The NPR interview program Fresh Air, hosted by Terry Gross, has made the Dec. 14, 1993 interview with Octavia Butler available for online streaming. You can get it HERE in the RealAudio format.
Author: Jesse Willis
The two latest two commisions for BBC7’s The 7th…
The two latest two commissions for BBC7’s The 7th Dimension start airing this weekend. They are:
Ralph
By Martin Jameson – [RADIO DRAMA]
AIRS: Saturday 6pm and 12midnight (UK TIME).
“A ghostly tale of an old lady and two children who become involved with terrifying occurrences from the past.”
Voices From The Grave
By Lynn Ferguson, David Varela, Dylan Ritson and Lucy Catherine – [RADIO DRAMA]
AIRS: Tuesday to Thursday 12.30 am (UK TIME).
“Four ALL NEW chilling dramas inspired by existing ghost stories from around Britain.”
Hey look! BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting a new 4 pa…
Hey look! BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting a new 4 part dramatisation of Terry Pratchett‘s Discworld novel Small Gods – it started Feb 28th.
“There are gods everywhere on the Discworld but only a few people can see them. On the Discworld, gods need people more than people need gods.”
James Patrick Kelly has just completed podcastin…
James Patrick Kelly has just completed podcasting all 16 chapters his new novel Burn. Apparently the publisher of the dead-tree version, Tachyon Publications, has informed him that about 2/3 of the first printing have already sold. So that means you can still head on over THERE and buy a hardcopy if you hurry. Also, Jim will be accepting questions via email about Burn, for an upcoming special podcast Q&A, try to get the questions in over the next week or so. You can email him at [email protected] and he’s said questions in MP3 format are cool too.
So what’s next? Good news, starting soon, Jim will be releasing his recently Nebula nominated novellette, Men Are Trouble (which first appeared in Asimov’s (Jun04). Keen!
Hey if you haven’t already subscribed today is t…
Hey if you haven’t already subscribed today is the day to do it, you absolutely have to, because Steve Eley‘s awesome ESCAPE POD: The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine today features a Paul Di Filippo short story called Little Worker read by fellow SF author Jonathon (Sullydog) Sullivan. Its a “ribofunk” story, that’s a cross between Cyberpunk and Biotech, and it is more proof that the future’s so bright you’ve gotta grow nictating membranes!
If you have iTunes you can subscribe directly by CLICKING HERE.
Review of Middle Woman by Orson Scott Card
Middle Woman
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Mary Robinette Kowal
1 MP3 File – 9 Minutes 57 Seconds [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show
Published: March 2006
Themes: / Fantasy / Fable / Dragons / 3 Wishes /Immortality /
This is the second “Audio Bonus” from Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine, the plan appears to be to offer one bonus MP3 story per issue. Cool!
Orson Scott Card’s short fiction is connected to people in ways that other speculative fiction often isn’t. Realistic character psychology always takes the lead over scenarios, but his scenarios always test his characters’ psychologies – it makes for a special completeness rarely found in Speculative Fiction. Combine this with a refinement of prose, where every word is perfectly placed, and you get a little piece of magic in every OSC story. In this case, “Middle Woman” is a fable style fiction, another variation of that old saw “the three wishes”. Originally published under OSC’s pseudonym “Byron Walley”, it takes the idea of moderation, something almost always absent from fables, and runs with it. It reminded me of a kinder, gentler version of Robert Bloch’s classic That Hellbound Train. Interestingly, it also offers a more restive solution to W.W. Jacobs’ The Monkey’s Paw. The setting is Eastern, and given the “middle” of the title I suspect it is working in the ‘middle kingdom’ style of storytelling. Whether I’m right about that or not you’ll have to check it out yourself to decide.
Quite short, only 9 minutes, this is ably read by Mary Robinette Kowal who manipulates her voice in all the right ways to lend classic fairy tale reading to this modern fable. In addition to being a terrific narrator, Kowal is a professional puppeteer who also moonlights as speculative fiction author. “Middle Woman” is the Audio Bonus found in Issue Two of the online magazine Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show.
DISCLAIMER: Mary Robinette Kowal, when not reading stories aloud is an SFFaudio reviewer.
Posted by Jesse Willis