News, Reviews, and Commentary on all forms of science fiction, fantasy, and horror audio. Audiobooks, audio drama, podcasts; we discuss all of it here. Mystery, crime, and noir audio are also fair game.
Stephen Fry’s latest podcast, recorded at the iTunes festival (a U.K. music festival), is a moral history of copyright. After the very funny and informative speech Fry takes questions from the audience and twitter. Is there’s anyone cooler than Stephen Fry? He’s like a comedic John Lennon minus the Yoko.
Have a listen |MP3| or subscribe to the podcast:
http://www.stephenfry.com/media/audio/rss/mp3/
Posted by Jesse Willis
Here’s a reminder that tonight sees the beginning of The Adventures Of Sexton Blake in a six week run on BBC Radio 2. But if you’re still not sure who this Blake bloke is, I’ve got the solution. Using my amazing skills of research (RadioArchive.cc) I’ve uncovered a July 28th, 2009 documentary about this Sexton Blake character. It’s called The Hunt For Sexton Blake and runs a full hour. Interested parties can find the well seeded torrent for it through RadioArchive.cc. It’s filed in the “factual” section there. Here’s the description:
Who exactly is Sexton Blake? People under the age of 45 might ask that question, but anyone older is likely to have read one of the 4000 stories by over 200 authors, or seen the films, the stage adaptations, the many TV shows, or listened to his adventures on radio.
Sexton Blake is one of the most famous and long-lived fictional detectives and adventurers of all time, who battled opium smugglers, bandit chiefs and the Kaiser. In his heyday he was more widely read than Sherlock Holmes – enjoyed by working people all over the British Empire – and whilst Holmes features in very few stories, Blake appeared in thousands.
In this hour long profile and exploration of Blake’s impact, David Quantick talks to author Michael Moorcock, who used to edit the Sexton Blake Library; Jack Adrian a former writer; and comic book illustrator Kevin O’Neil, who co-created The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and other heroes.
That Blake didn’t have the same critical recognition, could be attributed to the fact the stories were published in cheap magazines, rather than in proper books. Or because the writers themselves didn’t move in the right circles, to make friends and influence people. While Ian Fleming had been to Eton and Sandhurst, the Blake authors were a rag tag bunch of eccentrics, whose own lives were worked into the tales. Michael Moorcock tells David that the Blake writers were puzzled at how James Bond was liked by critics, when the early novels were badly plotted and featured cartoon-like villains hiding in volcanoes.
David also hears about the Blake author who vanished under mysterious circumstances. The writer’s wife sent in his remaining Blake manuscripts without saying he’d disappeared, and then passed off her new partner’s work as that of her dead husband. It wouldn’t take Sexton Blake to tell you there was something fishy going on there!
Posted by Jesse Willis
Time to double click on that Radio Downloader shortcut you’ve placed on your desktop folks! There’s a rebroadcast of the 2008 BBC Radio 7 commissioned collection of five stories called This Is Pulp Fiction. Airing in the Crime and Thrillers slot are readings of stories by William F. Nolan, Gil Brewer and Jim Thompson! Honestly, how can you pass it all up?
This is Pulp Fiction
By various; Read by Peter Marinker
5 Broadcasts – [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: July 28th – 31st 2009 (Monday – Friday @ 1:45pm, 8:45pm and 1:45am)
Peter Marinker reads some of the best in classic American Pulp Fiction, abridged for radio by Nick McCarty.
Stories included:
1/5 Divide and Conquer
By Jack Ritchie
Tommy’s Casino chain is running smoothly till some new blood tries to muscle in. A classic 1957 crime thriller about a cleverly foiled protection racket.
2/5 The Getaway
By Gil Brewer
Gangster Vincente is about to make the biggest hit of his career. A classic 1976 crime thriller about a gangland hit with a twist.
3/5 Black
By Paul Cain
There’s a gang war raging, and Black is there to sort things out.
4/5 Forever After
By Jim Thompson
Ardis Clinton has a foolproof plan to kill her husband. From 1960, a crime thriller about a woman’s comeuppance.
5/5 A Real Nice Guy
By William F. Nolan
A serial sniper is stalking for another target in Los Angeles. From 1980.
Posted by Jesse Willis
It seems LibriVox has started adding a few more credits to its collections starting with this volume. Besides the narrators, this collection was created by the following LibriVox volunteers:
Book Coordinator: Gregg Margarite
Dedicated Proof-Listener: julicarter
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Lucy Burgoyne
Stories new to this collection include:
Stopover by William Gerken. This is a well written but annoying story. It is one of better parapsychology short stories, but that isn’t saying much. John W. Campbell was absolutely obsessed with paraspychological ESP bunk – it makes for very repetitive reading. This story’s setting, in a post-apocalyptic USA, is vivid – and the characters are emotionally realistic -too bad about the ESP crap. Bellona Times, the narrator, has a few missteps in this one – including the reading “psi talents” as “pee-ess-eye talents.”
Something Will Turn Up by David Mason. The beatnik/hippy repairman, and his dialogue, in this tale are a real hoot. It’s more a Fantasy tale than an SF one, but its got a beatnik TV repairman so I’m still happy. Read by Bellona Times again without any serious flaws but with a few little ones here and there. Times snaps his fingers and whistles – which to me is a narrator double no-no. There’s also a word or two improperly read, notably “reversed” read as “reverse.”
The Sargasso Of Space by Edmond Hamilton. This is a fast paced space opera (and mystery) about an interplanetary spacecraft that’s run out of gas. Gregg Margarite continues to kick ass as a narrator. He’s no vocal chameleon but he’s just a few tweaks away from being a pro sounding narrator. He seems to choose some of the better stories too. I think he’s super cool. Maybe he’ll be my friend? That’d be cool.
Short Science Fiction Stories Vol. 19
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 41 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
Science Fiction is speculative literature that generally explores the consequences of ideas which are roughly consistent with nature and scientific method, but are not facts of the author’s contemporary world. The stories often represent philosophical thought experiments presented in entertaining ways. Protagonists typically “think” rather than “shoot” their way out of problems, but the definition is flexible because there are no limits on an author’s imagination. The reader-selected stories presented here were written prior to 1962 and became US public domain texts when their copyrights expired.
Podcast feed:
http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-19.xml
iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|
All Cats are Gray
By Andre Norton; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
An odd story, made up of oddly assorted elements that include a man, a woman, a black cat, a treasure—and an invisible being that had to be seen to be believed. – Under normal conditions a whole person has a decided advantage over a handicapped one. But out in deep space the normal may be reversed—for humans at any rate. First published using Norton’s Andrew North pseudonym in Fantastic Universe Science Fiction, August–September 1953.
Beyond Lies The Wub
By Phillip K. Dick; Read by Tom Hackett
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
The slovenly wub might well have said: Many men talk like philosophers and live like fools. From Planet Stories July 1952.
The Gallery
By Rog Phillips; Read by Ted Ryan
– [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
Wherever he went Arthur felt the power behind the lens. – Aunt Matilda needed him desperately, but when he arrived she did not want him and neither did anyone else in his home town. From Amazing Stories January 1959.
The Happy Unfortunate
By Robert Silverberg; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 39 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
Dekker, back from space, found great physical changes in the people of Earth; changes that would have horrified him five years before. But now, he wanted to be like the rest—even if he had to lose an eye and both ears to do it. From Amazing Stories December 1957.
The Man Who Saw The Future
By Edmond Hamilton; Read by Xanderphilips
1 |MP3| – Approx. [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
“Jean de Marselait, Inquisitor Extraordinary of the King of France, raised his head from the parchments that littered the crude desk at which he sat. His glance shifted along the long stone-walled, torchlit room to the file of mail-clad soldiers who stood like steel statues by its door. A word from him and two of them sprang forward.” First published in Amazing Stories, October 1930. Later reprinted in the February 1961 issue of Amazing Stories.
A Matter Of Proportion
By Anne Walker; Read by Dale A. Bade
1 |MP3| – Approx. 37 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
In order to make a man stop, you must convince him that it’s impossible to go on. Some people, though, just can’t be convinced. From Astounding Science Fiction August 1959.
Sargasso Of Space
By Edmond Hamilton; Read by Greg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
She was floating along the wreck-pack’s edge. Helpless, doomed, into the graveyard of space floats the wrecked freighter Pallas. From Astounding Stories September 1931.
Something Will Turn Up
By David Mason; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 17 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
Err … maybe it had to do with this being a non-Parity universe, perhaps? Some things can’t be simply inverted, after all… From Analog February 1963.
Stopover
By William Gerken; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 23 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
What will the world be like, the day after Tomorrow, for the lonely ones who will have talents that others will half fear, half envy? William Gerken describes this strange world in which young and old will have to find new values and pursue new dreams, as they search for the answer… From Fantastic Universe September 1957.
Toy Shop
By Harry Harrison; Read by Xanderphillips
1 |MP3| – Approx. 10 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
The gadget was strictly, beyond any question, a toy. Not a real, workable device. Except for the way it could work under a man’s mental skin… From Analog April 1962.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Itching to hear more Jesse Willis on a podcast?
Ya, I new you were.
Tune in to the newest StarShipSofa spin-off show: The Sofanauts No. 14 to hear what literally makes me cry and why I think Apollo 11 sucks vacuum… This podcasts features me, along with host Tony C. Smith and two other guests (SF author Jeff Carlson and Escape Pod editor Jeremy Tolbert).
Topics discussed:
–Barnes & Noble Plans an Extensive E-Bookstore
–Amazon’s Kindle fulfilling 1984 by George Orwell
–The Fallout from Last Year’s Locus Magazine Reader’s Poll
–Tor.com celebrates the moon landings with guest posts from the cream of SF
–Did the Moon landing spoil SF
This week’s picks:
Novel: Staked by J.F. Lewis
PC Game: Portal
Comic Book (in trade paperback): Battlefields Vol. 2 – “Dear Billy” by Garth Ennis and Peter Snejbjerg
Have a listen |MP3| or subscribe to the feed:
http://sofanauts.com/category/podcast/feed
iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|
Posted by Jesse Willis
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle could be remembered as an important author quite apart from his creation of Sherlock Holmes. His novel of The Lost World, for instance, is still being read and enjoyed today. He wrote a great many books too. One is The White Company, a book which I discovered even just two months ago when the proprietor of the Golden Age Comic Book Stories scanned and uploaded the gorgeous images that illustrated the 1922 edition HERE. Now, thanks to the team-up of LibriVox’s Laura Caldwell and Clive Catterall, we are all owners of a public domain audiobook version. Thanks folks!
The White Company
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Read by Clive Catterall
38 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: July 24, 2009
Set during the Hundred Years’ War with France, The White Company tells the story of a young Saxon man who is learning what it is to be a knight. Raised by Cistercian Monks and rejected by a violent elder brother, Alleyn Edricson takes service with one of the foremost knights in the country. When Alleyn falls in love with the knight’s daughter, he must prove himself to be a courageous and honourable knight before he can win her hand. Alleyn and his friends set forth with the other men-at-arms to join Prince Edward in Bordeaux, from where they will take part in the Prince’s campaign into Spain. It is in Spain that Alleyn and others must prove themselves to be very valiant and hardy cavaliers.
Podcast feed:
http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/the-white-company-by-sir-arthur-conan-doyle.xml
iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|
Posted by Jesse Willis