G&S Multimedia
The Books on Tape
Yes, there is an audio cassette version of these books. At first it seems as ludicrous as an audio version of a Marcel Marceau performance; half the fun is the tactile pleasure of opening the letters and turning the pages. To merely have someone read the letters to you? It seems almost sacrilege. And yet, the audio books are fantastic. Maxwell Caulfield reads the part of Griffin. He's done a lot of work on the stage and screen but I recognized him from the borderline-cheesy movie "Grease 2" (hey, Michelle Pfeiffer was in it as well). Reading the part of Sabine is Marina Sirtis, who is unquestionably known best for her role as Counselor Deanna Troi on "Star Trek: The Next Generation". I found it extremely spooky to learn she was reading Sabine, since when I read the books, I had always imagined Sabine to have her voice, in its oddly lilting ST:TNG accent. In the tape for The Golden Mean, there's a third voice introduced: Mr. Victor Frolatti, who is voiced by the eminent Ben Kingsley.
The CD-ROM
The CD-ROM version of the original trilogy is called Ceremony of Innocence. Here's the the official site for the CD-ROM. Stephen de Long and myself had all intentions of completing a trilogy-esque review, but it never got off the ground (my emails to him went unanswered after our first exchange; I hope that Stephen is okay).
The quick version is, it's amazing. A whole new dimension to the story opens up via this CD-ROM (can't really call it a game, can't really call it a glorified storybook -- quite indescribable). Fans will adore it and instantly accept Isabella Rossellini as Sabine, and Paul McGann as Griffin. Anyone unfamiliar with the trilogy should have an equally fine time playing.
The only problem is that there are no plans at this time to update the technology for newer computers. I can still play my disc on Mac OS X via Classic emulation mode (in fact, I put a System 9 System Folder back on my Powerbook just to load this CD-ROM), but eventually, the disc will be unplayable, and that's a true shame.
Rumoured Projects
Concerning the rumour that there will be an Egyptian Jukebox
CD-ROM: in the words of Mr. Bantock, "The Egyptian Jukebox is NOT going
to be a CD ROM. It tried hard, but each time a company started to
develop it, they got taken over. I really should remove the curse."