From NPR's All Things Considered, commentator Aaron Freeman briefly talks about his experience at Windycon, an Illinois SF con. Click here.
2:26 PM -- (0) comments

 


Happy New Year!

I've been experiencing a growing appreciation for audio drama - I've always liked them, but lately I've been enjoying a renewed enthusiasm for the medium. Here are several good links to check out:

The Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has a list of the "greatest productions conceived specifically for audio" called The Masterpiece Gallery. Find it here.

The folks who bring us the Mark Time Award have a Science Fiction Audio Hall of Fame. Find it here.

A great place to buy Audio Drama is ZBS, the home of Meatball Fulton of Ruby fame.

Yuri Rasovsky, audio dramatist extraordinaire, has a website full of good stuff. Find it here. Some items of interest include an online text called The Well-Tempered Audio Dramatist: Producing Audio Plays in the 21st Century, reprints of some excellent Yurika! essays from Audiofile Magazine, and a list of his currently available productions.

And here is an essay by Yuri Rasovsky on the Audiofile magazine website called Audio Drama Today, which includes his "Audio Drama A-List" - ten accessible, enjoyable audio dramas.

Enjoy!
11:55 AM -- (0) comments

 



Airing on BBC7's The 7th Dimension:
Burning Chrome by William Gibson, an UNABRIDGED reading - PART 2!

Sun 28 Dec, 18:30 - 19:00, 30 mins

Adam Sims reads William Gibson's hugely influential short story of cyberspace hackers and ruthless computer cool. [Episode 2 of 2. Rptd Monday 12.30am]

Click here for info
7:38 AM -- (0) comments

 


More Philip K. Dick! National Public Radio's MORNING EDITION did a 6 minute long piece on Dec 20th 2003 all about Philip K. Dick. Click here for a listen.

And check out the new Philip K. Dick website: http://www.philipkdick.com.
7:49 AM -- (0) comments

 


CBC Radio One's The Current aired a story about everybody's favorite metaphysical Science Fiction author this morning, Philip K. Dick. If you missed it you can listen to the whole thing by following this link (you'll need a RealPlayer). You'll also need to spin ahead to the 6:45 mark of the audio clip to get to the start of the PKD story. It lasts about 16 minutes and features sound clips from the 1970's Hour 25 interview with PKD (previously posted on SFFAudio). Talk about Dick's influence and more! Enjoy.
12:28 PM -- (0) comments

 



Airing on BBC7's The 7th Dimension:
Burning Chrome by William Gibson, an UNABRIDGED reading

Sun 21 Dec, 18:30 - 19:00, 30 mins

Adam Sims reads William Gibson's hugely influential short story of cyberspace hackers and ruthless computer cool. [Episode 1 of 2. Rptd Monday 12.30am]

Click here for info 11:04 AM -- (0) comments

 


War of the Worlds
Starring Leonard Nimoy, Jerry Hardin, Gates McFadden, Dwight Schultz, Armin Shimerman, Brent Spiner, and Wil Wheaton
Adapted by Howard Koch; Directed by John de Lancie
Duration: 1 cassette, 70 minutes
ISBN: 0807235628
Producer: LA Theatre Works
Themes: / Science Fiction / Alien invasion / H.G. Wells / Civilization's End /

In 1938, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater of the Air frightened the American public with its realistic radio version of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. Authentic sounding radio shows were interrupted by authentic sounding news casts which reported the landing and subsequent chaos caused by several angry aliens in Grover's Mill, NJ. The story after the broadcast was the chaos caused by folks who thought the fictitious events were really happening, despite the occasional disclaimer. Orson Welles proved to us all, once and for all, that you can't always believe what you hear.

In 1995, LA Theatre Works recreated this performance, live, directed by John de Lancie. The same script originally used by Welles, written by Howard Koch, is used here. This is not a remake, but a re-creation. The same script, same words, and the same cues are all here, just delivered by different actors.

The idea to gather Star Trek alumni and do this live radio show was John de Lancie's. While listening, it is interesting to pick out who is who in the show. The production quality is excellent. But, as a fan of the original Welles production, only the performance of Brent Spiner as a crazed survivor stands out as a reason to give this one a listen. The original, imbued with its history and its great performances, is still the one to get.

This re-creation spawned several fine dramatic science fiction recordings led by John de Lancie and Leonard Nimoy under the name Alien Voices, and for that I'm grateful.

Labels: alien invasion, apocolypse, audio drama, H.G. Wells, science fiction

6:48 PM -- (0) comments

 



Check out the Hugo Winners page - we compiled a list of all the Hugo winners and audio editions of those works, if they exist. We hope you find it helpful!

7:36 AM -- (0) comments

 


Anne Manx and the Trouble on Chromius
Starring Claudia Christian, Andy Hallet, and Paris Jefferson
Written by Larry Weiner
Duration: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Format: 2 Audio CD's, also available at Audible.com
ISBN: 0966039289
Producer: The Radio Repertory Company of America
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mystery / Private Eye /

You know the story. Smart-ass female private eye gets embroiled in something that's more than she bargained for. Using her brains, attitude, and savvy, she saves the day. Think V.I. Warshawski or Kinsey Milhone. The difference here is that we're talking science fiction and the setting is somewhere like the planet Chromius instead of New York or Chicago. But still... familiar territory.

Though the plot elements aren't uncommon, the overall production certainly is. Claudia Christian heads a very good cast in this well-produced satirical radio drama that reminds me how entertaining radio drama can be. This is real radio drama that pulls you in and doesn't let go.

Whether Claudia Christian is trading barbs with another character or questioning an informant, she presents a believable and hilarious main character. Her sidekick, played by Andy Hallet, made me laugh out loud more than once. The original music was also quite good, as were the sound effects. Through good headphones, I was fully immersed in the action-packed story.

Anne Manx and the Trouble on Chromius won the Gold Mark Time Award for Best Science Fiction Audio of the year 2002. Story by Larry Weiner, produced by Angelo Panetta for the Radio Repertory Company of America. Find the entire credit list here, and LISTEN TO A SAMPLE here.

posted by Scott D. Danielson

Labels: audio drama, mystery, private eye, science fiction

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