Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Humbug: The Unwinding of Ebenezer Scrooge

  • By: Tony Bertauski
  • Narrated by: James Killavey
  • Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Humbug: The Unwinding of Ebenezer Scrooge

By: Tony Bertauski
Narrated by: James Killavey
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Jacob Marley is dead. His business partner, Eb Scrooge, is left to run Avocado, Inc., an innovative technology business, all alone. An introverted shut-in locked away in a Colorado mansion, he changes the company’s mission statement. Only his servant droids keep him company. Until the gifts arrive. Each Christmas, a messenger forces Eb to look at his life in hopes he will change. But change does not happen in a single night. And only Eb can make it happen. But who is sending the messengers?

Interview with author:

Where did you come up with the idea of writing science fiction for holiday characters?

My nephew mentioned the “secret Santa ninja elves” that visit his school during Christmas, and this spawned the idea of writing a semi-serious sci-fi version of Santa. How the ideas flesh out is a long process. I started keep track of how the story arc of my latest novel evolves, just to remember where it began. It’s all over the place. I love the challenge of bringing a story to light, letting the characters get in my head and telling me where to go. Flury: Journey of a Snowman is the third book in the Claus series. It was originally "Frosty the Snowman", but Frosty is copyrighted. It didn’t matter, really. The character was better suited to be something other than Frosty. Flury is a bit more serious.

Are you getting any backlash for rewriting these Christmas legends?

Not at all. In fact, a lot of readers have connected to all the unanswered questions surrounding them, especially Santa Claus. How does he go around the world in a night? Why is he fat? Why does he live on the North Pole? How do reindeer fly? How does he carry all those presents? All of them answered with the magic wand of science fiction... I mean, the science wand of science fiction. The stories still have the fantasy element, of course. Some leaps of imagination. And also the romance angle. Why? Because all stories have love.

What is your favorite character from the books that you have written?

Socket Greeny is one of my favorites. That science fiction trilogy was my first story. I wrote it in first person and really connected with him. However, Jack Frost is in Claus: Legend of the Fat Man and Jack: The Tale of Frost and has become my all-time fave. He’s childish, irreverent, and dangerous, but at the same time lovable.

What order should readers purchase the Claus books?

Claus: Legend of the Fat Man is the best start. After that, any order works. They all can be read as stand-alone novels.

©2016 Tony Bertauski (P)2017 Tony Bertauski
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Claus Boxed cover art
Claus: Rise of the Miser cover art
Foreverland Boxed cover art
The Socket Greeny Saga cover art
Company Town cover art
Grounded cover art
All the Breaking Waves cover art
The Springthorpe Agenda cover art
Timeless Moments cover art
The Switch House: A Short Novel cover art
Kinetic Star cover art
Love Wanted cover art
The Long List Anthology cover art
The Archangel: An Azrael Story cover art
The Faithful cover art
Video Nasties cover art

What listeners say about Humbug: The Unwinding of Ebenezer Scrooge

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant retelling of an old masterpiece!

I really enjoyed this rewrite of the old original story. The whole high-tech envisioning of Scrooge's world keeps the listener fully engaged. I really liked the ending as well. An all-around great twist on an old favourite story! The narrator did a great job of bringing each character to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!