CBS Radio Mystery Theater: The Walking Dead (aka Fondly Fahrenheit) by Alfred Bester

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Fondly Fahrenheit is Alfred Bester’s superlative achievement in short Science Fiction. Apparently the story was based an account of an U.S. Antebellum Era slave owner who refused to surrender his murderous chattel because the man was just too valuable. In Fondly Fahrenheit Bester makes brilliant use of the psychological concept of transference, literally smacks you in the forehead with an allusion to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and employs POV shifts that effortlessly blow your consciousness right out of your mind (and into someone else’s)!

The story was adapted as a telepay in 1959 under the title Murder And The Android, an episode of NBC’s Sunday Showcase. But the version I want to tell you about is one that I hadn’t realized existed, until just a few days ago! Bester had again adapted his story, and again changed it’s name! Here is Alfred Bester’s own radio drama adaptation of Fondly Fahrenheit, from 1976 He called it The Walking Dead!

CBS Radio Mystery TheaterCBS Radio Mystery Theater #0484 – The Walking Dead
Adapted by Alfred Bester; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 44 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: CBS
Broadcast: May 20, 1976
Provider: CBSRMT.com

Cast:
Jack Grimes
Paul Hecht
Gilbert Mack
Rosemary Rice
Joan Shay

Check out the art I cobbled together for it, thanks in part to Brain Plucker’s new “Lost Art” feature (Virgil Finlay!):

The Walking Dead by Alfred Bester

Posted by Jesse Willis

Vernor Vinge interviewed on the Adventures in Scifi Publishing podcast

Tamahome

SFFaudio Online Audio

adventures in scifi publishingAdventures in Scifi Publishing interviews Vernor Vinge in episode 140.  You would think he would be as intense as Raymond Kurzweil, but he seems like a light and easy going guy.  Vernor describes his Zones of Thought universe.  He also likes Charles Stross’s novel Accelerando and a short story from his Toast anthology called Antibodies |Read Our Review|. His new novel The Children Of The Sky comes out this month, which is a direct (within 20 years, as opposed to the 20,000 years of the prequel A Deepness In The Sky) sequel to A Fire In The Deep.  Vernor also mentions (at 34 min) one of Poul Anderson’s Dominic Flandry books where three species form a single mind (The Rebel Worlds according to this)

Rss feed:  http://feeds.feedburner.com/adventuresinscifipublishing

|MP3|

Posted by Tamahome

The Defenders by Philip K. Dick

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Italian cover mirroring The Defenders

Did you know that Philip K. Dick’s fifth published story, The Defenders, is public domain? It is!

Like many of Dick’s tales The Defenders this is a post-atomic war story. The planet’s surface devastated, flushed with radioactivity, and has been abandoned. The population now lives in vast underground cities. In their place intelligent robots fight in their place.

I’ve put together a |PDF| from the original publication in Galaxy Science Fiction, which includes terrific illustrations by Ed Emshwiller. And there’s a complete ETEXT version available through Project Gutenberg. And LibriVox has the audiobook edition. Enjoy!

LibriVox - The Defenders by Philip K. DickThe Defenders
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 21, 2009
No weapon has ever been frightful enough to put a stop to war—perhaps because we never before had any that thought for themselves! From Galaxy Science Fiction January 1953.

And here’s the radio drama adaptation:

X-Minus OneX Minus One – The Defenders
Based on the story by Philip K. Dick; Adapted by George Lefferts; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 28 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: NBC
Broadcast: May 22, 1956
Provider: Internet Archive
East and West make war above ground with robots while both sides live underground … or do they?

Cast:
Lydia Bruce
Warren Parker
Grant Richards
Mike Ingram
Stan Early

Galaxy January 1953 - The Defenders by Philip K. Dick - illustrated by Ed Emshwiller565

The Defenders by Philip K. Dick illustrated by Ed Emshwiller

The Defenders by Philip K. Dick illustrated by Ed Emshwiller

The Defenders by Philip K. Dick illustrated by Ed Emshwiller

Here’s the X Minus One adaptation that I’ve put together with the original art from its publication in the Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1953 issue:

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Jenny

SFFaudio Review

Ready Player OneReady Player One
By Ernest Cline; Read by Wil Wheaton
15 hours 46 minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2011
ISBN: 0307913147
Themes: / Gaming / Virtual Reality / 1980s nostalgia / Dystopia / Near-Future /

Sample |MP3|

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, and like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.  

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle…

If you are a pop culture junkie, or a gamer, or a virtual world inhabitant, this is the book for you.   It was such great fun that I found myself making up reasons to listen to the audio book.  Wil Wheaton has become one of my favorite readers, especially at 1.5 speed.  His casual tone is perfect here.

Don’t be turned away by people who claim that this book is pure nostalgia.  While not heavy-handed, and arguably YA in tone, I found it to be thoughtful on issues of identity in an increasingly virtual world.  And just try imagining the new cities of stacked mobile homes without smiling!

Other fun things – author Ernest Cline has a vibrant blog for the book, including a RP1 Game.  He even posted a Spotify playlist featuring most of the music mentioned in the book.  If that can’t get you in the mood for a little nostalgic romp, you are dead on the inside. Dead!

Posted by Jenny Colvin

The SFFaudio Podcast #128

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #128 – Scott, Jesse, Tamahome and Luke Burrage talk about recently arrived audiobooks, new releases and more.

Talked about on today’s show:
Germline by T.C. McCarthy, Russia vs. United States, Kazakhstan, Blackstone Audio, Hannah, Finland, unapologetic fairy tale imagery, Brothers Grimm, Tama is a sucker for girls who kick ass, Kick-Ass, Bourne Identity, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Full Cast Audio, Tunnel In The Sky by Robert A. Heinlein, interplanetary survival course, “Rod Walker, as Heinlein Intended“, Ozzy in Pandora’s Star by Peter F. Hamilton, Between Planets, Space Cadet, Perseus by Geraldine, Hercules, Odyssey, Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce, young adult books, The City And The Stars, abstracting the voices of the characters, Jesse enthuses about Full Cast Audio’s format, Blackstone Audio, Downward To Earth by Robert Silveberg (it draws from Heart Of Darkness, The Secret Sharer by Robert Silverberg, The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad, “the heart of lightness”, The Hidden by Jessica Verday, The Hidden (movie) with Kyle MacLachlan, The Hollow, The Haunted, supernatural/romance/YA, “maybe Jenny can take up the lance”, Macmillan Audio, How Firm A Foundation by David Weber, On Basilisk Station, “Steve Gibson loves it”, George R.R. Martin, the Writing Excuses podcast, I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells, “it’s very tempting to kill everyone”, Star Wars: Heir To The Empire by Timothy Zahn (20th Anniversary Edition), Mark Thompson, Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye (Luke and Leia get married), the Han Solo novels, Michael A. Stackpole, Star Trek novelizations vs. Star Wars novelizations, Wookipedia, perhaps Lucas was lucky and not talented, Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, Stories Of The Golden Age: The Tramp and Shadows From Boothill, Jenny is late, War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, The Island Of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells, Moxyland by Lauren Beukes, Zoo City, South Africa, China Miéville audiobooks flood audible, Iain M. Banks, Audible Frontiers vs. Audible Ltd., Ready Player One sounds like nostalgia not SF, everybody who wears spandex and legwarmers likes Ready Player One, the Gweek podcast, virtual world, Daemon by Daniel Suarez, Blackstone Audio, The Ringworld Engineers, To Sail Beyond The Sunset by Robert A. Heinlein, Origin Of The Species by Charles Darwin, Recorded Books, Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem, Lawrence Block audiobooks, Hard Case Crime, Getting Off by Jill Emerson (Lawrence Block), AudioGo, Such Men Are Dangerous by Lawrence Block, The Specialists, Coward’s Kiss, You Could Call It Murder, Small Town, Paul Kavanagh, Michael Crichton, Eaters Of The Dead, Smoke by Donald E. Westlake, The Comedy Is Finished by Donald E. Westlake, Psycho by Robert Bloch, Stand On Zanzibar by John Brunner, Luke’s novel Minding Tomorrow, does Stand On Zanzibar have a cylindrical structure?, long stuff tends to be crappy, Luke is on Audible’s platinum plan, Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, Courtney Brown’s Science Fiction And Politics podcast, Spellwright by Blake Charlton, spell errors?, “as you well know…”, Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer, The Swarm by Frank Schatzing, Beyond This Horizon by Robert A. Heinlein, tie-in novels, Dan Abnett’s Warmhammer 40,000: Horus Heresy series, Black Library, “a fist the size of a baked ham”, Jesse’s meta review of Luke’s meta review of Sword Of The Lichtor by Gene Wolfe, Halting State by Charles Stross, Luke’s pick of the week: Monty Python’s The Life Of Brian, Jesus’ final words on the cross, Jesse’s pick of the week: Invincible Ultimate Edition Volume 1 written by Robert Kirkman, Ed Brubaker, Gregg Rucka, Scott’s pick of the week: Declare by Tim Powers, On Stranger Tides, is Declare idea fiction?, Kim Philby, Tamahome’s pick of the week: The Mote In God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

Invincible Ultimate Collection Volume 1

Posted by Jesse Willis

Good Story 019: Declare by Tim Powers

Scott D.

SFFaudio Online Audio

Declare by Tim PowersA Good Story is Hard to Find is on Episode 19! Julie and I talked about Declare by Tim Powers. I gave the book five stars over on Goodreads, because there are so many things about that book that are going to stay with me. As I said in the podcast, I’m going to read some more Powers as soon as I can. I’ve got two of his audiobooks in for SFFaudio – The Stress of Her Regard and Last Call. Last Call has been on my list for a long while, and I see that Jeff Miller, who recommended Declare for Good Story in the first place, said that The Stress of Her Regard is another of his favorite Powers novels. Looks like I’ve got a couple of excellent novels ahead of me.

Next up at Good Story is Shaun of the Dead, the zombie comedy movie. We’re recording Wednesday morning so that we’ll be back on schedule. And two weeks after that – Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I love October!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson