As I’m sure you’ve heard me say before, we’re HUGE audio book nuts. It’s just so convenient to put in a CD and listen as a story unfolds, all while sitting in our vehicle going from place to place. The most recent release we were given to review from Heirloom Audio Productions has been Beric The Briton.
Beric the Briton
When you order this audio drama, you have a choice of what you’d like to get. You can purchase it as an MP3 download, and you’ll receive some free gifts as well, including an eStudy Guide and Discussion Starter and a full-color printable sheet with a quote from the story that is totally frame-worthy.
You could also order it as a 2 CD set, which is what we received. When you get the physical CDs, you still get the bonus items, plus you also get a free MP3 download of the soundtrack. They also offer a Family Four-pack of CDs that comes with even more digital bonuses. It includes everything mentioned above, plus Live The Adventure Letter E-Newsletter, a colorful Beric the Briton ebook, a large printable promotional poster, and a behind-the-scenes documentary about the crew, cast, and actors of Beric the Briton.
How Did We Use It?
We listen to a ton of audio books in our van. We are constantly driving all over the place for playdates and field trips and fun staycations, and we do not have TVs in our vehicle. We’ve listened to several audio dramas from Heirloom Audio Productions, such as The Dragon and the Raven, With Lee in Virginia, In Freedom’s Cause, and Under Drake’s Flag. Each one has been different in content, but familiar in its high quality and interesting storytelling.
We listened to Beric the Briton in our vehicle exclusively. This 2-CD set went by so quickly because we were all on the edge of our seats trying to figure out what would happen next. It is based off of the story by the same name by G.A. Henty.
The story is about the Roman invasion of Britannia. Beric and his friend Bodouc get captured by the Romans and are chosen to be trained as real gladiators! Yes, the kind that get in an arena up against other men or even lions! YIKES.
Word starts going around about this man called Christus, but it’s all very hush hush and secretive. Beric wants to know if this man is dangerous or perhaps a rival to the Emporer, Nero. He is told yes and no.
Beric is confronted with his own past, a life with many gods and many times in which the gods were given credit or blamed when it was really the actions of men. He has to decide what he believes to be the real truth. He has to actually put his life on the line!
My kids were shocked at the decisions Beric and his friends had to make. They’ve never really dealt with religious persecution or a real life and death struggle, so it doesn’t seem like it could be real to them. The intense music, sound effects, and passionate vocal talent really made this story come to life.
I don’t want to give away too much of the story. It’s over 2 hours long, and it builds and builds until you really get wrapped up in the characters and their lives. My kids were glued to it, and so was I. It was interesting to think back on this time and place in history and see how different things were back then.
The study guide we got as a free download gave me some interesting questions to ask the kids. As with past guides from Heirloom Audio Productions, it included 3 parts, or types of questions:
- Listening Well – Recall what you remember or heard in the story to answer these questions.
- Thinking Further – Draw conclusions, take it further, put yourself in the place of the characters to better understand.
- Defining Words – Use the dictionary to figure out what some of the vocabulary used in the story mean.
The guide is broken up by disk and track so it is easy to stop and start the audio, as well as the study guide materials and keep your place.
Many other families took the time to listen to this awesome set and write about it as well. Check it out by clicking on the banner below:
annette @ A net in Time says
did you make the roman apple cake??? I see the recipe title and I’m curious..
annette @ A net in Time recently posted…Hymn Study: Saviour Teach Me Day by Day