LibriVox: The Thing In The Attic by James Blish

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxGregg Margarite has narrated The Thing In The Attic for LibriVox. This is one of James Blish’s “Pantropy” tales and makes up one quarter of his fixup novel The Seedling Stars. Here’s a snippet from the Wikipedia entry on pantropy:

“Pantropy is a hypothetical process of space colonization in which rather than terraforming other planets or building space habitats suitable for human habitation, humans are modified (for example via genetic engineering) to be able to thrive in the existing environment.”

Other examples of pantropic fiction include Olaf Stapledon’s Last And First Men, Clifford D. Simak’s Desertion, Poul Anderson’s Call Me Joe and Frederick Pohl‘s Man Plus.

LIBRIVOX - The Thing In The Attic by James BlishThe Thing In The Attic
By James Blish; Read by Gregg Margarite
2 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 1 Hour 22 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2010
Honath the Pursemaker is a heretic. He doesn’t believe the stories in the Book of Laws which claims giants created his tree-dwelling race. He makes his opinion known and is banished with his infidel friends to the floor of the jungle where dangers abound. Perhaps he’ll find some truth down there. First published in the July, 1954 edition of If, Worlds of Science Fiction magazine.

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/4571

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to Betty M. and Barry Eads]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Forgotten Classics: Michael Flynn on Science And Science Fiction Michael Flynn

SFFaudio Online Audio

Forgotten ClassicsMy friend, Julie D. of the Forgotten Classics podcast, reads an incisive Michael Flynn essay from The Forest of Time and Other Stories |MP3|.

Well worth hearing.

Podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/forgottenclassics

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Mr. Wicker’s Window by Carley Dawson

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxHere’s the promotional description for a gorgeous juvenile, fantasy, pirate, time travel, airship novel (all this and less than 59,000 words). It’s public domain and from 1952. It’s called Mister Wicker’s Window:

When twelve-year-old Chris entered Mr. Wicker’s shop to inquire about a job for his friend, something about old Mr. Wicker forced him to take the job himself. Chris found himself the pupil of Mr. Wicker, not the old man he first saw, but a powerful man in his forties—a magician. Chris learned how to turn himself into a fish, a bird, a fly, and with a magic rope he learned to make a boat or even an elephant.

Chris had been chosen to sail to China on a mysterious mission. Long before he sailed, Chris met the enemies who would try and stop him—evil Claggett Chew, the dandy Osterbridge Hawsey, the treacherous old beggar Simon Gosler. With a Nubian boy Chris brought to life with magic, he set out on his hazardous voyage.

Carley Dawson writes beautifully, combining fact and fantasy with skill. Her characters are lifelike and vivid, and the plot of this, her first book, is fantastically exciting and exceptionally outstanding. With power and imagination Lynd Ward has illustrated the book with over eighty drawings in two colors.

It was precisely those drawings that drew me in!

Art from MR. VICKER'S WINDOW

Art from MR. VICKER'S WINDOW

Art from MR. VICKER'S WINDOW

Art from MR. VICKER'S WINDOW

Lynd Ward, the artist, drew dozens of gorgeous illustrations just like the ones above. They kind of remind me of Darwyn Cooke and, oddly, Doctor Seuss. Every single one of them accompanies the Gutenberg etext edition. After seeing them I was absolutely compelled to seek out the audiobook. I badly wanted someone to read me the story, if only so I could spend that much more time staring at the gorgeous images. I looked on LibriVox, and achieved a double success.

But… the first version, recorded in 2009 is a multi-reader relay-style edition (SIGH). And, Arthur Piantadosi, the narrator on Version 2 of LibriVox’s public domain audiobook, is not my ideal reader either. His recording is a little hollow sounding (oh well), he stumbles over words (not good) and he makes the occasional sound effect (ARGGGH!!).

We can’t have this. No we can’t.

This sounds like a job for WILLIAM COON!

Until Bill, you can take your pick…

LIBRIVOX - Mr. Wicker's Window by Carley DawsonMr. Wicker’s Window
By Carley Dawson; Read by various
36 Zipped MP3 Files – Approx. 5 Hours 53 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: November 10, 2009
Ebook: Gutenberg.org
Printable CD Booklet: |PDF|
When twelve-year-old Chris entered Mr. Wicker’s shop to inquire about a job for his friend, something about old Mr. Wicker forced him to take the job himself. Chris found himself the pupil of Mr. Wicker, not the old man he first saw, but a powerful man in his forties–a magician. Chris learned how to turn himself into a fish, a bird, a fly, and with a magic rope he learned to make a boat or even an elephant. Chris had been chosen to sail to China on a mysterious mission. Long before he sailed, Chris met the enemies who would try and stop him–evil Claggett Chew, the dandy Osterbridge Hawsey, the treacherous old beggar Simon Gosler. With a Nubian boy Chris brought to life with magic, he set out on his hazardous voyage.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/mr-wickers-window-by-carley-dawson.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

LIBRIVOX - Mr. Wicker's Window by Carley DawsonMr. Wicker’s Window (VERSION 2)
By Carley Dawson; Read by Arthur Piantadosi
36 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 5 Hours 49 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: March 2, 2010
Ebook: Gutenberg.org
Printable CD Booklet: |PDF|
When Christopher Mason walked into Mr. Wicker’s antique shop, he had no idea he would soon be embarking on a marvellous journey to China to find a wonderful tree made of jewels. He had no idea that Mr. Wicker was a magician and could travel through time. And that the tree was sought by others, not least among them the murderous Claggett Chew, a merchant in port and a pirate on the high seas, who also had knowledge of magic. But before Chris succeeded in quest, he would know of all these things and more. And of Mr. Wicker’s friends, the sailor Ned Cilley, Becky Boozer, and the African boy Amos, changed from wood to flesh. And Christopher Mason would never be same, after.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/4062

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to Patti Cunningham, Diana Majlinger, J.M. Smallheer and Annise]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson

From Audible:

Neal Stephenson’s monumental series of novels that blows through 17th- and 18th-century Europe like a hurricane of history, science, intrigue, and adventure – is now finally available in unabridged audio. Part historical fiction, part scientific exploration, and part swashbuckling adventure, The Baroque Cycle appeals to fiction lovers of all types.

With the author’s help, we’ve divided the entire legendary cycle into seven riveting audiobooks and added brand-new, exclusive audio introductions recorded by Stephenson for each book. The complete saga is performed by Audible favorite Simon Prebble.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

CBC NXNW: Studio One Book Club interview with Guy Gavriel Kay

SFFaudio Online Audio

CBC North By NorthwestI tell people I don’t listen to the radio much anymore, but that’s not quite true. Every single morning I wake up to the sound of CBC Radio One on my clock radio. And on Saturday and Sunday mornings this means I wake up to the sounds of North By Northwest, a BC based radio show that’s seemingly more often than not, about books. “The Studio One Book Club” is their long running feature I enjoy most. I was just checking their podcast feed and I re-discovered an interview I heard on the radio. Host Sheryl MacKay and a studio audience talked to Guy Gavriel Kay about his new historically inspired Fantasy novel Under Heaven. It was broadcast earlier this year in four parts. Coolly, all four parts are now available as a one hour, one episode, podcast! Have a listen |MP3|

Subscribe to the feed:

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/bcnxnw.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

P.S. CBC has not yet released J. Michael Straczynski’s The Adventures Of Apocalypse Al. Pity.

JAMES BOND: You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming

Aural Noir: Online Audio

“You only live twice:
Once when you’re born
And once when you look death in the face.”

-James Bond

You Only Live Twice (1964 Playboy Magazine)

If you’ve only seen the movie version of You Only Live Twice you’re in for a very pleasant surprise. Ian Fleming’s original novel is strikingly different from the movie of the same name. The movie, written at least in part by Roald Dahl, uses very little of the book – just a few of the characters and a couple of the settings. And while the movie’s story structure is very familiar, (having been later recycled in The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker and Tomorrow Never Dies) this stands in sharp contrast to the seemingly one-off nature of the novel (and the radio drama).

You Only Live Twice (1964 Playboy)

At the novel’s start Bond is despondent and listless over the death of his wife (recently murdered by Ernst Stavro Blofeld). Seeing Bond unable to do his job, M promotes him and gives him a “last-chance opportunity to shape up.” Bond is re-numbered as 7777, and assigned an “impossible mission”: to convince the head of Japan’s secret intelligence service, Tiger Tanaka, to betray the CIA and provide access to their top secret Soviet communique decryption machine. Much of the middle of the novel then takes the form of a kind of homosocial courtship between Bond and Tanaka. Eventually, Tanaka agrees to give up the data, but only in exchange for Bond’s agreeing to assassinate an eccentric resident alien named Dr. Guntram Shatterhand. Shatterhand, it seems, is operating a politically embarrassing “Garden of Death” where too many Japanese are going to commit suicide. Aided by former Japanese movie star Kissy Suzuki, Bond accepts the assignment on his personal authority, and with help in the form of make-up and training, attempts to penetrate Shatterhand’s coastal castle. Throw in a marriage, a pregnancy, lots of ninjas and a temporary case of amnesia and you’ve got one loaded story!!

You can get a great sense of of the novel from the exceedingly faithful radio dramatization available over on RadioArchive.cc!

Michael Jayston makes a fine Bond and Clive Merrison’s performance as Tanaka is solid, if not authentically Japanese.

BBC Radio 4You Only Live Twice
Based on the novel by Ian Fleming; Adapted by Michael Bakewell; Performed by a full cast
1 MP3 – Approx. 90 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broacaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: 1990
Provider: RadioArchive.cc
Cast:
James Bond…..Michael Jayston
‘M’…..David King
Henderson…..Jame Laurenson
Tanaka…..Clive Merrison
Kissy…..Sayo Inaba
Trembling leaf…..Danielle Allen
Ando…..Bert Kwouk
Priest…..Danid Bannerman
Blofeld…..Ronald Herdman
Irma…..Maxine Audley
Molony…..Michale Turner
Kono…..Mark Straker
Tracey…..Emma Gregory
Mariko…..Tara Dominick

And, the unabridged audiobook (as narrated by Simon Vance) is available over at Blackstone Audio.

BLACKSTONE AUDIO - You Only Live Twice by Ian FlemingYou Only Live Twice
By Ian Fleming; Read by Simon Vance
6 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 6.8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2001
ISBN: 9781433261350 (cd), 9781433290398 (mp3-cd)
Bond, a shattered man after the death of his wife at the hands of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, has gone to pieces as an agent, endangering himself and his fellow operatives. M, unwilling to accept the loss of one of his best men, sends 007 to Japan for one last, near-impossible mission. But Japan proves to be Bond’s downfall, leading him to a mysterious residence known as the “Castle of Death,” where he encounters an old enemy revitalized. All the omens suggest that this is the end for the British agent and, for once, Bond himself seems unable to disagree…

Posted by Jesse Willis