SFFaudio – Page 516 – 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.

Dunesteef: A Princess Of Earth by Mike Resnick

Monday, February 15, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Cory Doctorow writes plenty of stories which mine the title and themes of old and famous SF stories. Here’s a similar one from Mike Resnick. It is, as typical with Resnick, emotional, literate and sentimental. Those are words applicable only in the positive sense. The story is narrated by the Dunesteef podcast’s hosts, Rish Outfield and Big Anklevich. They don’t do too bad a job with the reading.

Unfortunately, they have added a lot of bed music, and some ridiculously redundant sound effects. I wish people wouldn’t try to turn an unabridged reading into a half-assed audio drama. The text reads:

“I think I’ll light a fire,” I said. “I haven’t used the damned fireplace all winter. I might as well get my money’s worth.”

“It’s not necessary,” he said. “I’ll be all right.”

“It’s no bother,” I said, opening the screen and tossing a couple of logs onto the grate. “Look around while I’m doing it.”

And the Dunesteef version has all that PLUS the added sound effects of a fireplace screen being pulled open and a crackling fire for the rest of the story. Those sounds are placed in our minds when Mike Resnick writes them and the narrator speaks them. We experience those sounds in our heads by merely having them spoken. Added sound effects are not only not needed they actually harm the storytelling!

DUNESTEEF - A Princess Of Earth by Mike Resnick A Princess Of Earth
By Mike Resnick; Read by Rish Outfield and Big Anklevich
1 |MP3| – Approx. 66 Minutes [UNABRIDGED with sound effects and music]
Podcaster: Dunesteef
Podcast: February 12, 2010
When a man’s wife dies, he is left with little purpose in his life beyond pushing through to the end of each day. Then, in the middle of one of the worst snowstorms of the year, he gets a visitor. A man, stark naked, and freezing out in the snow. What could he possibly be doing here in the man’s backyard in this state? First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, December 2004.

Podcast feed: http://dunesteef.libsyn.com/rss

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection 027

Monday, February 15, 2010Thursday, April 8, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

This new LibriVox collection of short SF has a few tales worthy of your ears. H. Beam Piper’s Weird Tales story, Dearest, is interesting and very Piper. The morality of it though is actually rather unnerving – and I’m not at all sure that that was intentional.

Short Science Fiction Collection 027
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 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-027.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Dearest
By H. Beam Piper; Read by Ric F
1 |MP3| – Approx. 41 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
Colonel Ashley Hampton is an veteran of many battles. Now, in his golden years, he’s begun talking to himself. Ask him nicely and maybe he’ll tell you about his invisible playmate. From Weird Tales March 1951.

Flamedown
By Horace Brown Fyfe; Read by JohanG
1 |MP3| – Approx. 9 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
It was, of course, one Hell of an ending for a trip to Mars— From Analog Science Fact & Fiction August 1961.

The Flying Cuspidors
By V.R. Francis; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
A trumpet-tooter in love can be a wonderful sight, if Local 802 will forgive our saying so; when extraterrestrials get involved too—oh brother! V.R. Francis, who lives in California and has previously appeared in men’s magazines, became 21 and sold to FANTASTIC UNIVERSE all in the same week.
From Fantastic Universe August 1958.

Invasion
By Murray Leinster; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
The whole fighting fleet of the United Nations is caught in Kreynborg’s marvelous, unique trap. From Astounding Stories March 1933.

Keep Out
By Fredric Brown; Read by Megan Argo
1 |MP3| – Approx. 8 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
With no more room left on Earth, and with Mars hanging up there empty of life, somebody hit on the plan of starting a colony on the Red Planet. It meant changing the habits and physical structure of the immigrants, but that worked out fine. In fact, every possible factor was covered—except one of the flaws of human nature… From Amazing Stories March 1954.

Fantastic Universe September 1955 The Long Voyage
By Carl R. Jacobi; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
When we published Carl Jacobi’s last story we had no assurance he would be with us so soon again. For when a uniquely gifted science-fantasy writer becomes radio-active on the entertainment meter and goes voyaging into the unknown, he may be gone from the world we know for as long as yesterday’s tomorrow. But Carl Jacobi has not only returned almost with the speed of light—he has brought with him shining new nuggets of wonder and surmise. From Fantastic Universe September 1955.

Navy Day
By Harry Harrison; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 13 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
The Army had a new theme song: “Anything you can do, we can do better!” And they meant anything, including up-to-date hornpipes! From If Worlds of Science Fiction January 1954.

One-Shot
By James Blish; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 32 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
You can do a great deal if you have enough data, and enough time to compute on it, by logical methods. But given the situation that neither data nor time is adequate, and an answer must be produced … what do you do? From Astounding Science Fiction August 1955.

Sjambak
By Jack Vance; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 1 Hour [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
Wilbur Murphy sought romance, excitement, and an impossible Horseman of Space. With polite smiles, the planet frustrated him at every turn—until he found them all the hard way! From If Worlds of Science Fiction July 1953.

Two Timer
By Fredric Brown; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 5 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
Here is a brace of vignettes by the Old Vignette Master … short and sharp … like a hypodermic! From Galaxy Science Fiction February 1954.

[Extra thanks to Gregg Margarite, Wendel Topper and Lucy Burgoyne]

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #048

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #048 – Jesse and Scott talk about new and old audiobooks, great audio and radio drama, upcoming stage plays, and old movies.

Talked about on today’s show:
Oblique references to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, recent arrivals, Full Cast Audio, Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev, Worldcon 2006, theater people, Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice as stage play, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Hachette Audio, Black Hills by Dan Simmons, mining history for fiction, Drood by Dan Simmons, Little Big Horn, The Terror by Dan Simmons, The Fall Of Hyperion by Dan Simmons, the SFFaudio Yahoo! Group, “do you relisten to audiobooks?”, Canadia 2056 by Matt Watts (now available in the iTunes music store), Steve The First, Steve The Second, The Prestige by Christopher Priest, The Futurist by James P. Othmer, Tantor Media, William Dufris, PaperBackSwap.com, The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James, Blackstone Audio, H.G. Wells vs. Henry James, Julie Davis’ Forgotten Classics podcast, a ghost story, The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle, The Others (2001), Henry James’ other novels, who’s fiction is more relevant?, new releases, Fang by James Patterson, the Maximum Ride series, vampires, Calfkiller Old Time Radio, getting into HuffDuffer.com, Calfkiller OTR’s HuffDuffer, BBC Radio’s Saturday Night Theatre, a BBC radio drama version of A Study In Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Louis Lamour, Mickey Spillane, The Twilight Zone, social networking your audio, Jesse’s HuffDuffer, Radio Drama Revival’s 3rd anniversary, Buried In Falling Sand (is “very Philip K. Dickian”), God Of The Razor based on a story by Joe R. Lansdale |READ OUR REVIEW|, Great Northern Audio Theatre‘s Dialogue With Martian Trombone, William Tenn’s death, Frederick Pohl on William Tenn’s Child’s Play, Child’s Play is available |HERE|, talking time travel with middle graders, podcast feed, current listens, Killing Floor by Lee Child |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin |READ OUR REVIEW|, virtual reality, worst novel since Startide Rising by David Brin |READ OUR REVIEW| , Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro (it is terrible so far), Kurt Dietz’s review of The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro |READ OUR REVIEW|, Da Vinci’s Inquest, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: Groundhog Day (1993), a timeless classic disguised as a comedy, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: The Valley Of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was ripping his stories from the19th century’s headlines, the framing story device, Brilliance Audio, The Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes edited by John Joseph Adams.

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection 026

Sunday, February 14, 2010Sunday, February 14, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

He Walked Around The Horses is a kind of story I really like. It’s based on an historical mystery. It follows the logic of the events, if accurate, to their natural, but very exceptional, conclusion. Pleasant Journey is the story of a carnival ride manufacturer’s latest product, which is a kind of virtual reality machine! It’s notable, if only for it’s 1963 vintage.

Short Science Fiction Collection 026
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 5 Hours 49 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 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-026.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

The Adventurer
By C.M. Kornbluth; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 31 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
For every evil under the sun, there’s an answer. It may be a simple, direct answer; it may be one that takes years, and seems unrelated to the problem. But there’s an answer—of a kind… From Space Science Fiction May 1953.

LibriVox - Death Of A Spaceman by Walter M. Miller Jr. Death of a Spaceman
By Walter M. Miller, Jr; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 38 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
The manner in which a man has lived is often the key to the way he will die. Take old man Donegal, for example. Most of his adult life was spent in digging a hole through space to learn what was on the other side. Would he go out the same way? From Amazing Stories March 1954.

Earthmen Bearing Gifts
By Fredric Brown; Read by Jody Bly
1 |MP3| – Approx. 6 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
“Mars had gifts to offer and Earth had much in return—if delivery could be arranged!” First published in the June 1960 issue of Galaxy magazine.

The End Of Time
By Wallace West; Read by Megan Argo
1 |MP3| – Approx. 55 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
By millions of millions the creatures of earth slow and drop when their time-sense is mysteriously paralyzed. From Astounding Stories March 1933.

He Walked Around The Horses
By H. Beam Piper; Read by tabithat
1 |MP3| – Approx. 44 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
This tale is based on an authenticated, documented fact. A man vanished—right out of this world. In November 1809, an Englishman named Benjamin Bathurst vanished, inexplicably and utterly.He was en route to Hamburg from Vienna, where he had been serving as his government’s envoy to the court of what Napoleon had left of the Austrian Empire. At an inn in Perleburg, in Prussia, while examining a change of horses for his coach, he casually stepped out of sight of his secretary and his valet. He was not seen to leave the inn yard. He was not seen again, ever. At least, not in this continuum… From Astounding Science Fiction, April 1948.

History Repeats
By George O. Smith; Read by Ric F
1 |MP3| – Approx. 26 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
There are—and very probably will always be—some Terrestrials who can’t, and for that matter don’t want, to call their souls their own… From Astounding Science Fiction May 1959.

The Last Evolution
By John W. Campbell Jr.; Read by Timo B.
1 |MP3| – Approx. 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
First published in AMAZING STORIES, August, 1932. Reprinted in Amazing Stories March 1961.

Pleasant Journey
By Richard F. Thieme; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 14 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
It’s nice to go on a pleasant journey. There is, however, a very difficult question concerning the other half of the ticket… From Analog Science Fact & Fiction November 1963.

The Second Satellite
By Edmond Hamilton; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
Earth-men war on frog-vampires for the emancipation of the human cows of Earth’s second satellite. (A Novelet.) From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930.

Solander’s Radio Tomb
By Ellis Parker Butler; Read by Stephen Phillips
1 |MP3| – Approx. 18 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 13, 2009
“I first met Mr. Remington Solander shortly after I installed my first radio set. I was going in to New York on the 8:15 A.M. train and was sitting with my friend Murchison and, as a matter of course, we were talking radio.” First published in Amazing Stories June 1927, later in Amazing’s April 1956 issue.

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 025

Saturday, February 13, 2010Friday, February 12, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVox Here’s a new collection made possible by volunteer narrators reading public domain Science Fiction (found at Project Gutenberg). In addition, three specific volunteers made the collection as a whole possible:

Book Coordinator: Gregg Margarite
Dedicated Proof-Listener: Wendel Topper
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Lucy Burgoyne

Thanks everybody!

Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 025
By various; Read by various
Approx. 5 Hours 33 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 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-025.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

The Game Of Rat And Dragon
By Cordwainer Smith; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 32 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
Only partners could fight this deadliest of wars—and the one way to dissolve the partnership was to be personally dissolved! From Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1955.

Hall Of Mirrors
By Fredric Brown; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 15 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
It is a tough decision to make—whether to give up your life so you can live it over again! From Galaxy Science Fiction December 1953.

The Hoofer
By Walter M. Miller, Jr.; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
A wayfarer’s return from a far country to his wife and family may be a shining experience, a kind of second honeymoon. Or it may be so shadowed by Time’s relentless tyranny that the changes which have occurred in his absence can lead only to tragedy and despair. This rarely discerning, warmly human story by a brilliant newcomer to the science fantasy field is told with no pulling of punches, and its adroit unfolding will astound you. From Fantastic Universe September 1955.

Martians Never Die
By Lucius Daniel; Read by Barry Eads
1 |MP3| – Approx. 27 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
It was a wonderful bodyguard: no bark, no bite, no sting … just conversion of the enemy! From Galaxy Science Fiction April 1952.

Monkey On His Back
By Charles V. De Vet; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 33 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
Under the cloud of cast-off identities lay the shape of another man — was it himself? First published in Galaxy magazine, June 1960.

The Moon Is Green
By Fritz Leiber; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 43 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
Anybody who wanted to escape death could, by paying a very simple price—denial of life! From Galaxy Science Fiction April 1952.

No Moving Parts
By Murray F. Yaco; Read by mkargo
1 |MP3| – Approx. 37 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
From Amazing Stories May 1960. We call them trouble-shooters. They called ’em Gypsies. Either way, they were hep to that whole bit about….

Small World
By William F. Nolan; Read by mezzogal
1 |MP3| – Approx. 25 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
What will happen when the alien ships strike Earth? And later? Who will survive? What will life be like in that latter-day jungle? William F. Nolan, well known in SF circles on the West Coast, returns with this grim story of the days and the nights of Lewis Stillman—survivor … From Fantastic Universe August 1957.

Spawn Of The Comet
By Harold Thompson Rich; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 1 Hour 4 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
A swarm of huge, fiery ants, brood of a mystery comet, burst from their shells to threaten the unsuspecting world. From Astounding Stories November 1931.

With No Strings Attached
By Randall Garrett; Read by Troy Bond
1 |MP3| – Approx. 34:23 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 3, 2009
A man will always be willing to buy something he wants, and believes in, even if it is impossible, rather than something he believes is impossible.So … sell him what he thinks he wants! First published in Analog, February 1963.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Lawrence Block reading from Hit Parade

Friday, February 12, 2010Sunday, February 7, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Here’s a vintage news item on Lawrence Block reading from Hit Parade at a local mystery bookstore Partners & Crime. There’s also nice tip of the hat to audiobook fans at the end too.

Posted by Jesse Willis