SFFaudio

The Sharing Knife Book 4: Horizon
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Bernadette Dunne
13 CDs – 15.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781433235931

In a world where malices, remnants of ancient magic, can erupt with life-destroying power, only soldier-sorcerer Lakewalkers have mastered the ability to kill them. But Lakewalkers keep their uncanny secrets—and themselves—from the farmers they protect. So when patroller Dag rescued farm girl Fawn, neither expected to fall in love, marry, and defy both their kin to seek new solutions to the split between their peoples.

As Dag’s powers have grown, so has his frustration with the Lakewalkers’ rigid mores. Fawn and Dag see that their world is changing and that the traditional Lakewalker practices cannot hold the malices at bay forever. Yet for all the customs that the couple have challenged, they will soon be confronted with their worst crisis yet. When the old traditions fail, can their untried new ways stand against their world’s deadliest foe?
 
 
A Galaxy Trilogy, Vol. 3
By Manly Wade Wellman, Wallace West, and Murray Leinster; Read by Tom Weiner
11 CDs – 13 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781433292781

Three more stories from the pioneers of the early days of pulp science fiction!

Giants from Eternity by Manly Wade Wellman
Scientist Oliver Norfleet and his college buddy Spencer DuPogue are called by the Board of Science to investigate a mysteriously expanding red blight that is growing around the site of a meteor crash. With the help of the daughter of a famous scientist, they soon discover that the blight is not only alive but that it consumes nearly everything in its path. When their own abilities prove inadequate, they are forced to turn to the greatest scientific minds that history has to offer. Norfleet and DuPogue and the Giants from Eternity must try to stop the blight before the entire Earth is consumed.

Lords of Atlantis by Wallace West
Once, when Atlantis was ruled by the Titans, they were replaced by the red-skinned, red-haired Martians, Zeus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, and others. Teraf, prince of Hellas, was particularly struck by the changes Earth had wrought in Martians during the period of their rule. The rays of the earthly sun had burned their sensitive skin almost as black as those of Nubians, and to meet the stress of Terran gravitation, they had developed enormous muscles that sat poorly on their slender frames and gave them the deceitful appearance of strong men in a circus. The Afhas, those of mixed Martian and early parentage, apparently had absorbed the best traits of both. Like Teraf himself, all had blazing red hair and the slim grace of their Martian forebears, plus a better adaptation to their earthly conditions. But the Titans chafed under the so-called benevolent progress of their rulers, and they plotted rebellion.

City on the Moon by Murray Leinster
Life on the moon, under anything less than optimal conditions, had always been a nightmare, and as Joe Kenmore and his colleague Moreau drove back to the City on the Moon, on the day the Earth shuttle was due to land, the nearby mountain supporting critical elements of the shuttle’s landing mechanisms crumbled, causing an avalanche and chaos. Optimal conditions were nowhere in sight that day as Kenmore and Moreau’s investigations lead to their conclusion that explosions had been responsible for the avalanche. They realized that they were in a race against the clock to restore the landing beam before the shuttle had reached the “point of no return” prior to landing. Kenmore had more than strictly humanitarian reasons for wanting to prevent a mishap aboard the shuttle that day because on this particular mission, Arlene Gray was aboard. Kenmore had been anxiously awaiting her arrival, and amidst everything, Kenmore’s love life also might hang in the balance.
 
 
Hater
By David Moody; Read by Gerard Doyle
6 CDs – 7 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781433292866

A modern take on the classic “apocalyptic” novel, Hater tells the story of Danny McCoyne, an everyman forced to contend with a world gone mad, as society is rocked by a sudden increase in violent assaults. Christened “Haters” by the media, the attackers strike without warning and seemingly without reason. Within seconds, normally rational, self-controlled people become frenzied, vicious killers. As the carnage mounts, one thing soon is clear: everyone, irrespective of race, gender, age, or class, has the potential to become either a Hater or a victim. At any moment, even friends and family can turn on one another with violent intent. In the face of this mindless terror, all McCoyne can do is secure his family, seek shelter, and watch as the world falls apart. But when he bolts the front door, the question remains: Is he shutting the danger out or locking it in?
 
 
Of Bees and Mist
By Erick Setiawan; Read by Marguerite Gavin
11 CDs – 13 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781441710949

Setiawan’s richly atmospheric debut chronicles the passions, betrayals, and complex domestic politics of three generations of women whose emotional lives manifest as supernatural phenomena.

In a nameless town in a timeless era, where spirits and spells, witchcraft and ghosts are an everyday reality, sixteen-year-old Meridia has grown up lonely and neglected in a house literally haunted by the demons of her parents’ soured love. When she falls for the charming and boyish Daniel, she sees her first real chance for love and happiness. She marries him and moves in with his family, unaware that they are harboring dark secrets of their own. There is a grave hidden in the garden. There are two sisters groomed from birth to despise each other. And there is Eva, the formidable matriarch whose grievances swarm the air in an army of bees.
 
Posted by Scott D. Danielson