News, Reviews, and Commentary on all forms of science fiction, fantasy, and horror audio. Audiobooks, audio drama, podcasts; we discuss all of it here. Mystery, crime, and noir audio are also fair game.
The only thing missing from this terrific article about my friend Scott Danielson winning a “Spirit of Idaho” award, is that he’s also a founder of SFFaudio.com, and a returning reviews editor! Welcome back Scott! This recognition is well deserved, you’re helping Idahoans with your public service, and you’re helping the citizens of the world get more SFF into their ears!
(the article was written by Bonnie Bott for The Idaho Enterprise)
Posted by Jesse Willis
Dick. You know you want it. Indeed, a life without Philip K. Dick is hardly worth imagining! Thankfully the folks at BBC7 and The 7th Dimension agree and so they are re-running what I consider to be one of the best short stories ever written. We Can Remember It For You Wholesale posits a future world of memory implants and false vacations. Doug Quail, the shmendrik-hero of the tale, wants to visit the planet Mars. Unfortunately his shrewish wife vetos the idea whenever he mentions it. That all changes though when, after a mishap at a virtual travel agency, he discovers that he’s already been there! What’s real? What’s not? Dick explores these Cartesian questions better than any other writer (including Descartes himself) have a listen, you won’t be sorry…
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale
By Philip K. Dick; Read by William Hootkins
2 Parts 2 Broadcasts – [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday March 16 & 23 @ 6.30pm & 12.30am (UK time)
This novelette was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction‘s in April 1966 issue and first broadcast on BBC 7 in September 2003. The reader is William Hootkins (aka “Red Six” from the original Star Wars).
Listeners unable to tune in can use the “Listen Again” service for a week after each broadcast.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum are podcasting a new novella that they co-wrote. It will appear in print in the forthcoming anthology, Fast Forward 2. It’s an homage to Vernor Vinge’s famous story of the same name… Rosenbaum sez:
“This story came out of a conversation at the Hugo Loser’s party at Worldcon 2002 — the part about ‘the second law of thermodynamics as the ultimate party-spoiler in a transhuman utopia of self-spawning consciousness’; it acquired shades of Jane Austen, Voltaire, megamillion year ideological warfare, gender theory, coming-of-age story, and musical theater along the way.
We’ve pretty much been working on it for the past six years. It’s been a delight to work on, and it’s surprisingly exciting to have it done and ready for readers — or first, in this case, listeners.
See, Cory, inexhaustible font of energy that he is (for those who don’t know Cory and who think of me as energetic, talkative, and full of enthusiasm for various projects — Cory is me cubed; he makes me look like a laconic hermit), has declared that we are podcasting it.
And so we are! I just have to hunt down a decent microphone so I can record the next installment….”
True Names
By Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum; Read by Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Cory Doctorow’s Craphound
Podcast: March 2008 –
“Involves the galactic wars between vast, post-Singularity intelligences that are competing to corner the universe’s supply of computation before the heat-death of the universe.”
Subscribe to the podcast feed here:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast
Posted by Jesse Willis
StarShipSofa has now uploaded the last of the short stories that are up for BSFA Best Short Story 2007. Today is Alastair Reynolds and his story The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter. First published in Interzone #209
She stopped in sight of Twenty Arch Bridge, laying down her bags to rest her hands from the weight of two hogs’ heads and forty pence worth of beeswax candles. While she paused, Kathrin adjusted the drawstring on her hat, tilting the brim to shade her forehead from the sun. Though the air was still cool, there was a fierce new quality to the light that brought out her freckles.
Tony sez “Well that is all the short stories up online that have been nominated for the BSFA Award for Best Short Story 2007. It’s been fun getting them out everyday. Hope you have enjoyed this little diversion from the normal? Join myself and Fred Himebaugh next week as we try and pick the winner.”
If you missed any of the other posts, here are all stories and links to mp3’s:
Pop over to the StarShipSofa forums and cast your vote. You can subscribe free via iTunes or direct from the StarShipSofa website.
Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:www.starshipsofa.com/rss
Posted by Tony C. Smith