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Review of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

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SFFaudio Review

Science Fiction Audiobook - A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice BurroughsA Princess of Mars
By Edgar Rice Burroughs; Read by John Bolen
6 CD’s – 6 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 2001
ISBN: 1400100186
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mars / Aliens / Swordplay / Classic /

There are few classic novels with as much influence as Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars. First published in 1912 (serialized in All-Story magazine with the title Under the Moons of Mars), Burroughs sparked the imagination of many of science fiction’s golden age writers, including Ray Bradbury and his Martian Chronicles. The audiobook cover is a detail from the 1919 Grosset & Dunlap cover.

A Princess of Mars is an imaginative adventure novel in which John Carter, a Virginian military man who starts the story running from Indians in the Arizona desert, is magically transported to Mars. Burroughs does not go into detail on the mechanics of the transportation, but does go into great detail about the inhabitants of Mars, called “Barsoom” by its natives.

There are two races on Mars – a four-armed green warrior race, and a red human-like race. The princess of the title is Dejah Thoris of Helium, whose beauty captures John Carter when he sees her taken by him in chains by some four-armed Barsoomians.

The novel is filled with damsel-in-distress/derring-do-male-hero sensibility that is laughable at times, but still the story holds up as a classic of the genre. Burroughs’ description of an alien culture is a forerunner of an entire category of science fiction, and I found it entertaining on that level. I also felt a great deal of nostalgia, because I read this book a few times as a early teen, along with the other ten Mars volumes, and a Tarzan or three.

John Bolen performs the whole book as John Carter, with a southern gentlemanly manner that the character demands. This means not only Carter’s attitude, but his southern accent, which took me a few minutes to settle into.

Check out Tantor’s science fiction and fantasy section for more Edgar Rice Burroughs titles.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

2006 starts with some fine titles: Anne Manx on A…

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2006 starts with some fine titles:

Anne Manx on Amazonia, audio drama from Radio Repertory Company of America, starring Claudia Christian, Pat Tallman, and Barbara Harris
This audio drama is excellent entertainment – a comic book for your ears!

Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries by Jeffrey A. Carver, read by Jonathan Davis, Audio Renaissance, Abridged
In the tradition of Star Trek and Star Wars audiobooks, here’s the first audiobook from the best current show on television.

The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein, read by Patrick Lawlor, Blackstone Audio, Unabridged
Click here to listen to a sample.
Another classic Heinlein novel from Blackstone Audio!

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Quandary Phase by Douglas Adams, performed by BBC Radio, Audio Partners
The penultimate Hitchhiker’s radio show.

H.P. Lovecraft Collection – Volume 3 by H.P. Lovecraft, Audio Realms
More Lovecraft from Audio Realms! This one contains “The Horror at Red Hook”, “The Statement of Randolph Carter”, “The Outsider”, and “Herbert West Reanimator”. The first Lovecraft collection from Audio Realms landed on our SFFaudio Essential List.

The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson, read by Yuri Rasovsky, Blackstone Audio, Unabridged
Click here to listen to a sample.
A classic novel by Richard Matheson read by the mighty Yuri Rasovsky.

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock, Audio Realms
The second of the original Elric saga from Audio Realms. If quality is half of the first one (Click here for the SFFaudio review of Elric of Melnibone) then this is a must-have.

Star Wars: The Dark Nest III: The Swarm War by Troy Denning, read by Jonathan Davis, Random House Audio, Abridged
The latest in the long-running Star Wars audio series.

Tales of Terror by Edgar Allan Poe, read by various readers, Blackstone Audio, Unabridged
Click here to listen to a sample.
Contains some of Poe’s greats – “The Tell Tale Heart”, “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, and others.

If you are a publisher and have titles that you’d like to be included here, then contact Scott or Jesse.

Podiobooks.com, has finally finished beta-test…

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Podiobooks.com, has finally finished beta-testing and has now OFFICIALLY launched! In honor of this, they’ve added two more speculative fiction related podcast novels to the roster:

Podiobooks.com's How To Disappear CompletelyHow To Disappear Completely
By Myke Bartlett
Which bills itself as… “part film noir detective story, part fantasy adventure, part East End gangster tale.”

Podiobooks.com's Amber Page And The Legend Of The Coral Stone Amber Page And The Legend Of The Coral Stone
By Stacey Cochran
By the numbers this podiobook has… “1 creepy old man, 27 exploding cars, 4 gunfights, 2 car chases, 1 cruise ship, 5 evil bad guys, 1 school bus, 1 fiery Harley-Davidson motorcycle, 2 massive earthquakes, 1 tropical Hawaiian Island, 1 super-evil criminal organization known as the S.H.R.O.U.D., and 1 broken family that must come to love one another again…”

Check it out!

posted by Jesse

Science Fiction author Bruce Sterling. He’s larg…

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Science Fiction author Bruce Sterling. He’s largely responsible for the Cyberpunk movement. His humor is as dry as his mind is sharp. We’ve found an MP3 online that features him speaking on an interesting SF theme, The Singularity. It runs nearly 50 minutes, not surprisingly it was done for the Long Now Foundation, a foundation itself right out of Asimov’s Science Fiction. Click HERE to download it. Be aware the sound quality is poor even though the ideas are rich.

posted by Jesse Willis

Review of King Kong by Edgar Wallace and Merion C. Cooper

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Science Fiction Audiobooks - King KongKing Kong
By Edgar Wallace and Merion C. Cooper; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
5 CD’s, 5.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0786175362
Themes: / Science Fiction / Horror / Movie making / Gorillas / Dinosaurs / Commentary /

This audiobook has two phrases emblazoned on the cover: “Special Blackstone Collector’s Edition Audiobook” and “The Greatest Horror Story of All Time!!” (both exclamation points are there…) Of the first phrase I can say that this audiobook is certainly special. Not only does it include the unabridged audio version of the novelization of the original King Kong film, but it also includes a bonus disc containing commentary from Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven, Catherine Asaro, Harlan Ellison, Jack Williamson, and Marc Scott Zicree. Is it the greatest horror story of all time? Not in my eyes, but the words fit nicely on this gorgeously packaged audiobook.

The original King Kong film (1933) holds a special place in a lot of hearts. I don’t share those feelings, possibly because the film predates me by 35 years. I recall more details about the 1976 remake starring Jessica Lange than I do the original. I was 10 in 1976 and, since that version of King Kong was mediocre, it stirred little in me. News of Peter Jackson’s remake didn’t excite me.

But this audiobook has awakened my interest in a big way, for two reasons. First, the story itself. Engagingly read by Stefan Rudnicki, the story of Kong, Denham, Ann Darrow, and Jack Driscoll is really a good story. The filmmaker Denham’s recklessness, actress Ann Darrow’s willingness to go along, and Jack Driscoll’s love keep things very interesting. Kong, of course, is the character around which the story revolves, and his journey from island to New York City and from beast to human-like ape fascinates.

The second thing that sparked my interest is the commentary. I loved the commentary included here. All of the people I mentioned above had a different and interesting take on King Kong, from Harlan Ellison’s declaration of the original film’s perfection to Catherine Asaro’s discussion of power unused. After listening to this, I’m now eager to see the new film, and even more eager to watch the original.

It would be an excellent thing if other books are given similar treatment. Unabridged classic science fiction novels with commentary would add a new and greatly appreciated dimension to the audiobook experience. Kudos to Blackstone for giving us this Special Edition.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

We here at SFFaudio want to take the opportunity…

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Tree Snow StarWe here at SFFaudio want to take the opportunity this holiday season to thank everyone for visiting our site. We appreciate the authors, the audiobook publishers, the talent (both tech and performing), and the now the podcasters too for giving us so much wonderful material to tell everyone about. We also appreciate all the readers of SFFaudio, who share so much in common with us – meeting and talking to so many of you through e-mail and in person is the finest part of it all. We are taking a short holiday break and hope you have a great one too!

All our very best to you and yours – Happy Holidays!

posted by Scott and Jesse