Recent Arrivals: City Of Dragons by Kelli Stanley

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: Recent Arrivals

Here’s a first for SFFaudio, a recent arrival that is neither an audiobook nor an audio drama!

I won this gorgeous hardcover paperbook courtesy of a contest run by Paul Bishop of Bish’s Beat blog. He even went to the trouble of wrapping the dust jacket in a Brodart fold on book jacket cover. Sweet! Thanks Bish!

City Of Dragons by Kelli Stanley

City Of Dragons
By Kelli Stanley
352 Pages [HARDCOVER]
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: February 2010
ISBN: 9780312603601
February, 1940. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice–whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor’s shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic, she shakes down the city–her city–seeking the truth. An outstanding series debut.

Audiobook fans interested in this lovely looking book will have to wait just a bit longer (until April 2010) for the Tantor Media unabridged audiobook version of City Of Dragons as read by Cynthia Holloway. I may do this as a readalong if I can get a review copy.

Who else wants to join me?

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of “The Eternal Wall” by Raymond Z. Gallun

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

SFFaudio’s 7th Anniversary World Tour continues – we’ll have you know that no hotel rooms have been trashed to date. But there’s still time…

Science Fiction Audiobook - The Eternal Wall by Raymond Z. Gallun“The Eternal Wall”
By Raymond Z. Gallun; Read by Gregg Margarite
26 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Librivox
Published: 2009
Themes: / Science Fiction / Time Travel / Evolution / Time /

This story was published in November, 1942 in Amazing Stories magazine. It’s the first story by Raymond Z. Gallun that I’ve read. I was happy to come across it, since I recently ordered the Del Rey The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun paperback. Love those books.

“The Eternal Wall” is not included in that collection, which raises my expectations of the stories that were included, because this is a very good story. It starts with a guy driving a car quickly down the road. He’s late for a date with his girlfriend, so he pushes it too far and ends up flying off a cliff into deep alkali-rich water. Now pick up the story a few million years later. Humans have long since left the Earth, and the next phase of evolution has resulted in a race of prairie dog-like intelligent creatures that find a mummified body at an archaeological dig. Their technology is great, so they figure out how to re-animate the well-preserved body.

The end of the story didn’t ring true to me, but it contained the point of the story, or at least the reason the story was titled “The Eternal Wall”. The wall is time – the main character can’t go back in time, and the new intelligent life on Earth, despite their advanced technology, can’t do it either. It can easily be seen as a response to the time travel stories that permeated science fiction in the 40’s – a dose of scientific realism, perhaps?

But it’s not the view of time presented in the story that doesn’t ring true – it’s the reaction of the man after being re-animated. Oh, the drama! I wanted to slap him.

Gregg Margarite performs the story, hysterical re-animated man and all, and I’ll be looking for more from him. Thanks to Gregg, and thanks to Librivox for making it available!

A reminder – Librivox is looking for your help!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

LibriVox: The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxThe SFFaudio Podcast #50 is scheduled to be a discussion of The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James. If you’re like me, and enjoy self-assigned homework, you might try listening to the audiobook version in advance. There’s a very solid public domain version read by Nikolle Doolin! But, if you try to listen to Nikolle Doolin’s recording of The Turn of the Screw on her website you’re in for a massive headache. The site is almost navigable, but listening there feels like mucking through a needle-forest while carrying a massive haystack. Not fun. Plus, it sports a preposterous “terms of use” page. Don’t let that jumbo mumbo stop you!

Instead, swing on over to LibriVox‘s page for the same audiobook, there you’ll find her recording available in a handy number of instantly accessible formats, all fully public domain and all lacking any hint of eula terrorism. Or just use one of the options below!

LIBRIVOX - The Turn Of The Screw by Henry JamesThe Turn of the Screw
By Henry James; Read by Nikolle Doolin
25 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 5 Hours 43 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: July 21, 2006
The Turn of the Screw is a novella written by Henry James. It is a ghost story that was originally published in 1898. A nameless governess reports the events of two ghosts who stalk the young children she has charge over. Is she reliable, or an imaginative neurotic?

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/the-turn-of-the-screw-by-henry-james.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks Julie!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #049

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #049 – Jesse and Scott talk about recent arrivals, new releases, audiobooks, podcasts and plenty more!

Talked about on today’s show:
SFFaudio.com is 7 years old, So I Married An Axe Murder, San Fransisco, California, Alcatraz, recent arrivals, Brilliance Audio, military SF, Fearless: The Lost Fleet Book 2 by Jack Campbell, space opera, Gene Roddenberry‘s Andromeda, Buck Rogers, Live Free or Die: book 1 in the Troy Rising series by John Ringo, Paperback Digital, Cally’s War by John Ringo and Julie Cochrane |READ OUR REVIEW|, John Ringo can give his books away and sell books too, Time’s Eye: A Time Odyssey Book 1 by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, it’s not a sequel it’s an “othrquel“, time is orthogonal to space (in relativity theory), Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, benevolent aliens, malevolent aliens, H.P. Lovecraft, The Eternal Wall by Raymond Z. Gallun, LibriVox, Gregg Margarite, time travel, Blackstone Audio, Identity Theft by Robert J. Sawyer, Mars, consciousness uploading/downloading, Treason by Orson Scott Card, A Planet Called Treason by Orson Scott Card, Stefan Rudnicki, Spider Robinson, Melancholy Elephants by Spider Robinson |READ OUR REVIEW|, copyright, copyfight, the philosophy of art, The Graveyard Book |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, Harry Potter, The Dark Is Rising, A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, ripping off Heinlein is legit when you are Spider Robinson, Friday by Robert A. Heinlein, new releases, Wonder Audio, The Men Return & Worlds Of Origin by Jack Vance, Brilliance Audio, The Songs Of Dying Earth: Stories In Honor Of Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe, The Book Of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe, David D. Levine, Tk’Tk’Tk’ by David D. Levine, The Moon Moth by Jack Vance |READ OUR REVIEW|, Suldrun’s Garden, The Green Pearl, Madouc by Jack Vance, Swimming Kangaroo Books, Need For Magic by Joseph Swope, BBC Audiobooks America, Great Classic Science Fiction: Eight Unabridged Stories, Forgotten Classics podcast talks James Gunn’s The Road To Science Fiction series, paperback book bags, A Game Of Thrones coming to HBO, A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin |READ OUR REVIEW|, Roy Dotrice, John Lee, Shogun (the TV miniseries), FlashForward, Stephen King’s Storm Of The Century, 1408, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: Steve, The First by Matt Watts |READ OUR REVIEW|, @ the CBC store, radio drama, post apocalypse, humor, Canadia: 2056 |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Hitch-hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: The Chronicles Of Solomon Kane, Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Robert E. Howard, The Iliad, Ralph Macchio, Red Shadows by Robert E. Howard, religion, Solomon Kane, The Punisher.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Forgotten Classics: Breaking Point by James Gunn

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Forgotten ClassicsMy friend, Julie D. of the Forgotten Classics podcast, has recently completed her unabridged reading of Dorothy Macardle’s novel The Uninvited. Now she’s working on a pure Science Fiction story, picked from SFFaudio Challenge #4. But that’s not all, Julie begins the podcast with some thoughts on James Gunn’s best known work, a series of scholarly collections entitled: The Road To Science Fiction. I have volumes 3 and 4 in my paperbook collection.

The Road To Science Fiction: Volume 1: From Gilgamesh to Wells edited by James GunnThe Road To Science Fiction: Volume 2: From Wells to Heinlein edited by James GunnThe Road To Science Fiction: Volume 3: The Road To Science Fiction: Volume 3: From Heinlein to Here edited by James GunnThe Road To Science Fiction: Volume 4: From Here to Forever edited by James Gunn

There are also two more recent volumes The British Way (Vol. 5) and the other places Around The World (Vol. 6). But I won’t post their cover art here because they really suck.


Forgotten Classics Presents - Breaking Point by James GunnBreaking Point
By James Gunn; Read by Julie D.
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Forgotten Classics
Podcast: March 2009 –
The ship was proof against any test, but the men inside her could be strained and warped, individually and horribly. Unfortunately, while the men knew that, they couldn’t really believe it. The Aliens could—and did.

Podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/forgottenclassics

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Melancholy Elephants by Spider Robinson

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Yet another story in SFFaudio’s 7th Anniversary Carnival of Characters!

Science Fiction Audiobook - Melancholy Elephants by Spider RobinsonMelancholy Elephants
By Spider Robinson; Read by Spider Robinson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 34 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Spider on the Web
Published: 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Art / Copyright / Human Mind / Mathematics /

The moment I realized that copyright was at the center of the story, I thought: Jesse would love this. I’m fairly certain he’s read it, though. There can’t be a lot of fiction where copyright plays a part, and besides; Spider Robinson is one of his favorites.

A law to extend copyright is proposed, and Dorothy, an artist, visits a Senator in future Washington to persuade him to vote against. The story is not dry exposition about law. It’s about art, the human mind, mathematics, and the universe. A lot to pack into 34 minutes, for certain, and it did leave me feeling melancholy, like the elephants.

It’s important to note that this story won a Hugo Award in 1983, long before copyright ran headlong into the digital age. “Melancholy Elephants” stands beside other great science fiction stories that so clearly saw the future coming.

The story was read by Spider Robinson as part of his Spider on the Web podcast.

Here’s the podcast feed: http://www.spiderrobinson.com/iTunes_feed.xml

And |HERE| is a direct link to the episode with “Melanchoy Elephants”.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson