George R.R. Martin interviewed at Audible.com headquarters in Newark, New Jersey

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

George R.R. Martin was recently interviewed at Audible.com Headquarters in Newark, New Jersey. The man behind Audible Frontiers, Steve Feldberg, does the actual interview. Here’s the description:

“Recently we had the pleasure of welcoming to our office a great figure in the literary community (and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2011!). George RR Martin, who recently completed the fifth book in his hugely popular series, A Song Of Ice And Fire, shared stories about his life, his careers in both literature and television, and the power of fiction”

Posted by Jesse Willis

Shane Morris’ Set The Penfield Mood Organ For Aware (a Philip K. Dick inspired concept album)

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

As a person singularly unqualified to answer, I submit this email to a more general audience for consideration. Shane Morris writes:

Greetings Jesse,

I have just released a Creative Commons licensed work dedicated to PKD for his 83rd birthday. The album is entitled “Set the Penfield Mood Organ for Aware” .

It is a meditative ambient album in attempt to bring the sounds of this device written about in “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” to life. FREE to download or listen. CC 3.0 Unported License

http://buddhistonfire.com/2011/12/14-shane-morris—set-the-penfield-mood-organ-for-aware/

If you like ambient music, I think you might enjoy this release. I would be most grateful for any mention in your blog if you feel the quality of the work is worthy.
Sincerely,
Shane Morris

Shane Morris' Set The Penfield Mood Organ For Aware

|ZIPPED MP3 FILES|

From the bedroom Iran’s voice came. “I can’t stand TV before breakfast.”

“Dial 888,” Rick said as the set warmed. “The desire to watch TV, no matter what’s on it.”

– Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxBack in 2008 Listener (of the Free Listens blog) reviewed for us Steve Anderson’s 2006 reading of A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court. That’s a freely available LibriVox audiobook. Shortly thereafter LibriVox published a second version and we’ve ignored it since then. No Longer!

John Greenman’s 2008 narration is 2 hours and 18 minutes shorter than Anderson’s and has an even better sound quality. As to whether he’s the better narrator try these two files on for size:

Steve Anderson’s 2006 |MP3|
John Greenman’s 2008 |MP3|

What do you think? Myself I can see merits for both. I like Anderson’s unaffected reading voice. Greenman’s narration has a certain folksy charm too. Sound quality is better with Greenman’s, but Anderson’s voice is just a little crisper with the words – that might make it easier to hear in a noisy environment. I can’t choose. Help!

Here’s the Greenman edition:

LIBRIVOX - A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court by Mark TwainA Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court
By Mark Twain; Read by John Greenman
3 M4Bs, 44 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 11 Hours 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 03, 2008
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The work is a very early example of time travel in literature, anticipating by six years H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine of 1895 (however, unlike Wells, Twain does not give any real explanation of his protagonist’s traveling in time). Some early editions are entitled A Yankee At The Court Of King Arthur.

Part 1 |M4B| Part 2 |M4B| Part 3 |M4B|

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/a-connecticut-yankee-in-king-arthurs-court-by-mark-twain-2.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

BSAP: Jake Sampson: Monster Hunter – The Roof Of The World (Part 1)

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Modern audio drama adventure serial has a name, that name is JAKE SAMPSON: MONSTER HUNTER!

BrokenSea Audio Productions: Jake Sampson: Monster HunterJake Sampson: Monster Hunter – The Roof of the World Episode 1
By Mark Kalita; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 19 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: Broken Sea Audio Productions
Podcast: December 15, 2011
Jake is summoned to Massachusetts to visit an aging former professor. Soon the gang is involved in a quest for a magic flower that only grows in a remote part of Tibet. Others also hunt the secrets held within that mysterious land, but for a more nefarious purpose. What is the price for immortality, and does the fabled lost city of Shambala really exist? Weird tales abound in the land known as The Roof of the World!

CAST:
Jake Sampson – Mark Kalita
Lucy Carter – Natasha Lathrop
Hartford – David Sobkowiak
Texas Holdum – Bill Hollweg
Announcer – Elie Hirschman
Dorothy Dyer ― Shannon Hilchie
William Dyer ― Jack Ward
Abbot Tiem-Po ― Gerald E Sobkowiak
Longsang ― Paul Mannering
Commandant ― Alan Sobkowiak
Captain Kopfjager ― Brian Bochicchio
Gerhardt – Bruce Busby
Tsi-Fon ― Colin Snow
Mu Po ― Steven Jay Cohen

Posted by Jesse Willis

Good Story 025: Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Scott D.

SFFaudio Online Audio

In episode 25 of the A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, Julie and I discussed Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. It’s the 20th book in the Discworld series, but the first I’ve read. A lot has been made of the proper reading order of the Discworld books (see this handy chart, for example), but I didn’t have any trouble at all following this book. Based on this, my advice is to jump into the series wherever you feel like doing so.

Download or listen to the podcast via this link: |Episode #025|

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner

Or subscribe via iTunes by clicking: |HERE|

Nigel Planer did a wonderful job reading this book. Pratchett never stops with the clever lines, and Planer delivers them with perfect timing.

Fantasy Audiobook - Hogfather by Terry PratchettHogfather
By Terry Pratchett, Read by Nigel Planer
10 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: ISIS Audio Books, via Audible
Published: 2002
 
 
 
 
 

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Favorite Story – Guy de Maupassant’s The Necklace RADIO DRAMA

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: Online Audio

Archive.org hosts 78 episodes of Favorite Story, a wonderfully inspired radio program that asked a celebrity to name his or her favourite story. The story was then adapted as a radio drama. Host Ronald Colman often played a character. In October of 1947 Greer Garson‘s favourite story was Guy de Maupassant’s classic of short fiction The Necklace.

In Colman’s introduction he claims that Maupassant’s tale of a Parisian housewife with dreams of social mobility is perhaps “The greatest short story ever written.” In my view it’s certainly worthy of approaching that level.

I’m also pleased to report this episode of Favorite Story is a truly fabulous adaptation! It keeps every important story element, doesn’t fiddle with the setting or the character names, the acting is restrained and the plot’s length is perfect in the format (Favorite Story also attempted to adapt novels into the half-hour format).

Favorite Story Favorite Story – The Necklace
Adapted from the story by Guy de Maupassant; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 27 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: KFI
Broadcast: October 7, 1947
Mathilde is a beautiful bride of a mid-level Parisian bureaucrat. Her natural elegance and grace seem somewhat out of place with her husband’s junior position. This is the story of a beautiful woman who works hard and gets everything she wants. First published in the February 17, 1884 issue of Le Gaulois (a French daily newspaper).

Cast:
Heather Angel … Mathilde Loisel
Hans Conried … Pierre Loisel

There’s a terrific series overview HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis