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.
BBC Audiobooks America has just brought in a bunch of previously U.K. only BBC audiobooks. For North American customers this means a big savings on that crazy overseas shipping price. Among the available titles is the first in the series of radio dramatizations of Lindsey Davis books (Shadows In Bronze)! This is the “FALCO” series that I’m always telling everyone to try. Here’s the big list:
Posted by Jesse Willis
Star Trek
By Alan Dean Foster, Based on the movie, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Hurtzman
Read by Zachary Quinto
7 CDs – 8 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9780743598347
This is the first Unabridged Star Trek novel from Simon and Schuster Audio. Written by Alan Dean Foster, read by Zachary Quinto! |HEAR AN EXCERPT – Kirk on Trial|
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi Book 3: Abyss
By Troy Denning; Read by Marc Thompson
[UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9780739376652
Leia looks pretty serious on that cover… something must be amiss.
Following a trail of clues across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo’s dark downfall and to win redemption for the Jedi Order. Sojourning among the mysterious Aing-Tii monks has left Luke and his son Ben with no real answers, only the suspicion that the revelations they seek lie in the forbidden reaches of the distant Maw Cluster. There, hidden from the galaxy in a labyrinth of black holes, dwell the Mind Walkers: those whose power to transcend their bodies and be one with the Force is as seductive and intoxicating as it is potentially fatal. But it may be Luke’s only path to the truth.
Meanwhile, on Coruscant, the war of wills between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating. Outraged over the carbonite freezing of young Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn after their inexplicable mental breakdowns, the Jedi are determined to defy Daala’s martial tactics, override Council Master Kenth Hamner’s wavering leadership, and deal on their own terms with the epidemic of madness preying on their ranks. As Han and Leia Solo, along with their daughter Jaina, join the fight to protect more stricken Knights from arrest, Jedi healers race to find a cure for the rapidly spreading affliction. But none of them realize the blaster barrel is already swinging in their direction–and Chief Daala is about to pull the trigger.
Nor do Luke and Ben, deep in the Maw Cluster and pushing their Force abilities beyond known limits, realize how close they are–to the Sith strike squad bent on exterminating the Skywalkers, to a nexus of dark-side energy unprecedented in its power and its hunger, and to an explosive confrontation between opposing wielders of the Force from which only one Master–good or evil–can emerge alive.
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
Quarter Share
By Nathan Lowell; Read by Nathan Lowell
17 MP3 File Podcast – Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Published: February – March 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Space Travel / Galactic Civilization /
When Ishmael Wang is orphaned by a flitter crash, he must make some hard decisions about how to survive in a Company-owned universe. With limited time and fewer options, he lands a job as the newest hand on the Solar Clipper Lois McKendrick and learns there’s more to life than making coffee. Join Ish, Pip, Big Bad Bev, and the rest of the Lois McKendrick’s crew as they sail the galaxy in search of profitable trade.
I listened to this podcast novel with no intention of reviewing it. But after putting $10 in the tip jar at Podiobooks.com it kind of seemed dumb not to give you another $0.02 with my opinion of it. It was just too good not to recommend. The story follows Ish Wang, a young kid without enough education or cash to make his way off the planet he’s orphaned on. He experiences a lot of other hurdles too. But, through perseverance, the kindness of a few strangers and a generous natural ability, he finds his place in the universe; and that place is as an able spaceman aboard a merchant spaceship called the Lois McKendrick. Nathan Lowell’s universe depicts a galactic civilization that is probably the least Science Fictiony ever created. Sure they’re traveling in interstellar spacecraft at faster than light speeds, but that doesn’t mean the beds don’t have to be made and the coffee filter doesn’t have to be scrubbed out. There are things to do to make this ship and crew run for heaven’s sake! Making friends and making profit aren’t usually the major plot points in a Science Fiction novel set in space. But, then again Nathan Lowell’s characters aren’t your typical space navy types either. Their more realistic for one. Their more dynamic than virtually any cosmic deckhands than I’ve spent time with in any other novel. there are now 5 novels in this series and a new 6th is forthcoming. I’ve just heard this one, the first, but the very next assembly job I take on will be made all the more enjoyable by having a Nathan Lowell audiobook in my ears.
This podiobook is read by the author, he tells this tale as if it were his very own life story. I would swear he must have been in the merchant navy at some point. What else could explain his vivid and fascinating depiction of such duty? I listened to most of Quarter Share while assembling a gazebo in my mother’s front yard. Let me give you a piece of advice. If you’ve got a gazebo to assemble you really want to have Quarter Share in your MP3 player. Quarter Share is a novel about work. Work, done well, by good, honest and hardworking people. I’ve never heard a novel that spent as much time talking about work, the minutae of it, or for that matter one that tells me how good coffee gets made (it’s all about having a clean pot dontcha know). If Nathan Lowell ever swings by these parts I’ll invite him over. Maybe we’ll even swing by my mother’s gazebo. He can make the coffee.
For more testimonials about how awesome Quarter Share is be sure to check out the official comments thread for it over on Podiobooks.com
Posted by Jesse Willis
