December 2011 – Page 3

LibriVox: A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain

SFFaudio Online Audio

Back in 2008 Listener (of the Free Listens blog) reviewed for us Steve Anderson’s 2006 reading of A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court. That’s a freely available LibriVox audiobook. Shortly thereafter LibriVox published a second version and we’ve ignored it since then. No Longer!

John Greenman’s 2008 narration is 2 hours and 18 minutes shorter than Anderson’s and has an even better sound quality. As to whether he’s the better narrator try these two files on for size:

Steve Anderson’s 2006 |MP3|
John Greenman’s 2008 |MP3|

What do you think? Myself I can see merits for both. I like Anderson’s unaffected reading voice. Greenman’s narration has a certain folksy charm too. Sound quality is better with Greenman’s, but Anderson’s voice is just a little crisper with the words – that might make it easier to hear in a noisy environment. I can’t choose. Help!

Here’s the Greenman edition:

A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court
By Mark Twain; Read by John Greenman
3 M4Bs, 44 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 11 Hours 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 03, 2008
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The work is a very early example of time travel in literature, anticipating by six years H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine of 1895 (however, unlike Wells, Twain does not give any real explanation of his protagonist’s traveling in time). Some early editions are entitled A Yankee At The Court Of King Arthur.

Part 1 |M4B| Part 2 |M4B| Part 3 |M4B|

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/a-connecticut-yankee-in-king-arthurs-court-by-mark-twain-2.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

BSAP: Jake Sampson: Monster Hunter – The Roof Of The World (Part 1)

SFFaudio Online Audio

Modern audio drama adventure serial has a name, that name is JAKE SAMPSON: MONSTER HUNTER!

Jake Sampson: Monster Hunter – The Roof of the World Episode 1
By Mark Kalita; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 19 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: Broken Sea Audio Productions
Podcast: December 15, 2011
Jake is summoned to Massachusetts to visit an aging former professor. Soon the gang is involved in a quest for a magic flower that only grows in a remote part of Tibet. Others also hunt the secrets held within that mysterious land, but for a more nefarious purpose. What is the price for immortality, and does the fabled lost city of Shambala really exist? Weird tales abound in the land known as The Roof of the World!

CAST:
Jake Sampson – Mark Kalita
Lucy Carter – Natasha Lathrop
Hartford – David Sobkowiak
Texas Holdum – Bill Hollweg
Announcer – Elie Hirschman
Dorothy Dyer ― Shannon Hilchie
William Dyer ― Jack Ward
Abbot Tiem-Po ― Gerald E Sobkowiak
Longsang ― Paul Mannering
Commandant ― Alan Sobkowiak
Captain Kopfjager ― Brian Bochicchio
Gerhardt – Bruce Busby
Tsi-Fon ― Colin Snow
Mu Po ― Steven Jay Cohen

Posted by Jesse Willis

Good Story 025: Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

SFFaudio Online Audio

In episode 25 of the A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, Julie and I discussed Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. It’s the 20th book in the Discworld series, but the first I’ve read. A lot has been made of the proper reading order of the Discworld books (see this handy chart, for example), but I didn’t have any trouble at all following this book. Based on this, my advice is to jump into the series wherever you feel like doing so.

Download or listen to the podcast via this link: |Episode #025|

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner

Or subscribe via iTunes by clicking: |HERE|

Nigel Planer did a wonderful job reading this book. Pratchett never stops with the clever lines, and Planer delivers them with perfect timing.

Hogfather
By Terry Pratchett, Read by Nigel Planer
10 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: ISIS Audio Books, via Audible
Published: 2002

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Favorite Story – Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace RADIO DRAMA

Aural Noir: Online Audio

Archive.org hosts 78 episodes of Favorite Story, a wonderfully inspired radio program that asked a celebrity to name his or her favourite story. The story was then adapted as a radio drama. Host Ronald Colman often played a character. In October of 1947 Greer Garson‘s favourite story was Guy de Maupassant’s classic of short fiction The Necklace.

In Colman’s introduction he claims that Maupassant’s tale of a Parisian housewife with dreams of social mobility is perhaps “The greatest short story ever written.” In my view it’s certainly worthy of approaching that level.

I’m also pleased to report this episode of Favorite Story is a truly fabulous adaptation! It keeps every important story element, doesn’t fiddle with the setting or the character names, the acting is restrained and the plot’s length is perfect in the format (Favorite Story also attempted to adapt novels into the half-hour format).

Favorite Story – The Necklace
Adapted from the story by Guy de Maupassant; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 27 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: KFI
Broadcast: October 7, 1947
Mathilde is a beautiful bride of a mid-level Parisian bureaucrat. Her natural elegance and grace seem somewhat out of place with her husband’s junior position. This is the story of a beautiful woman who works hard and gets everything she wants. First published in the February 17, 1884 issue of Le Gaulois (a French daily newspaper).

Cast:
Heather Angel … Mathilde Loisel
Hans Conried … Pierre Loisel

There’s a terrific series overview HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Upon The Dull Earth by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN

SFFaudio News

Upon The Dull Earth, a wonderful novelet by Philip K. Dick, is public domain!

Upon The Dull Earth by Philip K. Dick (illustration by Vidmer)

|ETEXT|

The story was first published in 1954, in a magazine called Beyond Fiction, in its 9th issue (Volume 2, Number 3).

The public domain status was not previously known as the story appeared to have been copyright renewed.

But, it was not.

Upon The Dull Earth Copyright Renewal Detail

Observe the highlighted details in the image above. Note that the story the applicant has claimed that the story was published in “March 1955”, in a magazine called “Beyond Science Fiction” in issue “10” (Volume “2” Number “4”).

No such magazine exists!

Beyond Fiction, aka Beyond Fantasy Fiction, was a sister publication to Galaxy Science Fiction, a long running SF pulp magazine. Beyond Fantasy Fiction (also titled Beyond Fiction) lasted only 10 issues. It was not created to compete with Galaxy, thus it was never titled “Beyond Science Fiction.” Its tenth issue was published in 1955, but it did not contain Upon The Dull Earth, or any other story by Philip K. Dick.

The story was actually published in the preceding issue, #9, in 1954. As such it would not have been eligible for renewal at the time of application.

Beyond Fiction Volume 2, Number 3, Issue #9 (1954) – Table Of Contents (includes Upon The Dull Earth by Philip K. Dick):
Beyond Fiction Volume 2 Number 3 Issue 9 - Table Of Contents (includes Upon The Dull Earth)

Beyond Fiction Volume 2, Number 4, Issue #10 (1955) – Table Of Contents:
Beyond Fantasy Fiction, Issue 10, Table Of Contents

The complete RE190631 (aka RE 190-631 aka RE0000190631) can be looked at on the official US copyright catalog website by using RE0000190631 as the search string HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 4: Great Lives – Series 26 – Philip K Dick

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Great Lives programme, now in it’s 26th series, is a half hour biography show that explores the lives of “the greatest people who ever lived.” Host Matthew Parris interviews an eminent guest who argues for the magnetism of his or her historical hero.

And guess who is was profiled just the other day?

Philip K. Dick!!

Here’s the official description:

Actor Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon; The Queen; Midnight In Paris) champions the life of Philip K. Dick and explains why he had such a big influence on his recent production of Hamlet.

Michael first discovered Philip K. Dick through the film Blade Runner, and moved onto his short stories which got him thinking about science-fiction in a new way. Whilst reading about philosophy, quantum physics, and comparative mythology, it struck him how Dick was intuitively weaving narratives around all the most interesting elements that these fields were throwing up.

He talks about Philip K. Dick’s innate interest in multiples realities, and how they overlap with Sheen’s own family experiences of mental health issues. In fact the more he found out about him, the more he was drawn to this enigmatic writer.

The description fails to mention that SF scholar Roger Luckhurst is also in on the conversation. |MP3|

Podcast feed: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/greatlives/rss.xml

Producer: Toby Field.

[Thanks Dave!]

Posted by Jesse Willis