SFFaudio – Page 626 – 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.

BBC Radio 3, 4, 7 – Wells, Clarke, Banks + MORE

Thursday, February 19, 2009 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, and BBC Radio 7 are joining forces to launch a new season of SFF audio (hey thanks BBC). These dates and times could change (think of it as a long-term weather forecast), but here’s the schedule for present…

BBC Radio 3 – Sunday 22nd February 20:00-21:40 The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (Stars Robert Glenister)

BBC Radio 4 – Sunday 1st March 15:00 Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (Stars Richard Dillane)

BBC Radio 4 – Monday 9th March 14:15 Cry Babies by Kim Newman (Stars Alex Jennings)

BBC Radio 4 – Wednesday 11th March 14:15 Homesick by Anita Sullivan (Stars Maxine Peake)

BBC Radio 4 – Friday 13th March 14:15 Mayflies by Mike Maddox (Stars Derek Jacobi)

Were not sure that this is a complete list, these details are from the latest issue of Radio Times. No title is specifically listed for BBC7, though Iain M. Banks is also mentioned as a writer who’ll be included.

[Thanks Roy!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

StarShipSofa

Thursday, February 19, 2009Friday, November 19, 2010 Tony

SFFaudio Online Audio

Listen here to the full Aural Delights No 64 Ted Kosmatka mp3 show!

Editorial: The Good the Bad and the Ugly by Tony C. Smith 02:00

Poetry: Her Opals by Samantha Henderson 12:30

Flash Fiction: Where Credit Is Due by Edward M. Lerner 14:39

Fact: Science News by JJ Campanella 24:20

Main Fiction: The Art of Alchemy by Ted Kosmatka 40:22

Fact: Kim Stanley Robinson by English Assassin 01:34:00

Narrators: David Lamb, Annette Bowman, Dale Manley

http://www.starshipsofa.com/rss

Posted by Tony C. Smith

Twitter

Wednesday, February 18, 2009Sunday, July 5, 2009 Scott D.

SFFaudio News

For those of you who use Twitter, we’ve got two Twitter feeds here at SFFaudio. The first is an automatic feed that provides a link to each post we do. Find that one here: http://twitter.com/sffaudio.

The second is my personal Twitter feed, which I promise to keep audio and book related, at least until the zombie uprising. Find that one here: http://twitter.com/sdanielson.

Enjoy!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Voodoo Planet by Andre Norton

Tuesday, February 17, 2009Tuesday, February 17, 2009 Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Voodoo Planet
By Andre Norton; Read by Chuck McKibben
3 CDs – 3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Realms
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781897304372
Themes: / Science Fiction / Adventure / Space Travel / Africa /

Voodoo Planet is the tale of three crew members from The Solar Queen spaceship who are invited to go on a hunting safari on a Khatka, a planet colonized by people from Africa. Dane, Medic Tau, and Captain Jellico soon run up against Lumbrilo, a local witch doctor, who has strong reasons for not wanting outsiders to explore the jungle. After their flitter crashes in the wild, the spacemen and their local hosts soon become the targets of bizarre attacks from wildlife as they try to make their way back to civilization. Tau has studied magic on many different worlds and a battle of wills emerges as he must counter the attacks and provide the edge to overcome their enemy.

This is a short and simple tale of adventure, it is best enjoyed at face value – a sampling of classic science fiction. It makes foe an exciting story as one waits to see what Lumbrilo will next launch against the heroes. Andre Norton is a legendary author in science fiction and fantasy, but this is one of her earlier and lesser works. That does not mean that one should ignore the book, but simply that one should not expect a master work.

The narration of the story is fine with slight shading added to various characters’ voices to provide both personality and help the listener differentiate when a conversation is occurring. However, the editing is not very careful. There were several occasions when a sentence or two was repeated as the narrator corrected a misstep. Failing to catch a duplication is common enough in free podcasts but when one is paying for an audiobook it is inexcusable. One hopes that the editors will more carefully proof the other books from this publisher.

Overall, well done and recommended.

Posted by Julie D.

The SFFaudio Podcast #025

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #025 – Jesse and Scott are joined by Brian Murphy of The Silver Key and The Cimmerian blogs. We mostly talk about Fantasy, with a little war talk to make things manlier.

Talked about on today’s show:
Recent Arrivals, Penguin Audio, re-release of Stephen King audiobooks, Desperation, The Regulators, Thinner, Rose Madder, Joe Mantegna, Blair Brown, Kathy Bates, Kate Nelligan, the origins of the “Richard Bachman” pseudonym, Donald E. Westlake, Chapterhouse Dune, Frank Herbert, full cast narration, Macmillan Audio, Starship series, Mike Resnick, Jonathan Davis, Book Of The Road, dual narration, Elric Of Melbinone, Michael Moorcock, Audio Realms, The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman, the Canadian publishing industry, Raincoast Books, Od Magic, Patricia A. McKillip, Dreams Underfoot, Charles de Lint, cover art matters, Black Gate blog, Confessions Of A Speed Reading Instructor, “how long is a book ?”, Top 10 Fantasy Battles Of All Time, The Iliad, Homer, Recorded Books, George Guidall, the Robert Fitzgerald translation, reciting Homeric length epics (the documentary In Search Of The Trojan War), Bernard Cornwell, The Winter King, King Arthur (2004), Clive Owen, Excalibur (1981), Audio Renaissance (Macmillan Audio), Chivers Audio (BBC Audiobooks America), ISIS Audio, the Sharpe television series, George R.R. Martin, A Song Of Ice And Fire series.