Jumping Into Audio Theater With Wulf The Saxon

When I first applied to review Wulf the Saxon by Heirloom Audio Productions I expected to get a CD that was a simple audio file. A cast of characters reading the story that I would simply listen to.

What I expected and what I received, however, were two very different things.

Entering The World Of Audio Theater

I actually applied for this particular review mainly because my 12-year-old daughter loves audio books. Naturally, we both thought this would be enjoyable for her and an easy thing to work on. Personally, I had never tried an audiobook myself, but the description of the story and the setting mixed pretty well with our History lessons. Add to that her excitement about it, and we were ready.

The package arrived and I gave it to my daughter to listen to. She would listen to a few chapters at a time because that was all she could handle at a time.

When it became my turn to try and listen to it I was, well, confused.

As I said, I expected to hear a cast of characters reading. What I was hearing was period-based and location authentic accents, bold characters, background noises, and epic battles. It was a lot. And I quickly realized that this was less audiobook and more pictureless movie.

And my brain was overwhelmed. It simply could not register which characters were which, and which sounds were important. The narrator (at least the character I am calling the narrator) speaking louder and faster over batter scenes only made it more challenging to hear what he was saying.

For me, there was simply too much going on and instead of enjoying the story I was overwhelmed and frustrated.

Getting Another Opinion

It was at this point I started reaching out to other reviewers. One reviewer said that this could not be done while multi-tasking… and for me, that’s not easy. Most of my life is multi-tasking.

Another messaged me privately to say she too was not fully in love with this program either.

Yet, I started reading the reviews of the many members of the Crew and found that so many of them did enjoy it. So many found the extras (the parts of the background I found distracting) enlightening and enjoyable. Many of them were family with Heirloom Audio and other products from the company.

So I set out to try again. With a clear head and a quiet area, free from distractions. With a refreshed mindset that we could do this.

And with my 13-year-old son… because hey, battle scenes!? Maybe be can fall in love with this program!

If At First, You Don’t Succeed…

So my son and I sat down to listen. I tried not to tell him what I was feeling, only that it was a lot to hear. He thought he could listen and play on his tablet. I knew that I was going to need quiet so I could focus.

So I sat in my chair with my eyes closes and listened to the opening scene again. This time I could hear the birds and the waves and I realized we were on a ship. Two small children were asking about a tapestry and that is what leads into the story…

Well, I guess this is a little easier, I thought to myself.

The story progressed and I was able to pull out details I had missed the first time. A boy sent away, a shipwreck and imprisonment, the obvious placement of a girl who someone will marry, a battle followed by the loss of an arm… Slowly, I was able to pick out details that I had missed before.

Putting in disc 2, I asked my son how it was going and he said it was a little confusing and admitted that he only played on his tablet for a few minutes at the beginning. I didn’t want to talk too much about it yet, so I just put in the disc and we went back in time again.

Boys getting older, seizing a castle, refusing to fight women (unless they were armed), an oath that was accepted in a sneaky manner, and a marriage that sounded more arranged and less for love.

This time I was able to get more from the story, but honestly and unfortunately, I was left confused and a little unsure of what happened.

Jumping Into Audio Theater with Wulf The Saxon

Overall, my first experience with audio theater was not what I would call pleasant. Maybe my expectations were wrong? Maybe my ideas were too simple for the product.

Or maybe this just wasn’t a good fit for our family. Overall, the consensus in my house is that this was a confusing story to follow. There was a lot of action, a ton of adventure, and a whole parcel of characters to listen too, and combined with battle scenes, shipwrecks, and coronation ceremonies it was just too much for us to take in.

However, we are not writing off audio theater all together yet. One less than ideal experience does not mean that this will never work. I think next time, we will attempt to find the book and learn a little more. Perhaps we will try another adventure from Heirloom Audio because Wulf The Saxon is not their only title.

Nor, is audio theater the only offering from Heirloom Audio Productions. When you are on their site, be sure to check out the Live the Adventure Club.

Overall, I was glad to the opportunity to review Wulf The Saxon by Heirloom Audio Productions, and I am happy to tell you about it. This is a great opportunity to simply remind us all that not every curriculum and not every item we use will work in every family. Countless other homeschool families reviewed this exact same program and the majority of them really enjoyed it.

Not only that, my children and I had the opportunity to struggle a little. We had a chance to try something new and something that didn’t really appear to work well. Rather than simply quitting, we worked on figuring it out, tried to get some help, and finished the task (listening to the 2.5 hour 2-CD set). Yes, we still at the end decided that we did not enjoy this, but we did finish it.

If you would like to know what other reviews thought about Wulf the Saxon, check out the full post by the Homeschool Review Crew.