News Orphan Black audiobook series starring Tatiana Maslany

[The Nth Doctor]

io9 reports that Serial Box is producing a ten-part audiobook series called The Next Chapter, starring Tatiana Maslany. The series will come out later this summer and is set eight years after the series ended. Malka Older, author of the cyberpunk political thriller Infomocracy, is the showrunner with Mishell Baker, Lindsay Smith, and Heli Kennedy among the writers.

I'm a big fan of Big Finish's audio plays for Doctor Who and Blake's 7, so this is right up my alley. With Maslany onboard, I'm certain this will be a lot of fun to listen to.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

There were so many layers to that storyline, there could be a great number of follow up plots.

I've never gone for audio stories and would prefer a mini-series set any time after S5 of the show, but still might give this a listen.

 

[Forbin]

Not into audio books at all, but Orphan Black was definitely meant to be a visual experience.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

It is an odd choice. You have the visual nature of the clones which isn't quite the same and I think the story kind of went about as far as it could. I know it's a new story but it doesn't seem like there's much more to wring out of the world setup in Orphan Black. Not that they can't find somewhere to go with it but it doesn't seem like the most fertile ground for new material.

 

[JD]

It sounds this will also be released as e-books too.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Not into audio books at all, but Orphan Black was definitely meant to be a visual experience.

Perhaps so, but one of the reason why I love audio plays so much is how they leave the visuals to the imagination. That's why Doctor Who and Blake's 7 work so well as audio plays and why I think the same will happen for Orphan Black.

It is an odd choice. You have the visual nature of the clones which isn't quite the same and I think the story kind of went about as far as it could. I know it's a new story but it doesn't seem like there's much more to wring out of the world setup in Orphan Black. Not that they can't find somewhere to go with it but it doesn't seem like the most fertile ground for new material.

Funny you say that because I agree with Ar-Pharazon that there are plenty of potential story directions the series could take. The graphic novels certainly have picked up on a few, most notably filling in MK's background which weaved nicely into the rest of the Clone Club.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Well, YMMV of course. I guess for me personally it doesn't really spark much interest but great stories can come from just about anywhere.

 

[Morpheus 02]

The question though...without physical limitations...will she do ALL of the characters (such as Felix)???

 

[JD]

Perhaps so, but one of the reason why I love audio plays so much is how they leave the visuals to the imagination. That's why Doctor Who and Blake's 7 work so well as audio plays and why I think the same will happen for Orphan Black.


Funny you say that because I agree with Ar-Pharazon that there are plenty of potential story directions the series could take. The graphic novels certainly have picked up on a few, most notably filling in MK's background which weaved nicely into the rest of the Clone Club.

The announcement says they will be released as audiobooks and e-books, so I'm assuming that means these will be narrated audiobooks, rather than audio plays.

 

[OCD Geek]

I know Marco Palmieri is now Vice President of Content Development over at Serial Box and oversaw Alternis, Max Gladstone's Bookburners, and Michael R. Underwood's Born to the Blade. Does anyone know if he's involved with this one? He's been tweeting about it a lot, but I'm not sure if that means he's overseeing it himself or if he's just hyping up a high-profile Serial Box project.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Hm, good question. I'm friends with him on Facebook but I haven't seen him post anything about it there. I didn't realize he did anything audio related, I thought he was still strictly in print.

 

[OCD Geek]

Hm, good question. I'm friends with him on Facebook but I haven't seen him post anything about it there. I didn't realize he did anything audio related, I thought he was still strictly in print.

All of Serial Box's projects are TV show-esque multi-author serial novels that are then also released as narrated audiobooks. It's basically what Marco was doing with DS9: "Seasons 8-9" and Vanguard, just with original IP and an added audiobook adaptation element. I was really pumped for Big Finish-style audio plays, but I'll gladly take new novel series overseen by Marco any day.

Here's how their Wikipedia page describes Serial Box's process:

In September 2015, Julian Yap and Molly Barton launched Serial Box.[1] The first production was Bookburners, created by Max Gladstone.[3] The writing process was based on television serials rather than novels.[2] Founder Yap realized that he was reading fewer novels due to time constraints from work. Both Yap and Barton believe that serialized fiction will make reading more accessible and social.[1]

Serial Box hires a lead author, or showrunner, write a pilot episode and a "show bible" which will outline the plot for each season. After this, Serial Box brings together a team of writers who will contribute ideas in a manner similar to a television writers' room. At the end of this period, each author is assigned episodes to write. Whereas a novel generally takes 2–3 years to be written and published, a Serial Box production can be completed 6 months from the start date. Because the first episode is published before the season is completed, the authors can tailor the ending of the season to the audience's reactions.[4] It is the responsibility of the showrunner to ensure that all episodes maintain a consistent writing style despite the involvement of multiple authors.[5]

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I'll keep an eye out for his posts. He's always piping out his work!