PIHKAL is a delightful book—as much a love story between two people as with the chemistry of psychedelic substances.
Audiobooks are all about the narrators and sadly they got the narrator for Sasha (“Shura”) completely wrong. He’s a competent enough reader, but completely wrong for the part. Listen to any interview with Sasha and you’ll understand. Sasha’s voice is high and feisty whereas this guy’s is lowish and calm. You don’t need a perfect impersonation, but you do need to capture the character and this reader doesn’t at all. (And I knew it even before I heard Sasha’s actual voice.) The reader for Ann (“Alice”) is better, though again she does better with Ann’s voice than with Sasha’s (in conversation).