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.
Infinivox is offering a free listen to “The Scarecrow’s Boy” by Michael Swanwick, a story we talked about last week that’s part of the just-released We, Robots anthology.
Find it here: The Scarecrow’s Boy by Michael Swanwick
Thanks, Infinivox!
[via infinivoxsf.com]
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
We, Robots
Stories by Elizabeth Bear, James Cambias, Jeffrey Ford, Dominic Green, Daryl Gregory, Ian McDonald, and Michael Swanwick
Read by Amy Bruce and J.P. Linton
4.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9781884612893
While we patiently wait for the next Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction, Allan Kaster and Infinivox offer this cool anthology. NOW AVAILABLE!
This is a collection of seven contemporary robot tales written by some of today’s most acclaimed science fiction authors. A sentient war machine combs a beach for trinkets to create memorials for its fallen comrades in the Hugo Award winning story, “Tideline,” by Elizabeth Bear. In “Balancing Accounts,” by James Cambias, a small-time independent robotic space tug is hired by a mysterious client for a voyage between two of Saturn’s moons. “The Seventh Expression of the Robot General,” by Jeffrey Ford, involves a robot general coming to grips with his position in a world that no longer requires, or even understands, his role. A city awakens its ancient guardian as it is about to be invaded by a mining company in “Shining Armour” by Dominic Green. In “The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm,” by Daryl Gregory, a country ruled by a super villain comes under attack by American super heroes. In “Sanjeev and Robotwallah,” by Ian McDonald, a young boy becomes enamored with the armed robots that do the fighting in a Civil War and the celebrity boy-soldiers who pilot them. A robot acting as a scarecrow could be a desperate young boy’s one chance of staying alive in “The Scarecrow’s Boy” by Michael Swanwick. These are unabridged readings by Amy Bruce and J. P. Linton.
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
Yet another story in SFFaudio’s 7th Anniversary Exposition of Excellent Stories! Step right up…
Eros, Philia, Agape
By Rachel Swirsky; Read by Rachel Swirsky
1 Hour 12 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tor.com (Tor Story Podcast #013)
Published: 2010
Themes: / Science Fiction / Love / Robots / Divorce / Children / Relationships /
Adriana shrugged. “They’re all beautiful, right?”
“We’ll need specifications.”
“I don’t have specifications.”
The salesman frowned anxiously. He shifted his weight as if it could help him regain his metaphorical footing. Adriana took pity. She dug through her purse.
“There,” she said, placing a snapshot of her father on one of the display tables. “Make it look nothing like him.”
I’ve been really lucky this month. I’ve listened to thirteen stories, and they’ve all been winners. This one may be the best of the lot!
Adriana goes through with the purchase in that scene above – she buys herself a robot husband named Lucian. She then has a baby named Rose. Though Rose has none of Lucian’s DNA (he has none to give, of course), this is a family. The decision to purchase a robot whose body is made to order and whose personality can be molded to fit does not prevent relationship problems, though. It introduces different ones.
You can probably tell from just that short section that Adriana is a character with a lot of internal conflict. I immediately cared about her, and Lucian, and little Rose. This is a wonderful story that I’ll be reading again.
You can grab the story |HERE|
Or subscribe to the Tor Story Podcast at this link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TorDotStories
Enjoy!
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
I found this over on Cynical-C. It looks like it was made to make a point about religion. To that I say DUH. But it did speak to me in another way. It made me glad that both headphones AND compact portable audio players were invented in the same era.
For extra bonus points, just listen (don’t watch), and see how many of the titles you can guess from the spoken text.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Eyes Like Stars
By Lisa Mantchev; Read by Cynthia Bishop and the Full Cast Family
8 CDs – 9 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2010
A new one from the excellent Full Cast Audio!
The Theatre Illuminata is home to every play ever written – and to Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (“Bertie” for short), who was left on its doorstep as an infant. Now she lives on its stage and consorts with spirits, pirates, kings, and . . . well, in short, every character ever to stride the boards.
Constantly accompanied (whether she wants to be or not) by four cake-obsessed fairies, Bertie can’t seem to stay out of trouble. It’s gotten so bad that management is ready to throw her out, unless she can – against all odds – prove her worth to the theater.
With its willful and engaging heroine, dazzling concept, and host of Shakespearian characters, Lisa Mantchev’s debut novel is itself like a great piece of theatre. Shifting effortlessly from hilarity to romance to loss to redemption, it is bound to delight anyone who has ever dreamed of the stage.
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
Back in SFFaudio’s first year, a moose bit my sister…
Suicide is Painless
By Don Norum; Read by Paul Campbell
55 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Cossmass Infinities
Published: 2010
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military SF / Battles / Aliens /
If you’ve got circuits installed all over your body, does that make you a cyborg? Or do you need to have metal limbs or something? Not sure, but in “Suicide is Painless”, Don Norum presents us with Lucia, a beautiful female plus circuits. Those circuits allow her to interface with her battle machine in a deep way – submerged in fluid to help with shock absorption, she connects with machine and fights with lots of firepower. I loved the descriptions of how she joined with the machine.
Who’s the enemy? Cockroach-like creatures that infest asteroids in the asteroid belt. They’ve been there for millions of years, but they didn’t originate from there. Bring ’em on!
Paul W. Campbell himself performs the narration of this, the third story in his Cossmass Infinities podcast. He’s paying the authors with donations, so be sure to throw a tip their way if you like the story. I enjoyed Paul’s narration here and in Episode One: “Fluff and Buttons on the Teddy Bear Range” by Matthew Sanborn Smith.
Find Cossmass Infinities |HERE|
And the podcast feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/cossmass/infinities
Posted by Scott D. Danielson