July 2011 – Page 4

Voices In The Dark: The Stolen Bacillus by H.G. Wells

SFFaudio Online Audio

Fear of disease is probably just as old as disease itself. But the modern fear, the fear that a single individual carrying a vial full of specific incurable pathogen – the fear that one crazed fanatic could decimate an entire city’s population by poisoning its water supply – that fear can probably be traced back to the late 19th century and perhaps even to the inventor of the first true Science Fiction short stories, Mr. H.G. Wells. Had the ending of The Stolen Bacillus been done in a slightly different way it may have spawned the whole zombie contagion phenomenon a century early.

The Stolen Bacillus
By H.G. Wells; Read by Dawn Keenan
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Voices In The Dark
Published: 2005
An anarchist, intent on wreaking ruin on a city, steals a phial from a bacteriologist. First published in the Pall Mall Budget’s June 21, 1894 issue.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Galaxy Audio: 5 FREE L. Ron Hubbard audiobooks

SFFaudio Online Audio

Galaxy Audio is offering a set of five FREE audiobooks (and ebooks) on their site HERE. At least a couple of these have been released for free previously. Here’s the official line:

“For a limited time, you can download a FREE eBook or audiobook of your choice! We have selected 5 short stories from the Stories from the Golden Age collection and are offering them for free, no purchase necessary and no strings attached. You can choose from the following genres: action/adventure, science fiction, fantasy, western or romance.”

“Supernatural Romance:”

Borrowed Glory
By L. Ron Hubbard; Performed by multiple readers
1 |MP3 DOWNLOAD LINK| – Approx. 39 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
This haunting tale begins with two immortals, George and Tuffron, who make a wager over the truth or falsity of Tuffron’s insistence that “human beings are stupid and willful.” Their experiment leads to an old woman’s return to youth and the promise of happiness—if only for forty-eight hours.

“Far-Flung Adventure:”

The Cossack
By L. Ron Hubbard; Performed by multiple readers
1 |MP3 DOWNLOAD LINK| – Approx. 41 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
Young and handsome Lieutenant Mertz Komroff thinks he has left his past behind when he enlists in the Chinese army—only to stumble onto the vengeful Duchess he had spurned in pre-revolutionary Russia. And she has nothing but his immediate death in mind…

“Science Fiction:”

The Dangerous Dimension
By L. Ron Hubbard; Performed by multiple readers
1 |MP3 DOWNLOAD LINK| Approx. 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
Dr. Henry Mudge undergoes a striking personality change when he discovers a mathematical formula—“Equation C”—that defines a mysterious negative dimension. He is instantly transported to any location in the solar system by merely thinking of it—even when he doesn’t want to.

“Fantasy:”

The Devil’s Rescue
By L. Ron Hubbard; Performed by multiple readers
1 |MP3 DOWNLOAD LINK| – Approx. 43 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
When the crew of a spectral old clipper ship rescues Lanson from his drifting lifeboat, he discovers that they are all faceless—except for the captain. Then the dark one and a fateful roll of the dice decides Lanson’s destiny in this chilling encounter with the unknown…

“Western:”

The Ghost Town Gun-Ghost
By L. Ron Hubbard; Performed by multiple readers
1 |MP3 DOWNLOAD LINK| – Approx. 52 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
Pokey McKay is the last living resident of Pioneer, an old deserted mining town. Trouble starts when a stranger arrives, with a murderous sheriff hot on his trail. Pokey couldn’t be happier to have the company, but if he’s not careful, that simple act of courtesy just may spell the end of Pioneer and Pokey MacKay.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals: Hellhole by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

In the press release for Hellhole it says: Kevin J. Anderson “set the Guinness certified world record for the largest single-author book signing.”

I’m thinking this is one of those quantity over quality cases.

And yet, Kevin J. Anderson has written good stories, I liked his Rough Draft as well as Paradox & Greenblatt, Attorneys at Law stories.

This new series doesn’t appeal to me.

Who among you has read it?

Who among you has liked it?

And most importantly who among you has read it and liked it and why?

Hellhole
By Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson; Read by Scott Brick
15 CDs – Approx. 19 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Published: March 15, 2011
ISBN: 97814272114221
The human interstellar government, the Constellation, consists of 20 allied “old guard” worlds, centered on the lush capital planet of Sonjeera. The society is wealthy with a feuding, decadent upper class, ruled by the dowager Diadem Michella Duchenet—a tyrant with a sweet face, charming public disposition, and a shriveled, blackened heart—who has been on the throne for decades. But as the population of the core worlds has grown and noble families divided their profitable holdings into smaller and smaller pieces, pressures increase for change, for new territory. After the failure of a devastating revolution, the Diadem Michella realizes she must open the wild frontier of unexplored planets.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Changersurfer Radio: Lurking Terror: H.P. Lovecraft’s Socialism

SFFaudio Online Audio

H.P. Lovecraft fans take heed, this fascinating and informative interview is absolutely unmissable!

S.T. Joshi‘s matter-of-fact description of Cthulhu’s decent into the Pacific Ocean made me think of Philip K. Dick’s own godlike alien (the Glimmung) in Galactic Pot Healer.

Changesurfer Radio – S.T. Joshi – Lurking Terror: H.P. Lovecraft’s Socialism
Interviewer Dr. J. Hughes
2 MP3 Files – Approx. 29 Minutes [INTERVIEW]
Broadcaster: WHUS / Changesurfer Radio
Broadcast: Friday, September 21, 2001
Recorded and broadcast on University of Connecticut’s radio station, WHUS, this is an interview with weird fiction scholar S.T. Joshi about H.P. Lovecraft’s life and political views.
Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|

[via the excellent Lovecraft ezine]

Posted by Jesse Willis

MIT: J. Michael Straczynski: The Julius Schwartz Lecture

SFFaudio News

Here’s a two hour lecture given by J. Michael Straczynski at MIT back in 2009. Sorry, there’s no audio only edition.

This year’s Julius Schwartz Lecture speaker was transmedia creator J. Michael Straczynski, who has most recently entered the motion picture arena, writing the period drama Changeling for Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie, adapting such books as Lensman for Ron Howard, World War Z for Brad Pitt’s company, and They Marched Into Sunlight for Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass, as well as reviving Forbidden Planet for Warner Bros. and selling two new original movies, The Flickering Light and Proving Ground to Universal and Tom Cruise’s United Artists, respectively. He has also begun work on Last Words, a pilot for a new TV series for the TNT network.

Previously known best for his role as the creator of the cult science fiction series Babylon 5 and its various spin-off films and series. Straczynski wrote 92 out of the 110 Babylon 5 episodes, notably including an unbroken 59-episode run through all of the third and fourth seasons, and all but one episode of the fifth season.

His early television writing career spans from work on He-Man, She-Ra, and The Real Ghostbusters through to The New Twilight Zone and Murder She Wrote. He followed up Babylon 5 with the science fiction series Jeremiah.

Straczysnki also enjoys continued success as a comic book writer, working on established superhero franchises, such as The Amazing Spider-Man, Supreme Power and Thor, as well as his own original series, such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, The Twelve, and The Book Of Lost Souls. He is also a journalist, publishing over 500 articles in such periodicals as the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Writer’s Digest Magazine, and TIME Inc.

He was one of the first television producers to actively engage his fan community online and has consistently explored the interface between digital media and other storytelling platforms.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The sound of Robert A. Heinlein’s voice

SFFaudio Commentary

Something has been bothering me. It’s been bothering me for years actually.

One commenter, a long time ago, brought it to my attention, wondered if there was a recording of Robert A. Heinlein’s voice out there, somewhere.

I’m thinking Heinlein on tape is just incredibly rare.

I actually have a lot of H.G. Wells’ voice on audio. Why do we have so little Heinlein?

I’ve heard a couple of very brief clips of Heinlein speaking, but honestly they are really just pathetic.

Apparently, Heinlein did commentary during the Apollo 11 landing. I can’t find that online.

Here’s all the online audio of Heinlein that I know about so far:

Robert Heinlein comments on the political motives behind his stories. |Zipped WAV File|

13 Seconds of Robert A. Heinlein speaking about the Apollo 11 moon landing. |Zipped WAV File|

Two sentences of Robert A. Heinlein on Stranger In A Strange Land |FLASH|

Here’s a YouTube biography of RAH (set to the tune of Battlefield 1942):

And while we wait for your replies, (my flimsy excuse), I present the Battlefield 2 intro sequence:

Satellite coming down in 3, 2, 1…

UPDATE:

Check out this wonderful video a 1949 group interview from the set of Destination Moon! Robert A. Heinlein is there, on set, as he served as a technical adviser.

Heinlein appears at about 5 minutes into Part 1. He reappears again, briefly, at the end of Part 3.

Update II:

Robert A. Heinlein’s “This I Believe” |MP3|

[immeasurable thanks to Bill Mullins, Robert, Bill Higgins and CrowTRobot1313]

Posted by Jesse Willis