This is a post originally written for Azure Fire Publishing.

The Audiobook’s Oral Past

Image: Pixabay

In ancient times, minstrels used to travel the known world to recite the epic adventures of Ulysses and his companions. In the Dark Ages, troubadours would sing the adventures of valiant knights and damsels in distress. Folk songs in the 18^th and 19^th-century western world would narrate the stories of lovers, warriors, monsters, and adventurers.

The above examples demonstrate how audiobooks and modern fiction like action, romance, mystery, and even fantasy have their roots in the oral tradition; a tradition we can trace back to the first steps of humanity. One can imagine ancient tribes listening to elders around a campfire. This scene is probably as real as our sweet children pleading for one more bedtime story, their heavy eyelids closing as we recite by heart their favorite nursery rhyme…