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.
German audiobook narrator Stefan Kaminski performs a one man audio dramatization of Kong! (adapted from Merion C. Cooper’s King Kong) in this making of video:
For more information on the vibrant German audio industry check out SFFaudio Podcast #021 in which we talk to Carsten Schmitt about audio drama and the German audiobook industry.
[via AudioBookCommunity.com]
Posted by Jesse Willis
SFSignal Podcast #70 features me and six other folks very quickly discussing Science Fiction (and other) podcasts. Unfortunately I think a lot of the best stuff came after the actual podcast ended. At least that’s the part of the discussion I enjoyed most. As a part of that I also invited Matthew Sanborn Smith to participate in an upcoming new releases and recent arrivals podcast.
In episode 70 of the SF Signal Podcast, Patrick Hester asks our irregulars: Do you listen to podcasts? Which ones, and do you listen to fiction podcasts?
Have a listen |MP3| or subscribe: http://www.sfsignal.com/podcast.xml
I took notes and think I got most of the podcasts that were mentioned:
Me:
–The Cthulhu podcast
–Lightspeed magazine podcast
–Forgotten Classics
–The Science Fiction Book Review Podcast
–Gweek
–HuffDuffer.com
Fred Kiesche (of the Lensmen’s Children blog):
–Escape Pod
–Beware Of The Hairy Mango
–The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast
–The History Of Rome
–Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History
–The Incomparable! podcast
–Geek Life
–Writing Excuses
–Adventures In SciFi Publishing
–The Tolkien Professor
–The D6 Generation
–The Nerdist
–The Command Line
–Living Proof Brewcast
–365 Days Of Astronomy
–Spark
–Quirks And quarks
–The Naked Scientist
Jeff Patterson (of the Gravity Lens blog):
–The Nerdist
-The Doctor Who Cast
–RiffTracks
–Changesurfer Radio
John DeNardo (of SFSignal.com):
–Functional Nerds
–Beware Of The Hairy Mango
–Notes From Coode Street
–StarShip Sofa
–The Skiffy And Fanty Show
Paul Weimer (of Blog, Jvstin Style):
–Russian Rulers Podcast
–Ancient Rome Refocused
–Heatflash
–the Speculate! Podcast
–Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me
–Three Moves Ahead
Matthew Sanborn Smith (of Beware Of The Hairy Mango podcast):
–StarShip Sofa
–The Tobolowsky Files
–Tank Riot
–Around Comics
–RadioLab
–Lightspeed
–The New Yorker Fiction Podcast
–Luke’s Creative Podcast
–Dunesteef
–Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas
–I Should Be Writing
Patrick Hester (of SFSignal.com):
–Seattle Geekly
–Dragon Page
–Adam Carolla
–Slice Of SciFi
–The Babylon Podcast
–The Geekdad
–Mac Tech Break
–Podiobooks.com
Posted by Jesse Willis
The SFFaudio Podcast #119 – Scott, Jesse and Tamahome talk to author Paul Malmont about his novel The Astounding, The Amazing, And The Unknown.
Talked about on today’s show:
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, Jack London In Paradise, Hawaii, The Iron Heel by Jack London, the rise of the oligarchy, The Washington Post review of The Astounding, The Amazing, And The Unknown, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, L. Ron Hubbard, the Philadelphia Experiment, the movie The Philadelphia Experiment, “a psuedo-historical event” vs. “a cultural phenomena”, legend, John W. Campbell, Astounding Science Fiction, Unknown (magazine), Kamikaze pilots vs. the Kamikaze group, L. Sprague de Camp, chemistry, Orange Nehi, the Tunguska event, Nikola Tesla, the Wardenclyffe Tower, historical fiction, meta-science fiction, Walter B. Gibson, Lester Dent, H.P. Lovecraft, the “hero pulps” vs. science fiction pulps, The Shadow, Doc Savage, L. Ron Hubbard as a tragic hero, Dianetics, an atomic age religion, Virginia Heinlein, Janet Asimov, Gertrude Asimov, “The robot felt…”, using social networks to promote a novel, Frank Herbert, Aleutian Islands, the Manhattan Project, Cleve Cartmill and the atomic bomb, The Green Hills Of Earth, Tim Powers, “twenty weird true things”, Murdoch Mysteries, the AC DC wars, remixing modern historical fiction, Iain M. Banks, mash-ups, The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril has zombies, the TVO interview with Walter B. Gibson, magic, In Search Of….
Posted by Jesse Willis
Song Bird
Starring Kelli O’Hara, Shirley Jones, and Ed Asner
2 CDs – 2 Hours – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Radio Repertory Company of America
Published: 2011
Themes: / Audio Drama / Science Fiction / Music / Precognition / Private Investigator /
I know the Radio Repertory Company of America best for the Anne Manx series. I’m a fan of those entertaining comic book dramas (|SFFaudio Review|) so I’m always thrilled when they send me something.
Before they get back to Manx, Angelo Panetta and crew offer Song Bird, a standalone science fiction audio drama. The story opens with a singer named Maureen Barnett (Kelli O’Hara) singing in an out of the way lounge. This is odd because she’s famous and should be singing in front of huge crowds. Amelia Storm (Shirley Jones) is also a singer and she’s got something to give Maureen – the ability to see the future. The gift immediately becomes a burden as Maureen sees disturbing things about her teenage daughter. The story then shifts into a higher gear when the things that worry Maureen actually take place and she’s forced to hire a private investigator to help her find her daughter.
After listening to this production, and so many other audio dramas over the years, I continue to be impressed by RRCA. The quality of the actors is one of the things that set RRCA’s productions apart. The actors here are excellent. Ed Asner plays a retired police officer turned private investigator, and is hilarious. Asner and Shirley Jones together are a delight and I wanted to hear more of them when it was over. First rate performances all around.
The second mark of an RRCA production is the quality of the sound. Music plays a large role here, and Kelli O’Hara and Shirley Jones sound great. Great care is taken with sound effects and background music. I urge you to grab a nice pair of headphones and give this production your full attention! It’s well worth your time. Enjoy!
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
Ghost Story
By Jim Butcher; Read by John Glover
15 CDs – 18 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Published: 2011
The eagerly awaited new novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files series.
When we last left the mighty wizard detective Harry Dresden, he wasn’t doing well. In fact, he had been murdered by an unknown assassin.
But being dead doesn’t stop him when his friends are in danger. Except now he has nobody, and no magic to help him. And there are also several dark spirits roaming the Chicago shadows who owe Harry some payback of their own.
To save his friends-and his own soul-Harry will have to pull off the ultimate trick without any magic…
The Magician King
By Lev Grossman; Read by Mark Bramhall
13 CDs – 16 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Published: 2011
Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to The New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon of 2009–The Magicians.
The Magicians was praised as a triumph by readers and critics of both mainstream and fantasy literature. Now Grossman takes us back to Fillory, where the Brakebills graduates have fled the sorrows of the mundane world, only to face terrifying new challenges.
Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent’s house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.
The Magician King is a grand voyage into the dark, glittering heart of magic, an epic quest for the Harry Potter generation. It also introduces a powerful new voice, that of Julia, whose angry genius is thrilling. Once again Grossman proves that he is the modern heir to C.S. Lewis, and the cutting edge of literary fantasy.
As promised, I’ve got a complete scan of the latest Teaching Company catalogue – and I did it before the prices expire! Strangely this catalogue comes not from a random discard, but instead from my mom, who had it come in her mail. She’d never heard The Teaching Company, or this catalogue of “The Great Courses” and she has no idea how she got on their mailing list!
It isn’t fair. I want to be on that list!
Here’s the Summer 2011 catalogue of The Great Courses |PDF|
And as usual it’s just lousy with educational goodness. Among the many lecture series that struck me as cool sounding were:
How To Become A Superstar Student, 2nd Edition (Page 11)
The Art Of Teaching: Best Practices From A Master Educator (Page 21)
Games People Play: Game Theory In Life, Business and Beyond (Page 31)
The Wisdom Of History (Page 37)
Books That Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life (Page 39)
The World Was Never The Same: Events That Changed History (Page 41)
Classical Mythology (Page 51)
Posted by Jesse Willis