February 2010 – Page 7

Recent Arrival: Halo Evolutions

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Halo: Evolutions
By Tobias S. Buckell, B.K. Evenson, Jonathan Goff, Kevin Grace, Tessa Kum and Jeff Vandermeer, Robt McLees, Eric Nylund, Frank O’Connor, Eric Raab, Karen Traviss, and Fred Van Lente
Read by Steve Downes, Holter Graham, Frank O’Connor, and Jen Taylor
12 CDs – 14 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9781427207869

When humanity expanded beyond the safety of Earth to new stars and horizons, they never dreamed what dangers they would encounter there. When the alien juggernaut known as the Covenant declared holy war upon the fragile human empire, millions of lives were lost—but, millions of heroes rose to the challenge. In such a far-reaching conflict, not many of the stories of these heroes, both human and alien, have a chance to become legend. This collection holds eleven stories that dive into the depths of the vast Halo universe, not only from the perspective of those who fought and died to save humanity, but also those who vowed to wipe humanity out of existence.

I love this idea. A Halo short story collection. I agree with Frank O’Connor (Franchise Development Director, 343 Industries), who says:

The chance to explore corners of the Halo universe, whether obscure or popular, is something we are always excited to do, but the chance to shine light on these dark corners with the talents of these wonderful luminaries is a pleasure indeed!

Yup! A great way to approach this. Looking forward to it!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Recent Arrivals: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Burnt Offerings (An Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novel)
By Laurell K. Hamilton; Read by Kimberly Alexis
11 CDs – 13 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9780143144076

In Burnt Offerings, Anita Blake has her hands full when an arsonist’s fires begin taking out St. Louis’s un-dead, and Jean-Claude, her rival and lover, faces dire accusations from a visiting delegation of vampires.

Bloody Bones (An Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novel)
By Laurell K. Hamilton; Read by Kimberly Alexis
10 CDs – 12.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9780143144052

Follow Anita Blake as she travels to Branson, Missouri, to put an end to a series of supernatural murders and disappearances in Bloody Bones, fifth in the #1 New York Times–bestselling series.

The Killing Dance (An Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novel)
By Laurell K. Hamilton; Read by Kimberly Alexis
11 CDs – 13.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9780143144069

In The Killing Dance, vampire hunter Anita Blake finds herself the victim when a $500,000 price is put on her head, and the two men in her life-a vampire and a werewolf-aren’t helping the situation.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Auxiliary Memory: Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick

SFFaudio News

James Wallace Harris of the Auxiliary Memory blog has written a thoughtful review of the audiobook of Mike Resnick’s Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge. Here’s a snippet:

“Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge is the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella from 1994, that was produced as an audiobook two years ago by Audible Frontiers. I read the story when it came out and remembered being impressed, but I just couldn’t remember the details, so I listened to audiobook version, beautifully narrated by Jonathan Davis, and now it’s etched into my brain again. “

Check out the entire post |HERE|.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Commentary: Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe

SFFaudio Commentary

Speaking of Sir Walter Scott and Ivanhoe… I’ve been much into Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe over the last six months. I’ve watched three different video adaptations. One was a theatrical version from the 1950s, one was a TV movie from the early 80s and one a TV miniseries from just a few years ago. I am currently re-reading the black and white comic book adaptation by Pocket Classics and I’ve also snagged the audiobook from LibriVox.

Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by various
44 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 19 Hours 25 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 09, 2009
The fortunes of the son of a noble Saxon family in Norman England as he woos his lady, disobeys his father, and is loved by another. Set in late 12C England and in Palestine with Richard Cœur-de-Lion at the Crusades.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/ivanhoe-by-sir-walter-scott.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to Annise and Snemand]

Besides being a rollicking adventure, a heartfelt romance, a rough history lesson and a plea for peace between Christians and Jews, Ivanhoe is also a series of fun etymological English lessons. Consider, the first few sentences of the novel’s dialogue. Ivanhoe begins with a conversation between two Saxon slaves:

“The swine turned Normans to my comfort!” quoth Gurth; “expound that to me, Wamba, for my brain is too dull, and my mind too vexed, to read riddles.”

“Why, how call you those grunting brutes running about on their four legs?” demanded Wamba.

“Swine, fool, swine,” said the herd, “every fool knows that.”

“And swine is good Saxon,” said the Jester; “but how call you the sow when she is flayed, and drawn, and quartered, and hung up by the heels, like a traitor?”

“Pork,” answered the swine-herd.

“I am very glad every fool knows that too,” said Wamba, “and pork, I think, is good Norman-French; and so when the brute lives, and is in the charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes a Norman, and is called pork, when she is carried to the Castle-hall to feast among the nobles; what dost thou think of this, friend Gurth, ha?”

Above Gurth (the fool) explains to Wamba (the swineherd) the logic behind calling meat that’s still on the hoof and meat that’s on the table by two different English words. “Swine” is the Saxon word for pig and “porc” [pork] is the Norman [French] word for pig. Soon after this scene these two Saxon slaves are confronted by troupe of Norman knights who proceed to turn one of Wamba’s Saxon swine into proper Norman pork.

The novel features plenty of back and forth. Indeed the more I think about it, the more I think classic Doctor Who took it’s pacing from Ivanhoe what with folks: being kidnapped, ransomed, dressing in disguise, falling in love with their enemies, forgiving each other, and fighting in chivalric combat. There are plenty of villains too. With an unforgiving father, a witch-smelling warrior-priest [those pesky Knights Templar], an ignoble Norman nobleman (who redeems himself in the end), a kvetching Jew and his fetching Jewess daughter. Yeah, I love this story!

Here’s a cross section of the different audiobook versions of this influential 19th century novel:

Dove Audio - Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by David Warner
4 Cassettes – Approx. 6 Hours [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Dove Audio (NewStar Media)
Published: 1997
ISBN: 9780787110635

Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by Jonathan Oliver
2 CDs – Approx. 2 Hours 39 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
Published: 1994
ISBN: 9626340258

Blackstone Audio - Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by Frederick Davidson
14 Cassettes – Approx. 20.4 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 1998
ISBN: 9780786195718

Ivanhoe [Parts 1 and 2]
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by Jim Killavey
14 Cassettes – Approx. 21 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Books On Tape / Jimcin Editions
Published: 1986
ISBN: 9780786195718

Brilliance Audio - Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by Michael Page
CDs or MP3-CD – Approx. Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 9781597370097 (cd), 1597370118 (mp3-cd)

HarperCollons Audio - Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by Brian Cox
2 Cassettes – Approx. 3 Hours 7 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: HarperCollins Audio
Published: 1992, 1996
ISBN: 0001049283

Ivanhoe And The Lists Of Ashby
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by Doughlas Fairbanks Jr.
2 33 1/3 RPM LP Records – [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Caedmon
Published: 1977

Highbridge Audio - Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by Ronald Pickup
2 Cassettes – [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Published: 1997
ISBN: 1565112113

And here’s a peek at the Pocket Classics edition (ISBN: 0883017393):

POCKET CLASSICS - Ivanhoe Pages 6 and 7

I wonder why there isn’t an audio drama version.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Sir Walter Scott Prize

SFFaudio News

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott A neat story from The Guardian this morning:

He is seen as the father of the historical novel, so it’s perhaps only fitting that a new literary prize honouring the genre is to be launched in the name of Sir Walter Scott.

The £25,000 award is being set up by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose ancestors were closely linked to Scott. They hope the award will help to “properly honour” the author’s “immense achievements”, and “place as one of the world’s most influential novelists”.

Find the whole story |HERE|.

I recall an attempted read of Ivanhoe when I was but a wee man. A quick search for some Sir Walter Scott audio shows that Librivox is on the case.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Recent Arrival: Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Planet of Exile
By Ursula K. Le Guin; Read by Stephen Hoye and Carrington MacDuffie
4 CDs – 4.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9781441717368

The planet Werel is entering its fifteen-year-long winter. The Earth colony of Landin has been stranded on Werel for ten years, and this lonely and dwindling human settlement is beginning to feel the strain. The humanoid hilfs are a nomadic people who only settle down for the cruel cold spell. They fear the Earthmen, regard them as witches, and call them the farborns. Although both populations share a common genetic heritage in the Hainish people, the differences are believed to be significant enough to prevent interbreeding. The relationship between the two groups has long been tense and characterized by limited interaction. But hilfs and farborns also share common enemies: the hordes of ravaging barbarians called gaals and the eerie preying snow ghouls. Will they join forces or be annihilated?

Posted by Scott D. Danielson