February 2008 – SFFaudio

Review of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

SFFaudio Review

The Metamorphosis
By Franz Kafka; Read by Alex Wilson
3 Zipped MP3, OGG or AAC files – 2 Hours 15 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: The Spoken Alexandria Project
Published: 2006
Themes: / Fantasy / Surreal / 1910s / Insects /

At first read, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a bizarre, almost nonsensical story. Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant bug of some sort. No explanation is given for how or why this metamorphosis occurred. Gregor himself seems more concerned with being late to a work assignment than the circumstances of his change.

As the novella progresses, The Metamorphosis becomes more about the unspoken negotiations inside a family as in who does what chores, who makes money for others, and who just gets in the way. When Gregor can no longer provide for the family’s needs, Gregor’s father changes from an invalid to a dedicated worker. Along the way, Greta converts from a loving sister to a young woman looking for suitors. The bizarre transformation of Gregor is not the most important transformation in the family, as evidenced by the final lines.

Alex Wilson, the founder of Spoken Alexandria, provides a understated, but compelling reading. The sound quality is top-notch, even when listening over headphones. The tone of voice is like someone waked in the middle of dream, lending an appropriate otherworldliness to the story of alienation.

Posted by Listener of the Free Listens blog

Dream Realm Enterprises – The Realm Weaver – “Avatar”

SFFaudio Online Audio

Dream Realm Enterprises is best know to SFFaudio readers as the proprietors of their popular Robotz of the Company (now in its fourth season). But, they’ve got other shows too including their own version of Doctor Who and a “Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes” series. Their anthology series The Realm Weaver is DRE’s “exciting sci-fi/fantasy/horror/suspense anthology series! Beyond our concept of reality lie things we cannot comprehend. Sometimes they flit across our plane and we notice them in the corner of our eye, or creeping up behind us while we’re alone. They weave back and forth between our realm and theirs, daring us to see…”

The latest installment of The Realm Weaver is entitled Avatar. Here’s the description…

“A story about a boy, a virtual blonde, and how artificial intelligence changes them both. A 21st century “Pygmalion”, with a little “Lysistrata” thrown in.”

Listen to the trailer |MP3| and then Part 1 |MP3| and Part 2 |MP3|.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Coming to BBC Radio 4: The State of the Art Iain M. Banks

SFFaudio News

Paul Cornell writes on his blog…

“Now, here’s one of those bits of big news that I haven’t been able to talk about yet, but today I can. I’ve been commissioned to adapt Iain M. Banks’ novella The State of the Art, from the collection of the same name, into a play for broadcast on BBC Radio 4 later this year. My producer is the wonderful Nadia Molinari, and we’re looking to keep all the SF goodness of the original. I’m enjoying how serious and thoughtful the brief is. The story is about Banks’ spaceborne utopian civilisation, the Culture, encountering Earth. Some interesting casting of a Ship voice ahead, I should think, and who should be Diziet Sma? I’m anticipating the process hugely.”

[via SFSignal.com]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Crazy Dog Audio Theatre: Marsyas: The Hippest Satyr video

SFFaudio News

Audio Gothic is one of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre‘s odder ventures. It was broadcast on RTÉ (Radio Ireland) in 2006. One part of Audio Gothic is entitled Marsyas: The Hippest Satyr. Here’s the complete work (in the form of successive YouTube videos) as staged at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 1999. Here’s the description:

A modern jazz retelling of the Greek myth of Marsyas, a humble satyr who comes under the spell of a cursed magical horn. Leading Irish guitarist Giordai Ua Laoghaire is the featured musician in this comic musical fable of pride and self-delusion.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

[via Audio Drama Talk forums]

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Agony Columns Covers SF in SF

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Agony Column has several recordings up based on the SF in SF Con:

Carter Scholz reads Brilliance |MP3|.

Terry Bisson on SF in SF |MP3|.

Carter Scholtz interview |MP3|.

Posted by Charles Tan

Audio exerpt: Philosophy course in solving murder

SFFaudio Online Audio

Have a listen to this |MP3|. Normally I wouldn’t bother you with a mere excerpt from a new novel, but the premise of Will Lavender‘s Obedience does catch the ear and tease-out your attention. It is listed in the mystery/thriller section of most online bookstores but at least one site is classifying it as a Fantasy (though I suppose we’ll have to listen to the whole novel to know for sure). The unabridged audiobook is available from Books On Tape and Audible.com.

When the students in Winchester University’s Logic and Reasoning 204 course arrive for their first day of class, they are greeted not with a syllabus or texts, but with a startling assignment from Professor Williams: Find a hypothetical missing girl named Polly. If, after being given a series of clues and details, the class has not found her before the end of the term (in six weeks), she will be murdered.

Posted by Jesse Willis