Audiobook narrator (and audio dramatist) William Dufris narrates this Octoberish trailer for a cool looking book called Quackenstein Hatches A Family by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and Brian Jones:
[via Audiobook Community]
Posted by Jesse Willis
Review of Brad Lansky and the Anti-Starc by J.D. Venne
Brad Lansky and the Anti-Starc
By J.D. Venne; Performed by a full cast
1 Hour 44 Minutes – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Protophonic
Published: 2010
Themes: / Science Fiction / Hard SF / Audio Drama / Starships / Stars / Artificial Intelligence / Life /
These are troubled times. MARA, the mighty blue supergiant of the Torvus Iubar system is dying, as are the other thirteen ambistars that make up the Ambistar Collective. Billions of lives are in peril. What conceivable force could cause the simultaneous death of fourteen ambistars thousands of light-years apart?
Attention Audiofiles: here is something to sink your ears into. Superior audio design is the hallmark of J.D. Venne’s Brad Lansky audio series, and this latest title (Brad Lansky and the Anti-Starc, the 4th installment) is the best yet. Through rich audio, Venne tells the continuing story of Brad Lansky and his crew, who this time are in search for the cause of the impending destruction of an amazing network of stars.
This audio drama is not your typical fare. The effects, music, and actors combine for an audio experience that reminds me a bit of Meatball Fulton’s Ruby series. Not in subject matter, but in presentation: there and here, the audio is the thing. The sound is as interesting as the story, and Venne’s story is pure hard science fiction. Be sure to use a good set of headphones, and enjoy the ride!
For more info, including samples and purchase data, visit protophonic.net!
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
LibriVox: The Call Of The Wild by Jack London
My friend Brian Murphy, a too infrequent guest on The SFFaudio Podcast, posted a terrific review of The Call Of The Wild on his blog, The Silver Key back in 2009:
“If you are a [Robert E.] Howard fan frustrated by fruitless searches for like-minded literature, I recommend you turn your gaze backwards, to Howard’s influences, and London in particular. Don’t be turned off by the lack of traditional fantasy trappings in London; while you (unfortunately) won’t find swords, man-eating apes, and giant snakes in The Call of the Wild, there’s plenty here to satisfy lovers of pulp action and adventure, including epic dog duels, murdering Indians, and high-stakes wagers placed on improbable feats of strength. More to the point, there’s more of Howard—the dark philosophy that makes Howard uniquely and greatly Howard—to be found in The Call of the Wild than in most other sword-and-sorcery tales published since Howard’s death. London’s work certainly puts most of the pastiches to shame in this regard.”
You can check out that entire post HERE. I bring it to your attention because there’s now a brand new, ably read, single narrator, public domain audiobook available courtesy of LibirVox!
The Call Of The Wild
By Jack London; Read by Mark F. Smith
7 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 3 Hours 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 17, 2010
Buck is living a happy life in California until he is sold to pay a gambling debt. Taken to the Klondike to become a sled dog, Buck must toughen up and learn the harsher rules of survival in the North. One of the first of these is how to deal with being harnessed in the same team as a dog that wants to kill him. Large, strong and smart, Buck toughens to his new life. But even the toughest dog can be worn down by constant work, and after 3,000 miles of pulling sleds, Buck nears the end of his rope. Cast away as no longer useful, Buck is acquired by greenhorns whose inexperience nearly kills him, but after being saved by John Thornton, he at last finds a man he can love. Then on a remote gold-hunting expedition, Buck hears a call emanating from the woods and speaking to the wild heart of his distant ancestors. The lure of it almost balances the great love he bears for Thornton, but events take him away from his old life… and into legend.
Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/4751
iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|
[Thanks also to Betty M. and David Lawrence]
Posted by Jesse Willis
The SFFaudio Podcast #078 – TALK TO: Fred Godsmark
The SFFaudio Podcast #078 – Jesse talks with Fred Godsmark of Audio Realms and TheAudiobookShop.com:
Talked about on today’s show:
Audio Realms, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror audiobooks, Dark Realms Audio, Dark Desires Audio, what’s up with all the paranormal romance?, paranormal romance makes money, “paranormal romance is horror without the teeth”, the demographics of paranormal romance, Richard Laymon, The Travelling Vampire Show, Flesh, horror-thriller, Stand By Me, Dark Mountain, People Of The Dark, Robert E. Howard’s Celtic Conan vs. Robert E. Howard’s Cimmerian CONAN, C.H.U.D., Bram Stoker’s Lair Of The White Worm, The D’Ampton Worm, The Last Man On Earth, Vincent Price, Jesse’s Vincent Price Picture, Mel Blanc, Jack Palance, Kirk Douglas, Rumpelstiltskin, Dorchester Publications, Hard Case Crime, The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories by Algernon Blackwood, Wildside Press, The Haunted Island, Mr. Creepy Voice: Wayne June, The Call Of The Wild by Jack London, The SFFaudio Challenge, Dracula, H.P. Lovecraft, Gene Simmons‘ H.P. Lovecraft, S.T. Joshi, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton, best fantasy novel 2007: Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper |READ OUR REVIEW|, Brian Hollsopple, The Caspak Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Doug McLure, Michael Moorcock, Audio Realm’s the Elric audiobooks, “there’s something wrong with living in Texas”, Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock |READ OUR REVIEW|, Audio Realms is a small company with a big attitude, Audible.com, Brian Keene, TheAudiobookShop.com (MP3 downloads with no DRM), “Audible.com is where audiobooks happen”, the many formats of Audio Realms audiobooks, laserrot, the merits of the MP3-CD, dealing with distribution, Amazon.com is the Borg of books, working with robots named Bambi and Thumper, selling audiobooks to library, do you know anyone who uses WMA format?, Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Arvid Nelson’s Warlord Of Mars comic, The SyFy Channel vs Space: The Imagination Station, Sanctuary, it could be a “princess” movie, Donald Duck Of Mars, Duck Dodgers, BoingBoing’s Scrooge McDuck/Inception story, Donald Duck audiobooks, keep that horse in hay, horses are the new green cars.
Review of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
By Stieg Larsson; Read by Saul Reichlin
Audible Download – Approx. 18 Hours 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Whole Story Audio Books
Published: May 2009
Provider: Audible.com
Themes: / Mystery / Murder / Intrigue / Political Intrigue / Hacking / Violence / Sex / Sweden / Politics / Feminism /
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder – and that the killer is a member of his own family. He employs journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet’s disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.
Better to read than to listen…maybe. There are too many characters in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and we get to know all their names and all their breakfast habits, no matter how minor a role they play in the story. And like the overdeveloped minor characters, there are also many overly lengthy descriptions and over-described scenes that are not key to the plot. It may be that both the character and the storyline problems that I describe are more distracting in the audiobook version than in the print book. After finishing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo I started reading the second book, The Girl Who Played With Fire, in paperback in order to compare the experiences. I still notice the excessive detail in the paperbook, but it is a more minor annoyance than in the audiobook. At first I thought my discomfort was because The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a translation from Swedish, but I recognized that the translation is seamless. The only other Swedish books, in translation, that I recall reading are those of Astrid Lindgren and, if memory serves, they weren’t nearly as cluttered as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. A quick look at the paperbook edition of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo revealed that the print edition comes with a genealogical table for keeping track of the numerous members of the Vanger family.
On the whole the almost 19 hours of listening is pleasant enough. There is no doubt that the main character is compelling, the plot interesting and that the reader, Saul Reichlin, is brilliant – but as an audio experience it can be daunting – at least without carrying around a character map.
[Here’s one!]
Posted by Elaine Willis
CBC Spark: Hugh McGuire and LibriVox
Good CBC! This segment |MP3| appeared in a recent CBC Spark podcast. It features recent SFFaudio Podcast guest Hugh McGuire (the founder of LibirVox) talking about the uses of public domain materials for making audiobooks.
Regular podcast feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/cbcradiospark
Added content podcast feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/cbcradiosparkblog
Added content iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|
Posted by Jesse Willis
P.S. CBC, in addition to abandoning CREATIVE COMMONS, is still hiding The Adventures Of Apocalypse Al. Bad CBC!