New Releases: Dan Simmons, James Patterson and Craig Robertson

New Releases

Two upcoming audiobooks from Hachette Audio that we talked about on the most recent SFFaudio Podcast…

HACHETTE AUDIO - Black Hills by Dan SimmonsBlack Hills
By Dan Simmons; Read by Erik Davies and Michael McConnohie
18 CDs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Published: February 24, 2010
ISBN: 1600247865
When Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, “counts coup” on General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at the Little Bighorn, the legendary general’s ghost enters him – and his voice will speak to him for the rest of his event-filled life. Seamlessly weaving together the stories of Paha Sapa, Custer, and the American West, Dan Simmons depicts a tumultuous time in the history of both Native and white Americans. Haunted by Custer’s ghost, and also by his ability to see into the memories and futures of legendary men like Sioux war-chief Crazy Horse, Paha Sapa’s long life is driven by a dramatic vision he experienced as a boy in his people’s sacred Black Hills. In August of 1936, a dynamite worker on the massive Mount Rushmore project, Paha Sapa plans to silence his ghost forever and reclaim his people’s legacy-on the very day FDR comes to Mount Rushmore to dedicate the Jefferson face.

HACHETTE AUDIO - Fang by James PattersonFang (A Maximum Ride Novel)
By James Patterson; Read by Jill Apple
5 CDs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Published: March 25, 2010
ISBN: 9781600247897
Max and the Flock are flying high over Africa, but this time they’re not alone. A sky full of cargo planes accompanies the team as they bring much-needed aid to the continent’s poverty stricken regions. Among the volunteers is the mission’s benefactor–the mysterious billionaire, Dr. Hans Gunther-Hagen. Max is intrigued by his generosity, but there’s also something about him–and his intense scrutiny of the Flock–that makes her nervous. But Dr. Hans isn’t the only puzzling thing about their trip. The Flock also receives a cryptic message from a young girl, who tells them, “The sky will fall.” Max and the Flock are ready to return home, still unable to make sense of her statement. But the surprises don’t end with their departure, and something unbelievably momentous shakes up the Flock–pushing Max and Fang closer than ever. Will the team be able to stick together through the chaos?

And here’s one I got told about by the author hisself…

Podiobooks.com - Anon Time by Craig RobertsonAnon Time
By Craig Robertson; Read by Craig Robertson
Podcast – Approx. 7 Hours 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Published: 2009
What if you weren’t who you thought you were, what others saw you to be? What if the structure of time depended on you to keep it steady. What if unseen forces, both good and evil, surrounded you, effecting your life in way’s you could not begin to imagine? Well, if that were the case, you’d be Mark De Martel, unobtrusive advertising agent in Los Angeles. Or would you? Possibly you were a Mark, but possibly you would be a powerful warrior, using skills such as the manipulation of gravity itself to save existence.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Geek’s Guide To The Galaxy interviews Steve Eley

SFFaudio Online Audio

Tor.comTor.com’s The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy Podcast has an fun interview with Steve Eley—editor of Escape Pod. After the interview wraps the hosts, John Joseph Adams and David Barr Kirtley, talk about audiobooks in a form not at all unlike SFFaudio’s own long running SFFaudio Podcast. Luckily for Messrs. Adams and Kirtley they give right and proper props to SFFaudio.com – and thus avoid a sternly worded email from SFFaudio’s crack legal department (crack as in “excelling in skill or achievement” rather than on crack).

Have a listen |MP3|

Podcast Feed: http://www.tor.com/rss/category/geeksguide

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Blackstone Audio founder interviewed

SFFaudio News

Amy Kinard, of Open Books Open Mind cable show (airing in Southern Oregon and online at RogueTV.org) interviews Craig Black, founder of Blackstone Audio, at their $5 Warehouse Sale to benefit Jackson County Public Libraries on July 25, 2009 in Ashland, Oregon.

This is a short but informative interview. I find it fascinating, and logical, that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (held in Ashland) is what made Blackstone’s founders choose to place its business in what looks like little more than a husky village. It looks like Ashland can really punch above its weight!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Audiobook DJ: Public Allan Poe

SFFaudio News

Audiobook DJBrian Price, of Great Northern Audio, has written an essay over on the Audiobook DJ blog entitled Public Allan Poe. In it Price discusses the ubiquity of audio dramatizations and audiobooks based on the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. His thesis seems to be that because Edgar Allan Poe stories are such a hot property and don’t have any licensing costs associated with them that producers of modern AD based on original scripts are finding it hard to compete. Sez Price:

“From the independent audiobook writer/producer vantage point the public domain is tough to compete against. If I write, produce and try to distribute an original piece and a perspective buyer goes on-line and sees my title and then sees The Tell-Tale Heart he or she is 90 percent of the time going to buy what they’ve heard of. New writers have a hard enough time battling the likes of Stephen King without fighting his Uncle Edgar, as well.

He’s right, of course, but it isn’t all thorns and tears. Price also points out how good most of those adaptations are. One thing he doesn’t consider is that for every version some audio producer creates of an Read the whole essay |HERE|.

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection 029

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxGregg Margarite and his crew of gallant Librivoxateers have created another ten tales of SF for the Short Science Fiction Collection series. Most tales in this collection are new to audio, spanning the years 1941 to 1960. The most famous author in this collection is probably Katherine MacLean, she’s got her own wikipedia entry and seems to have a substantial following. But there’s another authoress in this collection who is not as well known. If you’ve seen The Twilight Zone episode called Time Enough At Last you’ll be interested to hear it was adapted from a Lyn Venable short story. She’s got one story in this collection too.

LibriVox - Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 029Short Science Fiction Collection 029
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 2 Hours 39 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
Science Fiction is speculative literature that generally explores the consequences of ideas which are roughly consistent with nature and scientific method, but are not facts of the author’s contemporary world. The stories often represent philosophical thought experiments presented in entertaining ways. Protagonists typically “think” rather than “shoot” their way out of problems, but the definition is flexible because there are no limits on an author’s imagination. The reader-selected stories presented here were written prior to 1962 and became US public domain texts when their copyrights expired.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-029.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

LibriVox - The 4-D Doodler by Graph WaldeyerThe 4-D Doodler
By Graph Waldeyer; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 34 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
The Professor’s head, suspended above the body, glared about. The mouth moved rapidly— From Comet, July 1941.


LibriVox - The Carnivore by Katherine MacLeanThe Carnivore
By Katherine MacLean; Read by tabithat
1 |MP3| – Approx. 12 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
Why were they apologetic? It wasn’t their fault that they came to Earth much too late. From Galaxy Science Fiction October 1953. Written under the pseudonym “G.A. Morris.”

LibriVox - Homesick by Lyn VenableHomesick
By Lyn Venable; Read by tabithat
1 |MP3| – Approx. 00:13:56 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
What thrill is there in going out among the stars if coming back means bitter loneliness? From Galaxy Science Fiction December 1952.


Amazing Science Fiction Stories May 1960Longevity
By Therese Windser; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 5 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
A morality tale—1960 style. From Amazing Science Fiction Stories May 1960.



Fantastic Universe January 1954Lost In The Future
By John Victor Peterson; Read by Wendel Topper
1 |MP3| – Approx. 7 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
Did you ever wonder what might happen if mankind ever exceeded the speed of light? Here is a profound story based on that thought—a story which may well forecast one of the problems to be encountered in space travel. From Fantastic Universe January 1954.

Amazing Science Fiction Stories January 1960Man Made
By Albert R. Teichner; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 25 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
A story that comes to grips with an age-old question—what is soul? and where?—and postulates an age-new answer. From Amazing Science Fiction Stories January 1960.


LibriVox - The Mathematicians by Arthur FeldmanThe Mathematicians
By Arthur Feldman; Read by faith
1 |MP3| – Approx. 9 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
We gave this story to a very competent, and very pretty gal artist. We said, “Read this carefully, dream on it, and come up with an illustration.” A week later, she returned with the finished drawing. “The hero,” she said. We did a double take. “Hey! That’s not the hero.” She looked us straight in the eye. “Can you prove it?” She had us. We couldn’t, and she left hurriedly to go home and cook dinner for her family. And what were they having? Frog legs—what else? From Amazing Stories Oct.-Nov. 1953.

LibriVox - McIlvaine's Star by August DerlethMcIlvaine’s Star
By August Derleth; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
McIlvaine sat down to his machine, turned the complex knobs, and a message flamed across the void. From If Worlds of Science Fiction July 1952.


LibriVox - Stopover Planet by Robert E. GilbertStopover Planet
By Robert E. Gilbert; Read by Barry Eads
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
Early morning deliveries were part of the Honeychile Bakery Service. But on this particular morning the service was reversed! From Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy August 1953.

LibriVox - Trees Are Where You Find Them by Arthur Dekker SavageTrees Are Where You Find Them
By Arthur Dekker Savage; Read by Barry Eads
1 |MP3| – Approx. 14 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 21, 2009
The trees on Mars are few and stunted, says old Doc Yoris. There’s plenty of gold, of course—but trees can be much more important! From If Worlds of Science Fiction November 1953.

[Thanks also to Wendel Topper and Lucy Burgoyne ]

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection 028

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxHere’s a new assemblage of short Science Fiction stories, in audiobook form, that are in the public domain. You can re-cut them, sell them, give them away, put them in your podcast or anything else you want. That’s what “public domain” means! The only thing you can’t do with them is copyright them. These are mostly new stories to LibriVox, mostly from the mid-20th century, but the final story in the collection is from the 19th century. Written by Edgar Allan Poe, fictionalizing a new alchemical invention by a real life contemporary of Poe’s. It comes off as plausible – to readers of the period it may have been mistaken as true, given the time and who the central character is. But we know it’s definitely SF. Right?

tabithat’s reading of The Servant Problem by Robert J. Young is another new story in this collection. It offers an intriguing premise. A ghost town needs to be sold off and appraised by an scrupulously honest real estate agent. The town’s only remaining resident is mum on the issue. But what made everyone else leave and where did they go? The answer is neat, even if it is kind of a shaggy dog tale. Whether it’s a legitimate “Feghoot” or not I’ll leave more discerning listeners to decide.

George O. Smith’s Instinct will probably be more likable to many than my estimation of it. It’s well written, but to mind it’s not particularly fruitful. Sort of a “racial memory” story – which when you think a bit about it is kind of the flip side of “ancient astronauts.” Meh.

LibriVox - Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 028Short Science Fiction Collection 028
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 50 Minutes Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
Science Fiction is speculative literature that generally explores the consequences of ideas which are roughly consistent with nature and scientific method, but are not facts of the author’s contemporary world. The stories often represent philosophical thought experiments presented in entertaining ways. Protagonists typically “think” rather than “shoot” their way out of problems, but the definition is flexible because there are no limits on an author’s imagination. The reader-selected stories presented here were written prior to 1962 and became US public domain texts when their copyrights expired.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-028.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

LIBRIVOX - Attention Saint Patrick by Murray LeinsterAttention Saint Patrick
By Murray Leinster; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 46 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
Legends do, of course, get somewhat distorted in the passage of time. In the future, the passage across space to other planets may cause a slight modification here and there… From Astounding Science Fiction, January, 1960.

GALAXY Science Fiction Magazine - July 1956Bad Medicine
By Robert Sheckley; Read by Megan Argo
1 |MP3| – Approx. 38 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
A man is mistakenly treated by a psychotherapy machine intended for Martians. while big corporations rule the world, paying a separate police department to enforce brand loyalty. First published in Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine July, 1956

Astounding Science Fiction September 1955Blessed Are the Meek
By G.C. Edmondson; Read by Mark F. Smith
1 |MP3| – Approx. 13 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
Every strength is a weakness, and every weakness is a strength. And when the Strong start smashing each other’s strength … the Weak may turn out to be, instead, the Wise. This story was first published in the September 1955 issue of Astounding.

LibriVox - Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly? by Kenneth O'HaraHas Anybody Here Seen Kelly?
By Bryce Walton; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 26 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
The body tanks had to be replenished and the ship had to be serviced—and the crew was having a Lotus dream in its bed of protoplasm. But Kelly knew how to arouse them… From If Worlds of Science Fiction July 1954.

LibriVox - Instinct by George O. SmithInstinct
By George O. Smith; Read by Ric F
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
You can keep a good man down, if you’ve got enough headstart, are alert and persistent … so long as he limits himself to acting like a good man… From Astounding Science Fiction March 1959.

Fantastic Universe January 1957Mex
By Laurence M. Janifer; Read by soualhi1
1 |MP3| – Approx. 5 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
Talented William Logan [Laurence M. Janifer], though he hails from Dodger territory, tells a quiet story from down near the Mexican border, where men are very close to ancestral memories and to the things which dwell in the shadows. Logan is one of the more interesting of the newer writers. From Fantastic Universe January 1957.

LibriVox Science Fiction - The Nothing Equation by Tom GodwinThe Nothing Equation
By Tom Godwin; Read by Mark Nelson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 21 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
The space ships were miracles of power and precision; the men who manned them, rich in endurance and courage. Every detail had been checked and double checked; every detail except— From Amazing Stories December 1957.

LibriVox - Scrimshaw by Murray LeinsterScrimshaw
By Murray Leinster; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 35 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
The old man just wanted to get back his memory—and the methods he used were gently hellish, from the viewpoint of the others… From Astounding Science Fiction September 1955.

LIBRIVOX - The Servant Problem by Robert F. YoungThe Servant Problem
By Robert F. Young; Read by tabithat
1 |MP3| – Approx. 1 Hour [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
Selling a whole town, and doing it inconspicuously, can be a little difficult … either giving it away freely, or in a more normal sense of “selling”. People don’t quite believe it… From Analog Science Fact Science Fiction November 1962.

LibriVox -Von Kemplen And His Discovery by Edgar Allan PoeVon Kempelen And His Discovery
By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 17 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 11, 2009
German chemist, Baron Von Kempelen, possess an alchemical process which can transform lead into gold. The news of the discovery had already caused a two hundred per cent leap in the price of lead in Europe. First published in the April 14, 1849 edition of The Flag of Our Union.

[Thanks also to Wendel Topper and Lucy Burgoyne for proofing and coordinating and cataloging]

Posted by Jesse Willis