February 2009 – Page 5

Recent Arrivals from Blackstone Audio

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Dreams Underfoot
By Charles de Lint; Read by Kate Reading
11 CDs – 13 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781433260100

Welcome to Newford: to the music clubs, the waterfront, and the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost. Dreams Underfoot is a must-read book not only for fans of urban fantasy but for all who seek magic in everyday life.

Od Magic
By Patricia A. McKillip; Read by Gabrielle de Cuir
10 CDs – 11.7 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781433223983

Brenden Vetch has a gift. With an innate sense he cannot explain to himself or describe to others, he is able to connect to the agricultural world, nurturing gardens to flourish and instinctively knowing the healing properties each plant and herb has to offer. But Brenden’s gift isolates him from his community, until the day he receives a personal invitation from the wizard Od. She needs a gardener for her school in the great city of Kelior, where every potential wizard must be trained to serve the Kingdom of Numis.

For decades, the rulers of Numis have controlled the school, believing they can contain the power within it. They punish any wizard who dares defy the law. But unknown to the reigning monarchy is the power possessed by the school’s new gardener, a power even Brenden isn’t fully aware of and which is the true reason why Od recruited him.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

BBC7 Twilight Zone, Doctor Who, Kelly Link, John Wyndham +MORE

SFFaudio Online Audio

There’s actually a lot to listen to (or eventually download via radioarchive.cc) over on BBC Radio 7 this weekend and next week.

Airing under the “7th Dimension” banner for the coming week on BBC7 are…

The Twilight Zone – Free Dirt
Based on the story by Charles Beaumont; Performed by a full cast
[RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Saturday at 6pm and Midnight
Penny-pinching Luther acquires soil from a cemetery to grow his vegetables. But there’s a grim price he must pay. Starring Eric Bogosian, with Stacy Keach as the Narrator it was written by Charles Beaumont and adapted for radio by Dennis Etchinson.

Dalek I Love You Too
By Colin Sharpe; Performed by a full cast
[RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Sunday at 6pm and Midnight
A sequel to Dalek I Love You, we revisit enigmatic hero Nigel English in his quest to find a part in the new Doctor Who series, with the hope of meeting his father, who Nigel believes to be the Doctor himself. First broadcast in March 2008.

Catch My Breath
By Marty Ross; Performed by a full cast
[RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Monday to Friday at 6pm and Midnight
A contemporary horror story set in a remote Scottish country house. Another Radio 7 commission. First broadcast in March 2007.

Fantastic Journeys – The Faery Handbag
By Kelly Link; Read by Maggie Blake
[ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Monday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
A distraught young woman reveals how a magical handbag has caused her to lose both her boyfriend and grandmother. New to Radio 7.

Trouble With Lichen
By John Wyndham; Read by Joanne Tope
[ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Weekdays at 6.30pm and 12.30am
Recorded especially for Radio 7A biochemist stumbles upon a discovery which could change the course of humanity by isolating a strain of lichen that actually slows down the aging process.

And airing under the “Crime and Thrillers” moniker is…

Above Suspicion
Based on the novel by Helen MacInnes; Read by Emma Currie
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Monday to Friday at 9.30am, 8.30pm and 1.30am
As Europe teeters on the brink of World War II, a naïve young British couple are swept into the unfamiliar world of espionage. This series was made-for-Radio-7 and first broadcast in 2007 to mark the centenary of the birth of Helen MacInnes, the Scottish-American thriller writer who was hugely influential in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. It was produced by Eilidh McCreadie.

Posted by Jesse Willis

StarShipSofa No. 63 John Scalzi

SFFaudio Online Audio

Listen NOW to the full Aural Delights No 63 John Scalzi mp3

Editorial: by Tony C. Smith 01:42

Poem: Spot In Space by GO Clark 04:45

Flash: Jesus and the Cowboys by Jay Lake 07:00

Fact: Miles J Breuer by Amy H Sturgis 13:22

Main Fiction: After The Coup by John Scalzi 34:00

Narrators: John Scalzi, Jim Campanella, Julie Davis

http://www.starshipsofa.com/rss

Posted by Tony C. Smith

Mary Robinette Kowal – Novel = sold!!!!

SFFaudio News

MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL (1969 – ) A past contributor to SFFaudio, is an American John W. Campbell Award winning author who is currently serving as SFWA secretary. Kowal is also a puppeteer (non-Pierson’s) and has just sold her first novel to Tor books…

Dear Everyone I Know,

I have sold my novel!

Tor books, the largest SF publisher in the world, has bought “Shades of Milk and Honey,” which is my fantasy novel set in Jane Austen’s England. I’m delighted not only by the sale, but because my editor will be Liz Gorinsky who is not only personally charming, but also the editor for some of my favorite authors, like Cherie Priest. Needless to say, I am thrilled and have to tell EVERYONE I know.

I found out on January 30 but have been sitting on the news until we finalized some details. So you can look for my first novel to come out in 2010. So excited!

http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/novel-sold-best-birthday-present-ever/

Yours,
Mary

I asked Mary what the word was on the audiobook version. Here’s what she said:

“the initial idea for this came from a radio serial that I was writing.”

There is also a good possibility of an audiobook.

Cool and congrats!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Story Speiler: Accidental Death and All The World A Grave

SFFaudio Online Audio

Here are another two excellent unabridged audiobook short story offerings from Roy Turnbull…

The first, Accidental Death by Peter Baily, is definitely Science Fiction. It’s about an ill-fated expedition to an alien planet with some friendly, though dangerous, tennis-playing aliens. It speculates on the nature of luck in a first person present tense narrative – which is fun.

The second story, All The World A Grave by C.C. MacApp, is either Fantasy or Science Fiction, depending on your view of human nature. I take it as very apt satirical SF, in the same vein as The Space Merchants – as such, and despite its vintage, it has some very promising economic stimulus ideas for the new Barack Obama administration. Go economy, go!

Accidental Death
By Peter Baily; Read by Roy Turnbull
1 |MP3| – Approx. 20 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Story Spieler Podcast
Published: 2009?
Provider: Internet Archive
From Astounding Science Fiction February 1959. The most dangerous of weapons is the one you don’t know is loaded.

And All The Earth A Grave
By C.C. MacApp; Read by Roy Turnbull
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Story Spieler Podcast
Published: 2009?
Provider: Internet Archive
From Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1963. There’s nothing wrong with dying—it just hasn’t ever had the proper sales pitch!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Story Speiler: Scrimshaw by Murray Leinster

SFFaudio Online Audio

The old man just wanted to get back his memory—and the methods he used were gently hellish, from the viewpoint of the others…. that’s the internal description of Murray Leinster’s Scrimshaw, a short story from Astounding Science Fiction’s September 1955 issue. I’d heard that word before, but had to look it up:

scrimshaw [noun]: the name given to handiwork created by whalers made from the byproducts of harvesting marine mammals. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth of Sperm Whales, the baleen of other whales, and the tusks of walruses. It takes the form of elaborate carvings in the form of pictures and lettering on the surface of the bone or tooth, with the engravings

Scrimshaw
By Murray Leinster; Read by Roy Trumbull
1 |MP3| – Approx. 39 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Story Spieler Podcast
Published: 2009?
Provider: Internet Archive
From Astounding Science Fiction, September 1955. A mining colony on the moon is home to a murderer and to his victim who is slowly recovering memories lost when he was left for dead. A bold attempt is made to hijack $5 million in diamonds from the mine.

Posted by Jesse Willis