Jupiter
By Ben Bova; Read by Christian Noble and
David Warner
8 Cassettes, 10 CDs - 12 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Fantastic Audio
Published: 2001
ISBN: 1574534114 (cassette)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Solar System / Scientists / Aliens / Exploration
/ First Contact / Espionage

"We will be exploring a region where no human has gone before. We will be searching for life on a world that is utterly alien to us. We will be seeking intelligent life, if it exists, down in the sea. These are good things to do no matter how much discomfort we have to endure."

Ben Bova has been creating novels in his Grand Tour series since 1992. The series is based on a speculative near future exploration of our solar system. If you haven't read or listened to any of these books, Jupiter is a good place to start. In this novel the main character, Grant Archer, is sent to a Jupiter research station. He is sent as an unwitting spy for a theocratic government. The fundamentalist religious government is afraid of some secret research that could destabilize their political control. Grant Archer, who is a scientist and a devout believer, struggles with the dual role that has been thrust upon him. He has to figure out why the space station has a genetically altered gorilla and a unique space craft tethered to the station. And there's big question of what the crew has discovered on the massive planet, Jupiter.

The audiobook is read by two actors, Christian Noble and David Warner. I find multiple narrators confusing. I'm not talking of a cast recording here, but of the narrative duties of a novel being divided between two or more people. While listening, I wonder why there's a change of narrators instead of paying attention to the story. That's not the case on this audiobook. There's a shift of viewpoint, which is easily understood, and one is quite divergent from the other.

The audiobook begins with a nice introduction by Ben Bova's long time friend, Harlan Ellison. And there's a also a postscript by the author himself. Nice additions to an already rewarding listen.

Bova is a master of his craft. His characters and world-building are well developed. His theme of religion versus science is well defined. His plotting is well paced. He writes with a scientific accuracy that places him as one of the best hard SF writers. He has written over 100 books and has won six Hugos. Is this the next SF Grand Master? I can't think of a better candidate.

Posted by The Time Traveler

ed. - This review was of Ben Bova's Jupiter as released in 2001 by Fantastic Audio. In 2005, Audio Renaissance re-issued this same recording on CD - ISBN 1593974884.

7:48 AM -- (0) comments

 


Hurry! hurry! If you haven't already there's still a bit of time to hear the first installment in the four part series Imagining Albion: The Great British Future. The show started airing on BBC Radio 4 last week. Episode 1 is still streamable by Realplayer as of this post. Click HERE to hear it if you have a player built into your browser already. Those who haven't - go get a Realplayer plugin - you're gonna dig this documentary - it features an unabashed history of British Science Fiction with authors and SF excerpts illustrating the points made by host Francis Spufford. Details follow...

Imagining Albion: The Great British Future
Hosted by Francis Spufford
4 X 30 Minute Installments - [AUDIO DOCUMENTARY]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Thu 22nd Jun - 11:30
Week 1: The history of Utopian / Dystopia: "Big Brother and the Brave New World"
Week 2: The history of Alien Invasions: "Keep Watching the Shores"


posted by Jesse 9:31 PM -- (0) comments

 


A podcaster who is currently and unfortunately unnammed is taking a writing class offered by Orson Scott Card and has scored an interview with his teacher! OSC and the unnamed student talk about essential writing techniques and OSC's magazine Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show amongst other things. Check these three segments from the It's The STORY Stupid podcast...


ITSS Podcast #16 OSC Interview Part 1 [MP3] - approx. 15 minutes

ITSS Podcast #17 OSC Interview Part 2 [MP3*] - approx. 35 minutes
*Includes bonus interview with Ed Shubert the new editor of OSC's IGMS

ITSS Podcast #18 OSC Interview Part 3 [MP3] - approx. 10 minutes

Props to SFSignal.com for the link!

posted by Jesse 7:52 PM -- (1) comments

 


Our SFFaudio contributor, code-named "Roy," has dropped a dime on another upcoming BBC Radio 4 programme. Roy writes, "I see from next week's Radio Times that a new two-part production of H. Rider Haggard's She is coming up in the "Classic Serial" spot on BBC Radio 4" - that's right up our alley Roy, lost civilizations ruled by gorgeous 2000 year old female-despots does are my kind of fantasy! The details for hearing she who must be obeyed, can be found below...

She
By H. Rider Haggard; Adapted by Hattie Naylor
2 Parts - 60 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Sunday Jul 2nd 2006 @ 15:00 (UK time) - repeated the following Saturday at 21:00
The 19th century best-seller set in a mysterious African kingdom explores the complex themes of imperial arrogance, sexual obsession, power and isolation that lie behind the high adventure.

And remember folks, this serial will be available on "listen again" service for 6 days following the broadcast.

posted by Jesse

6:53 PM -- (0) comments

 


Simon and Schuster Audio has been publishing Star Trek audiobooks regularly since the late 1980's. The most recent audiobook in the series (Vulcan's Soul, Vol. 1 by Sherman and Shwartz) was published in 2004. This loosely coincides with the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise. Has Star Trek finished its run on audio?

I mention all this because it seems to me that they are missing an opportunity. And because I like the darn things. Since me liking them is not enough of an incentive for them to make these audiobooks, let's discuss what I view as the missed opportunity.

A quick perusal of the Star Trek wing in the local bookstore shows that Pocket Books has started publishing a series about the crew of the U.S.S. Titan, which is the ship that Riker and Troi were headed for at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis. With nothing at all happening on the screen for Star Trek, it seems to me that picking up this series of novels, applying the excellent production standards of the previous Star Trek audiobooks... well, they'd be the only show in town, so to speak. Why not produce them while there is no other place to get Star Trek?

Now, I have to assume that the Titan novels are good stories. I haven't read them, but that would be an obvious prerequisite. I sure hope they are. But just as obvious to me is that a series like that on audio has an excellent chance of success because of a few reasons. First, there is no Star Trek on the screen, yet the buzz of film number 11 is keeping the series on the mind of fans. Second, if film number 11 actually ends up being a prequel, the appetite for Trek's other incarnations will increase, but will not be satisfied. And third, a Titan series with Riker commanding is something that Star Trek fans would LOVE to see, yet the chances of that actually coming together on the screen is slim. Enter audio, stage left, to fill this desire.

How about it, Simon and Schuster?

Click here for SFFaudio's Star Trek page.

posted by Scott 3:25 PM -- (1) comments

 


The latest Dragon Page With Class podcast (a more scholarly spinoff of the regular Dragon Page Cover-To-Cover podcast) features an interview with Bruce Coville owner and operator of the stupendous Full Cast Audio! Click HERE to download Show #009 directly. Or subscribe to the show's XML feed by pluggin this into your podcatcher software:

http://www.dragonpage.com/podcastWC.xml


posted by Jesse
8:11 PM -- (0) comments

 


Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q-Squared
By Peter David; Read by John de Lancie
2 Cassettes - 3 hours [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Published: 1994
ISBN: 0671891804
Themes: / Science Fiction / Star Trek / Q / Gods / Time / Multiple Universes /

You have no idea how screwed up this is.
-- Q to Picard, Q-Squared

All the Star Trek talk floating around the internet has stirred my interest, so I dug out one of the first (and best) Star Trek audiobooks from my permanent stash. I sit here with hopes that the Paramount powers-that-be stop considering prequels. Does anyone want to see someone other than Nimoy play Mr. Spock? The future is wide open - pick a place out there and tell some great stories.

Before a cane stretches out from stage left to drag me off, I'll get back to the review at hand. Q-Squared has everything I love in a Star Trek audiobook. First, it's a big story. One that would be difficult to film for various reasons. Second, there are lots of pieces of Star Trek mythos throughout. You know, the kind of thing that makes a Trekker think "I remember that!" and sends him/her to watch the episode it occurred in. Third, the sound effects create the Star Trek feel without being overpowering. This is a luxury that these audiobooks have - the sound of a turbolift door, a few beeps, and the listener is on the bridge of the Enterprise without a sentence of prose. And fourth, an excellent reader. John de Lancie not only voices Q, the character he played on the screen, but he also skillfully portrays all the other characters.

In the book, Q has been given the difficult task of keeping an eye on Trelane who is a character from the Original Series episode entitled "The Squire of Gothos". Peter David makes quick work of connecting Trelane to the Q Continuum. Unfortunately for Picard and crew, Trelane is even farther off plumb than he was in Kirk's heyday - a fact demonstrated by the fact that he considers ripping apart the universe to be a valuable use of his spare time. To the Star Trek: The Next Generation characters, this results in the intersection of at least three well-conceived alternate universes. As the story moves forward, the universes flip like cards being shuffled in a deck.

Luckily, the audiobook is brilliantly abridged and edited. Though the universes shifted quickly, I had no problem keeping one Picard from another. This audiobook, if it was a Star Trek episode, would consistently be considered one of the finest the show had to offer. There are lots of copies of this one around - I urge you to find one.

posted by Scott 6:46 AM -- (0) comments

 


Wonder Audiobooks is the BRAND NEW audiobook company owned by the SFFaudio reviewer known as The Time Traveler. To promote his new site and his upcoming first release Wonder Audio has released a free audiobook! In the past other companies have given away audiobooks as promotions as well, but I've never seen a better title by a better author given away for free for such a promotion - this one is truly a stunner folks, a previously unrecorded Philip K. Dick story, Dick's first published short story in fact, complete, unabridged and read by a professional narrator in a studio setting ... best of all it is 100% FREE! This is truly an SFFaudio listener's dream come true!

Beyond Lies The Wub
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Mac Kelly
1 MP3 File - 17 Minutes 40 Seconds [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonder Audiobooks
Published: June 2006
Themes: / Science Fiction / Aliens / Colonialism / Interplanetary Travel /Mars /

The arrogant Captain Franco and his crew of earthmen land on Mars to take on provisions - there they purchase a half ton pig-like creature called a "wub." They think it a meat animal but when Franco starts to discuss exactly how to butcher the creature the Wub protests! The Wub is not as intellectually starved as it at first appears - indeed the classics, especially Homer's Odyssey are of special interest to the wub - which makes it doubly ironic that the humans aboard Franco's ship didn't remember about what the dread goddess Circe did to Odysseus' poor crew...

Folks, Beyond Lies The Wub will be just one story in an exclusive short fiction collection called Among The Aliens coming soon from Wonder Audiobooks. Other stories included in the collection will be:

Green Patches by Isaac Asimov
Lover When You're Near Me by Richard Matheson
Anthropological Notes by Murray Leinster
Arena by Fredric Brown
The Monsters by Robert Sheckley
The Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum
The Hanging Stranger by Philip K. Dick
The Wind People by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Captains Mate by Evelyn E. Smith
The Devil On Salvation Bluff by Jack Vance

All these and an as yet unnamed short story by Alfred Bester will come in a 6 CD set!

WOO HOO!

by Jesse 10:22 AM -- (0) comments

 


The Time Traveler Show is a new podcast that will appear from the mists of time every other week. Each show will contain a complete unabridged short story and an interview.

"The emphasis of the show," says the mysterious Time Traveler, "is on the nexus of Speculative Fiction and Audio. We'll be interviewing not only authors of the genre but the audiobook professionals who are producing some of the most interesting audiobooks and sound dramas in the industry." The podcast will reintroduce a new generation of listeners to many classic science fiction stories from the 1930's through the 1960's.

The podcast can be found at www.timetravelershow.com, or by searching for "Time Traveler Show" at iTunes.

The first installment consists of an interview with Matthew Wayne Selznick and the story "Warm" by Robert Sheckley read by Matthew.

Robert Sheckley? Yeah, baby! This one is going on my subscribe list immediately.

posted by Scott 8:42 AM -- (1) comments

 


Journey to the Center of the Earth
By Jules Verne, performed by a full cast
2 Tapes, Approx. 2 hours – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Published: 1998
ISBN: 0671872281
Themes: / Science fiction / Adventure / Exploration / Geology /

One should not drink from the same well of audio books in rapid succession. I recently listened to Alien Voices’ The First Men in the Moon, and found this one just a little too similar for my liking. The main characters in both consist of a crusty professor and a younger, more energetic helper; in both cases the professor is voiced by Leonard Nimoy and the younger man by John DeLancie; and in both cases the two men go off to explore some unknown world and discover amazing adventures.

This book suffers in the comparison not just because it came second, but because it isn’t quite as good. The plot involves a wild trip, but one that brings the characters into contact with only monsters and forces of nature, not other intelligences; whereas The First Men in the Moon brings us into an alien society that has chilling implications for our own. The soundscapes of this book are neither as rich nor as immediately immersive as the first, and the characters are not played that distinctly different. Leonard Nimoy is good, but he’s just so darned good-natured that his character only seems foul tempered by others’ report. His heart isn’t really in it, and Herr Doktor Liedenbrock comes off no less pleasant than the buzzing Professor Caver. And John DeLancie’s true talent comes in portraying morally suspect characters. Here, his sweet Axel, the Doctor’s nephew, never quite rings true.

Not to say either man does a bad job, or that the sound isn’t excellent, or even that the adaptation doesn’t rip right along and offer plenty of adventure, quaint as the concepts are. But it just doesn’t grab you in the gut, it doesn’t feel inevitable, and it doesn’t offer any fresh insight into the human condition. In short, it doesn’t bring a classic story from the dawn of science fiction into our living presence, and as such, it really isn’t worth the time. Based on my previous exposure, I think it would be a mistake to write off other Alien Voices titles, but I wouldn’t break any bones rushing out to get hold of this one.

posted by Kurt 6:01 AM -- (1) comments

 


Magic Street
By Orson Scott Card; read by Mirron E. Willis
11 CDs – 13.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0786178264
Themes: / Urban Fantasy / Fantasy / Shakespeare / A Midsummer Night’s Dream / Dreams /

Orson Scott Card's Magic Street is an urban fantasy that links Shakespearean characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream with a middle-class black neighborhood in Los Angeles. Already not sounding like your cup of tea? Don’t scratch it off your list just yet. If Orson Scott Card wrote a book about a snail moving under a plant in a garden we would probably all marvel at the character development, be enraptured by the pacing of the story and how the plot develops and empathize with the moral dilemmas the snail must face! This excursion into urban fantasy, while not what we’re used to from Mr. Card, still gives us what we value in his writing.

Under inexplicable circumstances a boy named Mack Street is born into the world not yet alive and is immediately abandoned. Later found, he is raised by a couple of unlikely yet caring individuals. As he gets older Mack begins dreaming the deepest wishes of the people in his community. However, each time he experiences a "cold dream" the wishes invariably come true in a tragic way. Unable to understand the magic or speak to others about it, Mack keeps it a secret.

Then one day Mack discovers an entrance to fairyland. As he begins to interact with the magic of that world, his origin and purpose come into view. Mack and his community must act fast to guide events away from a tragic end.

The magic in the world is not explained until late in the story. The reader learns about it as Mack Street himself discovers the explanations. For me it was a bit taxing to go through so much of the story without being able to understand the meaning of the magical events, but the unfolding of the magic world is central to the story and, in a way, really facilitates identifying with the characters.

One of my favorite things about the book is the end. While the story intertwines itself with some of Shakespeare’s more light-hearted work, Magic Street is no comedy of errors. As the story reaches its climax it looks to be a tragedy of Shakespearean ilk. Disciples of the Bard can argue whether the ending is truly "Shakespearean" or not, but it concludes in a wonderfully complex way that leaves you feeling mournful of what was lost, but also that all is right and balanced.

It seems people either love or hate the story. Among the detractors are those disappointed to find the story departing from the genres they typically associate with Mr. Card. It certainly isn’t the fantasy of the Alvin Maker stories, but it isn’t trying to be. It’s an urban fantasy, and if you loathe urban fantasy you’ll dislike this book.

More critics, though, seem to focus on the racial issues. Mr. Card is not black and has written a story about black characters in a black community and does not shy away from discussing racial issues as he imagines them discussed among the characters. I don’t really know how to evaluate the validity of criticisms of how he approaches race, but I wonder what someone might think reading the same dialogue if they thought the author was black himself (I suspect they would be less critical). In any case the story is about people who are black and middle-class, and not about black, middle-class people. The characters are compelling because of what the reader shares with them as human beings, not because they are a case study of some part of Black America.

Mirron Willis was the reader for the story and did an excellent job. Among other projects he made a few appearances on ER as Detective Watkins, and on Star Trek: Voyager he appeared a couple of times as Rettik. Willis has won two Audiofile Earphone Awards and, coincidentally, he performs in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

The synopsis on the back of the disc case dramatically reveals that Mack pursues "a forbidden relationship". I think there must be a list of pre-approved comments to put on CD cases to entice people to buy it. I’ll wager that, as we speak, said list is attached to a dart board in someone’s office with a small hole in the words "forbidden relationship", because it didn’t come from the story.

Magic Street is another story from Orson Scott Card that has been beautifully translated into audiobook format that is well worth your time.

Click here for an audio sample.
posted by Mike 11:52 AM -- (0) comments

 


For better or for worse iTunes and iPods go together like two nesting spoons and with so many people getting iPods these days an audiobook company can not afford to ignore the trend. Independent providers like Podiobooks.com, TellTaleWeekly.org, and Fictionwise.com all have files that will work on iPods too - but frankly only the extremely savvy audiobook readers out there have even heard of any of them. If you want to generate a sizeable listenership, you really need to be listed on either audible.com or iTunes. But just knowing this doesn't mean your problems are over. The sad fact is that iTunes has contracted to get all of it's audiobook content from audible.com - you cannot get around this exclusive contract if you produce auidobooks. Worse, audible.com gets nearly all of its content from only a few big publishers - that wasn't always the case, but they really have some weird corporate thing going on there these days. So, if you can't break into audible.com you're stuck without iTunes distribution and therefore most iPods won't ever have your audiobooks on them. But there's a little loophole that you should know about, an indie music record label is releasing "spoken word" albums on iTunes!

Conquer The World Records* is releasing what amount to audiobooks in everything but the actual name "audiobooks." The first fiction author to take advantage of this scheme is the world's saviest podcast novelist Scott Sigler. His first podiobook EarthCore is available for $9.99 through Conquer The World's "spoken word" album release on iTunes. Do a search in the music store for "Scott Sigler" in the artist category.

EarthCore
By Scott Sigler; Read by Scott Sigler
20 Files - Approx 15 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: ScottSigler.net / Conquer The World Records
Released: 2006
PRODUCT #: CTW - 32
Priced at: $9.99 USD on iTunes



Even better, two great Science Fiction shorts from Deuce Audio, SFFaudio's co-editor Scott Danielson's own audiobook company, are available now on iTunes:

Shed Skin
By Robert J Sawyer; Read by Stephen Hoye
3 Files - Approx 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: Deuce Audio / Conquer The World Records
Released: 2006 - AVAILABLE NOW
PRODUCT #: CTW - 37
Priced at: $2.99 USD on iTunes
Do a search in the artist field with the search term "Robert J. Sawyer"


The Retrieval Artist
By Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
5 Files - Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: Deuce Audio / Conquer The World Records
Released: 2006 - AVAILABLE NOW
PRODUCT #: CTW - 38
Priced at: $4.99 USD on iTunes
Do a search in the artist field with the search term "Kristine Kathryn Rusch"


Conquer the World will soon follow with a some other interesting titles:

Bang! A Love Story by Anthony Mora

A World of Assassins by Neil Davies

Johnnie and the Demon Queen by Erick "Fox" Braun

Controlled Chaos by Michael S. London.

And finally, SF author and Fordham University professor Paul Levinson has signed a deal to produce an exclusive release, entitled Spun Dreams, is currently under production (with Levinson performing it himself). The work is a collection of his short stories. The release will retail for $9.99 USD.

Enjoy folks!

*warning this is a slow loading myspace domain

UPDATE: SFFaudio contributor Esther rightly points out that there is an interesting iLounge about the iTunes/audible.com situation here:

http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?p=878912&#post878912

She also particularily draws our attention to the "Audible Cranks It Up" article link and the "September 2005 issue of Publishing Trends" and their article on audiobooks. The PDF file contains the details of the terms of the audible.com agreement with iTunes (which runs through 2007 but which Apple can terminate given 6 months' notice). Esther seems better informed on this issue than myself and was surprised to hear that Audible was "no longer working with small publishers" - I should point out that this last point is my personal annecdotal observation and is not drawn from any detailed study comparing the audible.com aquisitions from a few years back to the audible.com catalogue of today. I think however that I can say this, in the Science Fiction and Fantasy audiobook category of audible.com there are more small publishers with publication dates in the year 2000 than their are in 2006. Given the number and quality of new audiobook companies producing Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror audio today I think I am justified in my position of saying audible.com's current catalogue restrictions are detrimental to SFFaudio listeners.

posted by Jesse
10:53 PM -- (1) comments

 


An SFFaudio reader has graciously tipped us to an cool sounding show upcoming on BBC Radio 4. Roy writes, "You might care to note what looks like an interesting series (4x 30mins) starting on BBC Radio 4 22nd June (11:30 UK time)...."

Imagining Albion: The Great British Future
"[The] first programme is about H G Wells' views of the future, but I believe later shows will feature living writers. No doubt more info on BBC sites such as Radio Times from which weekly magazine schedule I have noted this item." Roy also reminds us that this program "should be available on 'listen again'" service.

I've check the website but haven't found any more details yet. Wish I had a subscription to the Radio Times. Hopefully we'll know more as the 22nd approaches. Thanks a bunch Roy!

posted by Jesse 9:10 PM -- (0) comments

 


Rally Cry: The Lost Regiment #1
By William R. Forstchen; Read by Patrick Lawyor
11 Cassettes, 12 CDs or 1 MP3-CD - 15 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 0786145056(Cassette), 078617199 (CDs), 078617658X (MP3-CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military / Civil War / Aliens / Early Civilizations / Alien World /

-- Click here for an audio sample --
"When Union Colonel Andrew Keane led his blue-coated soldiers aboard the transport ship, he could not have foreseen that their next port of call would be neither in the North nor the South but on an alternate world where no human was free."

In this exciting Military Science Fiction book, we find a regiment of Union soldiers swept away into a tunnel of light to find themselves on an alien planet. These are battle-hardened and battle-weary soldiers who have paid the terrible price of war. Their leader, Colonel Andrew Keane, has not only lost an arm but also his only brother in conflicts with the South.

Their first encounter on this new world is with a society of humans. The society originally came from Earth through that same tunnel of light that brought Keane and his men to this planet. These people were transplanted out of Medieval Russia. The nobles and the Church rule over the peasant serfdom. Conflict ensues as these two different societies battle with weapons from different eras.

There is also a nomadic alien race that lords over the humans of this planet. They are coming to take one out of every five humans as their tribute. What do they do to these humans? Mostly they eat them.

This is the first novel in a long series known as The Lost Regiment. The action is strong and convincing. Patrick Lawford reads the novel with a good range of voices and accents. The story is written in third person omniscient, so we get into the heads of many of the characters. Each character has their own motivations that justifies their actions.

The only disappointment was the lack of alien-ness to the aliens and setting. Sure the aliens are tall fangy creatures that eat humans, but their culture is not much different than many primitive nomadic warrior tribes. They measure their virtue in bravery and prowess in battle. Maybe it's not fair to expect an alien culture to be different, after all I haven't encountered any real ones. Maybe primitive cultures of different planets would share many of the same traits, if they are universally advantageous to that species. The setting also lacks in alieness and is very much like Earth except that it has two moons.

Overall, this is a rousing tale with plenty of action. The battle scenes are exciting without glorifying war. The characters suffer real losses, and we feel their anguish. If you are Civil War buff or like Military SF this is a book not to be missed.

The audiobook is only available in library editions. This means the packaging is sturdier and more permanent. Unfortunately this makes the price expensive. A more affordable download version is available at audible.com. Better still, make a request to your local library to carry it (with dozens of other SFF titles, of course).

posted by The Time Traveler 7:13 AM -- (0) comments

 


Two nice pieces of news from The Teaching Company, which publishes excellent college courses on audio and video.

First, their title Science Fiction: The Literature of the Technological Imagination can be purchased on cassette for only $15.95. Our earlier SFFaudio review of that course can be found here, and the direct link to purchase it is here.

Second, many of their courses are now available as MP3 download. Sweet!

posted by Scott 6:47 PM -- (0) comments

 


Rob Walsch, host of the uber-awesome Podcast411, had podcast pioneer Mur Laffery on the show again this week. While Rob and Mur gabbed about Mur's Geek Fu Action Grip podcast and her new show the I Should Be Writing podcast, Mur let slip the juciest nugget of pure goodness Podcast 411 has ever received - in my opinion - Mur said, she and Steve Eley are working on a brand new companion magazine to SFFaudio's favourite ever podcast Escape Pod! The new show will follow a very similar format to the Science Fiction Podcast Magazine, but will be soliciting Horror and presumably "dark fantasy" authors for their short stories instead of SF&F. The new show will be called "Psuedo Pod" or "Psuedopod." The domain (http://pseudopod.org/) is still under construction at this time but we hope to have more details as launch approaches!

HERE's a direct link to the MP3 interview. Skip ahead to the 23:34 mark in the interview to hear the complete announcement.

UPDATE: Steve Eley informs me that PseudoPod will be edited by both Mur Lafferty and Ben Phillips (of the band Painful Reminder) and that the show will be a paying market ($20.00 for short stories) using volunteer narrators. As with Escape Pod it will be "donation-driven" and may start as a Bi-weekly podcast. The first instalment could air as early as July! More details forthcoming.

UPDATE 2: Woops in my excitement over PseudoPod I forgot to mention that Mur Lafferty also told Rob that she's scored a special interview with Neil Gaiman! It will go live sometime soon on her I Should Be Writing podcast. Mur recorded it at the recent Balticon Science Fiction Convention where Gaiman was the Guest Of Honor. Cool!

posted by Jesse 2:10 PM -- (0) comments

 


We missed a great title in our recent New Releases post. Just in from Audio Renaissance is Orson Scott Card's Children of the Mind, which completes the original 4-volume Ender series, all on unabridged audio! Preceding this book are Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide. Audio Renaissance has page dedicated to the Enderverse on audio - click here to see it.







posted by Scott 9:36 AM -- (0) comments

 


The Goose Girl
By Shannon Hale; Performed by a Full Cast
10 CDs - 10 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 1932076727
Themes : / Fantasy / Magic / Horses / Animals /

When I finished listening to Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl, I wanted to start the story again. I had read the fantasy novel in print form about two years before hearing it and Full Cast Audio brings the characters to life in spot-on performances which won't disappoint fans of the novel.

The story of Ani, the Princess Anidora Kiladra, (Erica Lustig) is as intimate as if you were hearing the troubles of your best friend, while at the same time covering a sweeping political plot. Princess Ani is sent to a neighboring kingdom to marry a prince she has never met. On the way there, her handmaid conspires to have her killed and take over her identity as Princess. Ani narrowly escapes with her life and must struggle to regain her identity.

What makes this book really wonderful is that during this political struggle, Ani goes through a great deal of very real personal growth. You can see the insecure girl become a confidant young woman through the combined performance of Grace Gates (young Ani), Erica Lustig (Ani) and the compelling narrative. Even if you have already read The Goose Girl, pick up a copy of the audio; it is well-worth the listen.

posted by Mary-Robinette 9:26 AM -- (0) comments

 


Alex Wilson's excellent Spoken Alexandria Project Podcast covers a multitude of genres and themes, this week though we were lucky enough to enjoy another Science Fiction short story release, a tale originally published in Jackhammer by the up and comer Tobias Buckell. It is narrated by SFFaudio's own Mary Robinette Kowal...



Waiting For The Zephyr
By Tobias S Buckell; Read by Mary Robinette Kowal
1 MP3 Podcast - 13 Minutes 19 Seconds [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: The Spoken Alexandria Project Podcast
Podcast: May 2006
"When the fuel went, Mara's town turned to windpower. They struggled on as the lights left, as the cities fell fallow, and plastic became a memory. Their only link to the outside world is the Zephyr, and now it too has not shown up."

You can download the file directly HERE, or subscribe to the podcast by plugging this XML feed into your podcatcher:

http://www.spokenalex.org/index.xml

posted by Jesse 5:17 PM -- (0) comments

 


Rob Walsch, host of Podcast411, the premier podcast about podcasting, has just interviewed Ronald D. Moore, creator and head writer of the new Battlestar Galactica and host of The Official Sci-Fi Channel Battlestar Galactica Podcast. Quite a coup!

HERE's a direct link to the MP3.




If you havent already subscribed to the Battlestar Galactica Podcast itself here's the XML feed:

http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/downloads/podcast/podcast.xml

iPod users can also now subscribe to the "enhanced" feed, which provides the same audio content with a few visual extras:

http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/downloads/podcast/podcast_enhanced.xml


posted by Jesse 3:44 PM -- (0) comments

 


Blackstone Audiobooks' release of King Kong, from way back in 2005 (read our review of it HERE) is something I've just now finally got my grubby mits on. I was especially excited to get a hold of it because of last disc in the 5 CD set - it contains the "special features" - and they are, quite possibly, the most special of features ever to have been added to an unabridged audiobook. The narrator/producer, Stefan Rudnicki, has tracked down some of the biggest names in Science Fiction and Fantasy Fiction and asked them to give their opinions of the original King Kong. The resultant disc is some of the most interesting and insightful film commentary I've ever heard. The creators of the Peter Jackson King Kong DVD were utter fools not to have hired Rudnicki to produce just this sort of material for the bonus features. Not only does "disc 5" give fond memories of an absolutely iconic fantasy film, it also dispenses deeply insightful criticism and sharp commentary from those who were influenced by the film. There are even some funny related real-life stories. Harlan Ellison, for example, talks about his overwhelming need to watch the original film whenever it airs on TV - as well as his hatred for remakes of 'perfect movies' in general. Stop-motion animation god Ray Harryhausen steps in to talk of how the original character of Kong became the tipping point for his amazing life's work. And Orson Scott Card bodly dismisses the original film as irrelevant to his life and work. Indeed this is perhaps the finest collection of commentary on Kong ever collected - and that it could be recorded in the commentators' own words, and in their own voices (except for Williamson) makes this a true treasure for the ages. Kudos to Blackstone Audiobooks, they could have just cashed in on the Kong-kraze but instead they kicked it up a notch, creating something worthy of its own page in the first printing of The Encycolpedia Galactica (publication date 2362).

Well played Blackstone, truly well played.

posted by Jesse 12:08 PM -- (0) comments

 


Airing exclusively on BBC Radio 7 starting Monday June 5th The 7th Dimension will begin rebroadcasting their serialization of The Day Of The Triffids the classic novel by John Wyndham. This is the whopping seventeen part unabridged reading issued in half-hour installments.




The Day Of The Triffids
By John Wyndham; Read by Roger May
17 Half-hour RADIO BROADCASTS - Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Weekdays from June 5th to July 2nd at 6:30pm and 12:30am UK TIME.
Over-sized "killer daffodils" create an "unsettlingly vivid" tale of ecological apocalypse.

NOTE: Those outside the UK can snag each installment using the BBC7 Listen Again for up to 6 days following the broadcasts.

posted by Jesse 11:39 AM -- (0) comments

 


Dontcha just love new releases? I know we sure do, here's a tasty batch for May and June. Also, I hope you all know that many of these titles are available in multiple formats (CD, Cassette, MP3, etc.) just follow the links to the publisher websites to see who has what.

Leading the charge this time is Random House Audiobooks with... wait for it... wait for it...

A Scanner Darkly
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Paul Giamatti
8 Compact Discs - 9 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: May 2006
ISBN: 073932392X
Our most requested title (by readers and reviewers alike) . I'm dying to hear how Paul Giamatti will perform it. Expect a review shortly.



Tell Tale Weekly has released a never before adapted audiobook of...

The Valley Of The Spiders
By H. G. Wells; Read by Alexander Wilson
MP3 Download - 29 minutes, 11 seconds [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: TellTaleWeekly.org
Published: May 2006
A SF/Fantasy Pulp Adventure Story from 1903. "Three adventurers face danger, death, and giant spiders, all for the capture love of a woman, in this classic pulp adventure story." Just $1.00! And be sure to read the nice intro Alex Wilson wrote for it on the TellTaleWeekly site too.

And of course there is no stopping the indefatigable Podiobooks.com, they've got a sweet batch of new podcast novels in the offing:

The Immortals
By Tracy Hickman; Read by Tracy and Laura Hickman
MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED?]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Started: May 2006
It's 2020, and an attempted cure for AIDS has mutated into a deadlier disease, V-CIDS. The U.S., under martial law, has set up "quarantine centers" in the Southwest. Searching for his gay son, Jon, media mogul Michael Barris smuggles himself into one of centers only to discover that it and the other centers are actually extermination camps. With a strange assortment of allies, including the leader of the camp's gay barracks, an army officer and a local cowboy, Barris precipitates an inmates' rebellion that promises the unraveling of the death-camp system and the overthrow of the government that established it.

Discovered Country
By Nora Fleischer
MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED?]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Started: May 2006
Rosemary Halpern, a mild-mannered librarian from Boston, found herself trapped hundreds of years in the future. A future that faced a new Ice Age. A future where ghouls walked the Earth, ravenous for human flesh.



Sonic Fiction
Edited by Jeffrey Kafer; Read by Jeffrey Kafer
MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Started: May 2006
An eclectic mix of authors from a range of ages and backgrounds. Featuring works of Science fiction, gritty war tales, murder and intrigue, comedy and farce, this is a book for any fan of short fiction. Let us tell you a story…


Prophecy Of Swords
By M.H. Bonham
MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Started: May 2006
Nearly a thousand years ago a great warrior named Lachlan sought to unify his people, using the power of the Three Swords of Destiny. Before his victory, Lachlan was killed by his trusted friend, Allarun. Now, Allarun is still in power but haunted by dreams of Lachlan’s death curse: that Lachlan would return to avenge his death. Allarun’s decision is to destroy the very people Lachlan tried to unite.

Brilliance Audio has a lock on lengthy Fantasy titles this quarter - check these out...

Dragon's Fire
By Todd McCaffrey and Anne McCaffrey; Read by Dick Hill
10 CDs - 12 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9781423314561

More lore from the planet called Pern!


Phantom
By Terry Goodkind; Read by Sam Tsoutsouvas
2 MP3-CDs - 23 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9781593356873
I don't know much about Goodkind, anybody heard one of his?




Dragons of the Dwarven Depths: The Lost Chronicles, Vol. I
by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman; Read by Sandra Burr
13 Compact Discs - 15 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9781423316107

A new Dragonlance book with the old beloved characters! I loved the classic first trilogy as a kid. I wonder if this one will be as good.

Also Blackstone Audiobooks has "returns" to re-releases, remakes and all look promising...

Ceteganda
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Grover Gardner
1 MP3-CD - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: May 2006
ISBN: 9780786175116
This was previously recorded by the now defunct The Readers Chair - Grover Gardner makes this a remake.



Superman Returns
By Marv Wolfman; Read by Scott Brick
1 MP3-CD -[UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: June 2006
ISBN: 0786175729
Looks like a Movie-Tie In.




Animal Farm & 1984
By George Orwell; Read by Richard Brown and Ralph Cosham
1 MP3-CD - [UNABRIDGED]
PUBLISHER: Blackstone Audiobooks
PUBLISHED: June 2006
ISBN: 0786177144
Released seperately many times and by with many readers before, you can now grab them together. Orwell at his best.



Not much new Spec Fic over at the venerable Recorded Books, but this one caught our eye...

Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean
By Justin Somper; Read by John Curless
CDs - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC
Published: May 2006
ISBN: 1428110836




posted by Jesse

3:01 PM -- (0) comments

 


Shimmer Magazine, the quarterly speculative fiction magazine, is offering "Action Team-Ups Number Thirty-Seven", a story by Ken Scholes as a free MP3 download. Click here to check it out!




posted by Scott 12:44 PM -- (0) comments