Planisphere Productions presents Transit

SFFaudio Online Audio

Online Audio - TransitPlanisphere Productions, a new player in audio drama, is trying something very different. They’ve released the first three episodes of Transit, a new Science Fiction series, in the AC3 format. This means that the show is in SURROUND SOUND format. Transit is “a multi-format multimedia-spanning project that consists of a series of Science Fiction themed audio dramas recorded in and optimized for listening to in 5.1 Surround Sound.” The project includes a “wiki”-style website called The Node that features show information as well as side-story content. I had a devil of a time finding an AC3 player but I finally found some freeware called “Media Player Classic version 6.4.9.0” which plays .AC3 files just fine (do a google search).

|Episode 1 AC3| Episode 2 AC3| Episode 3 AC3|

Another problem, this format means you can’t take this show with you in your portable media player. But don’t dismiss Transit as not worth bothering with just yet. In order to interest you they’ve also made the some “webisodes” available in the MP3 format. They’ll give you an idea of the production values, acting and the writing are like. \

|Webisode 1 MP3| Webisode 2 MP3| Webisode 3 MP3|

I’ve listened a few of the shows and webisodes and Transit is sounding pretty damn sweet!

Beam Me Up reads more Nebula nominees: Elizabeth Hand’s Echo

Online Audio

Podcast - Beam Me UpPaul Cole has a 22 minute reading of Elizabeth Hand’s Nebula nominated short story “Echo” on the latest Beam Me Up podcast. This story first appeared in the pages of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (the Oct/Nov 2005 issue).

“This is not the first time this has happened. There is an endless history of forgotten empires, men gifted by a goddess who bears arrows, things in flight that fall in flames.”

Download the show direct |MP3| or subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

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

Preview of a new ROBERT E. HOWARD audiobook

SFFaudio News

Audio RealmsThe creator of Conan, Robert E. Howard, has been long neglected in audio. But no longer!

Audio Realms, an SFFaudio Essential producing publisher, is collaborating with Wildside Press to bring us “The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard.” This is a 10-volume series of Howard’s classic Fantasy, Horror, and poetry from Weird Tales magazine. These stories are going to be in Audio Realms’ “AudioBooksPlus” format. Each volume features cover art by Stephen Fabian, plus new introductions by a leading REH scholar or fantasist such as Joe R. Lansdale. In addition to these volumes, AudioRealms will be producing 4 volumes dedicated exclusively to Conan. The first three will be multiple story collections and the 4th will feature REH’s masterpiece The Hour Of The Dragon.

There is now a sound sample available for one of the short stories….this brief clip comes from Howard’s short story The Gods Of The North |MP3|.