The Road to Oz: A Dramatized AI Audiobook

The Road to Oz is the fifth Oz book. Reilly & Britton published it on July 10, 1909, with illustrations by John R. Neill, and it is the only Oz book printed on coloured pages, each tinted for the country of Oz that Dorothy is crossing. It opens on the Kansas farm, where a shaggy man asks Dorothy the way to Butterfield. She walks him to the crossroads, the roads multiply, and the two of them, with Toto, are lost on the way to Oz. On the road they pick up Button-Bright, a small boy whose favourite answer is "Don't know", and Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter, who has danced off her father's rainbow and been left behind. The shaggy man carries the Love Magnet, which makes everyone he meets love him, and he needs it: the King of Foxville gives Button-Bright a fox's head, the King of Dunkiton gives the shaggy man a donkey's, the Scoodlers throw their own heads at the travellers and want them for soup, and Johnny Dooit builds a sand-boat to carry them across the Deadly Desert in time for Princess Ozma's birthday. Baum opens the book with a preface, "To My Readers", signed from Coronado in 1909, in which he says children's letters asked for "more about Dorothy" and introduces his three new characters, the shaggy man, Polychrome and "stupid little Button-Bright". It is a road story told almost entirely in conversation, so it needs a cast more than it needs a reader.

This production has 42 speaking parts: the narrator and 41 characters, each with a voice of their own. Dorothy has the most lines (396) and speaks in 22 of the 24 chapters. The shaggy man has 239, Button-Bright 106 and Polychrome 77, so the four travellers carry the book between them. Around them is the long tail that a single narrator usually folds into one voice. King Dox of Foxville and his fox captain, three fox-princesses with three different voices, and a fox maid. King Kik-a-Bray of Dunkiton and his donkey subjects. Allegro da Capo, the Musicker, whose breath plays music whether he likes it or not. The Scoodlers as a shrill chorus, and their Queen. Johnny Dooit, who builds the sand-boat in a single chapter. In Oz come the Tin Woodman, Tik-Tok, Billina, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, the Wizard and Ozma herself. At the party come Santa Claus, Princess Fluff, the Queen of Merryland, the Candy Man, Chick the Cherub, Para Bruin and King Dough the First, guests from fairylands in Baum's other books. How many character voices an audiobook needs explains why parts this small each get a voice.

The score is built around the road itself. A wandering road theme plays under Baum's preface and comes back in fifteen chapters as the travellers move from one strange town to the next. It plays for the last time in Chapter 18, as they reach the Emerald City, and the road is over. A theme for Ozma is first heard in Foxville in Chapter 3, the moment the fox captain learns that Dorothy is Princess Ozma's friend, and it returns in nine more chapters, long before Ozma speaks in Chapter 20. Polychrome has a rainbow dance theme from the chapter she appears, and a royal festivity score carries the last chapters of guests, banquet and celebration. The sound design stays with the text. The Love Magnet has its own chime, heard in seven chapters. Toto barks his way through the journey. The Musicker pipes on and on. The Scoodlers throw a volley of heads. Johnny Dooit opens his tool chest, fells a tree, saws the boards, nails the boat together and vanishes. Wind catches the sail as the sand-boat races across the Deadly Desert and crashes into the rocks at its edge. There is a splash in the Truth Pond, Tik-Tok is wound up, a royal band announces the guests and the Wizard's piglets race across the banquet table. At the end the Wizard sends Santa Claus and the other guests home inside giant soap-bubbles. Sound design in audiobooks covers how a score and effects like these sit under dialogue without crowding it.

This is the complete text, not an adaptation: Baum's preface, then all twenty-four chapters in order, from "The Way to Butterfield" to "The Birthday Celebration", with opening and end credits. The chapters run from 4m 40s ("The Deadly Desert Crossed") to 17m 12s ("The Way to Butterfield"), and most of them are one stop on the road, which makes it an easy book to listen to a chapter at a time. Our children's and YA audiobook production guide explains how a book for young listeners is paced and cast, and our fantasy production guide covers how talking animals and magical creatures are given voices. Its nearest companion in our catalogue for family listening is E. Nesbit's Five Children and It, written seven years earlier. L. Frank Baum died in 1919 and the text is in the public domain worldwide, so the production is free to listen to in every territory.

Every line, cue and effect in this production sits on a studio timeline, the same one an author gets for their own book. Upload a manuscript and Midsummerr casts, scores and mixes it in one click. Then Martin, our AI audio director, takes notes in plain words, so "make the Scoodlers shriller" or "less music under the Musicker" is something you type, not something you re-record. Midsummerr is the only audiobook platform with an AI audio director, and how to change the music and sound effects in your audiobook shows how a note like that becomes a new cue.

• Format: Full-cast dramatized audiobook, unabridged
• Chapters: 27 (Baum's preface and all 24 chapters, plus opening and end credits)
• Runtime: 3h 52m
• Cast: Dorothy, the shaggy man, Button-Bright, Polychrome, King Dox, the Musicker, the Queen of the Scoodlers, Johnny Dooit, the Tin Woodman, Ozma, Santa Claus, and 42 speaking parts in all, including the narrator
• Production: AI character voices, original music, and sound effects
• Price: Free to listen

Is this audiobook AI-narrated?

Yes. Every voice in The Road to Oz is AI-generated and produced by Midsummerr, with an original score and sound design. AI narration is disclosed as such on retail platforms that require it.

How long is the audiobook?

About 3h 52m across 27 chapters: Baum's preface "To My Readers", his twenty-four chapters, and opening and end credits. The chapters run from 4m 40s (Chapter 12, "The Deadly Desert Crossed") to 17m 12s (Chapter 1, "The Way to Butterfield").

Is this the full book or an adaptation?

The full book. The production follows the complete text of The Road to Oz in order, from the crossroads in Kansas to Ozma's birthday celebration, with a narrator and a separate voice for every speaking character.

Do I need to know the earlier Oz books first?

No. The story follows Dorothy and three new companions on the road, and the familiar Oz characters only appear once the travellers reach Oz. Listeners who know The Wonderful Wizard of Oz will recognise the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Wizard at the party.

Is The Road to Oz in the public domain?

Yes. It was published in 1909 and L. Frank Baum died in 1919, so the text is in the public domain worldwide. The full text is on Project Gutenberg.

Where can I listen?

Listen free at midsummerr.com/listen/road-to-oz-l-frank-baum.