of Ted and Heather Scott in Arizona edited, mixed and mastered the project; Mike Charzuk and Stefan produced. The neighbor’s dog, Lucky, barked by the pool throughout several of the more exciting battle sequences, but he was edited out. Dogs in Space? Eh, I don’t think so.
In honor of the book’s nomination, we invited Christian to sit down with us here at Skyboat to chat about all things audio. Watch the interview highlights below to learn how Christian came up with protagonist Admiral John “Black Jack” Geary’s memorable voice—“He’s my idea of Superman times a hundred”—how he got his start in audio books, and why he considers Campbell’s lost fleeters family. Christian also had a few lovely things to say about working here at Skyboat, and trust us when we say that the feeling is mutual.
But of course we didn’t want to leave Mr. Jack Campbell off the guest list, as this project wouldn’t exist were it not for his unique brand of military sci-fi. Alas, he lives in a far away land called MaryLand, so we took technology to task and chatted via Skype. Watch on to hear how Campbell has drawn on his real-life experiences as a U.S. Naval Officer to write this series, how he feels about Christian’s interpretation of “Black Jack,” and who’s on his list of favorite authors.
Thanks for reading! Click here for a snippet of Christian’s inspired narration, and please keep tuning in as we continue to post so much more Audie-inspired fun!
Great work Christian. You are the one who got me into listening to audio books. Listened to the first 5 of this series in one week, with virtually no sleep. Eyes were all crusted as I shut them whilst listening, and because of you I am now hooked on audio books! Was very impressed with your narration.
Thanks, Jonathan. We will pass this along to Christian. He IS amazing. He plays the villain BONZO in our new Ender’s Game Alive Audiolay. Scariest. Character. Ever. We love him, too.