New Release – The Adventures of Sexton Blake (CD or MP3 DOWNLOAD)

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: New Releases

Paul Weir sez:

“[The] BBC Radio 2 series The Adventures of Sexton Blake is now released on CD and download and contains over 40 minutes of extra material.

For UK people, Play.com is the cheapest where it’s currently the number 1 audio book. For US listeners Amazon does have it but it’s cheaper to download from our site, which is a) the cheapest and b) the only place where you can download it as a high quality (160kbps) stereo mp3.”

BBC Audio - The Adventures Of Sexton BlakeThe Adventures of Sexton Blake
Based on the character created by Harry Blyth; Performed by a full cast
2 CDs or MP3 Download – Approx. 2 Hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks
Published: September 2009
ISBN: 1408410540
BBC Radio 2’s action-packed deafening romp – with 40 minutes of previously unbroadcast peril Sexton Blake! The name that spells hurtling adventure! The name that spells doom for villainy! In a series of thrilling adventures packed with incident and hilarity, Sexton Blake, (Simon Jones, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) and his plucky assistant Tinker (Wayne Forester, Captain Scarlet), aided by Mrs Bardell (June Whitfield, Absolutely Fabulous) battle diabolical masterminds, bewitching thieves and sinister fiends, out-thinking them in the head and out-punching them in the jaw! Also featured in this cinematic audio extravaganza from award-winning Dirk Maggs (The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) is a cameo from BBC Radio’s original Sexton Blake – the legendary and coolly dashing William Franklyn.

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Miss Pim’s Camouflage by Lady Stanley

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxHere’s another LibriVox release that, had I not found something similar recently, I probably normally wouldn’t mention. The reader, Grant Hurlock, uses absolutely no inflection in his narration, so it’s not really a great reading. But, the book’s plot is kinda quirky cool. It’s very much like a 1942 propaganda movie I watched recently, The Invisible Agent; it featured the grandson of Dr. Jack Griffin (the protagonist of H.G. Well’s The Invisble Man), who decides to use his grandfather’s invisibility formula to spy on Nazi Germany. Miss Pim’s Camouflage, the new LibriVox.org audiobook, on the other hand, features a patriotic spinster who wants to do her fair share in fighting The Great War! She comes from a long line of soldiers, but, having been born a woman, she is only able to do her part of the “war work” by gardening in her onion fields. One day, too long in the sun, she finds herself having been turned completely invisible. So now this will be Miss Pim’s chance to win herself a VC by going behind enemy lines and spying on the Germans. Neat huh?

LibriVox - Miss Pim's Camouflage by Lady StanleyMiss Pim’s Camouflage
By Lady Stanley; Read by Grant Hurlock
31 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 7 Hours 49 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
Mid-WWI, staid Englishwoman Miss Perdita Pim suffers a sunstroke gardening & gains the power of invisibility. She becomes a super-secret agent, going behind German lines, sometimes visible, sometimes not, witnessing atrocities & gleaning valuable war information

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/miss-pims-camouflage-by-dorothy-stanley.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks to Barry Eads and Tricia G too!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #037

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #037 – Jesse and Scott talk about the latest audiobook releases, audiobook narrators and plenty more. It’s a show full of “stage-actory goodness” in which we learn the ultimate truth:

“the monster frozen in the ice is definitely alive”

Talked about on today’s show:
Scott is living the sequel to High Plains Drifter, Hercules by Geraldine McCaughrean, Full Cast Audio, Who was the greatest Greek hero?, Perseus, Odysseus by Geraldine McCaughrean, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Achilles, Guest Law by John C. Wright, Infinivox, Aliens Rule edited by Allan Kaster, “How Music Begins” by James Van Pelt, Listening Library, the Becka Cooper series, Terrier by Tamora Peirce, Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce, Random House Audio, The Year Of The Flood by Margaret Atwood, Audible addiction, Audible Frontiers, The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, Jonathan Davis, Infinivox’s The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, Recorded Books, Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross, Wild Voices Audio, The City And The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke, Blind Lake, Bridge Of Years, Darwinia, Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson, Hachette Audio, Transition by Iain M. Banks (UNABRIDGED), also the podcast version, Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks, Dune: House Atredies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, Blackstone Audio, Treason by Orson Scott Card, Audible.com’s latest sale includes: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, Ringworld by Larry Niven, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Stalking The Vampire by Mike Resnick, Waystation by Clifford Simak, Grover Gardner, Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, The Jerk, Macmillan Audio, The Box: Uncanny Stories by Richard Matheson, The Twilight Zone (1985), “Button Button” by Richard Matheson, (the collection also includes: Girl Of My Dreams, Dying Room Only, A Flourish Of Strumpets, No Such Thing As A Vampire, Pattern For Survival, Mute, Creeping Terror, Shock Wave, Clothes Make The Man, The Jazz Machine, ‘Tis The Season To Be Jelly, The Mystery Of Grace by Charles de Lint, Slings & Arrows – Series 1, Podkayne Of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein, Armor by John Steakley, John Carpenter’s Vampires
FlashForward by Robert J. Sawyer, Star Trek by Alan Dean Foster, FlashForward (the TV series), revealing or realizing the solution to a mystery in fiction, Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child, Zachary Quinto, The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, Shed Skin by Robert J. Sawyer, Burn Me Deadly by Alex Bledsoe, Sword Edged Blond, Blood Groove, Escape From Hell by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote In God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first contact, gender, feminism, The Gripping Hand by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, iPhone, audiobook functionality, CBC Radio and NPR apps.

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: The History Of Rasselas, Prince Of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxThere are a lot of new audiobooks showing up on LibriVox every day of the week. This means I get to pick and choose amongst a vast roster of titles that I could possibly tell you about. One that I was not planning to post about was a 1759 Fantasy novel by Samuel Johnson. I had nothing against Johnson. I just hadn’t read any of his books. Sure I knew he had written a dictionary, but it wasn’t one of the ones that I had read. The problem really was I just didn’t know enough about Johnson to be interested in his novel. Frankly, the first thing that came to mind when I thought of Dr. Samuel Johnson was how great a character he was in the “Ink and Incapability“ episode of Blackadder. That one never gets old.

But, then today I was listening to my favourite Australian podcast, ABC Radio National’s The Philosopher’s Zone, and they mentioned this book. I suspect this wasn’t fated, it being the 300th anniversary of Johnson’s birth people around the world are thinking about old Johnson – but even if it was fate – either if I changed my mind or my mind was changed – after listening to that show I’m telling you about this novel now. The show |MP3| was actually on Johnson’s stoic christian philosophy – or rather his reaction to the ancient stoics. Host Alan Saunders, and guest, John Wiltshire, talked about a poem and then this book and it’s position in Johnson’s philosophy. It was fascinating! Now to listen…

LibriVox - The History Of Rasselas, Prince Of Abissinia by Samuel JohnsonThe History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia
By Samuel Johnson; Read by Martin Geeson
17 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 5 Hours 31 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 25, 2009
In this enchanting fable (subtitled The Choice of Life), Rasselas and his retinue burrow their way out of the totalitarian paradise of the Happy Valley in search of that triad of eighteenth-century aspiration – life, liberty and happiness. According to that quirky authority, James Boswell, Johnson penned his only work of prose fiction in a handful of days to cover the cost of his mother’s funeral. The stylistic elegance of the book and its wide-ranging philosophical concerns give no hint of haste or superficiality. Among other still burning issues Johnson’s characters pursue questions of education, colonialism, the nature of the soul and even climate alteration. Johnson’s profoundest concern, however, is with the alternating attractions of solitude and social participation, seen not only as the ultimate life-choice but as the arena in which are played out the deepest fears of the individual: “Of the uncertainties of our present state, the most dreadful and alarming is the uncertain continuance of Reason.”

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/rasselas-prince-of-abyssinia-by-samuel-johnson.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

In addition to the reader, Martin Geeson, this audiobook was produced by:

Dedicated Proof-Listener: Stav Nisser
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Leni

[Thanks to all three LibriVoxateers]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Blake’s 7 The Early Years: The Dust Run / The Trial

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Blake's 7 - The Early Years - The Dust Run / The TrialBlake’s 7 audio drama writer Ben Aaronovitch is showing off the the latest addition to the Blake’s 7: The Early Years series on his blog. Sez Aaronovitch:

“Amazon [UK] are already taking pre-orders for The Dust Run/The Trial, the latest addition to the Blake’s 7: The Early Years audios. This one, featuring Carrie Dobro as Jenna and is written by the frighteningly fecund and swift Simon Guerrier.

As readers of our production blog can discover script editing is not the non-stop round of glamour and excitement that you might imagine it to be but it’s always a thrill to see the covers out there in the world.”

And it looks like Amazon.com has it too HERE.

Hmmm, that makes me think about B7 yet again. I’ve got the current release, Blood & Earth / Flag & Flame, sitting in front of me here. I’ve listened to it twice already. Yep, I’m going to give it one more listen before I review it.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Brain Plucker: OSC on NPR

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

NPR - Talk Of The Nation Rick Jackson, an SFFaudio alumnus (and owner of Wonder Audio), has been minding a new blog called Brain Plucker. Here is his latest post in full:

Heard an interesting interview with Orson Scott Card today on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. He talks about the Ender Series. I have to admit I was all onboard with the initial series but lost interest after the parallel Ender’s Shadow series. I liked the original series because each book was unique. Ender’s Shadow wasn’t a bad book by any means. OSC also talks about the comic book adaptation which sounds very interesting. I’m going to take a look at it. But then again after reading the books, my time is probable better spent on something unique to me. He also talks about the Hollywood adaptation of Ender’s Game.

Orson Scott Card interview |MP3|
Talk of the Nation |site summary|

[via the well named Brain Plucker blog]

Posted by Jesse Willis