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.
We here at SFFaudio Headquarters have been working to get more accurate subscriber numbers for the blog and the podcast, so we added our feeds to Feedburner. I don’t see an easy way to get everyone switched over to those feeds, though. My attempts to forward the current feeds using WordPress add-ins have failed because we have two separate feeds here – a blog feed and a podcast feed. When I kick on an add-in, it forwards BOTH feeds to the same Feedburner feed. Anyone know a workaround?
In the meantime, may I encourage you to switch to our new feeds?
This is the 18th story this month, and I’m still clinging to my sanity…
Dagon
Contained in The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft: Volume 2
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Wayne June
3 CDs – 3.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Realms
ISBN: 9781897304013
Themes: / Horror / The Sea / Cthulhu / Black Slime / Insanity /
I am writing this under an appreciable mental strain, since by tonight, I shall be no more. Penniless and at the end of my supply of the drug which alone makes life endurable, I can bear the torture no longer.
This poor guy then goes on to tell a story that starts at sea, middles with a wallow in black slime and other crazifying ancient things, and ends right where it starts – with the narrator’s “appreciable mental strain”. The trip takes about 15 minutes and Lovecraft does plenty in that space. If someone wanted a brief introduction to him, “Dagon” would be an excellent choice because it’s short yet contains some of Lovecraft’s trademark subject matter, including a lone man taking a long walk to an ancient place, seeing things no man should see, and struggling with his sanity afterward.
Wayne June narrates, and we’ve said it here before – he was born to read this stuff. Instantly compelling and chilling. Lovecraft and June are a perfect match.
Audio Realms published a whole line of these Lovecraft collections, all read by June. Since the last time we posted about them, they have become available for purchase and download at The Audiobook Shop. The downloads are DRM-free, and most of the excellent Audio Realms audiobooks are there.
Patrick Hester and John Anealio have a new podcast they call The Functional Nerds. In Episode 001, they talk about:
In the very first episode of The Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio chat about the new iPad from Apple, what it means to be a ‘functional nerd’, about: science fiction media, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, Felicia Day and The Guild, SciFi site SFSignal.com, the Atari 2600, old iPods and CD’s, the Whuffie factor from of Cory Doctorow’s science fiction novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Elantris, Steam for the Mac, console gaming, Blizzard, World of Warcraft (for the Horde!), Blizzcon, PhilCon, Gregory Frost, Haze by L.E. Modesitt Jr., J.V. Jones, Dennis L. McKiernan, Dragondoom, TOR books, SciFi Songs, The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon, Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds, Iron Sky by Charles Strauss, Spellwright by Blake Charlton, Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson and NaNoWriMo.
I enjoyed myself! Thanks, guys! Looking forward to future episodes…
Dimiter
By William Peter Blatty; Read by William Peter Blatty
8 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Published: 2010
William Peter Blatty has thrilled generations of readers with his iconic mega-bestseller The Exorcist. Now Blatty gives us Dimiter, a riveting story of murder, revenge, and suspense. Laced with themes of faith and love, sin and forgiveness, vengeance and compassion, it is a novel in the grand tradition of Morris West’s The Devil’s Advocate and the Catholic novels of Graham Greene.
Dimiter opens in the world’s most oppressive and isolated totalitarian state: Albania in the 1970s. A prisoner suspected of being an enemy agent is held by state security. An unsettling presence, though subjected to unimaginable torture he maintains an eerie silence. He escapes—and on the way to freedom, completes a mysterious mission. The prisoner is Dimiter, the American “agent from Hell.”
The scene shifts to Jerusalem, focusing on Hadassah Hospital and a cast of engaging, colorful characters: the brooding Christian Arab police detective, Peter Meral; Dr. Moses Mayo, a troubled but humorous neurologist; Samia, an attractive, sharp-tongued nurse; and assorted American and Israeli functionaries and hospital staff. All become enmeshed in a series of baffling, inexplicable deaths, until events explode in a surprising climax.
Told with unrelenting pace, Dimiter’s compelling, page-turning narrative is haunted by the search for faith and the truths of the human condition. Dimiter is William Peter Blatty’s first full novel since the 1983 publication of Legion.
Alan Moore, appearing on the BBC 4 (television) programme Comics Britannia talking about V For Vendetta, Watchmen, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Lost Girls.
We’re in the home stretch now… Pick up the ball, and throw it to Who.
Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes
Contained in The Voice from the Edge, Volume 3: Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes
By Harlan Ellison; Read by Harlan Ellison
1 Hour – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
Themes: / Fantasy / Ghosts / Gambling / Slot Machines /
Why don’t more narrators read stories like Harlan Ellison reads stories? I would say that the insistence with which he reads has to do with the fact that he’s delivering his own material, but he won an Audie Award for his narration of a Ben Bova story a while back. So he pours the same personality – and that’s what the quality really is; a personal one, like he’s right there with you – he pours the same personality into stories other than his own. I would therefore love to hear him read an anthology of his favorite stories from other writers.
But the story at hand is “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes”, a sharp tale about a guy near the end of his luck who pulls the handle on a dollar slot machine and wins the jackpot. Then pulls the handle and wins again. Impossible, you say? Maybe. Maybe not.
I love the fact that after the story Ellison talks about writing it. And that’s an interesting story, too.
Hello, all!
