StarShipSofa: Stories Vol. 1

SFFaudio News

The science fiction podcast magazine StarShipSofa  Aural Delights rang in a new Golden Age of Science Fiction by making publishing history.

Celebrating the show’s 100th episode, show host and editor Tony C. Smith unveiled StarShipSofa Stories Volume 1, an anthology of some of the finest stories featured on the show.

The book was released simultaneously in print-on-demand paperback (deluxe and standard versions) and a free downloadable ebook. This is absolutely the first anthology to present writers of this calibre without big publisher backing – from Science Fiction Grand Master Michael Moorcock to Hugo winner Elizabeth Bear and  Nebula winner Jeffrey Ford to the SF writer who’s just bagged the £1,000,000 ten book deal Alastair Reynolds (that’s almost $2,000,000 in the USA), trust me you have never seen an anthology like this one before.

Speaking of seeing, that’s something you’ve got to do with this book. Don’t take my word for it – download the free ebook or flip through the pages for yourself at this super-cool online widget. This volume is an homage to the “tatty old paperbacks” of science fiction past, recapturing the visual wonder of the 1950’s pulp paperbacks that we all love so well. Original artwork sets off each story, rendered by top artists published by the likes of 2000AD and Neil Gaiman. Sprinkled liberally throughout are original vintage images and magazine adverts from the 1950’s. An homage to classic science fiction and a daring experiment in the publishing revolution, this is nostalgia nouveau and tomorrow today all in one package.

A great anthology and a bold exploration of the latest in publishing technology, everyone wins with StarShipSofa Stories Volume 1.  New and established writers are reaching out to new audiences, sales and donations are being generated to support the show, and a remarkable world-wide community of science fiction fans is growing. Everyone is a winner! There is no doubt that StarShipSofa is leading the way for podcasts into a new and brighter future.

Posted by Tony C. Smith

RR.cc: Chillers – Four Tales Of Terror: Campbell, Ellison, Shepard, Delany

SFFaudio Online Audio

RadioArchive.ccSomeone in the RadioArchive.cc forums asked for, and received, a re-seeding of Chillers – Four Tales of Terror. If there’s an anthology that showcases the power of radio drama, this is it! Chillers was an utterly fantastic 4 episode series of stories adapted by Mike Walker. All four plays were based on excellent Science Fiction and Horror tales. The series was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between January 24th 2002 and February 14th 2002. Here are the details.

Chillers Four Tales Of TerrorChillers – Four Tales of Terror
Dramatized by Mike Walker; Performed by full casts
4 x 30 Minute Programs – Approx. 2 Hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Jan. – Feb. 2002

“Who Goes There?”
Based on story by John W. Campbell; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 28 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Penned under the name Don A. Stuart, the novelette that this play was based on was first published in the August 1938 issue of Astounding Stories.
An alien being is found frozen in the ice of Antarctica. When it is thawed, it awakens, to become a threat to the small base camp. In fact, it’s a threat to all life on earth, as it can change shape and absorb the life and bodies of every living thing it comes in contact with.

“I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream”
Based on story by Harlan Ellison; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 28 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
The Hugo Award winning short story this play was based on first appeared in the March 1968 issue of Worlds Of If.
This is a tale of five people kept alive by AM, a computer that came alive, waged war and won against mankind. It’s hatred of mankind is so profound, that it kept these five alive only to torture them.

“Delta Sly Honey”
Based on story by Lucius Shepard; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 28 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
First appeared in a 1987 anthology entitled In the Field of Fire, which was a collection of SF and Fantasy stories dealing with Vietnam.
Taking place in the Vietnam War era, this is the story of a Southern country boy who exorcises his demons making late night broadcasts to phantom military units. Then, one answers.

“Corona”
Based on story by Samuel R. Delany; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 28 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
First published in Fantasy And Science Fiction Magazine‘s October, 1967 issue.
This is the story of an injured man and a girl who seeks death to free her from the pain that comes from her telepathic ability. Their common bond is a pop musician who offers peace to both.

Visit RadioArchive.cc |HERE| to download the torrent.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Dutch Treat The Audiobooks of Elmore Leonard

Aural Noir: Online Audio

My Elmore Leonard AudiobooksDutch Treat The Audiobooks Of Elmore LeonardAs you can see by my stack of Elmore Leonard audiobooks, gathered from my shelves, Dutch Treat: The Audiobooks of Elmore Leonard is just the kind of podcast I’m looking for. It’s on a highly specific subject, one that couldn’t really exist in any other format. The unnamed host takes clips from each Elmore Leonard audiobook (abridged and unabridged) to showcase Leonard’s terrific dialogue in the hands of some of the top narrators in the audiobook business. It was great to hear Grover Gardner, Joe Mantegna, Robert Forster chewing up Leonard’s dialogue once again. The only real detraction I see, in this super-fun podcast, is the highly unnecessary “strong language” warning.

It’s Elmore Fucking Leonard for fuck’s sake!

Actually there’s not a gratuity of swearing in these audiobooks, which makes the warning doubly annoying. Might as well say: “Elmore Leonard is a fiction writer, none of the events in these novels have actually happened.”

[sigh]

Okay, enough of my whining, have a listen.

Here’s the podcast feed:

http://dutchtreat.libsyn.com/rss

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Release from Audible Frontiers: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

New Releases

Steve Feldberg, the spearhead behind the thrust that is Audible Frontiers, writes in to say:

“I wanted to draw your attention to our production of Paolo Bacigalupi’s THE WINDUP GIRL, which just went in the store this week.

Every review of this book is a rave – and it’s being called one of the best if not THE best SF books of the year.

Our production is especially great since it’s narrated by Jonathan Davis; you might recall that his narration of Robert J. Sawyer’s CALCULATING GOD won the 2009 Audie Award for Sci-Fi.

This one’s definitely worth a listen.”

Cool! Davis is also the narrator for the praiseworthy “Starship” series by Mike Resnick!

Audible Frontiers - The Windup Girl by Paolo BacigalupiThe Windup Girl
By Paolo Bacigalupi; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – Approx. [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 15, 2009
Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen’s Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok’s street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history’s lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko…Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. What happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism’s genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of The Calorie Man (Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and Yellow Card Man (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to address these poignant questions.

The novel’s title seemed familiar, so I looked on my bookshelf and spotted Infinivox’s The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (it’s also available via Audible.com).

[Thanks Steve!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Release – Prologue to The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

New Releases

The Gathering Storm by Robert JordanThe Gathering Storm, “Prologue”
By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson; Read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
Audible Download – 1 hour 35 mins [UNABRIDGED EXERPT]
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Published: 2009

At midnight on 17 September, Tor made the prologue to The Gathering Storm, the upcoming twelfth volume in Robert Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time series, available in a variety of formats. To my surprise and delight, audiobook listeners were not left out.

The prologue of the long-awaited conclusion to Robert Jordan’s fantasy masterpiece. This selection features a bonus recording of Robert Jordan’s widow and longtime editor, Harriet McDougal, discussing the process of continuing the Wheel of Time series after Jordan’s death, and how they came to select Brandon Sanderson to carry the torch.

The novel’s first chapter is available for free reading at Tor.com, but to my knowledge hasn’t been released in audio. Reading the chapter requires a Tor.com account, but it’s fast and free to sign up.

Posted by Seth Wilson

Free @ Audible.com: The Case Of The Missing Will by Agatha Christie

Aural Noir: Online Audio

Here’s a FREE Agatha Christie short story from BBC Audiobooks America [via Audible.com]. I have at least one friend who’ll snap up this download within about two seconds of seeing this post. And check out the narrator!

BBC Audiobooks America - The Case Of The Missing Will by Agatha ChrisiteThe Case of the Missing Will
By Agatha Christie; Read by David Suchet
FREE Audible Download – Approx. 21 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America
Published: 2008
Provider: Audible.com
Poirot receives an unusual request for help from a Miss Violet Marsh, who was orphaned as a child and went to live with her peculiar Uncle Andrew. He died a month ago, leaving a will with a strange clause. Marsh has given instructions that his “clever” niece is allowed to live in his house for one month and in that time she has to “prove her wits” and find his second will. If at the end of that time she hasn’t, all his worldly goods go to charitable institutions and she will be left with nothing. Can Poirot help her?

Posted by Jesse Willis