Who sez blogging doesn’t pay? It does and here’s the proof!
SFFaudio’s income for the months of July and August 2012 was $139.90.
We thank you for your support.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Review of Tales from the Hood: The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley
Tales from the Hood: The Sisters Grimm
By Michael Buckley; Read by L.J. Ganser
6.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 2008
Themes: / Fantasy / YA / Magic / Trial / Fairy Tale / Mystery /
This is my second book in the series. I started with book 5 and couldn’t put it down. At the end, I had to purchase and listen to book 6. Once again, I found myself lying in bed, listening to the book far longer than was prudent. It reminds me of the nights as a child when I would take a flashlight and read under the covers of my bed. It’s wonderful to again find a series that warrants that sort of need to read.
In the sixth volume, Mr. Canes, otherwise known as The Big Bad Wolfe, goes on trial for the murder of Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother. As always, the story was and was not what we’ve heard before.
Mr. Buckley again laced the story with clues. This time I had the ending figured out beforehand, but I didn’t mind as I enjoyed the story and how it unfolded.
In volume six, the trial is mostly a sham. The Mad Hatter is the judge and the defense is thwarted at every turn by a devilish prosecution. While we follow the main story, the overarching plot that weaves through the series also advances satisfactorily. The author is adept at giving us just enough backstory to keep from being lost but not enough for those who read previous books to mind.
The trial reminded me a lot of a Disneyland ride I loved as a child: “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride”. The author grabs you, throws you into the car and takes you on a fast-paced ride, full of twists and turns, sudden stops and dead ends. But the denouement was quite satisfactory. The “To Be Continued” at the end of the book was more a “that chapter’s over, now it’s time for the next one” rather than a “I must get the next book!” But that, too, was fine. After the crazy trial, I’m ready for a short (very short) break before moving on to see what happens next.
Do I recommend the book? Absolutely. I’d give this a 9 out of 10. I’d recommend the entire series (based on two books) to readers of all ages. I’m an adult and I loved it. Young readers (the target audience) will love it as well.
This is a series you can safely buy as a gift for any child who loves to read mystery, adventure or fairy tales. The world comes alive in the books and you believe that, somewhere, Ferryport Landing really exists. That, to me, is high praise indeed.
Posted by Charlene Harmon
The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions
Here’s the ghostly novella, The Beckoning Fair One, set for our upcoming podcast readalong. It’s read for us by the wonderful Julie Davis from the wondrous Forgotten Classics podcast!
The Beckoning Fair One
By Oliver Onions; Read by Julie Davis
1 |MP3| – Approx. 2 Hours 40 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: Forgotten Classics
Podcast: July-August, 2012
First published in 1911.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Wired For Books: Interview with Judy Oppenheimer (Shirley Jackson biographer)
Wired For Books is a terrific online resource. Recorded by Don Swaim as material for a long running CBS radio segment, these lengthy interviews are a treasure brought to us by Ohio University.
Take this 1988 interview, with Judy Oppenheimer, who talks to Swaim about her research into the life of Shirley Jackson.
Fascinating stuff |MP3|.
Posted by Jesse Willis
BBCWS+RA.cc: John Christopher’s The Death Of Grass RADIO DRAMA (1986)
There’s a one hour BBC World Service radio drama adaptation of John Christopher’s The Death Of Grass available as a torrent over on RadioArchive.cc. Broadcast on March 15, 1986 the programme is a highly compressed adaptation. But, it keeps a surprising number of the key scenes as well as managing to sustain the novel’s unique atmosphere.
All the world’s grain crops fail and martial law is declared. Engineer John Custance leads his family, and an assortment of other survivors, from London to Cumbria in a desperate attempt to survive the coming global famine. and assorted hangers on North after all the crops fail and martial law is declared.
Dramatized by Pat Hooker
Cast:
Bernard Brown as John Custance
Gwen Cheryl as Ann
Colin Starkey as Roger
Anne Jameson as Olivia
David Gough as Perry
Posted by Jesse Willis
The SFFaudio Podcast #180 – READALONG: The Death Of Grass by John Christopher
The SFFaudio Podcast #180 – Jesse, Tamahome, and Jenny Colvin talk about The Death Of Grass by John Christopher.
Talked about on today’s show:
post-apocalyptic, John Christopher’s real name was Samuel Youd, also known as No Blade of Grass, an anti-pot novel?, “it’s not my idea of a good time”, Stephen King’s The Stand, it’s almost like a play, there is a BBC audio drama adaptation, why not fish?, the Inuit, apocalyptic expert Jenny weighs in, John is like a feudal lord, moral lines are crossed, John’s transformation, the terrible 1970 movie version, “why hello I think I will come with you”, the cons of agriculture, Jenny’s quinoa granola, just drop a few bombs, can’t they make Soylent Green?, potatoes can let you down, real African grass virus, Paolo Bacigalupi’s Windup Girl, famines today, George R. Stewart’s Earth Abides |OUR READALONG|, David Pringle’s Science Fiction: The Best 100 Novels 1949-1984 and The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction, John Joseph Adams’s Wastelands, Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon, Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010, Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, LeVar Burton loves it, women in the novel, Stockholm syndrome, The Walking Dead, “Dun dun dun!”, “maybe Luke can re-edit it”, Starship Troopers, Doomsday Preppers
Posted by Tamahome