The SFFaudio Podcast #163 – NEW RELEASES/RECENT ARRIVALS

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #163 – Jesse, Tamahome, and Jenny (from Reading Envy) talk about newly released and recently arrived audiobooks.

Talked about on today’s show:
please send Jenny audiobooks for review, a lack of a listing of the short stories on audiobooks, kudos to Welcome To Bordertown, George R.R. Martin’s Warriors II and Down These Strange Streets (urban fantasy), Jenny is reading around the world in 52 books, Tigana is sort of Italian, future releases, Happy Audiobook Month, audiobook sale at Tantor, Nick wants Redshirts by John Scalzi, coming soon on Audible, Audible Modern Vanguard, Colin Firth narrated the Graham Greene novel The End Of The Affair, Redshirts has three codas (short stories), Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter’s The Long Earth, Flood, Discworld has giant turtles, Good Omens is great in audio, Stephen Baxter is doing a Doctor Who (The Wheel Of Ice), Gregory Benford’s free audio novelette The Hunger For The Infinite is part of the Galactic Center series, sort of like I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, sheer amount of David Brin audiobooks, Jenny might read Kiln People, how do Scott and Jesse truly feel about David Brin? (Jesse’s review of Startide Rising), the value of awards, The Greatest Science Fiction Stories Of The 20th Century has a good Brin and others, (Ben Bova was in the news not David Brin), The Postman book and movie, “if you build it they will come”, Heinlein’s Glory Road narrated by Pinchot, it’s one of Jo Walton’s least favorites, How To Build An Android also narrated by Pinchot, Alastair Reynolds’s Blue Remembered Earth, reviewed by Luke, Heinlein’s The Number Of The Beast (666?), Moonwar by Ben Bova, 21st Century Dead (zombies), Jenny’s collecting subgenres, Daniel Wilson’s Amped (1st three chapters on io9), someone stole that title, Energized by Edward M. Lerner sounds like Paolo Bacigalupi, Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312, separate chapters like the Nova tv show, Red Mars, super science!, Jonathan Maberry, Robert Bloch’s Psycho series, “did he escape?”, H.G. Wells stuff added, Etsy 101: Sell Your Crafts On Etsy, Jenny wants N.K. Jemisin’s The Killing Moon in audio, Liz Williams’s Worldsoul has librarian heroes, “X-men meets The Breakfast Club”, Sfsignal’s book cover gallery for June, is body horror the same as splatterpunk?, Postmodern Science Fiction and Temporal Imagination looks like a Jenny book, The Islanders by Christopher Priest (author of The Prestige), waiting for international books, Paul McCauley’s In The Mouth Of The Whale is not in America, “I would buy the ebook”, small fonts, William Gibson is only in mass market paperback, many Philip K. Dick novels with plain covers, the value of book covers, “it’s like a good looking person”, “that screams I am a literary miracle”, Edwin A. Abbott’s Flatland, get the annotated one, Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You! A Very Grimm Tale by Yuri Rasovsky (audiodrama), so many fairy tales, a superficial interest in Further: Beyond The Threshold by Chris Roberson, a law that a bookcover should be honest, “that’s enough on that”, C.S. Friedman?, Adam-Troy Castro is not always super creepy, Paul Krugman’s End This Depression!, he was just on Geek’s Guide, “oh that kind of depression”, Justinian’s Flea, The Most Powerful Idea In The World, The Swerve: How The World Became Modern, author on The Bookworm podcast, Chuck Wendig’s Blackbirds, “I’m sensing a pattern with your reading, Tam”, Delany interview, Delany’s Nova, Tigana is the Sword and Laser pick for June

cover for Chris Roberson's Further: Beyond The Threshhold

Posted by Tamahome

Recent Arrivals: Blackstone Audio, Brilliance Audio, Infinivox, Tantor Media + Audio Comics

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

A half-vampire’s work is never done…

Fantasy Audiobook - At Graves End by Jeaniene FrostAt Grave’s End (Book 3 in the Night Huntress series)
By Jeaniene Frost; Read by Tavia Gilbert
8 CDs – Approx. 9.3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 9781441768988
Some things won’t stay buried … at grave’s end. It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger. As if that wasn’t enough, a woman from Bones’ past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.

Look no further for unknowable, inimical insectiles than…

The Lair of Bones (Book 4 of the Runelords) by David FarlandThe Lair of Bones (Book 4 of The Runelords series)
By David Farland; Read by Ray Porter
13 CDs – Approx. 15.4 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 9781441753120
Prince Gaborn, the Earth King, has defeated the forces arrayed against him each time before: the magical and human forces marshaled by Raj Ahten, who seeks immortality at any cost and has given up his humanity in trade; and the inhuman, innumerable, insectile hordes of the giant Reavers from under the Earth, whose unknowable motives are inimical to human life. Now there must be final confrontations, both on the field of battle, with the supernatural creature that Raj Ahten has become, and underground, in the cavernous homeland of the Reavers, where the sorcerous One True Master who rules them all lies in wait—in the Lair of Bones. The survival of the human race on Earth is at stake.

Like a few other titles in this list this one was discussed at the beginning of SFFaudio Podcast #088

Last Call by Tim PowersLast Call
By Tim Powers; Read by Bronson Pinchot
16 CDs – Approx. 19.1 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 9781441757364
Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player twenty years ago and hasn’t returned to Las Vegas, or held a hand of cards, in ten years. But troubling nightmares about a strange poker game he once attended on a houseboat on Lake Mead are drawing him back to the magical city. For the mythic game he believed he won did not end that night in 1969—and the price of his winnings was his soul. Now, a pot far more strange and perilous than he ever could imagine depends on the turning of a card. Enchantingly dark and compellingly real, this World Fantasy Award–winning novel is a masterpiece of magic realism set in the gritty, dazzling underworld known as Las Vegas.

To me, the word UFO illustrates both the magic and the deficiency of language. The gap between the “U” (UNKNOWN) and “alien spacecraft” is the slippage between word, reality, and fantasy in the black box of the brain. There’s a website for the book |HERE|…

UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go On the RecordUFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go On the Record
By Leslie Kean; Read by Heather Henderson
11 CDs – Approx. 13 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: October 2010
ISBN: 9781441776150
An Air Force major is ordered to approach a brilliant UFO in his Phantom jet over Tehran. He repeatedly attempts to engage and fire on unusual objects heading right toward his aircraft, but his missile control is locked and disabled. Witnessed from the ground, this dogfight becomes the subject of a secret report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. In Belgium, an Air Force colonel investigates a series of widespread sightings of unidentified triangular objects, sending F-16s to attempt a closer look. Hundreds of eyewitnesses, including on-duty police officers, file reports about the incident, and a spectacular photograph of an unidentifiable craft is retrieved and analyzed. Here at home, a retired chief of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Accidents and Investigations Division reveals the agency’s response to a thirty-minute encounter between an aircraft and a gigantic UFO over Alaska, which occurred during his watch and is documented on radar. Now all three of these distinguished men have written breathtaking, firsthand accounts about these extraordinary incidents. They are joined by Air Force generals and a host of high-level sources who have agreed to write their own detailed, personal stories about UFO encounters and investigations for the first time. They are coming forward now because of Leslie Kean, an investigative reporter who has spent the last ten years studying the still unexplained UFO phenomenon. Kean reviewed hundreds of government documents, aviation reports, radar data, and case studies with corroborating physical evidence. With the support of former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, Kean draws on her research to separate fact from fiction and to lift the veil on decades of U.S. government misinformation. Throughout, she presents irrefutable evidence that unknown flying objects—metallic, luminous, and seemingly able to maneuver in ways that defy the laws of physics—actually exist.

Dare you learn the lost secrets of the meow’in Mauan civilization?

Fantasy Audiobook - Catacombs by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann ScarboroughCatacombs: A Tale of the Barque Cats
By Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough; Read by Laural Merlington
7 CDs – Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 9781441838339
In Catalyst, award-winning authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough introduced listeners to the beguiling Barque Cats: spacefaring felines who serve aboard starships as full-fledged members of the crew. Highly evolved, the cats share an almost telepathic bond with their minders, or Cat Persons — until, suddenly, there is no “almost” about it, and a particular Barque Cat, Chester, learns to ex- change thoughts with his human friend, Jubal. Other cats soon gain the same ability. Behind the seeming miracle is a mysterious cat named Pshaw-Ra, who possesses knowledge and technology far beyond anything the Barque Cats — or their humans — have ever seen. When fear of a virulent plague leads the government first to quarantine and then to kill all animals suspected of infection, Pshaw-Ra—with the help of Chester, Jubal, and the crew of the starship Ranzo — activates a “mousehole” in space that carries the refugees to a place of safety: Pshaw-Ra’s home planet of Mau, where godlike cats are worshiped by human slaves. But Pshaw-Ra’s actions are less noble than they appear. The scheming cat plans to mate the Barque Cats with his own feline stock, creating a hybrid race of superior cats — a race destined to conquer the universe. Yet right from the start, his plans go awry. For one thing, there’s a new queen on Mau: Pshaw-Ra’s daughter Nefure, a spoiled brat — er, cat — with a temper as short as her attention span. Pshaw-Ra’s other daughter, the rightful queen Renpet, is exiled, running for her life in the only direction available to her — down into the vast catacombs beneath the Mauan desert. Far from receiving the hero’s welcome he expected, Pshaw-Ra must use every bit of his considerable cleverness just to survive. Meanwhile, as usual, Chester and Jubal stumble right into the middle of things, in the process uncovering the lost secrets of the Mauan civilization. But that’s not all they uncover. In the forgotten catacombs deep below the Mauan capital, something has awakened. Something as old as the universe. Something that hungers to devour all light and life — and that bears an undying hatred for cats.

An Epic Fantasy that’s only 4 hours long? That’s an epic I can get behind!

Fantasy Audiobook - Debt of Bones by Terry GoodkindDebt Of Bones (a book in the Sword Of Truth series)
By Terry Goodkind; Read by Sam Tsoutsouvas
3 CDs – Approx. 4 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 9781441886699
A milestone of storytelling set in the world of The Sword Of Truth, Debt Of Bones is the story of young Abby’s struggle to win the aid of the wizard Zedd Zorander, the most important man alive. Abby is trapped, not only between both sides of the war, but in a mortal conflict between two powerful men. For Zedd, who commands power most men can only imagine, granting Abby’s request would mean forsaking his sacred duty. With the storm of the final battle about to save the life of a child…but neither can escape the shadow of an ancient betrayal. With time running out, their only choice may be a debt of bones. The world – for Zedd, for Abby, for everyone – will never again be the same.

I feel kind of bad that I haven’t read any Bacigalupi other than The Fluted Girl. Is this my chance to atone?

Science Fiction Audiobook - Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo BacigalupiPump Six and Other Stories
By Paolo Bacigalupi; Read by Jonathan Davis, James Chen, and Eileen Stevens
11 CDs – Approx. 13 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 9781441892201
The eleven stories in Pump Six chart the evolution of Paolo Bacigalupi’s work, including the Hugo nominated “Yellow Card Man,” and the Sturgeon Award-winning story “The Calorie Man,” both set in the world of his novel The Windup Girl. This collection also demonstrates the power and reach of the science fiction short story. Social criticism, political parable, and environmental advocacy lie at the center of Bacigalupi’s work. Each of the stories herein is at once a warning and a celebration of the tragic comedy of the human experience.

This audiobook is getting very mixed reviews over on Amazon.com, many high, many low, but it’s length means I think it’ll be reviewed here soon…

Science Fiction Audiobook - The God Engines by John ScalziThe God Engines
By John Scalzi; Read by Christopher Lane
3 CDs – Approx. 3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 9781441890795
Captain Ean Tephe is a man of faith, whose allegiance to his lord and to his ship is uncontested. The Bishopry Militant knows this — and so, when it needs a ship and crew to undertake a secret, sacred mission to a hidden land, Tephe is the captain to whom the task is given. Tephe knows from the start that his mission will be a test of his skill as a leader of men and as a devout follower of his god. It’s what he doesn’t know that matters: to what ends his faith and his ship will ultimately be put — and that the tests he will face will come not only from his god and the Bishopry Militant, but from another, more malevolent source entirely… Author John Scalzi has ascended to the top ranks of modern science fiction with the best-selling, Hugo-nominated novels Old Man’s War and Zoe’s Tale. Now he tries his hand at fantasy, with a dark and different novella that takes your expectations of what fantasy is and does, and sends them tumbling. Say your prayers… and behold The God Engines.

I am sooo looking forward to hearing this…

Science Fiction Audiobook - The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You by Harry HarrisonThe Stainless Steel Rat Wants You (book 4 in the Stainless Steel Rat series)
By Harry Harrison; Read by Phil Gigante
5 CDs – Approx. 5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 9781441881267
After saving the world, diGriz is called on to save the universe. Liberating his two, now teenage, twin’ sons from a military boarding school and penitentiary, diGriz sets out to free his wife, who has been arrested by the tax men. But the family is soon fighting an enemy of a different sort, when the humans-only galaxy of the League is invaded by all manner of hideous aliens. The Rat, disguised in the most hideous combination of alien physical features, is sent into the centre of the aliens’ stronghold, where he finds himself the object of desire among the aliens. His task is to stop the aliens, who plan to wipe out every human in the universe.

John DeNardo, over on SFSignal.com, thought this audiobook worthy of 4/5 stars

Science Fiction Audiobook - Starship Vectors edited by Allan KasterStarship Vectors
Edited by Allan Kaster; Read by Nicola Barber and Tom Dheere
8 CDs – Approx. 9 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 1884612946
Starships come in many shapes and sizes. Their crews and passengers are an eclectic lot. They venture into the deep voids of space on their assigned missions. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they do not. This collection tells the stories of the crews and passengers aboard six of these starships. Those aboard the Mayflower II are determined to be the first generation ship to successfully reach another galaxy in a story (Mayflower II ) by Stephen Baxter that takes place in the Xeelee universe. In Boojum, by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, space pirates are on the prowl for booty aboard the living starship, Lavinia Whateley. In The Political Officer, by Charles Coleman Finlay, the crew aboard a military starship must contend with both the enemy and a political officer. In The Tomb Wife, by Gwyneth Jones, the navigator of the interstellar freighter, Pirate Jenny, hears a ghost from an alien tomb in its cargo hold. Two competitive physicists aboard the Kepler use uploads of themselves to probe the scientific mysteries of radiation-rich space in Shiva in Shadow by Nancy Kress. A wealthy woman explores the lives of the less fortunate aboard a starship larger than Earth in Robert Reed s The Remoras, part of the author s ongoing Marrow series.

The first book in a new “epic fantasy” trilogy about a war between men and griffins…

Fantasy Audiobook - Lord of the Changing Winds by Rachel NeumeierLord Of The Changing Winds (book 1 in the Griffin Mage series)
By Rachel Neumeier; Read by Emily Durante
9 CDs – Approx. 11 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: October 2010
ISBN: 9781400119714
Griffins lounged all around them, inscrutable as cats, brazen as summer. They turned their heads to look at Kes out of fierce, inhuman eyes. Their feathers, ruffled by the wind that came down the mountain, looked like they had been poured out of light; their lion haunches like they had been fashioned out of gold. A white griffin, close at hand, looked like it had been made of alabaster and white marble and then lit from within by white fire. Its eyes were the pitiless blue-white of the desert sky. Little ever happens in the quiet villages of peaceful Feierabiand. The course of Kes’s life seems set: she’ll grow up to be an herb-woman and healer for the village of Minas Ford, never quite fitting in but always more or less accepted. And she’s content with that path—or she thinks she is. Until the day the griffins come down from the mountains, bringing with them the fiery wind of their desert and a desperate need for a healer. But what the griffins need is a healer who is not quite human…or a healer who can be made into something not quite human.

Described as “‘Buck Rogers‘ meets ‘Barbarella‘ meets ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy‘”…

AUDIO DRAMA - StarstruckStarstruck
Based on the comic series and the play by Elaine Lee and Mike Kaluta; Adapted by Elaine Lee, Susan Norfleet and Dale Place; Performed by a full cast
2 CDs – Approx. 2 Hours 11 Minutes
Publisher: The Audio Comics Company
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9780615411439
The basis for the critically acclaimed comic book series, Starstruck was first presented off-off-Broadway in 1980, and again off-Broadway in 1983. In a far-flung and very alternative future, Captain Galatia 9 and the crew of the Harpy and on a mission for the United Federation of Female Freedom Fighters. When the Harpy runs into a living ship inhabited by a team of galactic evildoers, including Galatia’s insidious sister Verloona Ti, the outcome of the battle may well decide the fate of the free universe. The AudioComics Company is proud to present the audio adaptation of the play script as its inaugural production! Often hilarious, always surprising, Starstruck is a spine-tingling joy-ride to the far side of the spiral arm!

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Incomparable Podcast

SFFaudio Online Audio

The IncomparableHere is the first episode |MP3| of The Incomparable Podcast. It appears to be all about SFF books! Huzzah! Here’s the description:

Climb in your Zeppelin, grab a self-burning book, and prepare for the first Incomparable Podcast, in which we discuss “The City and The City,” “The Windup Girl,” “For The Win,” and more. Plus we mispronounce the names of writers.

The Incomparable Participants: Glenn Fleishman, Scott McNulty, Dan Moren, and Jason Snell. The Incomparable Theme Song composed by Christopher Breen.

Prominently mentioned in this Incomparable episode:

* “The City & The City” by China Miéville
* “The Windup Girl” by Paolo Bacigalupi
* “For the Win” by Cory Doctorow

Also mentioned:

* “Perdido Street Station” by China Miéville
* “Little Brother” by Cory Doctorow
* “Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom” by Cory Doctorow
* “Boneshaker” by Cherie Priest
* “The Gone-Away World” by Nick Harkaway
* “Ship Breaker” by Paolo Bacigalupi
* “Tongues Of Serpents” by Naomi Novik
* “The Dream Of Perpetual Motion” by Dexter Palmer
* “A Storm Of Swords” by George R.R. Martin
* “Oryx And Crake” by Margaret Atwood
* “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” by Michael Chabon
* “Bitter Seeds” by Ian Tregillis
* “The Adamantine Palace” by Stephen Deas
* “Shades Of Grey” by Jasper Fforde
* “Fables” by Bill Willingham and Lan Medina

Podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/incomparablepodcast

[via Jeremy Keith of Huffduffer.com]

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #040

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #040 – Jesse and Scott are joined by Steve Feldberg of Audible.com to talk about Audible Frontiers and other Audible.com projects. We talk audiobooks the whole show, giving particular attention to those produced by Audible.com itself. Steve tells us all about a bunch of the upcoming Science Fiction, Fantasy, espionage, and crime audiobooks we can expect to see showing up in the Audible catalgoue this year and next!

Talked about on today’s show:
Audible.com, Audible Frontiers, Gateway by Frederik Pohl, Robert J. Sawyer, Frederik Pohl, how to translate font and textual changes to audio, Oliver Wyman, Jonathan Davis, METAtropolis |READ OUR REVIEW|, Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer |READ OUR REVIEW|, narrator performance, The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, how do you pick stuff?, Battlestar Galactica, Mike Resnick‘s Starship series, space opera, dialogue driven audiobooks, David Weber‘s Honor Harrington series, female protagonists, Mike Shepherd‘s Kris Longknife series, military SF, Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War series, novella and novelette length audiobooks, METAtropolis, Michael Hogan, Alessandro Juliani, Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer, Stefan Rudnicki, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card |READ OUR REVIEW|, Scott Brick, Hopscotch by Brian Garfield, espionage novels, Death Wish by Brian Garfield, Hopscotch (1980) starring Walter Matthau, Six Days Of The Condor by James Grady, mystery and thriller audiobooks, Jim Thompson, copyright disambiguation, Hard Case Crime, BBC Audiobooks America, Christa Faust, The Ghosts Of Belfast by Stuart Neville, Gerard Doyle, Eragon by Christopher Paolini, Jeremy Gage, Lawrence Block, pseudonymous narrators, Grover Gardner (aka Tom Parker), Mercedes Lackey‘s Elemental Masters series, fairy tales, Starplex by Robert J. Sawyer, WWW: Wake by Robert J. Sawyer |READ OUR REVIEW|, Golden Fleece by Robert J. Sawyer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch‘s Retrieval Artist series, William Gibson, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Count Zero, All Tomorrow’s Parties are all coming to audiobook, wouldn’t a multi-voiced version of Neuromancer be great? Yes it would!, Stanisław Lem, audiobooks are coming, Gene Wolfe‘s The Book Of The New Sun is coming to audio, epic fantasy is hard to turn into audiobooks, David Eddings, Subterranean Press, how the audiobook experience is different than the paperbook experience, Harlan Ellison as a narrator, we need some Jack Vance audiobooks, Brilliance Audiobooks, On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, Seeing Ear Theatre, audio drama, James Patrick Kelly, copyright disambiguation part II, the Bradbury 13, J. Michael Straczynski‘s City Of Dreams, Mary Burkey’s Audiobooker Blog, audiobook reading groups, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, Audible.com’s internal book club.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #037

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #037 – Jesse and Scott talk about the latest audiobook releases, audiobook narrators and plenty more. It’s a show full of “stage-actory goodness” in which we learn the ultimate truth:

“the monster frozen in the ice is definitely alive”

Talked about on today’s show:
Scott is living the sequel to High Plains Drifter, Hercules by Geraldine McCaughrean, Full Cast Audio, Who was the greatest Greek hero?, Perseus, Odysseus by Geraldine McCaughrean, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Achilles, Guest Law by John C. Wright, Infinivox, Aliens Rule edited by Allan Kaster, “How Music Begins” by James Van Pelt, Listening Library, the Becka Cooper series, Terrier by Tamora Peirce, Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce, Random House Audio, The Year Of The Flood by Margaret Atwood, Audible addiction, Audible Frontiers, The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, Jonathan Davis, Infinivox’s The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, Recorded Books, Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross, Wild Voices Audio, The City And The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke, Blind Lake, Bridge Of Years, Darwinia, Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson, Hachette Audio, Transition by Iain M. Banks (UNABRIDGED), also the podcast version, Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks, Dune: House Atredies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, Blackstone Audio, Treason by Orson Scott Card, Audible.com’s latest sale includes: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, Ringworld by Larry Niven, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Stalking The Vampire by Mike Resnick, Waystation by Clifford Simak, Grover Gardner, Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, The Jerk, Macmillan Audio, The Box: Uncanny Stories by Richard Matheson, The Twilight Zone (1985), “Button Button” by Richard Matheson, (the collection also includes: Girl Of My Dreams, Dying Room Only, A Flourish Of Strumpets, No Such Thing As A Vampire, Pattern For Survival, Mute, Creeping Terror, Shock Wave, Clothes Make The Man, The Jazz Machine, ‘Tis The Season To Be Jelly, The Mystery Of Grace by Charles de Lint, Slings & Arrows – Series 1, Podkayne Of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein, Armor by John Steakley, John Carpenter’s Vampires
FlashForward by Robert J. Sawyer, Star Trek by Alan Dean Foster, FlashForward (the TV series), revealing or realizing the solution to a mystery in fiction, Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child, Zachary Quinto, The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, Shed Skin by Robert J. Sawyer, Burn Me Deadly by Alex Bledsoe, Sword Edged Blond, Blood Groove, Escape From Hell by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote In God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first contact, gender, feminism, The Gripping Hand by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, iPhone, audiobook functionality, CBC Radio and NPR apps.

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Release from Audible Frontiers: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

New Releases

Steve Feldberg, the spearhead behind the thrust that is Audible Frontiers, writes in to say:

“I wanted to draw your attention to our production of Paolo Bacigalupi’s THE WINDUP GIRL, which just went in the store this week.

Every review of this book is a rave – and it’s being called one of the best if not THE best SF books of the year.

Our production is especially great since it’s narrated by Jonathan Davis; you might recall that his narration of Robert J. Sawyer’s CALCULATING GOD won the 2009 Audie Award for Sci-Fi.

This one’s definitely worth a listen.”

Cool! Davis is also the narrator for the praiseworthy “Starship” series by Mike Resnick!

Audible Frontiers - The Windup Girl by Paolo BacigalupiThe Windup Girl
By Paolo Bacigalupi; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – Approx. [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 15, 2009
Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen’s Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok’s street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history’s lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko…Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. What happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism’s genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of The Calorie Man (Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and Yellow Card Man (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to address these poignant questions.

The novel’s title seemed familiar, so I looked on my bookshelf and spotted Infinivox’s The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (it’s also available via Audible.com).

[Thanks Steve!]

Posted by Jesse Willis