Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is adventure of a different sort – and the only full-length novel Poe ever wrote. Young Arthur stows away to go to sea with his friend Augustus, only to encounter mutiny, storms, cannibalism, a mysterious island in the Antarctic sea, ambush, and the loss of the ship. It’s a novel which influenced other writers such as Melville and Verne and one of the characters is named Richard Parker – the name which Yann Martell gave to the Bengal tiger in The Life of Pi – and though it’s a tad over-the-top, it’s hugely enjoyable nonetheless. Adam Sims is a terrific narrator.

The crew of the whaler Grampus has mutinied with stowaway narrator Pym on board. The sufferings of the survivors are hideous, with starvation driving them to cannibalism. This is a teasing, gripping adventure that travels through the mysterious deep and the blackness of death to a strange world of ethereal whiteness.

An unexpected turn of events transforms the novelty of life on the high seas into a nightmare. Going to sea with his best friend, the story’s first-person narrator, Arthur Pym, travels the world and miraculously survives abominable horrors—mutiny, shipwreck, abandonment at sea, and hostile natives in the Galapagos. Narrator Adam Sims has a youthful, slightly raspy voice that ideally suits the young narrator. His articulate enunciation and measured pace are consistent throughout the story. To accommodate Poe’s lengthy tangents, Sims shifts his tone to match the formality of the historical asides. Through his enthusiastic narration, Sims gives the listener an exciting rendering of Poe’s only novel.

In his late teens, Arthur Gordon Pym, hero of Edgar Allan Poe’s only full-length novel, runs away to sea with his friend, Augustus Bernard, on his father’s vessel, the American whaling brig, Grampus. Their plan is that Arthur will start the voyage as a stowaway, until they are far enough out to sea to prevent his return to Nantucket. Nothing goes according to plan, however. A couple of days out, a mutiny forces Augustus to conceal Arthur’s presence for his safety. Not only Arthur’s fate, but his very life is in question as conditions deteriorate, and the forces of man and nature rise against him. The tale is actually in two parts, the first records this voyage of the Grampus, the second deals with an ill-conceived and somewhat fantastical voyage to Antarctica. Poe’s sense of the macabre and unexpected pervades the novel, creating an ever-rising suspense. Adam Sims, a veteran of radio, television, and theater performances, renders a very successful recounting of Arthur’s tale, most of which is delivered in the first person. Sims conveys Arthur’s naivete, adventurous spirit, ingenuity, and optimism concerning all the perils that befall him during the two journeys. This audiobook will appeal to adult and teen readers alike who love sea stories with a captivating story line and laden with heightened suspense. Several graphic passages dealing with cannibalism and violence may not be appropriate for junior high audiences.