While this story is no longer on the Subterranean Press website, I have maintained the audio files.
Audio Files:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Subterranean Press is proud to present its first audio-book, a short novel in Kage Baker’s signature series recounting the adventures of the time traveling cyborgs of Dr. Zeus incorporated. Rude Mechanicals is read by Mary Robinette Kowal.
The year is 1934, the scene is a Wood Near Athens — temporarily relocated to the environs of the Hollywood Bowl, as German theater impresario Max Reinhardt attempts to stage his famous production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Fortunately for Reinhardt, he has immortal assistance in the person of Literature Specialist Lewis, a cyborg working undercover for Dr. Zeus Incorporated, masters of time travel. Lewis is tasked with preserving Reinhardt’s promptbooks for future Company profits at auction.
Unfortunately for Reinhardt, there are complications…
For Joseph, Lewis’s fellow cyborg, is on the case as well, attempting to salvage a botched mission of his own. It involves the lost treasure of the Cahuenga Pass, a missing diamond, a third-century pope, burglary, disguises, car chases, and a legendary Hollywood party spot. All of which interact, more or less disastrously, with Lewis’s mission and Reinhardt’s Shakespearean extravaganza. Will the show go on?
