Alex Wilson of The Spoken Alexandria Project & Telltale Weekly informs us that in February, he'll be podcasting Tobias S. Buckell's "Getting Past Being Joe Blow Neopro" columns. Which were originally published in the Hugo nominated Speculations (an online resource for writers wishing to break into or increase their presence within the science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative fiction subgenres). All six columns will be released free with a Creative Commons License and come out on a twice-weekly basis starting on the February 1st 2006. Click HERE to subscribe to the Spoken Alexandria Podcast using iTunes, or click HERE for all other RSS subscriptions.

posted by Jesse 9:15 AM -- (0) comments

 


Science Fiction author John McDaid has just released a novelette as an MP3!

Keyboard Practice, Consisting Of An Aria With Diverse Variations For The Harpsichord With Two Manuals
By John McDaid; Read by John McDaid
1 MP3 File - Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: jmcdaid's blog
Published: Jan 29th 2006






posted by Jesse 9:15 AM -- (0) comments

 


Anne Manx on Amazonia
By Larry Weiner; Performed by a Full Cast
2 CD's - 2 hours - [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Radio Repertory Company of America
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0977134202
Themes: / Science Fiction / Private Eye / Cloning /

Anne Manx on Amazonia is the fourth installment in the Radio Repertory Company of America's ongoing Anne Manx series. All four titles are available on their website, but don't worry if you haven't heard them. You'll probably want to hear the other three after hearing this one, but you won't have to to understand what's happening.

In a nutshell, here's the plot:
On Amazonia, they have a very unique way of replacing their queen. They clone her. The first attempt to clone the current queen fails, so they toss the baby out and try again... only the clone survives. Fast forward several years, and the flawed clone (who obviously survives) gets Anne Manx to help her get back to Amazonia. Woven throughout this is the rich, ongoing story of the conflict between Anne Manx and Richmond, her evil nemesis.

Anne Manx is played by Claudia Christian, of Babylon 5 fame. Richmond is played by Patricia Tallman, who was also on Babylon 5. Both of these actresses succeed in bringing their characters to vibrant life. The queen and her two clones were played by Barbara Harris, who was simply wonderful. I never had a problem distinguishing which character was speaking - they were three distinct people. I don't doubt that Barbara Harris would make a superior audiobook narrator if she ever chose to try it.

To the great performances and excellent script add the sheer quality of production. RRCA is producing quality entertainment.

Anne Manx on Amazonia is funny, action-packed, and touching. Fine writing, a wonderful cast, and first-rate production make this the best installment in the Anne Manx series. Don't miss it!

posted by Scott 6:42 AM -- (0) comments

 




CBC Radio One's Saturday Morning program North by Northwest had a cool treat for us this morning with their Studio One Book Club. The guest was fantasy author George R.R. Martin who talked with host Sheryl MacKay and the audience about his latest in the Song Of Ice And Fire series of novels: A Feast For Crows. Part two of this two part book club meeting will air next Saturday, February 4th 2006. You can listen to the first part via RealAudio HERE.

UPDATE: The RealAudio link is not working yet, but I've left a message on the NXNW answering machine to let them know, hopefully it'll be working later today.

posted by Jesse 11:22 AM -- (0) comments

 




iTunes Podcast directory main page has a frikkin' huge ad for Escape Pod up today!

And Epod's editor Steve Eley, has clued us in - as of right now the Escape Pod podcast has about 3500 current subscribers downloading in a 24 hour period. Snakes on a plane! That's so awesome!

posted by Jesse 6:30 PM -- (0) comments

 




MechMuse is a new "audio magazine" publishing short stories, serialized novels, columns and interviews, all in the audio format. Each monthly issue is set to include between ten and fifteen hours of "fresh" Science Fiction and Fantasy content which will be downloadable onto an iPod or any other portable audio player. Short stories will be drawn from both new and established authors, novels will all come from "best-selling" authors. MechMuse's debut issue (March 2006) issue is set to be released at MechMuse.com on Feb. 15th 2006. It will feature a short story After a Lean Winter and the audio novel On My Way to Paradise both by David Farland as well as feature works by Kevin J. Anderson. Other contributions include The Second Rat by David Barr Kirtley and more tales by the likes of Richard Raleigh and Edmund Schubert. Subscriptions cost $5 per month, or $25 for six months. There's also a special coupon available that'll give you a $1.00 discount off the first issue too!

posted by Jesse 1:43 PM -- (0) comments

 


The Raven
By Edgar Allan Poe, Read by Bill Mills
MP3 file – 19 min. [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: REB Audio books
Published: 2005
Themes: / Horror / Poetry / Mourning / Depression

"Once upon a midnight dreary,
While I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore…”
-- A.E. Poe, The Raven

That’s how the poem begins, drawing a pall of melancholy over us with its first syllables. This audio book, however, takes a little more time getting there. As if reflecting the distance from this mood we might be starting, the first tones are of bouncy pop music as the company and title are introduced. Then comes Bill Mills’ voice, warm, and rich as hickory smoke, leading us down into darkness with a brief, stylish bio of the author.

When the first line finally arrives, I have to admit, I cringe for just a second. The slow, broken delivery—scattering audible periods where the text shows, at most, commas—has just a whiff of Shatner-reading-Lucy-in-Sky-with-Diamonds over-interpretation. But that passes in an instant, and I find myself discovering new wonders in nearly every spoken line of a poem I’ve read probably a hundred times. I have a tendency to dismiss rhymed poetry as lightweight, as my brain usually prefers humming the tune to learning the meaning behind the words, but Mills’ reading is a perfect foil for that. He treads a careful path between chanting the regular meter and disregarding it entirely, cleverly emphasizing the story the words tell while still respecting their poetry. What he presents is a tale of a man just tumbling off the edge of hope into a free fall of depression, a man who speaks the name of his lost love into the darkness outside his soul only to have the darkness reply with morbid hopelessness.

The one thing marring this production is the background track. Behind the serious lead vocals vamps a cartoon ghoul-band of horror excess: Howling wind, howling wolves, crackling thunder, soaring choirs, and crashing orchestras. It isn’t destructive, but it is ridiculous. That said, this is still an excellent recording. I highly recommend following Mr. Mills down this twilit path, no matter how many times you think you’ve seen it before.

posted by Kurt 8:56 AM -- (0) comments

 


The Time Machine
By H.G. Wells; Read by James Spencer
MP3, OGG or AAC files download - 3 hours, 2 minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: TelltaleWeekly.org
Published: 2004
Themes: / Science Fiction / Time Travel / Math Fiction /

I felt assured that the Time Machine was only to be recovered by boldly penetrating these underground mysteries. Yet I could not face the mystery. If only I had had a companion it would have been different.

Sounds suspiciously like the plot of every Doctor Who episode doesn't it? But The Time Machine isn't just about exciting time-travel adventures, it's also about the class struggle in Great Britain in the late 19th century, the widening gap between rich and poor, what Humans have control over and what they don't. Doctor Who has been known to tackle these ideas too, one of it's serials even has H.G. Wells as a character, but the fact that The Time Machine did it first, and so well, speaks volumes.

Scientifically explained SF stories of time travel take their cue for explanation, when they do it at all, from this novel. Prior to its publication stories of travel in time went unexplained, the Connecticut Yankee, of Mark Twain's comedic time-travel novel got a knock on his head that sent him back to Middle Ages England - and that was explanation enough in its way. But The Time Machine isn't played for comedy, Wells' futures are allegories for his worries about capitalism and communism, for his notation about gender blurring in the industrial age and his realization that not only are all men mortal, but so in fact is Mankind itself!

In just three hours Wells posits two futures: 1. A relative near term future humanity which has bifurcated into two distinct species (Eloi and Morlock) - they stand as the evitable result of aristocrat and proletariat class calcification present in the political theory at the time of it's writing. 2. A vision of a far future Earth, showing the inevitable and unavoidable physical reality of the universe. Were this not a public domain text, and were not the plot so familiar to us we'd have to think ourselves blessed by this excellent reading. As it is, and as cheap as it is this classic of science fiction can be judged only by it's audiobook. Thankfully the reading keeps pace with the text.

Sound quality is excellent, but the reader, James Spenser, doesn't have much to do in the way of voices. He does however a marvelous job engendering anticipation, fear, disgust and sympathy through pacing. Spencer's lack of an English accent for this Englishman's tale doesn't really matter, only one character in the novel is named, she couldn't sensibly be called English and she doesn't even have a speaking part. Much of the difficulty in this story comes from the stilted way it is rendered. Told in first person by an unnamed witness to the recounting of the main events, we are regaled second hand with the time traveler's adventures in time. I can charitably call it "quaint." Arthur C. Clarke later took up this kind of storytelling with his "Tales Of The White Heart" series of short stories, likely I think in homage to Wells. I've heard several audiobook renditions of The Time Machine now, of the non British reader's Spencer's is "the definitive edition." And at just $5.00 it's a deal.

posted by Jesse 7:12 AM -- (0) comments

 


Good news brain craving fellows, Zombie Astronaut, one of our favorite mp3 webzines, has done something we should have guessed it would, it came back to life, just after we thought it was dead for sure (we really should have known, every horror movie cliche is true after all). A brand new issue is up and full of tasty sweetmeats. Enjoy!

posted by Jesse 2:39 PM -- (0) comments

 




Two BRAND NEW specially commissioned programs start airing on BBC 7's The 7th Dimension this weekend. First is Jefferson 37 an original radio drama series. Second, is I Am Legend, which looks like an UNABRIDGED reading of the fantabulous Richard Matheson novel. Of the latter, there are differening reports on its number of instalments either 9 or 10 half-hours. Super sweet either way! Here are the details of both:

Jefferson 37
By Jenny Stephens; Directed by Peter Leslie Wild
4 Part Serial - Approx 120 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Saturday Jan 21st 2006
Starring: David Birrell, Alison Carney, Oliver Hembrough and Dharmesh Patel
"A gripping thriller, set in the near future, and explores the idea of clones being created specifically to provide body parts to those who can afford it."

I Am Legend
By Richard Matheson; Read by Angus McInnes
9 or 10 Part Reading - approx 5 Hours [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Mon-Fri 6pm and 12 midnight Jan 23 - Feb 3 2006 (?)
"Taking place in New York, it's a tale of vampires and a man immune to the plague that has decimated most of the population".
Adapted by Scott Stainton Miller
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

posted by Jesse
12:07 PM -- (0) comments

 


Back in 1947, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists first informed the world what time it was on the "Doomsday Clock". Since then, the minute hand of that clock has moved forward and back to reflect the subjective level of nuclear danger and the state of global security. I suggest we SF & F fans institute another clock, one for which we can easily see the subjective coolness of the times in which we are living. When Sci Fiction closes it's doors the "uncoolness clock" hand sweeps 5 minutes towards Midnight, when Charles Stross writes another awesome story it sweeps the clock's hand back a minute. Everybody on board with the idea?

Good. Now I have a cantidate for sweeping the hand back a minute. Here's the argument:

We should sweep the hand of the "uncoolness clock" back for reason of Escape Pod. Escape Pod is our favorite Science Fiction Podcast Magazine. It's been scoring coup after coup in the game of audio Science Fiction coolness at least once a week for more than six months and without fail. And it's really starting to get popular. Just look at the evidence:

1. Escape Pod got mentioned in the February 2006 issue of the venerable Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (along with SFFaudio and TellTaleWeekly). Very Cool!

2. E-Pod got a BoingBoing.net post a few months back - with BoingBoing being the single most popular blog on the internet - the furtive attention of which has crashed many a server due to the mass of click-throughs. Way Cool!

3. Just two weeks ago Escape Pod podcast a Scott Sigler short story entitled Hero. Significant in that Sigler is the only podcast novelist so far with two podiobooks available (EarthCore and Ancestor) both of which encroach on a five digit subscribership. Damn cool!

4. And finally, we come to today's instalment of Escape Pod, a short story, by maverick Science Fiction author Cory Doctorow entitled Craphound. Keener cool!

That's four cool reasons why Escape Pod is worthy of sweeping the "uncoolness clock" back a minute from midnight. But perhaps the best reason is E-Pod's quality, there's never been a bad story on Escape Pod, with more than 40 tales under the whimisical editorial hand of Steve Eley that's really saying something. Oh ya and it's 100% FREE!

So what I'm saying is nuclear annihilation may still loom over us all but I'm telling you thing's are still really cool in the Science Fiction department. You cool with that?

posted by Jesse 11:24 AM -- (0) comments

 


A Princess of Mars
By Edgar Rice Burroughs; Read by John Bolen
6 CD's - 6 hours - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 2001
ISBN: 1400100186
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mars / Aliens / Swordplay / Classic /

There are few classic novels with as much influence as Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars. First published in 1912 (serialized in All-Story magazine with the title Under the Moons of Mars), Burroughs sparked the imagination of many of science fiction's golden age writers, including Ray Bradbury and his Martian Chronicles. The audiobook cover is a detail from the 1919 Grosset & Dunlap cover.

A Princess of Mars is an imaginative adventure novel in which John Carter, a Virginian military man who starts the story running from Indians in the Arizona desert, is magically transported to Mars. Burroughs does not go into detail on the mechanics of the transportation, but does go into great detail about the inhabitants of Mars, called "Barsoom" by its natives.

There are two races on Mars - a four-armed green warrior race, and a red human-like race. The princess of the title is Dejah Thoris of Helium, whose beauty captures John Carter when he sees her taken by him in chains by some four-armed Barsoomians.

The novel is filled with damsel-in-distress/derring-do-male-hero sensibility that is laughable at times, but still the story holds up as a classic of the genre. Burroughs' description of an alien culture is a forerunner of an entire category of science fiction, and I found it entertaining on that level. I also felt a great deal of nostalgia, because I read this book a few times as a early teen, along with the other ten Mars volumes, and a Tarzan or three.

John Bolen performs the whole book as John Carter, with a southern gentlemanly manner that the character demands. This means not only Carter's attitude, but his southern accent, which took me a few minutes to settle into.

Check out Tantor's science fiction and fantasy section for more Edgar Rice Burroughs titles.

posted by Scott 6:41 AM -- (0) comments

 


They'd been talking about it on the Dragon Page Podcasts and now it's here! The Babylon Podcast, a podcast dedicated to the Babylon 5 universe created by J. Michael Straczynski. It's hosted by Tim Callender and Summer Brooks!

posted by Jesse 1:05 PM -- (0) comments

 


2006 starts with some fine titles:

Anne Manx on Amazonia, audio drama from Radio Repertory Company of America, starring Claudia Christian, Pat Tallman, and Barbara Harris
This audio drama is excellent entertainment - a comic book for your ears!

Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries by Jeffrey A. Carver, read by Jonathan Davis, Audio Renaissance, Abridged
In the tradition of Star Trek and Star Wars audiobooks, here's the first audiobook from the best current show on television.

The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein, read by Patrick Lawlor, Blackstone Audio, Unabridged
Click here to listen to a sample.
Another classic Heinlein novel from Blackstone Audio!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Quandary Phase by Douglas Adams, performed by BBC Radio, Audio Partners
The penultimate Hitchhiker's radio show.

H.P. Lovecraft Collection - Volume 3 by H.P. Lovecraft, Audio Realms
More Lovecraft from Audio Realms! This one contains "The Horror at Red Hook", "The Statement of Randolph Carter", "The Outsider", and "Herbert West Reanimator". The first Lovecraft collection from Audio Realms landed on our SFFaudio Essential List.

The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson, read by Yuri Rasovsky, Blackstone Audio, Unabridged
Click here to listen to a sample.
A classic novel by Richard Matheson read by the mighty Yuri Rasovsky.

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock, Audio Realms
The second of the original Elric saga from Audio Realms. If quality is half of the first one (Click here for the SFFaudio review of Elric of Melnibone) then this is a must-have.

Star Wars: The Dark Nest III: The Swarm War by Troy Denning, read by Jonathan Davis, Random House Audio, Abridged
The latest in the long-running Star Wars audio series.

Tales of Terror by Edgar Allan Poe, read by various readers, Blackstone Audio, Unabridged
Click here to listen to a sample.
Contains some of Poe's greats - "The Tell Tale Heart", "Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Pit and the Pendulum", and others.

If you are a publisher and have titles that you'd like to be included here, then contact Scott or Jesse. 4:59 AM -- (0) comments

 


A Feast for Crows
By George R.R. Martin; Read by John Lee
26 CD's - 31 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0739308742
Themes: / Epic Fantasy / Medieval setting / Power struggle / Dragons /

There's a long story behind A Feast for Crows, but I'll make it short. George R.R. Martin, while writing the fourth installment of the superior A Song of Ice and Fire epic fantasy series, found it was getting too long. Long enough, in fact, that if he published it as-was, it would need to be broken up into two volumes. So, rather than break the book into two pieces at the middle, he split the book by character, including the complete story of select characters in one volume, leaving the rest of the characters to appear in the next volume. A Feast for Crows, then, is the fourth book, and a new fifth book (A Dance with Dragons) will be published relatively soon. This novel is a bit shorter than the previous volumes, but still clocks in at 31 hours on unabridged audio.

Roy Dotrice read the first three volumes in the series, but this time British actor John Lee narrated. I'm not sure why the change was made; the narrators were very different. While Dotrice has a rough, earthy delivery, Lee's style is smooth and skilled. Both narrators succeed with Martin's story, because with such a large number of characters, ranging from royalty to peasants, each found places to shine.

The myriad of characters brings me to my next point. This is the first of these large novels that I've heard before I read. Some listeners have complained that the novels are difficult to follow on audio because there are so many entrances, but I didn't feel that way until now. With this novel, I found that the portions of the book that involved characters I didn't know from previous books were indeed difficult to follow. When a character I knew arrived on the scene, I was fully engaged with the story.

There is a very simple remedy to this. There are acres of real estate on the packaging for large audiobooks. Why not include a Cast of Characters (Dramatis Personae)? Why not include the maps from the print version? Both of these items would have been welcome.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am a huge fan of Martin's, and especially this series. I felt that this one started a bit slowly, but ended with a bang. I reveled in being in Westeros again. Many of the characters I like were not included in this novel, which both disappointed me and heightened my anticipation for the next volume. A Feast for Crows delivers much - I was riveted to the last third of this audiobook - but I can't help to feel that it is incomplete, because of the missing characters and because it is the middle of a long wonderful saga that I am patiently waiting to see through.

posted by Scott 6:02 AM -- (0) comments

 


BBC Radio 4 will be airing a half-hour documentary on the transcendant experience near the end of Philip K. Dick's life. It's called "Confessions of a Crap Artist" but the documentary's title probably isn't specifically about the PKD novel of the same name.

Here's the BBC Radio 4 blurb:

"Philip K. Dick is now world famous, thanks to films like Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report. But in the last years of his life he encountered something so strange and troubling he couldn't stop writing about it. Writer Ken Hollings asks: Was it Phil's fault God talked to him or was it God's?"

It airs Monday 16th January 2006 bewtween 20:30-21:00 in the UK. You can use the PublicRadioFan.com website, mentioned below, to calculate when that will be for you. Another option may be is the "Listen Again" feature on the BBC4 website.

... UPDATE! .... HERE's a link to the listen again feature for the documentary.

posted by Jesse 1:34 PM -- (0) comments

 


Though podcasting is cutting into traditional broadcast radio's audience the "tower and power" broadcasters still have a lot of great content that isn't yet podcast. The problem is it's not easily accessible if you are in a different time zone - in fact, unless you just happen to be listening to your chosen streaming radio station when something airs the whole prospect of figuring out when a program is going to anoyying to bother with. That said, here's a tip, there's an ingeniously designed website called PublicRadioFan.com which will certainly help. It features a complete database of public radio stations worldwide and it enables visitors to organize the stations' streaming audio by program type, language, time zone and much more. This quick filtering and the ability to synchonize your time zone allows you to more easily see when a program will air on the internet stream. As an example, I can with a few clicks and filters bring up all the streams for listening to BBC7's 7th Dimension program as it airs. I'd prefer to have the shows automatically downloaded to my iPod, but that just isn't an option. Until it is, check out PublicRadioFan you'll be amazed by how much content is out there streaming.

posted by Jesse 11:37 PM -- (0) comments

 


Rob Walsch the host of Podcast411, the premier podcast that interviews podcasters, has just interviewed Evo Terra of Podibooks.com. HERE's a direct link to the MP3.

posted by Jesse 7:46 PM -- (0) comments

 


Our recently reviewed Special Collector's Edition of King Kong isn't the only 800 ton gorilla making waves over at Blackstone Audiobooks... they've got plenty more new titles:

The Door Into Summer
By Robert A. Heinlein; Read by Patrick Lawlor
5 cassettes, 6 CDs or 1 MP3-CD - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: January 2006
ISBN: 0786136782, 078617692X, 0786179546
Dan Davis, an electronics engineer, had finally made the invention of a lifetime: a household robot that could do almost anything. Wild success was within reach—and Dan’s life was ruined. In a plot to steal his business, his greedy partner and greedier fiancée tricked him into taking the “long sleep”—suspended animation for thirty years. But when he awoke in the far different world of A.D. 2000, he made an amazing discovery. And suddenly Dan had the means to travel back in time—and get his revenge.

The Incredible Shrinking Man
By Richard Matheson; Read by Yuri Rasovsky
6 Cassettes, 7 CDs or 1 MP3-CD - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: January 2006
ISBN: 0786137924, 0786175761, 0786178515
Inch by inch, day by day, Scott Carey is getting smaller. Once an unremarkable husband and father, Scott finds himself shrinking with no end in sight. His wife and family turn into unreachable giants, the family cat becomes a predatory menace, and Scott must struggle to survive in a world that seems to be growing ever larger and more perilous—until he faces the ultimate limits of fear and existence.

The Worthing Saga
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Scott Brick
13 Cassettes, 15 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: January 2006
ISBN: 0786129360, 0786181869, 0786183012
It was a miracle of science that permitted human beings to live, if not forever then for a long, long time. Some people, anyway. The rich, the powerful, they lived their lives at the rate of one year every ten. Somec created two societies: that of people who lived out their normal span and died and those who slept away the decades, skipping over the intervening years and events. It allowed great plans to be put into motion. It allowed interstellar empires to be built. It came near to destroying humanity. After a long, long time of decadence and stagnation, a few seed ships were sent out to save our species. They carried human embryos and supplies and teaching robots and one man. The Worthing Saga is the story of one of these men, Jason Worthing, and the world he found for the seed he carried.

Tales of Terror
By Edgar Allen Poe; Read by a FULL CAST with music by David Thorn
5 Cassettes, 5 CDs or 1 MP3-CDs - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: January 2006
ISBN: 0786144327, 0786173785, 0786177535
This special audio collection features some of Poe’s best known classic stories, including “The Tell Tale Heart,” “Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” “Hop Frog,” “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “Masque of the Red Death,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Cask of Amontillado.”

How to Survive a Robot Uprising
By Daniel H. Wilson; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
3 Cassettes, 4 CDs or 1 MP3-CDs - [UNABRIDGED]
Published: January 2006
ISBN: 0786144629, 0786172908, 0786177128
This is an inspired and hilarious look at how humans can defeat the inevitable robot rebellion, as revealed by a robotics expert. The robots are coming. Are you ready? How do you spot a robot mimicking a human? How do you recognize and deactivate a rebel servant robot? How do you escape a murderous “smart” house, or evade a swarm of marauding robotic flies? In this dryly hilarious survival guide, roboticist Daniel H. Wilson teaches worried humans the secrets to quashing a robot mutiny. From treating laser wounds to fooling face and speech recognition, outwitting robot logic to engaging in hand-to-pincer combat, How to Survive a Robot Uprising covers every possible doomsday scenario facing the newest endangered species: humans.

And Coming in April, no foolin':

The Martian Child
By David Gerrold; Read by Scott Brick
5 Cassettes, 6 CDs, 1 MP3-CD - [UNABRIDGED]
Published: April 2006
ISBN: 0786144092, 0786174277, 0786177640
Winner of the 1995 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Winner of the 1994 Nebula Award for Best Novelette. Gerrold, a science fiction writer from California, adopts a son who has a slight behavioral problem. He believes himself to be a Martian. Gerrold begins the long, involving work of trying to earn the acceptance of Dennis, a hyperactive eight-year-old who desperately wants a father’s love, but is so insecure he feels he must be an alien. Gerrold’s memoir of the first two years with Dennis ends with the climax of Dennis running away and waiting in a city park at night for the flying saucers to come and reclaim him. Funny, endearing, and at times, heartbreaking, this is a beautifully written testament to fatherhood. This book is semi-autobiographical. Gerrold did adopt a son, but he heard about a boy who thought he was a Martian from another adoptive father.

posted by Jesse 10:30 PM -- (0) comments

 


More exciting title announcements, this time from Audio Realms, publisher of the SFFaudio Essential title The Dunwich Horror and The Call Of Cthulhu. This info comes from Fred Godsmark, the mind behind Audio Realms - in the coming months AR will be releasing a new Lovecraft title "every month during 2006!" Also he's mentioned that he'll be producing "a 10 volume set of REH [Robert E. Howard] stories in conjunction with Wildside Press, with artwork by Stephen Fabian." Cool, cool news!

Available now:

The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Dagon
By H. P. Lovecraft; Read by Wayne June
3 CDs - [UNABRIDGED]
Published: December 2005
"The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Dagon, arguably the most mind provoking stories by H. P. Lovercraft, are read by Wayne June bringing to life the horrors from the mind of the Master himself, in a way that only he can."

Imminently available:

Weird Tales Magazine
2 CDs or 1 MP3 CD - Approx 2.5
Published: Starting January 2006
Purchased one issue at a time of "short stories, along with poetry, verse and editorials."

And coming soon:

Conan ???
By Robert E. Howard
Published: Approx. March 2006

Also, if you're very quick you might just be able to take advantage of two cool preorder offers on the Audio Realms website...

The Sailor On The Seas Of Fate
By Michael Moorcock; Read by Jeffery West with music by Glenn Morrisette
Published: January 2006
"In the second of the original Elric Saga, the fabled albino emperor journeys in self exile through the seas, and the planes of the multiverse, to battle sorcerers and demons. His becomes a journey that gives him glimpses of both his past and his future and gives him the realization that perhaps he has litle choice as to his own path ... that he truly a Sailor On The Seas Of Fate."

@ just $25.95 including USPS Priority Shipping!

also...

H.P. Lovecraft Collection - Volume 3
By H. P. Lovecraft
Published: January 2006
4 more stories by the Father Of Modern Horror.
This volume includes:
"The Horror At Red Hook"
"The Statement Of Randolph Carter"
"The Outsider"
"Herbert West Reanimator"

@ just $19.95 including USPS Media Mail Shipping!

posted by Jesse 9:22 PM -- (0) comments

 


Bruce Coville the force behind Full Cast Audio has announced a number of 2006 upcoming Science Fiction and Fantasy audiobooks and we're salivating all over the list, check them out...


Airborn
By Kenneth Oppel
"An incredible swashbuckling adventure, set in a world where great airships ply the skies. You’ll love the characters, and the story has the drive and verve of a Saturday morning serial. We can’t wait to get into the studio with this one, because it’s just so darn much fun!"

*This novel was broadcast as an abridged reading on CBC Radio One's Between The Covers in 2004. This isn't that version, FULL CAST AUDIO will be doing it with - a full cast and a complete and unabridegd production. Woo-hoo!

Wolf-Speaker
By Tamora Pierce
"The second novel in Tammy’s beloved Immortals Quartet pulls Daine into new adventures, and reveals more about the special nature of her magic. Great characters, piles of magic, and breath-taking adventure. You’re gonna love it!"

The Will of the Empress
By Tamora Pierce
2006 Science Fiction and Fantasy audiobooks and we're salivating all over the titles"Tamora Pierce returns to the world of Circle of Magic for this smashing novel that brings the four young mages back together as teens. Suspense! Court intrigue! Romance! Fights! All the things that you love about Tammy’s books are here in abundance. We plan to release this simultaneously with the hardcover. Be listening for it!"

Enna Burning
By Shannon Hale
"This spine tingling companion to The Goose Girl is as wildly imaginative as its predecessor. Romantic, wise, unexpectedly dark in places, it has already developed a passionate following among Shannon Hale’s fans."

The Star Beast
By Robert A. Heinlein
"Another beloved novel from the same period as Have Space Suit, Will Travel and The Rolling Stones. This one pits bureaucrats against John Thomas and his beloved alien pet, Lummox—a conflict that brings Earth to the edge of an interplanetary catastrophe. Filled with Heinlein’s crackling dialogue, which is just made to be read by a full cast."

Bruce has also lined up some very savory treats for 2007 and "beyond"…

Emperor Mage
By Tamora Pierce
"Book 3 of The Immortals Quartet."

The Realms of the Gods
By Tamora Pierce
"Book 4 of The Immortals Quartet."

The Red Planet
By Robert A. Heinlein

Between Planets
By Robert A. Heinlein

The Last Hunt (Book 3 of The Unicorn Chronicles)
By Bruce Coville
"(All right, all right—I’m still working on it. But once it’s written, we’ll also be recording it. I can tell you this much: it’s going to be a long one, probably as big as the first two books put together. Not everyone lives through it, and there are a few surprises about characters we know. And, yes, I’m very embarrassed that it wasn’t finished two years ago.)"

posted by Jesse 8:56 PM -- (0) comments

 


I'm holding in my hands, right now, the February 2006 treeware issue of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. It's just so damn cool!

The Feb 2006 "On The Net" column by James Patrick Kelly (pages 13 to 16) are all about what we all love - 'Science Fiction and Fantasy Audiobooks, Online Audio and Podcasting'! About the experience of audiobooks, what listening to them is like, what is available and where to find it all. JPK talks about the revolution that is Audible.com, then gushes over Escape Pod, Tell Tale Weekly and Seeing Ear Theater as well he mentions our own humble website, something he considers "the best audiobook resource on the web!!!*"

w00t! Seeing our names in Asimov's is way-waycool. We are immortal now. Thanks JPK and thank you SFFaudio readers, 2006 is going to be our best year yet!

*exclamation points added by me, for effect.

posted by Jesse 11:04 PM -- (0) comments

 




Podiobooks.com, has finally finished beta-testing and has now OFFICIALLY launched! In honor of this, they've added two more speculative fiction related podcast novels to the roster:

How To Disappear Completely
By Myke Bartlett
Which bills itself as... "part film noir detective story, part fantasy adventure, part East End gangster tale."





Amber Page And The Legend Of The Coral Stone
By Stacey Cochran
By the numbers this podiobook has... "1 creepy old man, 27 exploding cars, 4 gunfights, 2 car chases, 1 cruise ship, 5 evil bad guys, 1 school bus, 1 fiery Harley-Davidson motorcycle, 2 massive earthquakes, 1 tropical Hawaiian Island, 1 super-evil criminal organization known as the S.H.R.O.U.D., and 1 broken family that must come to love one another again..."

Check it out!

posted by Jesse 3:24 PM -- (0) comments

 


A Colder War
By Charles Stross; Read by Pat Bottino
1 CD - 80 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: 2005
ISBN: 1884612482
Themes: / Science Fiction / Horror / Alternate History / Politics / War / Evil / Cthulhu Mythos /

"Warning. The following briefing film is classified SECRET GOLD JULY BOOJUM. If you do not have SECRET GOLD JULY BOOJUM clearance, leave the auditorium now and report to your unit security officer for debriefing. Failing to observe this notice is an imprisonable offense. You have sixty seconds to comply."

The biggest single threat to NATO may be the Shoggoth Gap. The wild card is Lt. Col Oliver North, President Reagan's man. Roger Jourgensen, CIA operative, is at the center of this crisis. If all the political wrangling doesn't work out perfectly there will be hell to pay, or worse, far, far worse.

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! A modern novellete in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, rich in detail, frightening in execution! Stross' stunning tale will pull you back into that old cold war era embalming fear and then magnify it into non-euclidian infinities. Imagine David Cronenberg directing Dr. Strangelove based on a script by H. P. Lovecraft. Imagine an alternate history in which nuclear bombs are not the ultimate weapon, but instead they are merely a stepping stone to eldritch technologies accessible through certain trans-dimentional forces first encountered in 1920s Antarctica, technologies which neither the USA nor the USSR can quite contain. Stross has admitted A Colder War is directly inspired by Lovecraft's novel At The Mountains Of Madness. The amount of research and historical mastery Stross sprinkles throughout the narrative creates a verisimilitude necessary for truly effective alternate history. Insert the CD and then shudder in horror as the concept locks you in for the duration.

Pat Botino's tremulous voice isn't at all typical for professional narrators, but when it comes to subverting heroic self-assurance, he's got no equal. Here it works extremely well. The production is loud and straight, the way I like it. A few voice effects are used to distinguish documentation bookmarks of each section. Nothing flashy, nothing distracting. I'd be satisfied if every straight reading single narration audiobook was done this way. For a while now I've been telling just about anyone who would listen that editor and producer Alan Kaster at Infinivox has been picking out the best modern short science fiction and tunring it into fabulously read audiobooks. This latest wave of Infinvox's GREAT SCIENCE FICTION STORIES includes three Charles Stross audiobooks.Lobsters, Antibodies and A Colder War. Each of these is available for just $7.99 right now on the Infinivox website. There's nary a better value on the web!

posted by Jesse Willis 2:24 PM -- (0) comments

 


Science Fiction author Bruce Sterling. He's largely responsible for the Cyberpunk movement. His humor is as dry as his mind is sharp. We've found an MP3 online that features him speaking on an interesting SF theme, The Singularity. It runs nearly 50 minutes, not surprisingly it was done for the Long Now Foundation, a foundation itself right out of Asimov's Science Fiction. Click HERE to download it. Be aware the sound quality is poor even though the ideas are rich.

posted by Jesse 5:30 PM -- (0) comments

 




Do you like Ninjas? Do you like Mystic Ninjas? How 'bout Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas? Yah, we like them too! In fact we've flipped over them. With just half a dozen podcasts under their black belts The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas have stealthily stolen our hearts! Summer Brooks, Joe Murphy and David Moldawer are talking old school Science Fiction and Fantasy with a special emphasis on the literary. Podcasts on venerable Science Fiction and Fantasy released so far include:

PODCAST # 5 - The Lathe Of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin
PODCAST # 3 - Lord Of Light by Roger Zelazny
PODCAST # 2 - Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
PODCAST # 1 - Hyperion by Dan Simmons

posted by Jesse

10:31 AM -- (0) comments

 


King Kong
By Edgar Wallace and Merion C. Cooper; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
5 CD's, 5.5 hours - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0786175362
Themes: / Science Fiction / Horror / Movie making / Gorillas / Dinosaurs / Commentary /

This audiobook has two phrases emblazoned on the cover: "Special Blackstone Collector's Edition Audiobook" and "The Greatest Horror Story of All Time!!" (both exclamation points are there...) Of the first phrase I can say that this audiobook is certainly special. Not only does it include the unabridged audio version of the novelization of the original King Kong film, but it also includes a bonus disc containing commentary from Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, Catherine Asaro, Harlan Ellison, Jack Williamson, and Marc Scott Zicree. Is it the greatest horror story of all time? Not in my eyes, but the words fit nicely on this gorgeously packaged audiobook.

The original King Kong film (1933) holds a special place in a lot of hearts. I don't share those feelings, possibly because the film predates me by 35 years. I recall more details about the 1976 remake starring Jessica Lange than I do the original. I was 10 in 1976 and, since that version of King Kong was mediocre, it stirred little in me. News of Peter Jackson's remake didn't excite me.

But this audiobook has awakened my interest in a big way, for two reasons. First, the story itself. Engagingly read by Stefan Rudnicki, the story of Kong, Denham, Ann Darrow, and Jack Driscoll is really a good story. The filmmaker Denham's recklessness, actress Ann Darrow's willingness to go along, and Jack Driscoll's love keep things very interesting. Kong, of course, is the character around which the story revolves, and his journey from island to New York City and from beast to human-like ape fascinates.

The second thing that sparked my interest is the commentary. I loved the commentary included here. All of the people I mentioned above had a different and interesting take on King Kong, from Harlan Ellison's declaration of the original film's perfection to Catherine Asaro's discussion of power unused. After listening to this, I'm now eager to see the new film, and even more eager to watch the original.

It would be an excellent thing if other books are given similar treatment. Unabridged classic science fiction novels with commentary would add a new and greatly appreciated dimension to the audiobook experience. Kudos to Blackstone for giving us this Special Edition.

posted by Scott 4:16 AM -- (0) comments

 


SAUL'S AUDIO CDS is the distibution arm of Saul Snatsky, Seattle, WA resident and Science Fiction writer. Saul has recorded 6 of his own short stories and put them onto 6 CD-Rs. They are for sale on eBay, Amazon.com and his WEBSITE, where he even takes PayPal. At $2.00 each they are an incredible value! Available are:

Quantum
By Saul Sntasky; Read by Saul Snatsky
1 CD - 65 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Saul's Audio CDs [AMAZON.com]
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0976167409
After a futile search for extraterrestrial life on far-flung planets, the crew of the Galaxy Cygnus spots an alien ship on the surface of an improbable world circling a neutron star. They contemplate landing to investigate, and thereafter they find that reality is little more than a roll of the dice.

Time Cycle
By Saul Sntasky; Read by Saul Snatsky
1 CD - 41 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Saul's Audio CDs [AMAZON.com]
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0976167417
Published in Analog Science Fiction magazine, June 1973 (long ago when Saul still had hair), this is its first appearance in audio format. Jack, reluctant time traveler, lands on pre-biological Earth with the mission of finding out how life started. He is soon in a struggle to save his own life as he finds out more about the origin of life itself.

Charena
By Saul Sntasky; Read by Saul Snatsky
1 CD - 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Saul's Audio CDs [AMAZON.com]
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0976167425
Published online in Aphelion Webzine, issue #40, 2001, it now appears on CD for your enjoyment. Earth has decreed that a distant world should be settled. Standing in the way are indigenous giant arachnids. Charena becomes one of them via a cybernetic transformation and attempts to short-circuit their mating by attracting and killing males. However, the law of unintended consequences plays out and Charena learns what it really means to "know thine enemy."

Magic Pill
By Saul Sntasky; Read by Saul Snatsky
1 CD - 26 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Saul's Audio CDs [AMAZON.com]
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0976167433
When something sounds too good to be true it usually is, and a "magic pill" to fix America's obsession with weight loss seems to be in that category. Listen to the story and see what happens when two planets "passing in the night" confront opposite but very serious problems.

Altered Ego
By Saul Sntasky; Read by Saul Snatsky
1 CD - 43 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Saul's Audio CDs [AMAZON.com]
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0976167441
A war criminal hides his mind inside a powerful computer for 10 years to escape justice. When he awakens he finds that his host has not been shut down for scheduled maintenance and a battle of wits and ego ensues with a result neither of them could have predicted.

The Martian
By Saul Sntasky; Read by Saul Snatsky
1 CD - 32 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Saul's Audio CDs [AMAZON.com]
Published: 2006
ISBN: 097616745X
Separation may make the heart grow fonder, but it can also cause irreconcilable differences that run even deeper. Harry Roth, a descendant of three generations of Martian colonists from Earth, visits the home world again and meets his former lover, who still has a romantic interest in him. Unfortunately he bears a heavy weight that he can unburden himself of no more than Earth’s stronger gravity. This story illustrates a problem that is likely to occur, if not in this form, then another, and will have greater consequences than our ancestors’ coming out of Africa.

To contact Saul you can reach him at saul@saulsaudiocds.com or Skype him at saulsnatsky@verizon.net

posted by Jesse 3:31 PM -- (0) comments