Category: Online Audio

LibriVox: The Sky Is Falling by Lester del Rey

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxNarrator Karen Savage comes from the plainspoken school of audiobook narration. Her reading is crisp and clean, and, barring accidents will be listened to for at least several centuries. The Sky Is Falling is a weird and fascinating tale that blends a hard Science Fiction attitude with a grotesque Fantasy world. The brushing and melding of two incommensurable fiction paradigms, like this, was also done in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s Inferno |READ OUR REVIEW|.

LIBRIVOX - The Sky Is Falling by Lester del ReyThe Sky Is Falling
By Lester del Rey; Read by Karen Savage
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 3 Hours 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: March 28, 2010
After dying in a terrible accident at a building site, Dave Hanson finds himself being brought back to life in a world where magic is real, and where the sky is breaking apart and falling. And he is expected to put it back together again. Will he be able to save this strange world, and his own new life?

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/rss/3780

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Also of note, this production completes the entire audiobooking of ACE DOUBLE #76960 (the other half being Lester del Rey’s Badge Of Infamy:

LIBRIVOX - Badge Of Infamy by Lester del ReyBadge Of Infamy
By Lester del Rey; Read by Steven H. Wilson
15 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 3 Hours 19 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Published: LibriVox.org
Published: January 17, 2007
Daniel Feldman was a doctor once. He made the mistake of saving a friend’s life in violation of Medical Lobby rules. Now, he’s a pariah, shunned by all, forbidden to touch another patient. But things are more loose on Mars. There, Doc Feldman is welcomed by the colonists, even as he’s hunted by the authorities. But, when he discovers a Martian plague may soon wipe out humanity on two planets, Feldman finds himself a pivotal figure. War erupts. Earth is poised to wipe out the Mars colony utterly. A cure to the plague is the price of peace, and only Feldman can find it

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/badge-of-infamy-by-lester-del-rey.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Here’s the first appearance of these two novels together:

Galaxy Magabook - The Sky Is Falling / Badge Of Infamy by Lester del Rey

And here’s the 1973 ACE Double appearance of these two novels together:

Ace Double- Badge Of Infamy / The Sky Is Falling by Lester del Rey

[thanks also to mim@can]

Posted by Jesse Willis

CBC: Writers And Company: Hodd by Adam Thorpe (a reimaginaing of Robin Hood)

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

CBC Radio One - Writers And CompanyHost Eleanor Wachtel, of CBC’s Writers And Company, interviewed novelist Adam Thorpe in a fascinating podcast from January 31, 2010. Here’s the show description:

“From the Middle Ages to the 21st century, the legend of Robin Hood has fascinated us. England’s Adam Thorpe subverts the myth in his new novel, Hodd.”

Wachtel elicits a brief history of Robin Hood from Thorpe. He talks about the 1950s black and white TV version The Adventures Of Robin Hood (and it’s McCarthy-era fleeing writers), Sir Walter Scott‘s portrayal of Hood as a kind of proto-socialist, the Roger Lancelyn Green version, as well as the scholarly historical possibilities as dug up by J.C. Holt. Thorpe seems to have also taken equal inspiration for Hodd from the monsters of 20th century politics. Wachtel is one of the finest interviewers on radio.

As is quite typical with my consumption of the CBC’s Writers And Company podcast, I was listening to an older (dropped from the feed) episode. This means if you, just now, have subscribed to the official CBC feed you wouldn’t be find it available at all. But, thanks to some skillful web-fu, I’ve sussed out the still available (though hidden) |MP3|. Enjoy!

Here’s the first episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood Ep. 01 (The Coming Of Robin Hood):And here’s the trailer for the upcoming Ridley Scott version of Robin Hood:

Posted by Jesse Willis

P.S. J. Michael Straczynski’s radio drama series The Adventures Of Apocalypse Al is still being suppressed by CBC Radio. What a pity!

TheAudioBookShop.com: FREE serializations of T.C. Rypel, H.P. Lovecraft and Leanna Renee Hieber audiobooks

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

A new online retailer called TheAudioBookShop.com is serializing, for FREE, some terrific sounding audiobooks from Audio Realms‘ catalogue of feisty fantastic fiction!

AUDIO REALMS - Gonji: Red Blade From The East by T.C. RypelGonji (Vol. 1): Red Blade From The East
By T.C. Rypel; Read by Brian Holsopple
Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Realms
Published: July 25, 2009
ISBN: 1897304544
Provider: TheAudioBookShop.com
Cast out from his Japanese homeland, Gonji, the Samurai warrior, journeyed across barbaric Europe in the quest of Vedun, the distant city in the loftiest peaks of the Carpathian Alps. Ceaselessly fighting the hated plague and hostile peasants, Gonji struggled to reach the mighty walls of majestic Vedun. But demons and dragons, and mages and monsters pursued the warrior across the wintry plains and the jagged mountains. His swords flashing with fury, Gonji battles his foes and strengthened his will, determined to conquer his hardships, and fulfill his destiny!

There’s no word on how long these serializations will be available so ya’ll should get into it straight away. Here’s what’s been released so far…

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|

Upcoming serializations include:

The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft Vol. 6, At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft <- Beginning March 29th! The Strangely Beautiful Tale Of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber <- Beginning March 29th! Posted by Jesse Willis

New Podcast: The Functional Nerds

Scott D.

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Functional Nerds PodcastPatrick Hester and John Anealio have a new podcast they call The Functional Nerds. In Episode 001, they talk about:

In the very first episode of The Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio chat about the new iPad from Apple, what it means to be a ‘functional nerd’, about: science fiction media, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, Felicia Day and The Guild, SciFi site SFSignal.com, the Atari 2600, old iPods and CD’s, the Whuffie factor from of Cory Doctorow’s science fiction novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Elantris, Steam for the Mac, console gaming, Blizzard, World of Warcraft (for the Horde!), Blizzcon, PhilCon, Gregory Frost, Haze by L.E. Modesitt Jr., J.V. Jones, Dennis L. McKiernan, Dragondoom, TOR books, SciFi Songs, The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon, Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds, Iron Sky by Charles Strauss, Spellwright by Blake Charlton, Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson and NaNoWriMo.

I enjoyed myself! Thanks, guys! Looking forward to future episodes…

Find Episode 001 here: |MP3|

And here’s the podcast feed:
http://functionalnerds.com/feed/

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

LibriVox: Jock of the Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxHere’s a fun, and approximately antipodean, compliment to Jack London’s stupendous novel The Call Of The Wild. Set in 1880s South Africa, it is a set of semi-fictional stories about an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Jock. According to a book called National Character In South African Children’s Literature it was none other than Rudyard Kipling who persuaded James Percy Fitzpatrick to collect his Jock tales in book form. Now that is quite a provenance!

LIBRIVOX - Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy FitzpatrickJock Of The Bushveld
By Sir Percy Fitzpatrick; Read by various
28 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 12 Hours 46 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Publisher: March 19, 2010
Jock of the Bushveld is a true story by South African author Sir Percy Fitzpatrick when he worked as a storeman, prospector’s assistant, journalist and ox-wagon transport-rider. The book tells of Fitzpatrick’s travels with his dog, Jock, during the 1880s. Jock was saved by Fitzpatrick from being drowned in a bucket for being the runt of the litter. Jock was very loyal towards Percy, and brave. Jock was an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/3952

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Rastignac The Devil by Philip José Farmer

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxI get the sense that Rastignac The Devil is a satire, using the furniture of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. But I feel really embarrassed about not knowing what is going on, sub-textually, in this interesting, but baffling, novella by Philip José Farmer. Is it all an allegorical satire of some event in 17th century France?

A couple of other notes. Mike Resnick’s Starship series has a character named “Slick.” Slick is an alien with a sentient symbiotic skin (called a “gorib”). Rastignac The Devil has aliens and humans with just such a similar concept – very cool! Gregg Margarite, the narrator, does a very good job with the abundance of French words.

Anyway, like I said, I liked the story, thought it was weirdly cool, but don’t feel like I’ve understood it at all. Could someone fill me in?

LIBRIVOX - Rastignac The Devil by Philip Jose FarmerRastignac The Devil
By Philip José Farmer; Read by Gregg Margarite
2 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 1 Hour 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: March 19, 2010
Here is high fidelity fiction at Philip José Farmer’s story-telling best. It’s a vibrant, distractingly different tale of three centuries into the future. And as you read you’ll have a vague, uneasy feeling that it’s all taking place somewhere in the unexplored parts of the universe, even today. From Fantastic Universe May 1954.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/4158

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to Barry Eads (aka KiltedDragon)]

Posted by Jesse Willis