Pendant Productions, founded and executive produced by writer/director/actor Jeffrey Bridges has released the first in a nine episode crossover series scattered among their three superhero audio dramas:

"IMPERIUM" incorporates three Pendant shows; Superman: The Last Son of Krypton, Batman: The Ace of Detectives and Wonder Woman: Champion of Themyscira in a story spanning three months and nine episodes. The first show in the crossover appears in "issue" 25 of Superman: The Last Son of Krypton...

Superman: The Last Son of Krypton (Issue 25 "Onslaught") - Part 1 of 9 of the "IMPERIUM" Crossover
1 MP3 - Approx. 16 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: Pendant Productions - Superman: The Last Son of Krypton
Podcast: January 30th 2007

From the tattered remains of Themyscira to Gotham City and Metropolis, Earth is under attack from a horde of parademons that can't be stopped! Even the mightiest of heroes must band together and take the fight to the source... Darkseid!




Podcast feed:

http://www.pendantaudio.com/superman-podcast.xml

And be sure to watch out for the subsequent issues:

FEB 14 - Batman 13 (Imperium 2)
FEB 21 - Wonder Woman 13 (Imperium 3)
FEB 28 - Superman 26 (Imperium 4)
MAR 14 - Batman 14 (Imperium 5)
MAR 21 - Wonder Woman 14 (Imperium 6)
MAR 28 - Superman 27 (Imperium 7)
APR 11 - Batman 15 (Imperium 8)
APR 18 - Wonder Woman 15 (Imperium 9)

posted by Jesse Willis 12:47 PM -- (0) comments

 


Remember all the Choose Your Own Adventure stories from when we were kids? I was completely addicted to them myself. Well, the official site is now offering (for a $9.99 fee) its first adventure in an audio format for the iPod.

The Abominable Snowman is read by series author and founder R. A. Montgomery, and includes color illustrations and sound effects.

Get more information at the Choose Your Own Adventure Shop HERE.

posted by Dani Cutler 12:22 PM -- (1) comments

 


The Magic Tree House Collection
By Mary Pope Osborne; Read by Mary Pope Osborne
5 CDs - 5 Hours 40 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Listening Library
Published: 2001
ISBN: 0807206121
Themes: / Fantasy / Children's Fantasy / Time Travel / Magic / Dragons / Knights / Pirates / Prehistoric /

This delightful children's fantasy series features Jack and Annie. They're siblings that find a tree house full of books. By opening the books the children are transported across time and space. This collection contains the first eight books of this popular kids series. In each book the children find themselves going to a different place. The books contained in this audiobook are:

1. Dinosaurs Before Dark
2. The Knight at Dawn
3. Mummies in the Morning
4. Pirates Past Noon
5. Night of the Ninjas
6. Afternoon on the Amazon
7. Sunset of the Sabertooth
8. Midnight on the Moon

Each book's setting contains the tropes you'd expect to find. So in Pirates Past Noon, for instance, you have pirates, sailing ships, booty and treasure maps. There are story arc's that stretches over a number of the books. The first concerns—who is the owner of the Magic Tree House.

Mary Pope Osbourne does a wonderful job of narration. Her pacing is excellent and her voice characterization are right on the mark. She has a gentle, soothing voice that children will love.

If you know or have a young person, of about five to ten years old, that you want to turn on to audiobooks, this audio collection is a perfect introduction. For my eight year old, we used it as part of our bedtime story ritual. I've bought the books so we can read along some nights. Other nights we take turns reading the books out loud.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show 11:57 AM -- (0) comments

 


Under The Graying Sea is a HARD SF novelette which appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in February, 2006. Here's the teaser:

Tessa and her partner Loránd are on a maintenance mission: Enter a man-made wormhole. Fortuitously, the two pilots' bodies have been reinforced to withstand up to 24 gravities each. But a malfunction causes life-threatening injuries to Loránd. Stranded over two light years from Earth and forced to wait for their return window, Tessa keeps herself busy by checking the wormhole anchor, only to discover that multiple and unexpected course adjustments have been made.

Under The Graying Sea
By Jonathan Sherwood; Read by Mur Lafferty
3 MP3s - Approx. 72 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Jonathan Sherwood's Gramophiction
Podcast: January 2007

Download the complete novelette directly, PART 1 |MP3| PART 2 |MP3| PART 3 |MP3|, or if you'd prefer to get the podcast, plug this feed into your podcatcher:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/JonathanSherwoodsGramophiction

If you like the story, you can vote for it on Asimov's 2006 survey which runs until February 1st 2007.

posted by Jesse Willis 10:39 AM -- (0) comments

 


The Stonehenge Gate
By Jack Williamson; Read by Harlan Ellison
7 CDs - 8.5 hours - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9780786146550 (Cassette), 9780786174119 (MP3-CD), 9780786167784 (CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Stargate / Journey / Slavery / Evolution / Aliens /

Click here for audio sample.

This is Jack Williamson's last book, at least it's the last book published in his lifetime. The man has had a long career, a very long career. Jack's first story was published in the fairly new Amazing Stories in 1928. Jack has been able to adapt his fiction to the changing and maturing literature that we call Science Fiction, again and again.

One admirable quality of Jack's work that remained consistent over the nine decades in which he wrote, was his ability to tell a good yarn. His stories can always hold your attention, and he never forgot to have a beginning, middle and an end. This may sound like a trait that all writers should have, but it is really not the case. This always kept Jack's works above the average SF writer.

In The Stonehenge Gate, we have four poker buddies that find a gateway into other worlds. The four characters are academics who are excavating a site under the sands of the Sahara. Will is an English Professor who narrates the story. Ram is an African professor who has a strange birthmark that mimics the shape of the Stonehenge Gate that they find. Stranger still is that the birthmark seems to be hereditary.

They soon pass into many new worlds throughout this novel. The majority of the novel takes place in a world inhabited by a preindustrial society with institutionalized black slavery. The characters have to grapple with functioning in this world while supporting abolishinest causes. There's a dark quality to this part of the journey that has more than a passing nod to Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness.

Harlan Ellison's narration is spectacular. This is likely the only audiobook that is written by one SF Grand Master and read by another. Of course, there aren't any SF Grandmaster's that have also won an Audie award like Harlan has. Harlan throws himself into his acting. He's energized and seems to be convincingly living the parts he's portraying to a greater degree than can be said of most voice actors.

How does this book stack up against the rest of the Williamson cannon? I don't believe this is one of Jack's best books nor one of his lesser efforts. Placing it somewhere in the middle. But in the case of Jack, that's a pretty damn good book.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show 10:31 AM -- (0) comments

 


Roy, our U.K. correspondent writes in to lament the imminent cancellation of Jerry Stearns' Sound Affects: A Radio Playground from Minneapolis/St. Paul station KFAI's schedule.

I couldn't believe it so I went and checked myself. HORROR of horrors Roy is right, there is a small note on Jerry Stearns' website noting that Sound Affects is set to be terminated in March 2007.

It seems that KFAI has decided that "there is no audience for audio theatre"!!!

Programs aired on Sound Affects just in the past year have included:

-Anne Manx On Amazonia which we called "...funny, action-packed, and touching."

-The Red Panda Adventures which we said was "...a super-fun diversion delivered in delicious half-hour doses. "

-The Adventures Of Red Cloud which we described as "very entertaining."

-The Parsec Award nominated Falcon Banner series.

-The Last Harbinger which we said was "setting the highest of standards for fantastic audio drama."

Roy writes "This is rather sad and alarming. I keep a close eye on this website as it is one of the best sources for 'New Time' SF/Fantasy productions and often comes up with things that I have not found elsewhere. It will be greatly missed."

If you too are Sound Affects listener, and think that they are making a mistake, send the station's Program Director, Dan Richmond, an email and let him know your feelings on the subject! He can be reached at: richmond@kfai.org

posted by Jesse Willis 9:26 AM -- (3) comments

 


Roy, our UK correspondent, has written int to remind me of a repeat broadcast of Desert Island Discs (a show in which celebrities list and discuss their favorite music) that will be airing on Friday (Feb. 2nd @ 9:00am) with guest of Science Fiction author Brian Aldiss. Guests of the show are asked to choose the eight records they would take with them to a desert island. Due to music rights issues this show is NOT AVAILABLE through the 'Listen Again' service, so one has to 'tune in' or listen via live stream RealAudio.

In more straightforward listening, Roy also tells us that a new production of a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's proto-Science Fiction story The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde that will be upcoming on BBC Radio 4's 'Saturday Play' slot...

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde
By Robert Louis Stevenson; Performed by a FULL CAST
Radio Broadcast - Approx. 60 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Saturday February 3rd 2007 @ 14:30 (U.K. Time)

And, you can look for this one on the 'Listen Again' feature the day after it airs.

posted by Jesse Willis 9:00 AM -- (0) comments

 


Liz Bulkley of New Hampshire Public Radio's The Front Porch show recently ran a profile of "Speculative Fiction." Guests include New Hampshire residents and writers James Patrick Kelly and Maren Tirabassi. Download the 30 minute|MP3|!

"Science Fiction writers and readers often make big distinctions between the subgenres within their craft. We're going to explore part of that world tonight with authors James Patrick Kelly and Maren Tirabassi. Kelly's newest book Burn has been nominated for a Nebula Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Maren Tirabassi is a former poet laureate of Portsmouth, a pastor in the United Church of Christ, and the author or editor of eleven books. She presents programs as part of the New Hampshire Humanities Council on 'Faith and Fantastic Fiction.'"

[via SF Signal]

posted by Jesse Willis 10:20 PM -- (0) comments

 


7th Son Book II: Deceit, the second book in J.C. Hutchins' popular podcast novel series is set to conclude in March. To get you juiced about subscribing there will be celebrity cameos for each installment culled from the realms of Science Fiction publishing and television. Each episode a guest reader will recap the novel's previous events, bringing listeners up to date on the story so far. Guest recappers will include authors Nick Sagan, Kevin J. Anderson, Alan Dean Foster, Cory Doctorow, Helen Keier and actress Gigi Edgley!

Subscribe by plopping this link into your podcatcher:

http://www.jchutchins.net/7thSonPodcast.xml

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

 


Circus 13 Productions is a new amateur audio drama co-operative offering original and Fan-Fic shows. The group appears to be modeled on the successful Pendant Productions and Darker Projects audio theater groups, offering a mix of Fan-Fic and original series voiced by amateur actors. A difference I've noticed in their X-Men series Circus 13 makes extensive use of narration.

Shows with episodes out already include:

Assault A pair of thieves, decide to break into A.T.L.A.S. Labs, the most high-tech laboratories in the world, to steal some "toys" so they can sell them and live like kings the rest of their lives.

Quest For The Passion Stone A young man discovers he is the third incarnation of an already twice dead hero of a secret world called the Underhollow. It exists alongside, and sometimes in the "real" world.

Truck A bounty hunter traveling through time and space in order to track down the worst of the worst.

Circus 13 Presents An anthology series.

X-Men: Days of Future, Past! An adaptation of Chris Claremont and John Byrne's comics tale.

James Bond: Casino Royale Bond is on a mission to neutralize a lethal, high-rolling Russian operative called simply 'Le Chiffre'.

Also in the works are two more Fan-Fic shows: Doctor Who and Iron Man!

All programs can be downloaded from the website in MP3 format. So far, there's only one podcast feed (for Assault):

http://circus13productions.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

posted by Jesse Willis 12:59 PM -- (0) comments

 


Maureen O'Brien, of the Maria Lectrix podcast is working on yet another public domain Science Fiction novel. Maria writes:

"Yes, I’m starting another short SF novel. I can’t help myself! It’s the perfect SF form! And hey, it’s a 1962 novel that’s in the public domain!

The Lani People by J. F. Bone has an unusual protagonist — a veterinarian fresh out of school in the far future. It’s another example of a theme that seems to have been in the air in the early sixties and seventies — who counts as human? And how can we live with ourselves, if we define someone human as less?"

It sounds cool huh? After all the chapters are finished we'll post a link to where you can find the complete novel. If you'd like to follow along while these readings progress subscribe by plugging this feed into your podcatcher:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/MariaLectrixAudiobookClub/

posted by Jesse Willis 12:52 PM -- (0) comments

 


Open Source with Christopher Lydon, the Public Radio International show, has an informative discussion on "The History Of Utopias".
Download the show |MP3|

We are more interested in the long history of Utopias (and dystopias, their evil twins) — and how they’ve always reminded us about our most urgent desires, dreams, fears, and obsessions. These stories are nothing new: from Eden and Plato to Swift and More, from Orwell to Skinner to Dick to Atwood, we’ve been imagining the best (and worst) of all possible worlds for a long, long time. And those imaginings have obviously changed a lot over time.

Subscribe to the podcast:

http://www.radioopensource.org/wp-rss2.php?cat=18

posted by Jesse Willis 7:01 PM -- (0) comments

 


Episode six of this slick fan-fic audio drama miniseries is up and ready for download! This completes the entire 6 episode miniseries based on Joss Whedon's Firefly television show.

You can download all 6 episodes directly:

Episode 1 "Nothin's The Best Thing" |MP3|
Episode 2 "All Alone In The Black" |MP3|
Episode 3 "The Hub" |MP3|
Episode 4 "Religiosity" |MP3|
Episode 5 "Faith" |MP3|
Episode 6 "The Mail Job" |MP3|

or subscribe to the podcast feed:

http://serenityfirefly.com/firefly_old_wounds_rss.php

posted by Jesse Willis 6:37 PM -- (0) comments

 


The geordie boys at the StarshipSofa podcast have scored an interview with Stephen R. Donaldson! If you have any questions for the man who wrote such novels as The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story, Lord Foul's Bane and The Runes Of The Earth email in you questions by February 4th 2007.

Send them to: starshipsofa@googlemail.com

posted by Jesse Willis 2:34 PM -- (0) comments

 


BBC7's the 7th Dimension will be airing another original Doctor Who radio drama this Sunday.

Doctor Who – Phobos (an 8th Doctor Adventure)
By Eddie Robson; Performed by a Full Cast
Streaming Audio / Listen Again - Approx. 1 Hour [RADIO DRAMA]
BROADCASTER: BBC7
BROADCAST: Sunday at 6pm and midnight (U.K. Time)
The Tardis lands on Phobos, one of the moons of Mars - where the extreme sports athletes of the future indulge their passion for gravity-boarding and wormhole-jumping. But there's something lurking in the shadows, something infinitely old and infinitely dangerous. It's not for nothing that 'Phobos' is the ancient word for 'fear'...

This will be available via the Listen Again service the day after it airs. And it will be released on CD by Big Finish in May 2007 (ISBN: 1844352595).

posted byJesse Willis 11:25 AM -- (0) comments

 


The Forever War
By Joe Haldeman; Read by George Wilson
8 CDs - 9.5 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 1999
ISBN: 0788739832
Themes: / Science Fiction / Hard SF / Military SF / War / Time Travel / Aliens / Love /

“Tonight we are going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man.”

The guy who said this was a sergeant who didn’t look five years older than me. So if he’d ever killed a man in combat, silently or otherwise, he’d done it as an infant.

This is Vietnam all over again but now it’s in space. In a world where dreams come true and Science Fiction has become part of the School's National Curriculum, then Joe Haldeman's The Forever War becomes compulsory reading material. It's little wonder it sits at No.1 on Gollancz list of "Science Fiction Masterworks." And rightly so. Here is a story still fit and ready for duty thirty-three years after winning the Hugo award for "Best Science Fiction Novel."

William Mandela is a gifted and brilliant college student and so is ideal fodder for the army's war against an unknown alien race called the Taurans. Mandela is drafted into a harsh training program that kills more recruits than it can mould into soldiers. He is educated and trained to the highest of army standards, becoming one of Earth's elite foot soldiers in a war against the alien Taurans. He is also a reluctant soldier caught up in this futile war, a war Earth’s economy can not do without. Add to this collapsars, light speed travel, time dilation, ever changing societies and you have Science Fiction at it’s flawless.

Read by George Wilson with the skill of a seasoned veteran. His voice never invades your senses or pulls you away from the gripping tale Haldeman has delivered, and that’s crucial for an audiobook. Wilson got his start in broadcasting as a news director with American Forces Radio and Television in Thailand. He was also instrumental in forming an improvisational comedy group that performed in New York theaters and nightclubs.

The Forever War was first serialized by the science fiction magazine, Analog. Its then editor, Ben Bova, thought the middle section was just too harsh in its descriptions of war and war life, so Haldeman drafted a more mellow alternative and it’s this edition that was used in the book’s first full publication.

There are any number of occurences Haldeman has used in The Forever War from first hand knowledge. He severed in Vietnam as a combat engineer and both Haldeman and his protagonist, Mandela returned fron war to very different attitudes than the ones they left behind. Haldeman knows war, knows it up close and bloody (3 men in his 4 man unit were blown to bits in an ordinance explosion). Haldeman can also identify the boredom that inevitably comes between the battles. In combat situations his descriptions are raw. And like Mandela, every word of The Forever War had to fight to survive under Haldeman’s brutal editorship.

Everyone… here are your instructions. You are to listen to The Forever War ASAP – and that’s an ORDER!

posted by Tony Smith from StarShipSofa 1:53 PM -- (0) comments

 


Over 6 months in the making...



Thistlechick, a LibriVox Admin, spearheaded the campaign for this multi-reader audiobook. She reads the first 4 chapters herself and other LibriVox participants pick up the baton from there. Warlord Of Kor was originally published in 1963 as half of an Ace Double (# F177). It's an interplanetary adventure in which humans probe the mysteries of the planet Hirlaj and the few remaining aliens who live there.

Warlord Of Kor
By Terry Carr; Read by various readers
10 Zipped MP3 Files - 3 Hours 26 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox
Completed: January 19th 2007
Backward world -- or secret outpost of another galaxy? ...Now they would attempt further to discover the forbidden directives of Kor. Horng remembered, somewhere far back in the fossil layers of his thoughts, a warning. They must be stopped! If he had to, he would stamp out these creatures who were called 'humans.'

I had listed this novel on our first SFFaudio Challenge, but it doesn't qualify because of the multiple narrators. Warlord Of Kor by Terry Carr, is still, therefore, listed on the challenge list. Thistlechick sez: "I completely mispronounced the main character's name throughout my readings... and I suspect that some of the alien names will be pronouced differently by everyone... you are welcome to pronounce the names however you like, or you may download and listen to one of my recordings to hear how I have pronounced them... but I'm not splitting hairs on this one" If someone wants to take up a single voiced reading for our challenge, we should probably first get a good answer on how to pronounce the names: "Hirlaj, Rynason, Malhomme and Horng." Anyone have any opinions?

posted by Jesse Willis 1:33 PM -- (0) comments

 


Joe Haldeman, an Adjunct Professor of Writing at MIT, and future SFWA Grand Master (if there's any justice) has recorded a lengthy lecture/discussion on "The Craft of Science Fiction." Recorded at MIT's Bartos Theatre back in November 2006.

In the piece Haldeman reads a section from his upcoming Time Travel novel The Accidental Time Machine, the plot for which plays at MIT itself. Joe also talks about the history of Science Fiction, and his own work in it. Really fascinating!

Follow this link |RealAudio| to hear it for yourself.

[via SF Signal]

posted by Jesse Willis 1:27 PM -- (0) comments

 


Maureen O'Brien, has wrapped up another public domain Science Fiction novel and posted it on the Internet Archive!



You may remember Maureen from her readings of H. Beam Piper's classic Science Fiction novel Little Fuzzy, (find that one HERE) and Stanley G. Weinbaum's The Dawn Of Flame (find that post HERE). I'm really looking forward to listening to this one!


Star Hunter
By Andre Norton; Read by Maureen O'Brien
13 Zipped MP3 Files - [UNABRIDGED]
PODCAST: Maria Lectrix
COMPLETED: January 2007
Ras Hume's an Out-Hunter, but once he was a star pilot. Now he's found the perfect way to get revenge against the company that blacklisted him. All he needs to do is brainwash some kid into thinking he's the shipwrecked heir to the company fortune, and let his off-world safari members 'find' the fake-castaway. But something on the safari planet is hunting humans....

posted by Jesse Willis 12:10 PM -- (0) comments

 


Mark Nelson, the prolific narrator who's leading the pack in our SFFaudio Make An Audiobook Challenge informs me that he's also got a short story collection in progress!

He's calling it Five Sci-Fi Short Stories by H. Beam Piper and the collection includes, surprise surprise, 5 Science Fiction short stories by H. Beam Piper:

-The Answer (this one was on our 1st Challenge - it first appeared in Fantastic Universe Science Fiction, December, 1959)
-Temple Trouble (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1951)
-Police Operation (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1948)
-Flight From Tomorrow (A novelette from the pages of Future combined with Science Fiction Stories magazine, the September/October 1950 issue)
-Graveyard Of Dreams (from Galaxy Magazine's February 1958 issue)

And as usual I've made some art to go with the forthcoming release - oh, and in case you're wondering who that guy in the reticle is, that's H. Beam Piper himself:




In a related matter, I'm also going to pull one of the titles from the current challenge: Triplanetary by E.E. "Doc" Smith has been commercially released by Books In Motion. The idea behind the SFFaudio Challenge is to make audiobooks out of public domain books that are not already commercially available. In fairness though, if anyone has already started Triplanetary without claiming it, let me know when you complete it and I'll do a post up.

posted by Jesse Willis 8:39 PM -- (0) comments

 


Scott D. Farquhar from Prometheus Radio Theatre has written in to claim Star Surgeon by Alan E. Nourse, one of the titles from our first SFFaudio Make An Audiobook Challenge! Scott is aiming to finish it by the end of February, he says it should be completed by March at the very latest!

Here's the original 1959 bookjacket copy to get you intrigued:

When Dal Timgar, of all in his medical class, was denied assignment to a general practice patrol ship going out from Hospital Earth to serve the medical needs of the Galactic Confederation, it seemed to him that his eight years of study in the great medical center of the galaxy had ended in failure. He had worked hard and stood at the head of his class, but Dal was different from his medical colleagues in one important way. Born on a planet of a distant star, he was the first son of an alien race to attempt to become a qualified physician of Hospital Earth. Dr. Thorvold Arnquist, a power in Earth's medical council, is determined that Dal Timgar shall have an equal chance with his Earth-born classmates to prove his skill as a physician and to earn his rank as Star Surgeon. He succeeds in getting Dal assigned, under protest, to the patrol ship Lancet, where Dal is faced with the full responsibilities of a patrol physician as well as the hostility of some of his crewmates. As the Lancet responds to calls of all kinds on planets of distant and unknown star systems, Dal's skill and judgment as a surgeon are tested to the utmost. But it is not until he is confronted with a dreadful decision, which he alone must make, that Dal faces the final test--a test that will determine once and for all whether he is ever to become a Star Surgeon.

And here is our, now traditional, inspirational art:

I'm really looking forward to hearing this one Scott!

posted by Jesse Willis 11:33 AM -- (2) comments

 


StarshipSofa, has an unflinching look at fantasy mesmerist Neil Gaiman. The two part examination began last week and concludes Sunday with part 2. The hosts, Tony C. Smith and Ciaran O'Caroll have done their homework, digging up facts that illuminate the writings of the man in black.

Download the Neil Gaiman show Part 1 |MP3| and Part 2 |MP3|. Or subscribe to the feed for automated retrieval:

http://starshipsofa.libsyn.com/rss

As a point of interest - we've added StarshipSofa host Tony Smith to SFFaudio staff! Two of Tony's reviews have already posted and we're expecting more soon. Welcome aboard Tony!

posted by Jesse Willis 9:20 PM -- (0) comments

 


Scatterpod is umbrella podcast of a variety of audio projects from the creative mind of Michael Bekemeyer. An ongoing genre-blurring serial (Horror, Fantasy and SF) called The Dead Light District is now up to episode 12. I recently ask Michael to tell me about the series. This is what he had to say:

At first ScatterPod was going to be a place for me to be able to do any kind of podcast I wanted to do. I opted for a podcast where I could experiment and try things to see if they worked for me, or if they would interest other people as well. So, that’s where the name came from, ScatterPod, like scatterbrained. You know, all over the place.

But out of the idea for trying new and different things, I decided to podcast some original fiction. So, then came The Dead Light District. I am a filmmaker and predominantly spend most of my time writing screenplays. But, sometimes the trek between film projects is a a lengthy one and I wanted to write smaller, more narrative type short stories, if anything, just to keep the writing muscle in shape. Sort of like a weekly writing assignment. It's great bouncing ideas about with my wife, Michelle. She has some great input on the show.

What came out was like nothing I had ever written before and I turned out to be a lot of fun writing these dark speculative tales about this sad place where strange and unexplainable things always seem to happen. I started out with what eventually became Chapter 1 and went from there. After a couple chapters, I had season one pretty much mapped out and am starting to map out season two right now. I try to make the presentation of the chapters a little more experimental as well. I don’t like doing the same thing over and over and over again. So, I started out fixing that by having some guest readers from podcasts I admire and from friends of mine that I thought might have an interesting spin on the a chapter. I’m still planning some of those, but mostly the chapters will be in my voice.

Overall ScatterPod and The Dead Light District are extremely satisfying to create and produce and we hope that people are having as much fun listening to them as we are working on them.

You can subscribe to the Scatterpod and The Dead Light District by pasting this line in your favorite podcatching device:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/scatterpod

And for iTunes

posted by The Time Traveler 12:16 PM -- (0) comments

 


Jack Mangan's cult variety show Jack Mangan's Deadpan has a two-podcast spanning interview with Speculative Fiction author John Shirley. Shirley's latest novel The Other End gets discussed. The idea of which is Shirley's fictional indcitment of the seemingly endless Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins Left Behind series. Tune in for the interview, stay for the deadpan.

Download Part 1 |MP3| and Part 2 |MP3| (Podcasts number 41 and 42) to hear the complete interview.

Subscribe, and stay hip, with this feed:

http://www.jackmangan.com/podcast.xml

posted by Jesse Willis 12:54 AM -- (0) comments

 


The Time Traveler Show podcast #12 is up and ready for download. It features an author who we're going to be hearing a lot of fiction from over the coming months, namely SFWA grand master Lester del Rey. The story is called Spawning Ground, it first appeared in the pages of "If" magazine (the September 1961 issue).

del Rey started near the beginning, in the pulp magazines during the 1930s. Along with Robert A. Heinlein, he pioneered the "juvenile" novels that became so popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His name is probably best known because of his own SF imprint at Ballantine, del Rey Books.

The Time Traveler Show's reading is by the English narrator (he's an author and podcaster too) Paul S. Jenkins. Check out this gorgeous art that goes with it!


To read the complete show notes for podcast #11 click HERE or download the show MP3 directly by clicking HERE.

To keep the show automatically downloading, subscribe to the podcast feed:

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

posted by Jesse Willis 12:29 AM -- (0) comments

 


The Fluted Girl
By Paolo Bacigalupi ; Read by Shodra Marie
1 CD - 62 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1884612369
Themes: / Science Fiction / Technology / Society / Politics /

The Fluted Girl huddled in the darkness clutching Steven’s final gift in her small pale hands. Madam Balarie would be looking for her. The servants would be sniffing through the castle like feral dogs.

Everything is possible in Paolo Bacigalupi's The Fluted Girl. All you ever wanted is here but it all has a price, and often the physical cost is just way to steep. Cell knitters, Revitia treatments and stolen body parts, halt, stop, and improve all manner of the human body. And the goal here… simply to improve one’s social standing in Bacigalupi's decadent future world. Enter into this world of capitalistic dreams, twin girls. With a lifetime of treatments behind them they are now ready to take to the stage as human flutes in a performance that should delight everyone. That is, everyone except the twins.

From the moment Shondra Marie’s voice submerses you into this world you are dreading the final outcome. With Marie’s voice and Bacigalupi's guidance you are unable to leave this story until the final outcome has been spoken. This is a tale that lingers…well after the hour is up and it is well advised to re-play this one, just to catch all the hints and tricks Bacigalupi uses to make this such a moving tale. Infinivox has unearthed an exceptional gem of a story here in The Fluted Girl and with their production they’ve polished it to a fine diamond. Well done. Listen to this story if only to see the opulent world that Paolo Bacigalupi's has created but once you’re there… you’re in until the end… that I promise.

[Editor's note: Infinivox is now offering an MP3 download for The Fluted Girl and 6 other recently released audiobooks - and they're even DISCOUNTED!]

posted by Tony Smith from StarshipSofa 8:56 PM -- (0) comments

 


If you like Science Fiction and you haven't managed to catch a single episode of Prisoners Of Gravity, I pity you. I really do. The show was awesome. It was produced between 1989 and 1994 for TV Ontario (and syndicated sporadically across North America) - each episode was like an extended blog entry (before there was such a thing). The topics, each episode only had one, focused on a particular theme found in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and comic books.

The bulk of an individual show would be just 'talking heads' - it was an interview format show with multiple celebrity guests of the best kind, mostly SF&F authors. Each guest would talk about the subject at hand with the interviews having been done at conventions, bookstores and the like - but I can't stress enough just how each show was so narrowly focused on a specific theme in Speculative Fiction. Here's just a few of the episodes subjects:

Alternate Histories, Religion, War, Dreams, Watchmen (yup a whole show on the Alan Moore comic series), Cyberpunk, World-Building, Death, Vampires, Dinosaurs, Metamorphosis, Mars and many more.

What made the show so endearing, besides the absolutely stunningly cool content, was the unrelentingly geek-o-serious production. The show's host, played by comedian Rick Green, was supposed to be a frustrated über-geek named Commander Rick, who had, prior to the show starting, fled the earth in his homemade rocket (packed ful of books and comics). Unforunately for the Commander, he crashed into a television satellite, from which he now broadcasts his show. His only companion there is Nan-Cy, the sardonic artificial intelligent computer system that keeps Rick alive and relatively sane.

If this shows sounds interesting, or you're feeling nostalgic, click on over to my good friend Rachelle Shelkey's fansite, Signal Loss, and have a peek around. No official DVDs are available, but there's a message board and episode trading might be doable now with the promulgation of cheap DVD-Rs. I myself am sending Rachelle my entire collection of VHS tape, in the hopes I will be getting some episodes I've never seen before. If you have some episodes contact Rachelle! If we can get enough people interested maybe we can get a complete series run!

Now for the audio|MP3|. It is the first 5 minutes from an episode of Prisoners Of Gravity on the subject of Science Fiction Fandom. Enjoy!

posted by Jesse Willis 8:47 PM -- (1) comments

 


I am extremely pleased to announce that...

Mark Nelson, the narrator of our 1st place entry in our "Make An Audiobook, Win An Audiobook Challenge" has also scored 3rd place!

Late Monday evening I received an email from Mark with a link to his reading of The Cosmic Computer by H. Beam Piper. This exahusts the three original awards I alloted for the the challenge. I didn't expect to have this happen - heck, I wasn't even sure that I'd even get a single taker for the challenge, let alone have three finished novels within the space of 2 months. Boy, was I ever wrong! And I couldn't be more pleased about it.

This challenge has yielded 3 complete and unabridged Science Fiction audiobooks from the public domain. Because of this I am determined to cook up another challenge list.

In the meantime, be sure to check out this brand new audiobook that will be a boon to audiobook readers of the Science Fiction persuasion...

The Cosmic Computer
By H. Beam Piper; Read by Mark Nelson
11 MP3s or 11 OGG Files - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox
Published: COMPLETED January 15th 2006
Conn Maxwell returns from Terra to his poverty-stricken home planet of Poictesme, “The Junkyard Planet”, with news of the possible location of Merlin, a military super-computer rumored to have been abandoned there after the last war. The inhabitants hope to find Merlin, which they think will be their ticket to wealth and prosperity. But is Merlin real, or just an old rumor? And if they find it will it save them, or tear them apart?

Congratulations again Mark and thanks!

posted by Jesse Willis 8:31 PM -- (1) comments

 


Roy, our UK correspondent, points out that BBC Radio 4 has two classic genre tales, the latter of which is read by Fawlty Towers' own Andrew Sachs - you remember him que?

The Pit And The Pendulum
By Edgar Allen Poe; Read by David Horovitch
1 reading - 15 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Monday 15th January (15 mins).
Look for it on 'Listen Again' under Afternoon Reading.
David Horovitch reads Edgar Allen Poe's spine-chilling tale of torture
Use the Afternoon Reading "listen again" service to hear the story.

Metamorphosis
By Franz Kafka; Read by Andrew Sachs
Five 15 Minute readings - [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Monday 15 - Friday 19 January 2007
Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. The horrified reactions of his employer and his family have made this haunting parable on the human reaction to suffering into one of Kafka's most famous and best loved works.
Use the Book At Bedtime "listen again" service to catch the entire reading.

posted by Jesse Willis 11:54 AM -- (0) comments

 


For many years, I have been an avid listener and collector of movie soundtracks. And, no, I am not talking about the cross-marketed album of songs played only over the end credits; I mean the film's underscore, the instrumental (and sometimes choral) music supporting the on-screen story. In other words, I was the guy who bought the Danny Elfman Batman album with the tiny little Batwing on the cover instead of the big Bat-symbol - emblazoned Prince album.

It is likely impossible to know just what genetic quirk results in a soundtrack aficionado, but the nature of the market certainly plays a role in making many of us collectors as well. While the past ten years or so have been very kind both in new soundtrack releases and reissues of old classics, soundtracks still occupy a small niche in the overall music market. Many albums are produced in small quantities and become instant collectors items.

Well at least I know I have a grundle of soundtrack CDs. And I used to listen to them constantly. How could one ever grow tired of the symphonic range of Basil Poledouris's Conan The Barbarian, the peaceful melancholia of John Barry's Dances with Wolves, and, yes, the thunderous charges of Elfman's Batman? Given the irritations of tiny playlists and commercials on FM radio, I almost always had a couple discs in the car. My driving soundtrack was a constant companion ... until my CD laser died.

Le Morte d'CD Deck

I first noticed the occasional skip on the odd CD in my car. I began to have to eject and reinsert discs to play them all the way through. Then, it came: A complete and utter refusal to read any disc. The deck was dead.

My first impulse was to drive to the nearest electronics store and demand that they install a new deck immediately. However, I took a deep breath and began to ponder the alternatives.

You see, for years, my father had expressed an interest in satellite radio, especially after XM, one of the two current satellite providers (the other being Sirius), landed the exclusive satellite rights to Major League Baseball. I had been giving thought to buying him a radio for Christmas, and had already done some preliminary legwork, so I knew a little about the service.

I had been pleasantly surprised at how cheap even the fancier radios are, including ones with advanced features such as VCR-like, timer-based recording. Both Sirius and XM frequently offer discounts and rebates, so that the hardware cost of entry is actually very reasonable. This leaves subscription fees as their prime source of revenue, and these did give me pause. As of early 2007, XM and Sirius service are both priced at $12.95/month, and, even with a long-term agreement, my own service is just a hair under $12.

Of course, the fact that XM just happens to have a channel devoted to movie soundtracks helped their case considerably.

XM Channel 27: Cinemagic

I have had an XM radio for almost a year now, and it is tuned to channel 27, Cinemagic, probably seventy-five percent of the time. In fact, I am listening to it right now. Cinemagic basically plays movie scores 24-7. There is an interview show called Reel Time, and another show titled PopFlix that actually plays songs used in movies (instead of the underscore, the horror!), but the rest of the time is devoted to soundtracks from a wide variety of movies.

And it is not just well-known soundtracks like Star Wars and Titanic either. For example, ever see a great little horror movie by the name of Re-Animator? Well, somebody at XM has, so you will hear the score pop up from time to time (controversy over its "inspiration"? from Herrmann's Psycho notwithstanding). How about fan favorite Somewhere in Time? Yup, plays quite often. Golden Age classic The Adventures of Robin Hood? Check. I became officially impressed when some of Halloween director John Carpenter's synthesizer music made an appearance late one night. Speaking of Halloween, Cinemagic recently aired a 100-hour block of Horror movie scores, another testament to the depth of their library.

Of course, new soundtracks are also featured. Reel Time plays snippets from the movies it profiles, and scores to new movies generally arrive the week of the movie's release. It is a great way to preview new soundtracks, particularly those for movies I am not sure I want to fork over eight dollars to see.

Full and fair disclosure: Cinemagic does incorporate movie dialogue with some of their music, widely considered a cardinal sin in the film score world. However, as the dialogue is played only as separators between tracks, I have granted a personal indulgence to XM. The nasally-voiced lady who introduces the film segments is more problematic.

As this article is being written for a Science Fiction and Fantasy - friendly audience, I suppose I might also mention a new show called Hi-Fi / Sci-Fi. Hi-Fi / Sci-Fi devotes an hour each week to SF and horror movie music, usually following some kind of theme (e.g., recent shows have covered the entire Star Trek movie franchise).

Cinemagic in general is very kind to SF and fantasy movies, and I think many genre fans will find the channel of interest. Here are some other channels fans might enjoy:

Channel 163: Sonic Theater

Billed as providing "pictures in your head,"? Sonic Theater features Radio Dramas, comedy shows, and audiobook excerpts, with special emphasis given to SF and detective stories. Some shows do have commercials, true of much third-party content on XM, although many are commercial free.

Shows of particular interest for the SF fan are:

-The Twilight Zone - Classic episodes adapted for radio, featuring full casts and Hollywood voice talent, along with music and sound effects. Have not caught any episodes myself, but I would like to. http://www.twilightzoneradio.com/

Radio Tales - An award-winning series presenting adaptations of literary classics, often from the genres of SF, fantasy, and horror. I caught an hour-long Journey to the Center of the Earth that was quite good, if a bit compressed. http://www.radiotales.com/

-Alien Worlds - SF drama among the stars. The one episode I caught ("Deathsong"?) is without a doubt one of the stranger things I have ever listened to (and I own albums by both Leonard Nimoy and Wesley Willis), but check it out if you are so inclined. J. Michael Straczynski, of Babylon 5 fame, is listed as contributing to some episodes. http://www.alienworlds.com/

-Slice of SciFi - A weekly talk show dealing with media SF topics, including movies, television, conventions, and whatever else is going on. The show is decently polished, the hosts are opinionated, and the episode I listened to was wide ranging and entertaining, featuring an interview with some of the surviving cast of Forbidden Planet. http://www.sliceofscifi.com/

Channel 164: Radio Classics

Radio Classics replays old-time radio shows: think Burns and Allen, The Shadow, Dragnet, and The Jack Benny Program. Genre material, including suspense, Horror, and detective stories, are in frequent rotation, mixed in with the lighter comedy and variety programs.

Two shows of interest:-The Shadow - Nearly seventy years on, many still remember the classic opening of this series. The mentalist crimefighter returns to cloud minds on satellite radio.

-Lights Out - A classic series of psychological horror tales, often with supernatural elements.

Closing Arguments

After saying all of these nice things about XM, I guess I ought to pick at least a couple nits. The first is that frequent listeners will notice the use of playlists, chiefly in the form of pre-sequenced sets of music. Many of the music channels are nearly repetition free, but others, including Cinemagic, have a robot in the booth the majority of the time. Generally, though, I have found that the nice surprises of new, unheard music outnumber the repeats.

A second nit has to do with the current pricing schemes. Unfortunately, both XM and Sirius charge subscription fees for each and every radio in use. While both offer discounted fees after the first radio, these still make a somewhat expensive service even pricier. A fully wired satellite radio does indeed provide sound superior to FM radio (although even my untrained ear hears the occasional artifact from the compression used in transmission), but the best wired options mean separate radios for each listening environment (i.e., car, home, etc.). I went with a portable receiver to avoid the extra radio fees, but, alas, was not completely able to duck additional expense, as using the built-in FM transmitter in my car resulted in (surprise) an FM level of static. I got back to crystal clear sound only after purchasing a couple expensive cables. With satellite TV generally throwing in multi-room service these days, it might be nice if satellite radio would allow home and car for one price.

Complaints aside, however, I have no regrets about making the jump to satellite radio. While I was not initially terribly keen to add yet another monthly fee, the relatively low cost of hardware dulled that pain, which proved to be well worth it. I enjoy the steady stream of specialized listening at the push of a button, without having to program from my own music collection. Reception in my area is very good, no doubt due to the proliferation of ground-based signal repeaters across the U.S. I can even listen in areas without direct line of sight to the southern sky, including my condo's underground garage! And, the lack of commercials ain't bad either; here's hoping pay radio can stay commercial free longer than pay TV did.

Final note: Sirius and XM both offer three-day trials via Internet radio, if you are on the fence. See http://www.sirius.com/ or http://www.xmradio.com/.

posted by Christopher Primeau 11:35 AM -- (2) comments

 


Steven Gould, much lauded author of the recently KAMN'd novel Jumper has released his first ever sold story as two MP3 files. We like this writer, his only other audiobook release so far is Reflex, the sequel to Jumper. Read a review of that audiobook HERE.

The Touch Of Their Eyes
By Steven Gould; Read by Steven Gould
2 MP3s - [UNABRIDGED]
|PART 1 of 2|PART 2 of 2|
Released: January 9th 2007
Originally published in Analog Science Fiction's September 1980 issue. Read the surprising origins story surrounding this tale on Gould's group blog: Eat Our Brains.

[Thanks to SFsignal for the tip-off]

posted by Jesse Willis 12:39 AM -- (0) comments

 


Podiobooks.com has just posted the now completed audiobook of Badge Of Infamy by Lester Del Rey. This means that this reading by Steven H. Wilson of Prometheus Radio Theatre is our 2nd place winner in our FIRST "Make and Audiobook, Win An Audiobook Challenge." Steven will be contacted by email and asked which of the remaining two incentive prizes he'd liked delivered to him by mail.

In a related matter, looking over at the forums on LibriVox I note that The Cosmic Computer by H. Beam Piper also appears to be aiming at a release in the very near future!

Steven has also informed me that Badge Of Infamy will also be uploaded to LibriVox sometime in the near future. And perhaps most exciting of all Steven writes:

"I also have some more good news on the public domain SF front: Four of my cast -- Marty Gear, Cindy Woods, June Swords and Paul Balze -- have all stated their intent to record an audio book for Prometheus to release in the coming year. You and I know that this is easier said than done, but I'm thrilled that there's so much interest in my group alone, and we do have a record for finishing projects, albeit slowly sometimes. So I'm hoping to have a modest increase in freely available SF audio on the horizon."

WOW! Let me be the first to say it then - Marty, Cindy, June, Paul, you folks ROCK!

Steven, congratulations and let me offer you a big thanks from everyone who will be enjoying Badge Of Infamy now and in perpetuity.

Badge Of Infamy
By Lester del Rey; Read by Steven H. Wilson
15 MP3s - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Status: RELEASED (January 14th 2006)

Daniel Feldman was a doctor once. He made the mistake of saving a friend's life in violation of Medical Lobby rules. Now, he's a pariah, shunned by all, forbidden to touch another patient. But things are more loose on Mars. There, Doc Feldman is welcomed by the colonists, even as he's hunted by the authorities. But, when he discovers a Martian plague may soon wipe out humanity on two planets, the authorities begin hunting him for a different reason altogether.

posted by Jesse Willis

Labels: computers, Lester Del Rey, science fiction, SFFaudio Challenge

2:28 PM -- (0) comments

 


CBC Radio One's excellent author focused show Writers & Company had a timely and in-depth interview with P.D. James on Sunday. Best known as a crime writer, James is getting some deserved attention for her novel The Children Of Men because of the current film version.

Writers & Company is hosted by the always insightful Eleanor Wachtel. I'm still dismayed that Writers & Company and Wachtel's other progamme (The Arts Tonight) still aren't podcast.

You can listen to this interview via RealAudio HERE (skip ahead to the 38 minute mark).

While I really appreciate that CBC is podcasting, I love it in fact, I am less than thrilled it isn't podcasting enough. ABC Radio Australia, with a total of budget just short of $100 million, currently has more than 120 different podcasts. CBC has fewer than two dozen English language podcast programmes but has a $1.3 billion budget. Australia, with two-thirds the population of Canada, has 5 times as many podcast from their national public radio service. That's a wonky disparity. CBC, streaming audio is passé - time for more podcasts!

posted by Jesse Willis 1:50 PM -- (0) comments

 


Plus Deck 2
5.25" PC Audio Tape Cassette Drive
OS Environment: MS Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Manufacturer: Axxen Co. Ltd
Manufactured: 2004-2006
UPC: 8809080112120

"The PlusDeck 2 is a full-logic cassette deck for your PC. Use it to archive your old cassette tapes of 80s hair bands into digital media files for playback on your PC."

That ain't exactly what I planned on using it for. I originally bought the Plus Deck 2 for $192.60 CDN back in spring 2004. I had dreams of turning my old audio cassette audiobooks into CDs (now they'll go straight into MP3s for use on my iPod). But those dreams turned into a nightmare about an hour after the thing arrived. This is due not to the hardware itself, the hardware is pretty simple to install, works very well and looks cool doing it. The problem was all with the software. The software is designed to let you control the device from an on screen interface, it does this but poorly the recording software itself is very, very buggy. Worse still, the error messages are all in Korean! Consulting the manual doesn't help much either, the manual is in English but was translated from Korean by someone who didn't know English very well. I thought that a lot of my problems stemmed from the fact that I had first installed it on my Win98 machine. It was supposed to work with Win98, but it didn't, at least not on my setup. So it sat there, doing very little but looking pretty for more than 2 years. I was pissed off, $192.60 and the thing doesn't do what it was designed for. And it isn't like I didn't try, I had been diligently updating with the latest software (currently at version 3.25) surfing around the web for other user's fixes. But there was no love. I hypothesized that all the problems stemmed from some incompatibility with Win98, so I figured I do have an XP machine, but because the Plus Deck 2 will only fit into a standard 5.25" bay I didn't have any room for it until I swapped out my XP machine into a more capacious case. So I did it, got a new case installed everything and tried the software with WinXP. Nope, it still doesn't work to any consistent standard of reliability. I've given up trying to get the Plus Deck 2 software working for recordings. Instead I've been using the hardware in combination with a third party's software (Audacity 1.2.6) - this way I can get great recordings out of the hardware - but I have to be there to switch the recording off.

The Plus Deck 2 is designed to convert any audio cassette into either a digital audio MP3 or WAV. Using the third party's software I can get great recordings out of the hardware. It can also just play cassettes, which it did on my Win98 machine as well - but it also has a neat feature not found easily elsewhere it can record any computer sound to cassette. Now I must offer a strong caveat to any person who might be interested in that last feature. I have the original Plus Deck 2. If you go out looking for a Plus Deck now you'll want to make sure you know the difference between the Plus Deck 2 and the Plus Deck2c. The newer Plus Deck2c does everything the regular Plus Deck 2 does, except it doesn't record sounds to cassette from the PC.

So why buy this thing at all? Well, it has a certain advantage over regular cassette to PC connections. If you can get the official software to work, I haven't but maybe you can, the Plus Deck 2 can be set to record a file from one side or both sides of a cassette and do it virtually automatically. It will also monitor the recording for you and stop recording when the tape is done. This means you wouldn't have to be there to watch it. In the end it also means you can turn your old fashioned audio cassette audiobooks into mp3s or CDs relatively hassle free.

posted by Jesse Willis
1:44 PM -- (0) comments

 


Here's an interesting premise for a podcast: A course on the creation of Fantasy worlds. The Imaginary Worlds: Shakespeare and Dragons podcast is designed to foster, in its listeners, the techniques and methods for weaving a rich and immersive Fantasy world. The host is an English teacher who intends to use a literary approach to building a world filled with strong characterization, classic themes that will allow for functional plot structures. This is the English class you wish you had in school.

Worldbuilding Ep. 001: World of the Story |MP3|
Worldbuilding Ep. 002: Power of Tone and Emotional Effects on the Story World |MP3|
Worldbuilding Ep. 003: Economy of the World and the Needs of the Characters |MP3|
Worldbuilding Ep. 004: Objectives of Worldbuilding and an Introduction to the Designer’s Workshop |MP3|
Worldbuilding Ep. 005: Premise of Your Story World |MP3|

Want to audit the course? Subscribe to the feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ImaginaryWorldsPresents

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

 


In Our Time is a BBC Radio 4 podcast that covers the "big ideas" of our age. Each week the host, Melvyn Bragg, and three guests investigate the history of the ideas on a topic and debate their application to modern life. On offer this week is the history of Life on Mars |MP3| here's the description

"For centuries there has been fierce debate about whether there is life on Mars and from the 19th century it was even thought there might be a system of canals on the planet. This insatiable curiosity has been fuelled by writers like H.G. Wells and C.S. Lewis and countless Sci-Fi films about little green men. So what do we know about Mars – its conditions, now and in the past? What is the evidence that there might be water and thus life on Mars? And when might we expect man to walk on its surface?"

Subscribe to the podcast:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/downloadtrial/radio4/inourtime/rss.xml

posted by Jesse Willis 4:59 PM -- (0) comments

 


Audio Renaissance starts a bold new series, and at 30 hours long so will you be...

Off Armageddon Reef
By David Weber; Read by Oliver Wyman
25 CDs - 30 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Published: January 2007
ISBN: 1427200653
Humanity pushed its way to the stars—and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out. Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild. But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary measures: with mind control and hidden high technology, they’ve built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, a religion designed to keep Safehold society medieval forever.


What's next for Michael Crichton? Yes...

Next
By Michael Crichton; Read by Dylan Baker
CDs - [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: November 2006
ISBN: 006087306X
Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction—is it worse than the disease?The audiobook also includes an interview with Crichton!


Written by a 15 year old, who sold it to the movies! Now here's the true test of his success, the audiobook...

Eragon