The Sanguo Yanyi – Chapter 37 – Sima Hui Recommends A Scholar To Liu Bei; Liu Bei Pays Three Visits To The Sleeping Dragon Ridge.

WARNING!  HOLY CRAP! THERE’S A VERITABLE BUTTLOAD OF POETRY IN THIS CHAPTER!

Yes, indeed, Chapter 37 is an important chapter in the story, in terms of plot development. I get that. Yes, Liu Bei’s running out of options, and needs someone truly qualified to advise him in domestics and especially in war. I get that. But did they absolutely have to cram a shit-ton of poetry into this chapter? I mean, have mercy on the poor bastard that has to produce the audiobook. Of course, audiobooks, and indeed, recorded audio itself, was unknown to the people of the Han, and to their descendants who no doubt wrote this story, so I guess I can’t really bitch too much. After all, I DID get through it………eventually. (more…)

The Sanguo Yanyi – Chapter 36 – Shan Fu’s Strategy: Fankou Is Captured; Xu Shu’s Affection: Zhuge Liang Is Recommended.

WARNING! ZHUGE LIANG IS A BAAAAAD MUTHA…. (SHUT YO MOUTH!) but I’m just talking about Zhuge Liang…(we can dig it!)

Yes, and so is Xu Shu. At the end of the last chapter, Xu Shu was handing Liu Bei a victory against Lu Xiang and Lu Kuang, the recently surrendered former generals of Yuan Shao who had been sent south with Cao Ren and Li Dian. Because Xu Shu is also a badass. (more…)

The Sanguo Yanyi – Chapter 35 – Liu Bei Meets A Recluse At Nanzhang; Shan Fu Sees A Noble Lord At Xinye.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY, AND PROBABLY WILL, INVOLVE SOME SPOILERS.

At the end of the last chapter, Cai Mao, that disgusting excuse for a human being, laid a trap to kill Liu Bei. Liu Bei, due to an almost miraculous leap over the River Tan, managed to escape the fate Cai Mao had planned for him, and now finds himself face to face with Zhao Yun, he called Zilong, who, if he knew what Cai Mao had tried to do, would quite literally rip the man apart piece by piece. (more…)

Behind The Screen, Lady Cai Overhears A Secret; Across The Tan Torrent, The Dilu Horse Carries Its Master.

Just checking to make sure you’re paying attention.

Okay, now that I got the joking around out of the way, it’s time for the commentary for Chapter 34. Cao Cao’s subdued the north, and now he sets his eyes towards the south, the lands below the Great River, where dwell Liu Biao and Sun Quan. And, did I mention, Liu Bei? Yes, indeed, Liu Bei fled a few chapters ago to Liu Biao during the debacle at Guan Du. Now Liu Bei and his underlings might possibly be the finest officers Liu Biao’s got, excepting, of course, Wei Yan and Huang Zhong, who have yet to be introduced into the story. (more…)

The Sanguo Yanyi – Chapter 33 – A Gallant Warrior, Cao Pi Marries Lady Zhen; An Expiring Star, Guo Jia Settles Liaodong.

Chapter 33 comes with a bit of a feeling of deja vu. Remember about 23 chapters ago when Lu Bu, having just assassinated the wicked Dong Zhuo, found himself facing the armies of four of Dong Zhuo’s generals (Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji)? Lu Bu succumbed to what was essentially the tactics of a wolfpack, one attacking the neck while the other goes for the hamstring. Cao Cao is in somewhat of a similar situation, facing off against the remainder of Yuan Shao’s once insanely large army, which is now under the command of three sons and a nephew: Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang, and Gao Gan. (more…)

The Sanguo Yanyi – Chapter 32 – Jizhou Taken: Yuan Shang Strives; River Zhang Cut: Xun You Schemes.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

I know I said before that the story is shifting to the south, and so it is, but for the next couple of chapters, Cao Cao’s got some loose-ends to take care of in the north. What are these loose-ends, you might ask? Their names are Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Gao Gan, the sons (and nephew) of Yuan Shao. (more…)

The Sanguo Yanyi – Chapter 31 – Cao Cao Overcomes Yuan Shao In Cangting; Liu Bei Seeks Shelter With Liu Biao In Jingzhou.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. BUT YOU WANT TO READ IT ANYWAY, BECAUSE MY WORDS JUST, YOU KNOW, LIKE, HYPNOTIZE PEOPLE AND SHIT…

Annnnd here it is. Come one, come all, and listen to Chapter 31 of the Sanguo Yanyi, I know it’s a bit late (I blame Daylight Standard Time. :p), but nonetheless, better late than never.

So the first quarter of the story was pretty much building up to the great Battle of Guan Du. Now that Guan Du is over (almost), the focus of the story begins to shift, rather, to the south, where two strong powers stand poised in control of the lands below the Yangtze River. Sun Quan, newly ascended to the office held by his Brother Sun Ce, and his father Sun Jian before that, controls the southeast with a strong and well-trained army. In Jingzhou, Liu Biao, a member of the Imperial Family, holds the office of Imperial Protector (Governor, pretty much). He also has an army of decent size, and capable officers such as Cai Mao, Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Wen Ping, Wei Yan, Gan Ning, Huang Zhong, and Yi Ji, to name but a few. (more…)

12.02.09 – So you may have noticed there haven’t been any updates in a few days. It’s December. There’s three major holidays this month. Christmas, New Years, and of course, the most important one, my Birthday. That said, I figured I’d give myself a bit of a birthday present and take the month off from posting audiobook episodes. Don’t worry, they’ll be back at the beginning of the year, but I’ve been kinda burning the candle at both ends with this audiobook thing for a while and it’s time to take a little break.

So anyways, if you happen to visit the site during the month, thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy what you find here. At any rate, have a wonderful December, some awesome holidays (if that’s your thing), and be sure to come back after New Years for some more quality production courtesy of Brookhavenchronicles.com! Thanks for listening!

11.25.09 – Just in time for Turkey Day, it’s Chapter 37 of the Sanguo Yanyi Audiobook. Are you thankful for stuff this year? I’m thankful for a few things, but probably first and foremost at this moment as I write this, would probably be that I’m thankful for finally being done with Chapter 37, since it was a bitch to make. Ever try to match up pre-recorded video game theme music so that it more or less works rhythmically with poetry written hundreds of years ago? Try it sometime. I dare you. lol And have a great Thanksgiving. But take this thought with you. Just because you’ve got stuff to be thankful for, that doesn’t mean the world’s even close to perfect, and this Turkey day, you should take some time to reflect. The world can be a lot better. But only if people just like you and I work actively to make it that way. Enjoy.

11.21.09 – Chapter 36 of the Sanguo Yanyi is hereby uploaded and posted, complete with a little player to play it live if you want, and as always, available for free download. Show some love and subscribe to my rss feed (by clicking that little orange button in the top right of the sidebar). Here is why you should subscribe to this site via rss. First of all, I’m trying to raise my subscriber base in the rss feed, and since you’re reading this, you’re probably totally in love with this website and want to help me to continue to deliver quality content in any way you can. Secondly, and probably far more importantly, subscribing to a blog or website such as this one via rss feed ensures that whenever I post new material, like, ohhhhhh, say, Chapter 36 of the Sanguo Yanyi, you actually get it easily and conveniently delivered right to you. Like a newspaper. Only without all the paper. Or the ink. Or the news. Okay, it’s not really like a newspaper, but yeah, it will be delivered to you all the same, via rss syndication. Trust me here. You WANT to subscribe to stuff in rss. It’s a very good idea. :p (more…)