BBC Radio 4 has re-aired the half-hour documentary we told you about back in January on the transcendant experience near the end of Philip K. Dick's life. "Confessions of a Crap Artist" by Ken Hollings isn't specifically about the PKD novel of the same name but it is a documentary about the last years of his life he encountered something so strange and troubling he couldn't stop writing about it.

You can use the "Listen Again" feature on the BBC4 website HERE to hear it.

posted by Jesse Willis 6:40 PM -- (0) comments

 


During WorldCon 2006 I got to meet a boatload of people I knew only through the internet or from their writing. But I also met some people I didn't know about beforehand. One such was Hector from TheCrowsDream.com. Hector is a fellow fan of Escape Pod and I met him during one of the suite parties. He's posted a particularily passionate entry about what the event meant to him on his blog.

Hector writes:

"Steve’s calls his podcast Escape Pod, and it has consistently delivered awesome science fiction for quite a while now. Steve pays for the stories he uses. In the beginning he only paid $20, but he is up to $100 thanks to donations from his listeners. He has been able to expand his array of readers, and to do cool things, like publishing the five Hugo nominated short stories for 2006.

When I found out that Steve was going to be at World Con, I knew that I wanted to meet him, and to thank him for his work. Jokingly, I told my one of my friends that I was going to get him to sign my iPod. I went to one of his panels, and I did it. I had Steve sign the back of my iPod. He said it made his day, and I’m glad. The trouble started when I went to the podcast party suite in the convention hotel. Don’t take me wrong, I meet the coolest people ever, but, at one point, one of the new editors of escape pod--it has an actual editor now, cool guy-- introduced me to the editor of Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine as “Steve’s groupie.” I didn’t like that. In my mind groupies are bellow every other level of geekdom I’ve reached, and believe me, playing Dungeons and Dragons while reading Spider Man in not as low as you can go. I know. I’ve been there, but a groupie?

As time went by conversation made me forget the new low I had achieved. The Escape Pod team is great. The party suite was filled with incredible and intelligent people, like Steve’s wife, Anna, who briefly encouraged me to go on with my Sci -Fi podcast in Spanish. She is as cool as Steve, I was beginning to see why I’d want to be a groupie, or a hanger-on, or whatever.

I was uncomfortable with the groupie thing though, I was uncomfortable because, in a way, I confess, it was true. I wanted to walk up to Steve and thank him for what he is doing. I wanted to thank him for doing something for speculative fiction out of love, not profit. I wanted to thank him for keeping me company with his podcast when I had no friends in NJ, and for filling his introductions to the show with the kind of long-gone idealism and élan only people like Robert_A._Heinlein, and Ray Bradbury seem to have. I didn’t though. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to be the weird fan-boy who makes authors feel weird, so I barely spoke when he was around.

As the night wore on, and after I met more amazing people, I saw Steve dancing. He can’t dance, but he was doing it anyway. He was standing on one foot doing the twist. For a second, I thought that he was having convulsions. And just when a clear insight about the nature of the Universe and humanity was about burst in to my mind like an explosion of shinning stars, that stupid, stupid country song about dancing by Lee Ann Womack burst in to my consciousness, and it ruined the moment.

I was in a suite surrounded by strangers. I had asked Steve to sign my iPod, and I was embarrassed. I mean, everyone greeted me as the 'iPod guy'. But Lee Ann wouldn’t give up on me. Her twangy melodies overcame my own mental processes, and I realized what being a groupie and a fan-boy is all about. It is about taking the time to listen to what the back-bone of science fiction has to say. It’s about learning to tell stories though short fiction, and about having the guts to hold on to the values that people like Heinlein displayed so valiantly. It’s about creating something out of love, not profit. It’s about sharing your passion. It’s about doing something for your community even when you don’t know if you can do it well or if it is going to make a difference. I didn’t have to be embarrassed by my fan-boyishness. The people in the suite paid $200 plus accommodations and travel to be there. They had bleed their hearts on the page by reading it or writing it. I realized that I wasn’t the only fan boy there. Everyone else was a fan, and Steve was one of the biggest ones. Scott, the editor who called me a “groupie” turned out to be one of the nicest and friendliest people in the whole party. (Plus, he got my jokes).

I think I was embarrassed because since I was little, people--the big meanies-- made fun of me for liking, no not liking, LOVING imaginary worlds. Even when I finally quit trying to be cool, and embraced my geekiness, there still was an undercurrent of shame running though me. A speck of conciseness that still wanted to be some one else, but that night, it went away. That night I didn’t care that my favorite reality show is about super heroes, or that I carry a sci-fi or fantasy book everywhere I go. I was in good company, and that’s all that mattered. The funny thing is that I saw the parts of myself that are not geeky. I saw the teacher, and the Buddhist. I saw the future husband and father, and I saw how important my choice of literature has been in my life. I saw who I am, and was okay with that."

I'm okay with it too. There's a bit more to Hector's post over on his blog. Steve Eley even posted a comment that about sums up my feelings as well. We won't be strangers next time Hector!

posted by Jesse Willis 5:52 PM -- (1) comments

 


This latest episode of The Signal podcast contains an interview with Andrew Dorfman and Jack Ward from Firefly: Old Wounds. Hosts Les and Kari talked to Andrew and Jack about the creation of the audio drama for nearly 90 minutes! You can download the episode HERE. Or to subscribe to The Signal Podcast plug this feed into your podcatcher:

http://signal.serenityfirefly.com/podcast.xml

posted by Jesse Willis 1:29 PM -- (1) comments

 


The story this week over on Escape Pod, the preeminent podcast SF magazine, is Barnaby In Exile by Mike Resnick. Bring a hanky to this one. The story is reminiscent, and from my POV clearly in dialogue with, Pat Murphy's classic Rachel In Love. Both are powerful anthropomorphic visions of apes in tough emotional spots. If you like Barnaby In Exile Robert J. Saywer reccommends also reading Robert Silverberg's Pope Of The Chimps.

EP073: Barnaby in Exile
By Mike Resnick; Read by Paul Fischer
1 MP3 File - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Escape Pod
Podcast: September 28th 2006

posted by Jesse Willis 12:37 PM -- (0) comments

 


BBC7's the 7th Dimension will be re-airing a truly AWESOME unabridged reading of Ted Chiang's novelette Understand.

This story has been broadcast on BBC Radio 7 previously and it blew my mind when I first heard it! This sort of unabridged reading is what makes me so attuned to what The 7th Dimension is up to. If you listen to no other BBC Radio production this year listen to this one!

Here's a teaser: Leon is a former coma victim, who has gone experimental medical treatment to repair the massive trauma his brain recieved after he was trapped under ice for more than an hour. He's regained consciousness, found he has all of his faculties back and a whole lot more. In the tradition of Daniel Keyes' Flowers For Algernon. It was originally published in "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine" in 1991.

Understand
By Ted Chiang; Read by Rashan Stone
4 half-hour segments - Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
BROADCASTER: BBC Radio 7
AIRING: Saturdays for four weeks @ 6pm (repeats 12am) UK Time

This will be available via the Listen Again service shortly after it airs.

posted by Jesse Willis 12:09 PM -- (1) comments

 


Joe Mahoney, CBC Radio Producer, Science Fiction writer and blogger appears as a character in Robert J. Sawyer's latest novel, Rollback which is being serialized in Analog Science Fiction Magazine. Joe writes:

"Rob mentions my name on pg 107 as the sound engineer in charge of Sounds Like Canada… Don Halifax stands behind me at the controls as his wife is being interviewed. Now that’s really cool. I should point out that the current, real life engineer of Sounds Like Canada is Natasha Aziz. But the interview in Rob’s novel takes place in 2009, so it’s not completely inconceivable that I could engineer the show sometime in 2009. (I used to engineer Sounds Like Canada’s predecessor Morningside from time to time.) Rob also mentions the show Faster Than Light that we attempted to develop a while back for CBC Radio."

Cool!

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

 


Parable of the Sower
By Octavia E. Butler; Read by Lynne Thigpen
10 CDs - 12 hours - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 2000
ISBN: 0788747606
Themes: / Science Fiction / Dystopia / Survival / Religion /

Occasionally in science fiction there comes a novel that should be considered important not only inside the genre, but in all of literature. Like 1984 by George Orwell. Or Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Or like nearly everything Octavia Butler ever wrote, including this novel.

Parable of the Sower is a novel consisting of the diary entries of the main character, a teen named Lauren. She lives and writes in 2020's United States of America, in the Los Angeles area. Butler imagines a lawless future America where everyone is on their own. Lauren lives in a cul-de-sac with a wall around it - her family and several others haved pooled together. Murders are commonplace, as is theft, and people struggle to survive while the world moves on. Lauren comments on the death of an astronaut on Mars, the election of a new president, as well as her ever-changing day-to-day life.

Complicating things is the fact that Lauren is a hyper-empath. If she sees someone get hurt, she feels that pain as if it was happening to her. An extremely uncomfortable thing to be, when pain exists all around her.

Out of all of this, she creates a new religion, called Earthseed, which springs forth from the beliefs formed by her life's circumstances. She isn’t inventing it, as she says more than once – no, she’s discovering it. In a world in which the only surety is change, she discovers God. And God, she figures, is change itself.

Lynne Thigpen is flawless in her narration of this book. She did a wonderful job speaking as if the world in which Lauren moved was normal. Her emphasis and emotion perfectly fit the character. The result was an audiobook that I'm better off for having heard.

posted by Scott D. Danielson 2:16 PM -- (1) comments

 


Our UK correspondent codenamed "Roy" writes:

"Just spotted an item in the latest Radio Times that might be of interest to at least a section of the SFFAudio audience.......

Star Trek At 40 - Where No-One Has Gone Before
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 2
Broadcast: Tuesday October 3rd - 20:30-21:30

Roy sez: "I don't suppose this will be the only Star Trek anniversary documentary and it remains to be seen if this will have any unique insights, but I for one will be tuned in. It will likely be available via 'listen again' for a week or so, but archiving of R2 is not perhaps as comprehensive as other BBC stations."

And over on Radio 4:

Tomorrow, Today!
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Friday October 6th - 11:30-12:00

A new four part comedy series, a spoof on life in the BBC's Light Entertainment Unit: A BBC Producer in 1961 struggles to make a radio soap set in the unimaginably futuristic world of 2006.

Roy sez: "Much of the BBC's radio comedy output has been poorly received by both critics & listeners over the last few years so I wouldn't hold my breath for anything on the scale of Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy, but the cast looks pretty high-powered (Peter Bowles, Cheryl Campbell and John Fortune amongst other British stalwarts) so I live in hope."

We do to. Thanks Roy!

posted by Jesse Willis 1:02 PM -- (0) comments

 


Two new audiobooks from Neil Gaiman and Harper Audio:

This one actually shows as being available back in December of 2005, but I never saw it released then....

MirrorMask
By Neil Gaiman; Read by Stephanie Leonidas
CD - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0060899328

Helena is about to embark on a most amazing journey. Raised in a family of circus performers, she’s always dreamed of leading a more ordinary life. But when haunting music draws her into a strange and magical realm, one where anything can happen, her real life is stolen by a runaway from the...

This one streets today....

Fragile Things
By Neil Gaiman; Read by Neil Gaiman
8 CDs - Approx. 9 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: September 2006
ISBN: 0061142379

A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one extraordinary performance before disappearing into the night, taking one of the spectators along with it . . . In a novella set two years after the events of American Gods, Shadow pays a visit to an ancient Scottish mansion, and finds himself trapped in a game of murder and monsters . . . In a Hugo Award-winning short story set in a strangely altered Victorian England, the great detective Sherlock Holmes must solve a most unsettling royal murder . . . Two teenage boys crash a party and meet the girls of their dreams—and nightmares . . . In a Locus Award-winning tale, the members of an exclusive epicurean club lament that they've eaten everything that can be eaten, with the exception of a legendary, rare, and exceedingly dangerous Egyptian bird . . . Such marvelous creations and more—including a short story set in the world of The Matrix, and others set in the worlds of gothic fiction and children's fiction—can be found in this extraordinary collection, which showcases Gaiman's storytelling brilliance as well as his terrifyingly entertaining dark sense of humor. By turns delightful, disturbing, and diverting, Fragile Things is a gift of literary enchantment from one of the most unique writers of our time.

And note that it is read by Neil Gaiman himself! Cool!

posted by Jesse Willis 12:36 PM -- (0) comments

 


Paul S. Jenkins, of The Rev-Up Review podcast fame, has created a Science Fiction podcast novel andthe first five episodes are available now at Podiobooks.com. It's called The Plitone Revisionist. Here's the description...

Will Captain Paola Mackie, independent space courier, thrown out of her home ten years previously, escape the unsavory clutches of the man who thinks she can lead him to the notorious Revisionist mothership secretly orbiting within the Lutrana system and plotting to destabilize its economy, its culture, its very way of life?

Will Paola be reconciled with her estranged and aged father before it's too late for him to pass on his onerous legacy to her? And will she finally get it together with Nantuke Orlis, the Revisionist President's enigmatic scout?

The Plitone Revisionist is a fast-paced, sexy science-fiction thriller that will keep you enthralled to the end -- and beyond.

It sounds cool! Way to go Paul!

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

 


The Commuter's Library unabridged H.G. Wells Collected Science Fiction: The Time Machine & Stories of the Unusual is Audible.com's Selection of the Day! That means you can get this classic title for $9.95 today.





H.G. Wells Collected Science Fiction: The Time Machine & Stories of the Unusual
By H. G. Wells, Read by Ralph Cosham
7 hours and 28 min [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Commuter's Library
Published: 2004
Themes: / Science fiction / Time Travel / Evolution / Future /


In addition to the unabridged reading of The Time Machine this audiobook features 9 stories from Stories of the Unusual:

"The Country of the Blind" takes place in a hidden valley where it would seem that a man with sight would be king.
"The Diamond Maker" tells of a fortune that might have been.
"The Man Who Worked Miracles" recounts the problems of defying nature.
In "Aepyornis Island", a man has a special relationship with a prehistoric bird.
"The Strange Orchid" tells of the macabre appetite of an exotic plant.
"The Cone" is a shocking story of revenge.
"The Purple Pileus" deals with a life-altering fungus.
"The Truth About Pyecraft" is a classic that explains why an overbearing fat man wears lead underwear.
"The Door in the Wall" captures the pathos of lost youth

The Commuter's Library audio productions of the works of H.G. Wells were singled out for mention by Allan Kaster in this sffaudio interview. Cosham's reading of The Time Machine also gets a thumbs up in a collection of reviews of various audiobook editions of The Time Machine at The Time Machine site.

The Commuter's Library is now known as In Audio and the contents of this download are available for purchase as cassette tapes or CDs as two separate listings: The Time Machine and Strange Fiction: Stories by H.G. Wells

Posted by Moriond 10:15 AM -- (0) comments

 


Here's our latest Author Focus and it is on Cory Doctorow. I got to meet Cory Doctorow at WorldCon 2006 but I've been listening to his work for years! He's a dynamo in real life too by the way. Cory's an audiobook fan, so it is very appropriate for him to have as much of his fiction available in audio as he does. Being that he is also a proponent of the free culture movement it is thus doubly appropriate that all his audio fiction is available for free!



The largest collection of audio fiction comes from his podcast Craphound: The Literary Works of Cory Doctorow you can subscribe to it by using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Here is a complete listing of the short works he's podcast so far:

After The Siege
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
9 MP3s - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: September - October 2005
Mp3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|Part 5|Part 6|Part 7|Part 8|Part 9|
"[After the Siege is]a novelette I’m writing on long-haul flight segments, in 2-5,000 word chunks, for an anthology of optimisitic sf stories. It’s inspired by my grandmother’s stories of living throug the Siege of Leningrad, which she told during a family reunion in St Petersburg, Russia, last summer."

When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
9 MP3s - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: October - November 2005
Mp3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|Part 5|Part 6|
"When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth [is] a new story about an apocalypse that arrives on the heels of a catastrophic Internet worm. When the trump sounds, the world’s systems administrators are all in their sealed data-centers, and so they survive the carnage."


Anda's Game
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Alice Taylor
3 Mp3s - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: January 2006
Mp3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part3|
"...a reading of Anda’s Game, my Nebula-Award-shortlisted story about in-game sweatshops."




Human Readable
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
7 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: January - February 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|Part 5|Part 6|Part 7|
"...the tale of a world that’s been upended by hyper-efficient planning algorithms based on ant-colony optimizations, so that Los Angeles has the best traffic in the world. However, when these networks crash, they really crash — cars, surfboards, and many other common conveyances end up catastrophically failing, with concomitant loss of life."

I, Robot
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
5 Mp3s - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: February 2006
Mp3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|Part 5|
"It’s [a novelette, that is] a riff on Asimov’s robots stories, in which only one kind of robot is allowed — I tried to use this to show how such a world would be one of universal, totalitarian Broadcast Flags, technology mandates that restrict innovation and liberty."


Return To Pleasure Island
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
4 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: February - March 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|
"...a dark and mean fantasy story that was originally published in Realms of Fantasy..."





Nimby And The D-Hoppers
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
3 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: March - April 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|
"...the story of a deep-green alternate future that is being invaded by gun-totin’ yahoos from alternate planes of reality..."




Shadow Of The Mothaship
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
3 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: April - May 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|
"A strange, stylised Scientology/Alien-Invasion/Oedipus story."





Home Again, Home Again
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
3 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: May 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|
"...a sequel (of sorts) to Shadow of the Mothaship ... This one is the autobiography of a child raised in an alien-imposed mental institution, and the mentorship he received from The Guy Who Thought He Was Nikola Tesla."


Super-Man And The Bugout
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
3 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: May 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|
"...a superhero story that asks what would have happened if Kal-el had landed in suburban Toronto and been raised by an old Jewish couple. It’s the conclusion of the triad of stories comprised by Shadow of the Mothaship and Home Again, Home Again, about the Canadian response to the invasion of benevolent Scientologist aliens."


Visit The Sins
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
2 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: June 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|
"This story deals with attention deficit disorder, the effect that cognitive problems have on families, and how your mental state and your technology are intimately related."




I, Row-Boat
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
4 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: June - July 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|
"...a story about a theological dispute between an artifically intelligent Asimov three-laws cultist and an uplifted coral reef."




Truncat
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
3 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: August 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|
"...an indirect sequel to my first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom... a parable about warez groups and Napster, about generation war and the trouble with power-laws."



0wnz0red
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
4 MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: September 2006
MP3 Files: |Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|
A Nebula award nominated short story. "a story about trusted computing, geek culture, and getting root on your body."




Cory has also sold one story to Escape Pod:

Craphound
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Jesse Thorn
1 Mp3 File - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast:
Mp3 File: HERE
"Aliens have once again decided to visit Earth in this lighthearted romp. Rather than having conquest on their minds, they merely wish to visit, and explore. Jerry is a junk dealer, a collector, a pack rat of crap and antiques and memorabilia, depending on your point of view."

Even before podcasting existed Cory took time to record one of his stories and post it on his website:

To Market, To Market: The Branding of Billy Bailey©
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Cory Doctorow
FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD - 23 Minutes 37 Seconds [UNABRIDGED]
LINK: http://www.craphound.com/audio/Doctorow_-_Billy.mp3
Publisher: www.craphound.com
Published: 2001
Themes: / Science Fiction / Dystopia / Humor / Satire /

Billy Bailey was the finest heel the sixth grade had ever seen -- a true artisan who kept his brand pure and unsullied, picking and managing his strategic alliances with the utmost care and acumen. He'd dumped BanginBumpin Fireworks (a division of The Shanghai Novelty Company, Ltd.) in the _fourth_ grade, fer chrissakes. Their ladyfingers were too small to bother with; their M-80s were so big that you'd have to be a lunatic to go near them.

Mark Forman's Podcast:

Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Mark Forman
9 MP3 Files - 7 Hours 37 minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Getting A Leg Up
Podcast: August - September 2005
MP3 Files: |Prologue and Chapter 1| Chapter 2|Chapter 3|Chapter 4|Chapter 5|Chapter 6|Chapter 7|Chapter 8|Chapters 9 & 10|

Doctorow's first novel, a Locus Award winner and a Nebula nominee. "It concerns the machinations of technologically immortals who have occupied Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion and who aim to preserve it from the depredations of modernizers who would renovate it."

Voices In The Dark:

Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom
By Cory Doctorow; Read by Sean Puckett
11 MP3 Files - Approx. 7 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
SOURCE: Voices In The Dark

MP3 Files: |Prologue|Chapter 1|Chapter 2|Chapter 3|Chapter 4|Chapter 5|Chapter 6|Chapter 7|Chapter 8|Chapters 9|Chapter 10|

A near-future science fiction tale. In a society where death has been cured, how do you deal with boredom?

posted by Jesse Willis

11:31 PM -- (0) comments

 


According to J.C. Hutchins' Skype message, yesterday's Second Life launch party for his new podcast novel 7th Son - Book Two - Deceit crashed the server it was held on! Doubtless the giant clone army of listeners teleporting in that was the cause! Or maybe it was that pesky Kilroy 2.0? Congrats Hutch! I look forward to hearing the new novel when it officially syndicates on September 26th.

You can subscribe, if you haven't already, by plugging this link into your podcatcher:

http://web.mac.com/wordherder1/iWeb/7Son/Subscribe.html

And if you somehow missed it, the complete run of 7th Son - Book One - Descent is up on J.C.'s website.

posted by Jesse Willis 9:50 PM -- (0) comments

 


Rick Kleffel's Agony Column podcast has a new interview with Charles Stross. Rick writes: "We covered all the high points that I suspect listeners will want to hear; space opera, economic genre fiction, gender bending and everything from the status of children in so-called Victorian London to Napoleonic space battles over far-flung planets, from the Cory Doctorow-like lead character of Accelerando to the status of children in so-called Victorian England."

Click to download the MP3 direct!

posted by Jesse Willis 9:01 PM -- (0) comments

 


I got the honor of meeting Bill DeSmedt author of the podiobook Singularity, at WorldCon! Bill just wrote in and said: "I promised to get back to you once I'd gotten the schedule for the final few episodes of the Singularity podcast worked out. The final 'episode' of the podcast will be a Q&A session with the author (me), hosted by Paul Fisher. Questions must be submitted before Oct 28th, and the best one wins an autographed copy of Singularity." Thanks Bill!

Here's the schedule:

Episode 41 (Ch 40: Project Report) -- 09/25 (Monday)
Episode 42 (Ch 41: The Singularity) -- 09/30 (Saturday)
Episode 43 (Ch 42: A Stitch in Time) -- 10/05 (Thursday)
Episode 44 (Ch 43: Le Mot Juste) -- 10/10 (Tuesday)
Episode 45 (Ch 44: Last Row on the Chessboard) -- 10/15 (Sunday)
Episode 46 (Ch 45: Mopping up) -- 10/20 (Friday)
Episode 47 (Epilog: The Bridge) -- 10/25 (Wednesday)
Q&A Episode -- 10/31 (Tuesday)

And you can check out Paul Fischer's new MP3 promo for Singularity HERE!

posted by Jesse Willis 6:39 PM -- (0) comments

 


The Plot To Save Socrates
By Paul Levinson; Read by Mark Shanahan
7 CDs - 10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Listen & Live Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1593160747
Themes: / Science Fiction / Time Travel / Cloning / Philosophy / Ancient Greece / Ancient Rome / Ancient Egypt / 19th Century New York /


"Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions;
but those who kindly reprove thy faults."
-Socrates (c.470 BC - 399 BC) Greek philosopher
2042 AD. Sierra, a young classics scholar has discovered a lost Platonic scroll. Its contents will lead her to attempt to trounce the awful punishment that was imposed upon Socrates, the pre-eminent philosopher of the golden age of Greece. Joining her is her fiance Max, her thesis advisor Tom, Alcibides (a famous Greek orator and friend to Socrates), 19th century New York publisher W.H. Appleton, as well as the famously talented inventor, Heron of Alexandria.

Levinson opens the novel well with grad student Sierra Waters discovering a lost Socratic dialogue. It is a terrific opening, and I think this is what got my hopes so high. This isn't a terrible novel, it just doesn't grab me like I wanted it to. It is, rather, a workman-like time travel adventure. I was hoping it would be something deeper. In terms of pace, there is at least one too many characters. And none of them, including Socrates, engaged me as they should have. This is doubly troubling considering that the ideas weren't sufficent for the novel length. Both the time travel itself and the mechanism of the time travel (a set of chairs created by a mysterious time traveler from the future) are sidelined and remain virtually unexplained. There are some interesting reveals sprinkled here and there and Levinson gives a decent twist-ending but it is only satisfying on one level and doesn't and fufil the promise I thought it had. I never became enraptured by the story. There are unfilled gaps in the narrative. It feels as if the novel were abridged, though the packaging copy assures me that it wasn't. The biggest single disapointment for me was the lack of more than a surficial philosophical content. Socrates reasons for allowing himself to be executed by an Athenian jury are only lightly touched upon. Levinson has an interest in philosophy, but Socrates and the Socratic method deserve a stupendous Science Fiction showcase and not this - a light adventure yarn. Had the spartan but solid contents of the plot been rendered to novellete or novella length the story would probably have worked far better. To his credit Levinson includes Socrates' distrust of the written word. The written word is fixed, something that can't be quibbled about as easily as can the thoughtful power of spoken word. Had Socrates known about audiobooks I think he'd have questioned the recorded word too.

Narrating duites on this one are by Mark Shanahan. Shannahan has a decent range, offering some distinction between the many characters. His job however was made more difficult than it should have been; Levinson's characters aren't fully dimensional. The narration is accompanied by sound effects and a situational background noise. I was disapointed with the inclusion of sound effects. If the text says "the doorbell rang." you don't need the sound effect of a doorbell ringing. If the narrator then reads the line "the doorbell rang." not only don't you need the sound of a doorbell ringing it interupts the flow of the story to include it. Less intrusive, but certainly no less unnecessary is the occasional inclusion of background noise designed to be appropriate to where a scene takes place. A pub, with a humm of clinking of glasses and the buzz of distant conversations, a seaside with the cry of seagulls and the slosh of waves. I get it, we're in a pub or on a beach. But the absence from the rest of the narrative makes these scenes stand out in a way they shouldn't and thus paradoxically distances the listener rather than drawing him or her in. The music is actually pretty good and definitely works better than the rest of the production details. The music fades in and out, bookending scenes. There are also one or two sentences that were missed in the final pass. Shannahan will read a line, and then read it again.

Upon reading other reviews scattered around the net I see that more people seem to have become caught up in the novel than I did. I envy them. I wanted to like this novel a lot more than I did. One reviewer pointed out that Levinson's characterization and was like that of Isaac Asimov's. I don't disagree, I just think that was one of Asimov's few weakness. Another reviewer pointed out how well constructed the chronology of the time travel was. Again, I don't disagree, it was well woven. Maybe my problem is that most of my favorite time travel stories are of a much shorter length. If that is your problem too, bear that in mind joining in on The Plot To Save Socrates

posted by Jesse Willis 12:15 PM -- (0) comments

 


Starship Sofa is a very cool podcast from the UK. The hosts, Tony and Ciaran, are into the literature side of Science Fiction and are determined to ramble, and very intelligently, about some of their favorite retro authors and movies. Their format is a little looser than the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas podcast, which is very much a mirror to Starship Sofa, Ciaran and Tony are far more likely to stray off topic than are Summer, Joe and David. They often talk about who was born a particular year a novel came out, what films were playing that year and what was happening in the news at the time. Occasionally I find myself enjoying their rambling, (I dig Momento too guys) but mostly I find myself wanting to spin ahead to the topic on offer. Despite these reservations, I enjoy Starship Sofa immensely and think you all might too...

Shows so far:

Show # 1: Classic Author: Alfred Bester |MP3|
Show # 2: Classic Author: John Brunner |MP3|
Show # 3: Classic Author: Algis Budrys |MP3|
Show # 4: Classic Author: Cordwainer Smith |MP3|
Show # 5: Classic Author: Stanislaw Lem |MP3|
Show # 6: Classic Film: Dark Star |MP3|
Show # 7: Classic Author: Philip K. Dick (Part 1) |MP3|
Show # 8: Classic Author: Philip K. Dick (Part 2) |MP3|
Show # 9: Classic Author: Philip K. Dick (Part 3) |MP3|

To subscribe to the podcast plug this feed into your podcatcher:

http://starshipsofa.libsyn.com/rss

Labels: Alfred Bester, Algis Budrys, Corwainer Smith, John Brunner, Philip K. Dick, podcast, Stanislaw Lem

9:16 AM -- (0) comments

 


Of Fire and Night: The Saga of Seven Suns Book 5
By Kevin J. Anderson; Read by David Colacci
16 CD's or 2 MP3-CDs - 19 hours - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9781597372176 (CD), 9781597372213 (MP3-CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Space Opera / Military / Colonization / Alien Races / Political Intrigue / War /

In the science fiction/fantasy world, it's not uncommon to be presented with the distinct challenge of writing a review of a middle volume of an ongoing saga without revealing anything that might spoil the previous volumes for potential readers. I'm very enthusiastic about this worthwhile series, though, so the job is made easier. In short, I've enjoyed all five books in the Saga of Seven Suns to date, and this volume in particular.

The Saga of Seven Suns is an epic space opera by the prolific Kevin J. Anderson. As the fifth volume in the epic, Of Fire and Night has much backstory and a couple of volumes to go before the story ends. In this book, humankind faces serious odds in a war against the Hydrogues, an alien race that lives inside gas giant planets. As faction after faction turns against the humans, things are dire indeed. Political and military maneuverings amongst humans and aliens are the order of the day here as humanity fights for their very survival.

Other players include the faeros, who are beings that live in suns. The Green Priests who are changed humans that are able to communicate with each other through the living World Tree, no matter where they are. The Roamers, a human faction of space dwellers that are determined to be separate from the Earth-based Hansa, but are called back into the fold by the threat to all humanity. And the enigmatic Ildyrians, whose entire history is collected in a book called "The Saga of Seven Suns". In this universe, Anderson has created a long list of compelling characters and a darned good story.

Following this now for five volumes (all available on audio - the first two from Recorded Books and the rest from Brilliance Audio), this series has lived up to the hopes I had for it. It is thoroughly entertaining, and I find myself eager for the next volume, which is due next year. Anderson turns up the heat with each book, and juggles the many ingredients of the saga like a masterful chef. I highly recommend the entire series. It's science fiction that has the "kick your shoes off and settle in" quality of an epic fantasy.

David Colacci is also masterful in his narration, and I'm not using that word lightly. I find him on par with some of the best narrators out there. He was as engaging and entertaining as any narrator I've heard throughout this long audiobook. There are some readers that I very much look forward to hearing, and Colacci is now on that list.

And a tip of the hat to the sound engineers. At times, Colacci's voice is enhanced, like when a hydrogue is speaking, for example. I've said over and over again on this site how terrible a mistake it is to do that in an unabridged novel, and yet here it is, perfectly done. The vocal enhancements were sparse and completely effective.

In addition, each audiobook after the first in the series has a "the story so far" segment of significant length (20+ minutes of detail). I appreciate that very much as I've listened to the audiobooks as they've been released, around a year apart. I checked, and the segment is indeed part of the print version of the books. I found it a particularly helpful part of each audiobook, and am glad it was included.

LINKS

Saga of Seven Suns section of Kevin J. Anderson's website

Audio Sample of this book from Brilliance Audio

posted by Scott D. Danielson 6:40 AM -- (0) comments

 


An SFFaudio contributor, code named "Esther," has pointed out that Record Brother Blog also has a couple of other spoken word albums posted. One by Arthur C. Clarke and one by Aldous Huxley!

Transit Of Earth and The Nine Billion Names of God Read By The Author Arthur C. Clarke
By Arthur C. Clarke; Read by Arthur C. Clarke
3 Mp3 Files (from an original 33 1/3 LP Record) - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Caedmon
Published: 1975
Product #: TC-1566

Click HERE for the Record Brother post, the three files are at the bottom.


Aldous Huxley's Brave New World
By Aldous Huxley; Performed by Aldous Huxley and a Full Cast
2 Mp3 File (from an original 33 1/3 LP Record) - [RADIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Pelican Records
Published: 1979
Product #: LP-2013



This is a CBS Radio Workshop Theatre of the Mind production, with Aldous Huxley performing as the narrator and with an original score is by Bernard Herrmann. It was originally broadcast in two parts on January 27th and February 3rd, 1956. The liner notes on the hard copy are by Ray Bradbury, and recall his interactions with Huxley.


Get both parts by following these links:

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World SIDE 1 & SIDE 2

Esther also recommends listening to Huxley speaking about modern (1962) techniques for controlling human behavior at the UC Berkeley's MEDIA SITE.

There's a Real Audio (streaming) link to his March 20, 1962 lecture,
"The Ultimate Revolution" and also separate links to the program and Q&A.

Thanks Esther!

posted by Jesse Willis 2:17 PM -- (0) comments

 


The Time Traveler Show podcast #7 is available for download now. The featured tale is a short story by Andre Norton entitled The Mousetrap. The reader is Rick Stringer from Variant Frequencies. Mousetrap was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction's June 1954 issue. Also included in this episode is a panel discussion with Sarah Zettel, Anne Harris, John Scalzi and Tobias Buckell that was recorded earlier this month at the Kerrytown Bookfest in Ann Arbor, Michigan.


The Mousetrap
By Andre Norton; Read by Rick Stringer
1 MP3 File - [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: September 2006
Podcast: TheTimeTravelerShow.com



To read the complete show notes for podcast #7 click HERE or download the show MP3 directly by clicking HERE.

And if you haven't already subscribed do so by placing this feed into your podcatcher:

http://www.timetravelershow.com/shows/feed.xml

posted by Jesse Willis 1:11 PM -- (0) comments

 


Check out this slick new podcast - The Secret World Chronicle, created by Mercedes Lackey and Steve Libbey. What is The Secret World Chronicle? From the website:

The Secret World Chronicle is a braided novel series created by authors Mercedes Lackey and Steve Libbey. It takes the “superhero” concept back into its pulp roots, but with a modern science fiction approach. Pretend that comic books never took hold of the superhero idea – that’s the Secret World concept.

They'll be podcasting weekly episodes of this SF/Superhero novel series (The Introduction and Parts 1 and 2 of the Prologue are up already), and here are the links:

Website: http://www.secretworldchronicle.com
Podcast Feed: http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/feed.rss

Enjoy!

posted by Scott D. Danielson 11:20 AM -- (0) comments

 


SFSignal.com has found a tasty Tolkien treat on the Record Brother Blog: "J.R.R. Tolkien reading and Singing his Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers/The Return of the King" This was originally released by Caedmon on LP in 1975 but was actually recorded by George Sayer, Tolkien's good friend, in 1952, prior to the trilogy's publication.

J.R.R. Tolkien Reading And Singing His Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, The Return Of The King
By J.R.R. Tolkien; Read and sung by J.R.R. Tolkien
2 Mp3 Files (from an original 33 ? LP Record) - [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Caedmon
Published: 1975
Product #: TC-1478

Record Brother has asked that syndicators only point to his blog post rather than link to the files directly, so GO HERE, to get the goodness.

Side 1: The Two Towers excerpts
Side 2: The Return of the King

"On side one we have Sam and Gollum discussing stewed rabbit (and fish and chips!). Tolkien is better by far reading the tales and songs of Treebeard and the Ents and expressing his (Tolkien's no less than Fangorn's) love of trees and sorrow at their destruction. But for me side two is the stronger, with a powerful and moving account of the Muster and Ride of the Rohirrim. Close your eyes and you are there with Merry amongst Théoden's host on the long ride to Mundburg."

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

 


Dragons of the Dwarven Depths: The Lost Chronicles, Volume I
By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, read by Sandra Burr
13 CDs, 1 MP3 disc – 15 hrs [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9781423316107 (CDs), 9781423316121 (MP3 disc)
Themes: / Fantasy / Epic Fantasy / Heroic / Sword and Sorcery / Magic / Adventure /

In an untold story from the War of the Lance, the companions have saved the refugees of Pax Tharkas and led them to a hidden valley. For a time they are safe, but the forces of the Dragon Army are in pursuit.

This novel takes place after the first Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. The story starts with a large ensemble of characters already in place. Along with the refugees that these characters have saved, they must choose a path for escape. The Draconian army is still strong and hungry for vengeance against the rebels. The best path for the group is to send a small group to the underground dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin, where they hope to find shelter for the winter for their party, and also find the legendary Hammer of Kharas.

As a reviewer it's important to tell you that this is my absolute first exposure to the Dragonlance universe. This book is very much a sequel of sorts. Although it's the first book of a trilogy, it's filling in the untold tales of Dragonlance's first trilogy.

This book is not a good jumping-on point to the series. It took effort to pay attention through the early parts of the book, because characters are introduced in quick succession. After you get to know the characters (and they separate into smaller groups) the listening becomes much easier.

Looking at the cover, it would be foolish to expect more than a Tolkienesque fantasy. And that's exactly what you get. An adventure with a pantheon of familiar fantasy creatures as well as humans. The characters all had distinct traits and their own motivation. The evil characters are just that - evil - yet interesting. But more interesting was that many of the characters on the side of good came in various shades of gray.

My favorite element of the audiobook was listening to the excellent performance of Sandra Burr. She has a pleasant narrative voice. She creates many unique voices for the menagerie of characters. Not only does she have to do the dialog of mostly males, but many are not even human. Her voice characterizations helps the listener sort out all the different inhabitants of the novel.

The writing of this book had to present some difficulties for the authors. The characters all have a past and future in other books, so there are many restrictions that would have to be adhered to for the sake of consistency and continuity. As a new reader to the series I did not get a sense that the characters were being "shoe horned" into a contrived story. In the end, the story kept me engaged, and for fans of the Dragonlance books, I'm sure it's a welcome addition.

posted by The Time Traveler 2:28 PM -- (0) comments

 


Chrysalis
By Ray Gross; Performed by a Full Cast and a Narrator
1 Mp3 File - 2 Hours 6 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: AudioCinema.com
Published: 2006
Themes: / Science Fiction / Science / Religion /

GRAHAMScience is the purest form of religion.
Struggling genius Graham Godfrey, together with his select team of young discoverers, is led from Georgetown University to the mysterious Bainbridge Institute by his ambitious uncle in a quest to harness a new quantum energy source. But the project takes an unexpected turn and unfolding events thrust Graham into his haunted past where a dark secret shrouds an unspoken family tragedy.

Audio Cinema's Chrysalis is a screenplay done for audio - when you listen what you'll hear is a new hybrid - you could think of it as a complete table reading of a film script by the cast of a film prior to the filming. Added to the reading are a soundtrack and sound effects. A narrator reads all the non-dialogue lines in the script, in an conspiritorial, almost whispering, voice. The character's lines are all performed by individual actors. Sound effects and music accompany the action. Now you might think this sounds like audio or radio drama, but it isn't, nor is it a full cast reading of a novel, instead it is something I've never heard before, a completely new thing. This is a movie screenplay 9/10ths of the way to completion - a complete movie without the visuals. The experience is comparable to listening to the Descriptive Visual Service® found on some WGBH (PBS) television dramas.

The script is interesting and the production moves along at a nice clip. There are few, difficulties here and there, the narrator mispronounces "facade," one or two other minor things ruffle the experience. I quite liked the ideas. The plot is thoughtful and in some respects echoes like a happier version of Theodore Sturgeon's short story Microcosmic God. In structure it's like the 1983 film WarGames. I worry about the format though. I'm a fan of audio tracks of film and tv. Sometimes the narration, the sound of the story, will tip you to things you'd have missed in the visual landscape. If you take the audio track from Babylon 5 and just listen to an entire show you'll get 90% of the story. Stories, good stories, are idea driven, whether it is narration or dialogue, good ideas come from the soundtrack not the visuals. The ideas in Chrysalis resonate. I don't need to see the movie of Chrysalis, I've heard it.

posted by Jesse Willis 9:50 PM -- (0) comments

 


Spider Robinson has great news! On top of his upcoming Blackstone Audio release, Variable Star, Spider writes: "...after I finish recording The Stardance Trilogy [for Blackstone], they’re going to let me read [Robert A. Heinlein's] Rocket Ship Galileo - the first book I ever read in my life."

[props to SciFiDimensions.com]

11:45 AM -- (0) comments

 


VirtuallyAudio.com is a website that offers streaming media samples of their for for-sale products, though it appears the Virtually Audio or some variation on it has been around for several years there is only one SFFaudio related show available there at the moment. A sample chapter of their Science Fiction "audio comic book" series Sectarian Wave is available in the aging RealAudio format. One hough they note there are other shows in the pipe including one called Darwin 's Law which they describe as "a X-Files Styled Western," and Emily which is touted as "a futuristic adaptation of Charles Dicken's, Oliver Twist."

Sectarian Wave
By Maninder Chana; Performed by a FULL CAST
Real Audio - [AUDIO DRAMA]
Started: July 2006
Status: Underway
For more information you can visit the official website.


Unfortunately there is no RSS feed or podcast for this site's stuff. I'm very surprised that there are any sites still using RealAudio when it is so unfriendly to portable media players.

11:11 AM -- (0) comments

 


My head may explode from happiness...

I finally spotted them on Amazon.com:

"Shadows Kingdoms is the first volume of The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, presenting all of Howard's Work from the classic magazine Weird Tales, meticulously restored to its original texts. This volume begins with Spear and Fang, Howard's first professional fiction sale, and concludes with Red Thunder, a gripping sword & sorcery tale. Series characters present in this volume include King Kull and Solomon Kane. A 5 disc CD-Audio edition."

There is also a listing for an MP3 CD edition of the same volume!

The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Volume 1: Shadow Kingdoms
By Robert E. Howard; Read by ????
5 CDs or 1 MP3-CD - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wildside Press / Audio Realms
Published: December 2006 / November 2006
ISBN: 0809562286 or 1897304129 (CD), 0809562278 (MP3-CD)
Stories include:
Two-Gun Musketeer: Robert E. Howard's Weird Tales an introduction by Mark Finn, Spear and Fang, In the Forest of VillefFre, Wolfshead, The Lost Race, The Song of the Bats, The Ride of Falume, The Riders of Babylon, The Dream Snake, The Hyena, Remembrance, Sea Curse, The Gates of Nineveh, Red Shadows, The Harp of Alfred, Easter Island, Skulls in the Stars, Crete, Moon Mockery, Rattle of Bones, Forbidden Magic, The Shadow Kingdom, The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune, The Moor Ghost, Red Thunder

And perhaps even more exciting....

Original Stories Of Conan The Barbarian Volume 1: The Phoenix And The Sword
By Robert E. Howard; Read by ????
5 CDs - Approx 5.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wildside Press / Audio Realms
Published: October 2006
ISBN: 0809562766 or 1897304080 (CD), 0809562758 (MP3-CD)
Stories included:
The Phoenix On The Sword
The Scarlet Citadel
The Tower Of The Elephant
Black Colossus
Gods Of The North

We knew that Fred Godsmark over at the hideously awesome Audio Realms was working on some audiobooks of Robert E. Howard's works, but the official availability on Amazon makes them orderable! Place your preorders people, the bigger the pre-order demand, the more likely we are to get Volume 2 in each series faster.

2:02 PM -- (0) comments

 


Audiofy Audiobook Chip

Amongst other titles, Audiofy has re-released a number of Simon and Schuster's well-produced Star Trek titles on Audiofy Audiobook Chips. What's an Audiofy Audiobook chip? Well, it's an SD chip with an audiobook on it. In my little world, the SD chip works with my laptop (which is my main computer - I'm typing on it now) and my Pocket PC. I inserted the chip first in my Pocket PC, and the audio started to play automatically after asking me if it was OK to do so. After about 15 minutes, I stopped the playback and put the chip in my laptop, where it resumed right where it was playing on the Pocket PC.

Anti-DRM folks will not be pleased to find that the chip is not just a collection of MP3 files - in fact, a quick exploration of the contents of the chip didn't provide me a clear idea of where the audio files actually are on the chip. The player that plays the files is contained on the chip, and it will work in Pocket PC's, Palm Pilots, Macs, Smartphones, and PC's. They also have an application on the chip that allows for easy transfer of the audio to an iPod.

Overall, I had a good experience with the Audiofy Audiobook Chip. It did what I wanted it to do - played the content, bookmarked where I was from device to device, and sounded pretty darned good - the sound is not of the highest quality, but it's certainly more than adequate. They are easy to use and are definitely space savers.

Apart from the many Star Trek titles, Audiofy offers some excellent audiobooks in their science fiction collection. Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin of Souls and Curse of the Chalion are there, along with The Consciousness Plague by Paul Levinson, several from Edgar Rice Burroughs (Mars and Tarzan), Roger Gregg's superior audio drama The Last Harbinger, and a couple of Spider Robinson's Callahan novels.

ADDENDUM: I didn't explain that picture very well... ok, not at all. What you have there is the Audiofy Audiobook Chip version of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Imzadi by Peter David, read by Jonathan Frakes. You can see the chip itself, and a credit card-sized holder for when you are not using it. The shiny round silver thing is a quarter, provided for perspective. Of course, if you don't know how big a quarter is, I suppose it won't help much. --sd

posted by Scott D. Danielson 11:02 AM -- (0) comments

 


This just in from the Master of all things cloned, J.C. Hutchins:

Find the world of 7th Son ... in-world

Six months ago, the 7th Son sci-fi podiobook trilogy began: Seven clones were ripped away from their "normal" lives to hunt a ruthless criminal -- the man they were cloned from, the man who masterminded the assassination of the President ... John Alpha.

Listeners met John, Father Thomas, Kilroy 2.0, Michael and the other Beta clones. They watched the conspiracy of John Alpha emerge. It was all a story, it wasn't real.

But for one night ... it will be.

On Saturday, Sept. 23, 7th Son fans can become a part of podcast history. They'll enjoy an exclusive sneak peek of 7th Son, Book Two: Deceit. It's the first-ever launch party for a podcast novel in the online community Second Life, and everyone's invited. Folks can meet author J.C. Hutchins in-world, and listen to interviews about Book Two they won't find anywhere else. Listeners will learn about the upcoming novel, and get hints of the plot twists to come. They'll even get to hear the first chapter of Deceit days before it's released as a podcast.

And they'll see fiction given dimension. In-world, 7th Son fans can step into the memorable "Womb" cloning chamber from Book One: Descent, where the story's heroes were born. Fans can see the clones. They can be a clone. It's a new life, there in Second Life.

The party starts at 7 pm Second Life time (10pm EST, 7pm PST) on Saturday Sept. 23, at the Podcast Island. Podcast Island is the Second Life community of Podcast Pickle. As always, the 7th Son experience won't cost you a dime -- all you need is a Second Life account, available for free at secondlife.com.

Fans joined the Descent. Now they can fight the Deceit. All are encouraged to visit Podcast Island at 7pm SL time on Sept. 23 to experience 7th Son for the first time ... a second time.

7th Son, B