Review - "Under Drake's Flag" Henty Alive Audio Drama

My children have always loved great stories, history, and audio dramas and when I saw a post on my local homeschool Yahoo! group that they were looking for people to review a new series of G.A. Henty audio dramas, I just knew that I had to be one of “the few.”

G.A. Henty was a prolific, historical fiction author in the late 19th Century.  He wrote over 100 books that cover everything from Egypt, the Fall of Rome, stories of exploration around the globe, to Napoleon in Russia.  This particular drama was called, “Under Drake’s Flag” and it is the story of Sir Francis Drake and his circumnavigation of the globe.  Along the way, central to the story, we meet two teenage boys, coming of age, that are thrown into adventure after adventure – shipwrecks, fighting with sharks, saving the damsel in distress, meeting the local African slaves and gaining their trust, fighting the Spanish Inquisition – and they have to find their way through the situation and determine where their faith and courage will lie.  Will they fall prey to the fear that could so easily consume even a grown man, or will they draw upon what they have been taught about our Father God and how He will always provide a way?

We were provided a free download of the 2 hour audio drama, “Under Drake’s Flag,” to listen to as a family.  There was also a very detailed study guide, full of thinking and listening questions, along with new vocabulary.  My children are 10, 8, and 6 and the entire drama was clearly presented and they had a very full level of comprehension.  We flew through the questions as a review at the end of the drama.  There was a natural breaking point at 1 hour and so we listened to half one night and then the other half the next night.

The first thing we noticed while listening was the high level of detail and professionalism in the audio.  They are easily on par with the Focus on the Family “Chronicles of Narnia” audio dramas or the Lamplighter audio dramas that we have listened to in the past.  The voices are strong and clear, the sound effects and music fully draw you in to the story.  My husband and I instantly recognized the voice of “Mr. George,” the narrator, as being Brian Blessed.  He lends a great authority and story-telling presence throughout the entire 2 hours.

The only time I was a bit concerned, and it could just be a matter of the age of my children, was that the “bad guy” with the Spanish Inquisition was definitely a “bad guy” and my children were all a bit on the edge of their seat until he was thwarted.  I was sitting there crocheting and thinking, “let’s just beat this guy, get it over with,” but I’m sure it wasn’t actually as long as it felt….just a mom that was a bit nervous that her kids might be getting scared right before bed time.

As a whole family we completely recommend that if you like history, if you are enthralled with great story telling, if you enjoy audio dramas at all and making that mental image in your own imagination, as opposed to watching it on the television screen, that you look into the new Henty Alive audio drama series.  We are certainly looking forward to their next installment. 

You can find them here - http://www.hentyalive.com/