AboutSF AUDIO: Day Million by Frederik Pohl

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Day Million by Frederik Pohl - illustration by Jack Gaughan

In 1966 Rogue published one of the classics of 20th century SF, a short story named Day Million. It is a story that feels both incredibly old and stunningly fresh at the same time. The oldness is caused by its addressing itself to its contemporary audience, a very specific group, the heterosexual men who read men’s magazines. Apparently this group drove red sports cars, drank fine spirits, didn’t care much for “queers”, and most importantly liked looking at sexy women in the pages of something called “magazines.” The plot of the story itself is a romance, set in a world not entirely unlike our own, but also one of the most astonishingly futuristic I’ve ever read. Despite the audience having caught up, at least in these parts, to the liberal mindset Pohl seems to have had in 1966, the story is probably less accessible now because of its need to address its heterosexual 1960s male audience.

In Robert Silverberg’s Worlds Of Wonder (aka Science Fiction 101) Silverberg wrote of Day Million: “Each paragraph of the story – each sentence, in fact – demonstrates that Pohl has devoted most of his life to attaining the broadest and deepest possible understanding of the universe as we comprehend it today.”

Day Million is a five page story that shows the power of Science Fiction.

The podcast below features Frederik Pohl’s own narration, made specifically for AboutSF AUDIO.

About SF AudioDay Million
By Frederik Pohl; Read by Frederik Pohl
1 |MP3| – Approx. 19 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: About SF
Podcast: June 6, 2011
First published in the February-March 1966 issue of Rogue.

Podcast feed: http://aboutsf.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Convention panel (Readercon 2011): Capturing the Hidden History of Science Fiction

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Here’s a convention panel from Readercon 2011 entitled “Capturing the Hidden History of Science Fiction.” It was recorded back in July 2011 and the panelists include Fred Lerner, Barry N. Malzberg, Jamie Todd Rubin, Darrell Schweitzer and Eileen Gunn. Apparently one of the panelists objected to it’s existence on YouTube, but it’s up and online again.

[via SFSignal]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Exhibit Piece by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Good news everyone! Exhibit Piece, a Philip K. Dick short story first published in the August 1954 issue of Worlds Of Science Fiction, is PUBLIC DOMAIN! The etext is HERE.

Exhibit Piece by Philip K. Dick
Exhibit Piece illustrated by Paul Orban

Exhibit Piece was protected by copyright at one time. It was not renewed.

This was not known previously as there was a was a fraudulent attempt to renew the copyright. This fact is evidenced by THIS scan of the associated U.S. copyright office renewal form. Here are the highlighted details:

Claimed issue of publication for Exhibit Piece

Here is a scan of the table of contents in the TRUE original publication (the August 1954 issue of If: Worlds Of Science Fiction):
Table of contents from the August 1954 issue of IF: Worlds Of Science Fiction

The renewal period had already lapsed by the time the bogus renewal attempt.

Here is the table of contents from the December 1955 issue of If: Worlds Of Science Fiction, note the absence of a story by Philip K. Dick in this issue:

Table of contents from the December 1955 issue of IF: Worlds Of Science Fiction

Exhibit Piece by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN.

Also, here’s a |PDF|.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Prominent Author by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Prominent Author by Philip K. Dick is a PUBLIC DOMAIN short story.

Prominent Author by Philip K. Dick - illustrated by Paul Orban
Paul Orban illustration from Prominent Author by Philip K. Dick

Back in 1983 an application was made to renew the copyright for Prominent Author, a short story by Philip K. Dick. The story’s copyright, however was not renewed in the time allotted. Instead the applicant, Paul Williams, mis-stated the original publication date giving Prominent Author the deceptive appearance of being within the renewal period. This is demonstrably false.

Here is the highlighted detail from the copyright renewal form:

Incorrect publication date for "Prominent Author"

Here is the complete page of the copyright renewal form for RE190631:
copyright renewal form for RE190631 (includes Prominent Author by Philip K. Dick)

Here is the table of contents from the May 1954 issue of IF: Worlds Of Science Fiction (note that it includes Prominent Author by Philip K. Dick):
Table Of Contents for IF: Worlds Of Science Fiction (including Prominent Author by Philip K. Dick)

Here is the table of contents from IF: Worlds Of Science Fiction, June 1955 (note the absence of a story by Philip K. Dick):
Table of contents from IF: Worlds Of Science Fiction, June 1955

Prominent Author by Philip K. Dick is a PUBLIC DOMAIN short story.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #142 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG – Accessory Before The Fact by Algernon Blackwood

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #142 – Accessory Before The Fact by Algernon Blackwood, read by Gregg Margarite. This is a complete and unabridged reading of the short story (16 Minutes) followed by a discussion of it (by Jesse, Tamahome, and Gregg Margarite).

Talked about on today’s show:
Accessory Before The Fact was published in 1911, Jesse doesn’t understand this story, Wilkie Collins, ethereal planes are the hook (rather than the detail), Gilligan and The Skipper vs. Laurel and Hardu vs. Harold and Kumar, “this is not a time-slip story”, “this is a precognative story”, paranoia, “spirtitualized”, Germanophobia, WWI, bigotry on display, L. Frank Baum’s racism, Teutonic invasion, how many characters are in this story (4 or 3)?, peeling away the layers, déjà vu, see/feel the future, quantum theory, is time a superimposition onto real reality?, slipstream, fantasy, should we dismiss this story?, Ten Minute Short Stories, adventure, Accessory Before The Fact is at the genesis of all this, an accountant on vacation, “what do you do when you have one of these events and you can’t prove it”?, The Moment Of Decision by Stanley Ellin, 13 More Stories They Wouldn’t Let Me Do On TV edited by Alfred Hitchcock, An Occurance At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, time is an illusion, “time is a serious problem…”

Accessory Before The Fact by Algernon Blackwood - illustration by Bob Harvey

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 13 More Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do On TV

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review Of Mindstar Rising (Greg Mandel, #1) By Peter F. Hamilton

Tamahome

SFFaudio Review

Mindstar Rising (Greg Mandel, #1)
By Peter F. Hamilton; Read by Toby Longworth
Audible Download – 14 Hours 52 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 1st 2011
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mystery / Global Warming / Psychic Abilities

It’s the 21st century, and global warming is here to stay, so forget the way your country used to look. And get used to the free market, too – the companies possess all the best hardware, and they’re calling the shots now. In a world like this, a man open to any offers can make out just fine.

A man like Greg Mandel for instance, who’s psi-boosted, wired into the latest sensory equipment, carrying state-of-the-art weaponry – and late of the English Army’s Mindstar Battalion. As the cartels battle for control of a revolutionary new power source, and corporate greed outstrips national security, tension is mounting to boiling point – and Greg Mandel is about to face the ultimate test.

This is an older Peter F. Hamilton novel, first published in 1993.  It’s relatively short compared to his later books.  Just this year it got reprinted in America with Quantum Murder as one book.  (I guess thick books sell more?)  It has also just gotten the audio treatment from Audible Frontiers.  Peter F. Hamilton is kind of a potboiler sf writer, and yet he’s really smart.  He seems to put a lot of research into his scenes, including some science.  Sometimes I feel like he’s giving too many details compared to someone like Joe Haldeman, and I get a little restless.   Maybe it’s my fault and I’m getting confused, which is easier to do in an audiobook.  But then something shocking or intense happens, and it keeps me going.  Plus his character development is above average for a genre writer.  And he doesn’t shy away from sex or violence as much as other writers.  I feel like he writes for adults.  If you thought the Night’s Dawn or Void trilogies had too many fantasy elements, you might prefer this series.  It is more straight science fiction.  That’s assuming you don’t consider psychic abilities to be fantasy.  At least they’re framed here in a scientific way.  You may encounter some libertarian political messages as well.  The setting is a post global warming world where a Leftist government has left England in shambles.  It will become important to the plot.

I happen to know that Hamilton is a plotter and outlines in advance.  I experienced the ‘Connie Willis effect’ while reading — I wasn’t sure why a certain character or location was introduced, but then it all tied together in the end.  The last three or four hours here really cooked.  He can describe beam weapons and explosions well.  (Compare the end of his The Neutronium Alchemist with the end of Samuel R. Delany’s Nova.)  Although I caution you there’s a somewhat grisly escape.  And I don’t like the word ‘tropes’, but some of the ‘cool stuff’ you’ll see in this novel are mind uploading, cybernetic brain enhancement, and genetically enhanced animals.

No messing.

Posted by Tamahome