September 2012 – Page 5

Recent Arrivals: AudioGo: Poe’s Detective: The Dupin Stories by Edgar Allan Poe

Aural Noir: Recent Arrivals

After reading Cory Doctorow’s glowing review of Poe’s Detective: The Dupin Stories last year I added it to my list of audiobooks I just had to listen to.

I’m very, very excited at the prospect!

Poe’s Detective: The Dupin Stories
By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by Bronson Pinchot
4 CDs – Approx. 5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: AudioGO
Published: March 15, 2011
ISBN: 9781609981624
Edgar Allan Poe is the undisputed originator of the Detective story. His brilliant, imaginative sleuth C. Auguste Dupin set the stage for eccentric, logic wielding investigators like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. This audio collection of Poe’s three Dupin stories also includes one non-Dupin detective tale, Thou Art the Man. It features celebrity narrator Bronson Pinchot. The story titles are: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue“; “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt“; “The Purloined Letter“; and “Thou Art the Man.”

Posted by Jesse Willis

Universe adapted from the story by Robert A. Heinlein [RADIO DRAMA]

SFFaudio Online Audio

I bet most folks think that the closest Robert A. Heinlein came to tackling the topic of religion was Stranger In A Strange Land. But I think that novel has got too much other stuff going on in it. To get a better idea, check out his terrific 1941 short story Universe (later combined with another short story for the fix-up novel entitled Orphans Of The Sky).

Astounding, May 1941 - Universe by Robert A. Heinlein

The people of Universe live under an oppressive theocracy, with the death penalty given for heretical ideas. In the script for the radio dramatizations one character describes it as a society of “regimented slaves.”

Universe offers many, many sparky ideas – all of which are centered around religion and cosmology.

When asked about heaven the main character says this:

“The peasants believe [in] it literally but many of the younger scientists, like myself, know that it is figurative, symbolic.”

Turns that he’s wrong, that the foundations of his religion are based in a real history, that his god was once alive, and that the belief he scoffs at (and others kill in the name of), are based facts about their universe. It’s absolutely thought provoking soft sf bounded by a hard SF that only someone like Robert A. Heinlein could pull off.

And, unlike the original short story, which is rather hopeful, the end of the radio dramatization is deeply noir.

Dimension X – Universe
Adapted by George Lefferts; Adapted from the story by Robert A. Heinlein; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 30 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: NBC
Broadcast: November 26, 1950
Provider: Archive.org

X-Minus One – Universe
Adapted by George Lefferts; Adapted from the story by Robert A. Heinlein; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 28 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: NBC
Broadcast: May 15, 1955
Provider: Archive.org

Illustrations of strong>Universe by Hubert Rogers and Charles Schneeman from the May 1941 of Astounding:
Universe by Robert A. Heinlein - illustrated by Hubert Rogers

[Thanks to Bill Hollweg and Bob!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

District of Wonders

SFFaudio Online Audio

Four reasons to listen to District of Wonders this week!

StarShipSofa

StarShipSofa No 254 Allen Steele |mp3|

Short Story: War Memorial by Allen Steele 06:40

Main Fiction: The Emancipation of the Knowledge Robots by Carl Frederick 37:20

Crime City Central

Crime City Central No 8 John R. Corrigan |mp3|

Main Fiction: Shooter by John R. Corrigan

Tales To Terrify

Tales To Terrify No 35 John Everson, Laurel Winter |mp3|

Fiction: Run, Run, Run by Laurel Winter 0:07:30

Fiction: The White House by John Everson 0:24:50

Protecting Project Pulp

Protecting Project Pulp No. 8: Captain S. P. Meek |mp3|

Main Fiction: “When Caverns Yawned” by Captain S.P. Meek, first published in Astounding Stories, May 1931.

Posted by Tony C. Smith

Recent Arrivals: Brilliance Audio: Legends Of Shannara: Bearers Of The Black Staff by Terry Brooks

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Talked about, way back in SFFaudio Podcast #074, but never scanned, here is Legends Of Shannara: Bearers Of The Black Staff by Terry Brooks, as read by Phil Gigante. It came to us from Brilliance Audio, and they currently have it on sale on their AudiobookStand website.

Brilliance Audio - Legends Of Shannara: Bearers Of The Black Staff by Terry Brooks

Brilliance Audio - Legends Of Shannara: Bearers Of The Black Staff by Terry Brooks (BACK)

Five hundred years have passed since the devastating demon-led war that tore apart the United States, leaving nothing but scorched and poisoned ruins, and nearly exterminating humankind. Those who escaped the carnage and blight were led to sanctuary by the boy savior known as the Hawk — the gypsy morph. In an idyllic valley, its borders warded by powerful magic against the horrors beyond, humans, Elves, and mutants alike found a place they believed would be their home forever.

But after five centuries, the unimaginable has come to pass: The cocoon of protective magic surrounding the valley has vanished. When Sider Ament, the only surviving descendant of the Knights of the Word, detects unknown predators stalking the valley, he fears the worst. And when Panterra Qu and Prue Liss, expert Trackers from the human village of Glensk Wood, find two of their own gruesomely killed, there can be no doubt: The once safe haven of generations has been laid bare and made vulnerable to whatever still lurks in the wasteland of the outside world.

Together, Ament, the two young Trackers, and a daring Elf princess race to spread word of the encroaching danger — and spearhead plans to defend their ancestral home. But suspicion and hostility among their countrymen threaten to doom their efforts from within — while beyond the breached borders, a ruthless Troll army masses for invasion. And in the thick of it all, the last wielder of the black staff and its awesome magic must find a successor to carry on the fight against the cresting new wave of evil.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals: Penguin Audio: Tough Shit: Life Advice From A Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good by Kevin Smith

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Tough Sh*t: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good came to us a while back, maybe shortly after Kevin Smith’s TV “reality” show Comic Book Men began airing. I liked Kevin Smith’s movies, but I didn’t like the show. It was supposed to be unscripted but was obviously and boringly scripted.

So anyway, I figure after seeing that I must have plopped the audiobook into the bottom of a box and forgot about it or something.

But then, just recently, I was thinking about one of his terrific podcasts appearances (on a 2009 /Filmcast review of the Watchmen movie |MP3| that really is excellent) and that got me thinking about how good Smith can be when he’s good and so I went and found the audiobook, and so, now, here it is.

Penguin Audio: Tough Shit: Life Advice From A Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good by Kevin Smith

Posted by Jesse Willis

19 Nocturne Boulevard: The View From Within AUDIO DRAMA (adapted from an H.P. Lovecraft story)

SFFaudio Online Audio

This is an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft short story, a very loose one, and the title is different. I think if you’ve read it you have a chance of identifying it, but if you haven’t you probably won’t.

19 Nocturne Boulevard - The View From Within 19 Nocturne Boulevard – The View From Within
By Julie Hoverson; Adapted from a story by H.P. Lovecraft; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 30 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: 19 Nocturne Boulevard
Podcast: November 15, 2010

Cast:
Richard … Philemon Vanderbeck
Edward … Bryan Hendrickson
Charles … Michael Coleman
Warren … Glen Hallstrom
Herbert … Carl Cubbedge
Auguste … Reynaud LeBoeuf

Music by Kevin MacLeod

Posted by Jesse Willis