SFFaudio – Page 508 – 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.

Recent Arrivals from Blackstone Audio

Monday, March 15, 2010 Scott D.

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Identity Theft
By Robert J. Sawyer; Read by Anthony Heald
2 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9781441716729

I HEART novellas!

Identity Theft is a hard-boiled detective novella set on Mars. It’s currently in development as a motion picture, and is a nominee for both the Nebula Award and Hugo Award.

Cassandra and Joshua Wilkins are fossil hunters who have both recently transferred their minds into artificial bodies, but now Joshua has mysteriously disappeared. Cassandra must hire Alex Lomax, the only private detective on the Red Planet, to locate Joshua before sinister forces get to him.

Time’s Eye: A Time Odyssey, Book One
By Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter; Read by John Lee
10.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9781433246043

For eons, Earth has been under observation by the Firstborn, beings almost as old as the universe itself. The Firstborn are unknown to humankind—until they act. In an instant, Earth’s timeline is carved up and reassembled into a patchwork of different eras, from prehistory to the year 2037, each with its own indigenous inhabitants.

The only clue to the origin of this astonishing transformation lies in the ancient city of Babylon, where two groups of refugees from 2037—three cosmonauts and three U.N. peacekeepers—have detected strange radio signals. As the peacekeepers ally with nineteenth-century British troops and the armies of Alexander the Great, the cosmonauts join forces with the Mongol horde led by Genghis Khan. Both sides set out for Babylon, determined to win the race for knowledge—and the power that lies within.

Treason
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
9.3 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9781433228384

Lanik Mueller’s birthright as heir to planet Treason’s most powerful rulership will never be realized. He is a “rad”—radical regenerative—a freak who can regenerate injured flesh and trade extra body parts to the Offworld oppressors for iron. On a planet without hard metals, or the means of escape, iron offers the promise of freedom through the chance to build a spacecraft. But it is a promise which may never be fulfilled, as Lanik uncovers a treacherous conspiracy beyond his imagination. Now charged with a mission of conquest—and exile—Lanik devises a bold and dangerous plan to break the vicious chain of rivalry and bloodshed that enslaves the people of Treason.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of “Turjan of Miir” by Jack Vance

Monday, March 15, 2010Monday, March 15, 2010 Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

We forgot to mention that this short review is part of the 7th Anniversary SFFaudio Reviewapalooza! Those responsible have been sacked.

“Turjan of Miir”
Contained in The Dying Earth
By Jack Vance; Read by Arthur Morey
42 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2010
Themes: / Science Fantasy / Spells / Mathematics / Artificial Life /

“Turjan of Miir” is the first story in Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth. It’s a densely rich story – when my mind wandered, I had to stop and back up the audio because each and every word is important and very much worth hearing. And a pleasure to hear, too – kudos to Arthur Morey for the fine narration.

The story opens with Turjan trying to feed his latest creation.

Turjan sat in his workroom, legs sprawled out from the stool, back against and elbows on the bench. Across the room was a cage. Into this, Turjan gazed with rueful vexation. The creature in the cage returned the gaze with emotions beyond conjecture. It was a thing to arouse pity.

The creature won’t eat, though, and dies in front of him. Out of frustration (for he’s attempted to create life many times before), he decides to visit an otherworld where a man (or ex-man) named Pandalume will be able to help him stabilize the pattern he needs to successfully make life.

Vance is luxurious with detail. In very little space, he tells us how Turjan can only carry four spells at a time, so for the trip to the otherworld he takes “three spells of general application”. The Excellent Prismatic Spray, Fandale’s Mantle of Stealth, and the Spell of the Slow Hour. It’s marvelous. There are many descriptive gems here.

I immediately see how The Dying Earth spawned an RPG, and I can also see that Wolfe, Zelazny, and Gaiman were all influenced by Vance.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

The SFFaudio Podcast #050 – READALONG: The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #050 – Jesse and Scott discuss The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James.

Talked about on today’s show:
An excerpt from the lecture: Masterpieces Of The Imaginative Mind (Lecture 6: H.G. Wells: We Are All Talking Animals) by Professor Eric S. Rabkin, James thought novels ‘must explore an individual’s psychology’ but H.G. Wells asserted novels ‘must explore the great social forces that shape all of us.’, The Teaching Company, The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James, Blackstone Audio’s version, PaperbackSwap.com, The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, The Science Fiction Book Review Podcast show on The Invisible Man and More Invisible Men, LibriVox.org, LibriVox’s FREE version of The Turn Of The Screw, Stephanie Beacham, War Of The Worlds, The Time Machine, Donald E. Westlake, John Irving, James Lee Burke, Pat Conroy, literary fiction, ambiguity, deliberate ambiguity, the framing sequence, Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, outlining the plot, country estates, England, governesses, orphans, corruption and contamination, ghosts, Christmas, Why is it called The Turn Of The Screw?, Is this a double ghost story?, if the governess is crazy doesn’t that make the story pointless? sexism, solitary decisions may not be wise, what happens to Miles? The Innocents (1961), sexuality, James called The Turn Of The Screw “a shameless potboiler”, adaptations and interpretations, The Turn Of The Screw (2009), The Others (2001), Marlon Brando’s prequel The Nightcomers (1971), Thomas Kuhn, incommensurable literary paradigms?, Margaret Atwood, literary Science Fiction, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Handmaid’s Tale, governess stories, tutors, teachers, surrogate parents, William Makepeace Thackeray‘s Vanity Fair, Johdi May, The Turn Of The Screw (1999), is the governess an unreliable narrator?, The Adventure Of The Copper Beeches by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Mystery and Science Fiction are very closely aligned, tales of ratiocination, Edgar Allan Poe, The Turn Of The Screw in comics, Pocket Classics, Oscar Wilde, The Importance Of Being Earnest, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: The Innocents, Blackadder II, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow as read by Martin Jarvis, RadioArchive.cc, The Turn Of The Screw BBC radio drama, Saturday Night Theatre.

The opening of The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James – Pocket Classics edition (ISBN: 0883017393):

Pocket Classics - The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James (ISBN: 0883017598)
The Turn Of The Screw - illustration by Lynd Ward

DELL - The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

Posted by Jesse Willis

A 1975 interview with Leigh Brackett

Friday, March 12, 2010Friday, March 12, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

I’ve updated our LEIGH BRACKETT page to include a few new finds – including this cool 1975 interview…

A 1975 Interview With Leigh Brackett
Interviewer Tony Macklin
1 |MP3| – Approx. 70 Minutes [INTERVIEW]
Provider: TonyMacklin.net
Posted: June 2009
“My interview with author Leigh Brackett took place in Kinsman, Ohio. I drove with my young daughter on a hot, humid, blazing July 1975 day to Leigh’s rural farm house. She was a gracious hostess and introduced us to her husband, fellow science fiction author Edward [sic] Hamilton. A lot of heady imagination was born in that rural locale. I vividly remember Leigh’s making us lemonade to help cool us — it was pure sugar. My teeth still cringe when I think of it. On the way home we stopped in the woods by a lake and took a refreshing dip in the warm water. The whole trip was like a trip to an alien world, where we were welcomed by a fairy godmother.”

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith

Friday, March 12, 2010 Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Gathering, shindig, or hootenanny? You decide!

The Game of Rat and Dragon
By Cordwainer Smith; Read by Matthew Wayne Selznick
32 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonder Audio
Published: 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Space Travel / Telepathy / Cats /

Cordwainer Smith (Paul Linebarger) was an interesting guy who wrote very interesting fiction. He was an American intelligence officer during World War II, he traveled the world, and was an advisor to President Kennedy. In science fiction, his most famous work is probably the only novel he ever published: Norstilia. His short fiction is rich and creative.

“The Game of Rat and Dragon” was written in one sitting in 1956, according to J.J. Pierce (writing in another one of those Ballantine Best Of’s). Long distance space travel in this future occurs with the help of telepaths, but there’s a catch. Once a telepath is “out there” skipping along toward a destination, or “planoforming”, the telepath is in danger of being touched by entities called dragons – insanity is the usual result. The solution? Partners. Partners fly alongside ships in football-sized ships of their own, telepathically connected to the pilot. They are quicker than humans, and are able to destroy dragons before they make contact with ships – almost every time. Who are these partners? Purr.

The idea that there’s baddies living in some kind of hyperspacial plane has been visited often. Babylon 5 leaps to mind as a recent example. But Smith’s descriptions of “pinlighting” are poetic and uncommon. There’s not a heck of a lot of conversation in this one, but Matthew Wayne Selznick is up to the narrating challenge. The combination of Smith’s prose and Matthew Wayne Selznick’s voice worked very well – never a dull moment!

Wonder Audio (along with all their audio short stories) can be found: |HERE|

If you want to buy these stories on Audible (this one costs only $2.37), find the whole catalog |HERE|

Want to see the cover of The Best of Cordwainer Smith? Me too!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of The Scarecrow’s Boy by Michael Swanwick

Thursday, March 11, 2010 Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

7th Anniversary Festivus! For the rest of us.

“The Scarecrow’s Boy”
Contained in We, Robots, edited by Allan Kaster
By Michael Swanwick; Read by J.P. Linton
19 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: 2010
Themes: / Science Fiction / Robots /

When a robot spends too much time alone, like the Scarecrow in this story, it asks questions like: “Do you think good and evil are hardwired into the universe?” If you are a veteran reader of robot stories, you know that when a robot starts to ask such questions, it’s about to buck its programming. A nice addition to the robot subgenre, and well narrated to boot.

“The Scarecrow’s Boy” is the first story is the almost-available We, Robots collection from Infinivox, edited by Allan Kaster! It will be released on March 23, and be assured that we’ll remind you on release day.

Infinivox releases excellent short fiction. Some of the latest:
“Guest Law” by John C Wright – |REVIEW|
Aliens Rule, edited by Allan Kaster – |REVIEW|
The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction, edited by Allan Kaster – |SFFaudio Podcast #036, in which we discuss all the stories with Allan Kaster|

Posted by Scott D. Danielson