FREE LISTENS Review: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Seth

Review

Free Listens BlogThe Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
Source: Librivox
25 Zipped MP3s
Length: 5 hr, 43 min UNABRIDGED
Reader: Nichole Doolin

The book: A young lady, charmed by a young gentleman in London, agrees to take up a job as a governess to his orphaned niece and nephew. After arriving at the country estate where the children live, the governess begins to see figures around the estate that do not seem to fit with any of the servants currently living there. She learns from other servants that the former governess, Miss Jessel, and her lover, Peter Quint, died mysteriously shortly before she was hired. Are the figures she has been seeing the ghosts of this couple or is it all in her mind?

James keeps up this ambiguity throughout the book, constructing dialogues and events that seem diabolical under one viewpoint and another perfectly innocent by another. The book is told from the 1st person perspective of the governess. This narrator is the only one who seems to notice the ghosts and their effects on the children, but we as readers are not sure we can trust this young lady. The degree to which James draws out the governess’s decent into horror is a bit frustrating at times, but really, this is a short book and a classic in psychology.

Rating:  7/10

The reader: Ms. Doolin sounds like a professional. Her reading is polished, using pauses and inflection to great effect. I found it interesting to compare the voice of the narrator from the first chapters where she is bright and innocent to the later where you can hear the suspicion in her voice.  The other characters are not given full-fledged voices, but Ms. Doolin alters her diction and pitch enough to let us know who is talking. The recording is clean and noiseless.

Posted by Seth

Space Force

Rich

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7

Space Force
Starring Barry Foster, Nigel Stock, Nicky Henson and Tony Osoba
Written by Charles Chilton
6 episodes airing Monday, September 15 through Monday, September 22 during the 7th Dimension time slots*

This is the log of Magnus Carter…

Space Force (1984-85), by Charles Chilton, was intended to be a sequel to his previous space opera, Journey into Space (1953-56, and beyond), itself a popular radio series that spawned four sequels of its own (including Frozen in Time which first aired on BBC 7 last April).

I’ve read slightly differing accounts of why the decision was made to create a new series. I suspect the Beeb just wanted something fresh after JIS had spent nearly 30 years in mothballs, and that Chilton was only happy to oblige…by ripping himself off! The result was a scientifically updated but very similar series, with similar themes in play and the same bridge crew character archetypes and personalities, albeit with names changed. Note though that the character “Chipper” Barnet is referred to as being the grandson of “Lemmy” Barnet, a crew member (and “comic relief”) from JIS, and a character much beloved by fans.

Like JIS, Space Force is episodic space opera in the classic sense but with emphasis on high adventure rather than galactic empires and space war (despite its militaristic sounding title).

The story takes place in the far flung future of 2010 when manned trips to the moon are routine. Captain Saxon Berry is traveling there to assume command of the new spaceship, “Space Force”, when strange events begin to happen that will eventually lead him and his crew across the solar system to a first encounter with…well, I shouldn’t spoil the story. Listen to the show to see how it goes!

I recommend this series (a good 3 out of 4 stars) because it is intelligent, appealing and accessible. –This would describe the work of many 20th century British science fiction writers. They had knack for this.– You don’t have to be a hard sf buff to enjoy it, and if you are, it’s still an engaging story (even though you’ve read, seen or heard most of this before). Just creative and clever enough to keep you interested. Besides, it’s the characters that suck you in and hold this series together, as it should be.

Although it’s not listed today, it’s possible that the sequel, Space Force 2, will follow. This is sort of traditional on BBC 7, to pummel you to death with everything in one run, but we love it don’t we. I’ll be sure to check and post an update about this. (Update: Yepsk. Space Force 2 will follow, beginning on Tuesday, September 23.)

*Meanwhile, use the online Listen Again feature to keep up with each daily episode of Space Force beginning tomorrow.

Posted by RC of RTSF

The SFFaudio Podcast #003

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastGenerally, this is our third podcast. Furthermore, it is a podcast of deep functionality. It’s universal really. Long story short, we talked about stuff. Join us in our secret society [book readers] where I (Jesse) say things like: “Dune shot Science Fiction in the head.” and “Why I don’t like Science Fiction movies anymore.” and “You don’t name a king Augustus.” and “I hope the Earth explodes.”

In other words, the podcast’s length is commensurate with a function of your desire to listen to it.

Topics discussed include:

Crazy Dog Audio Theatre, The Zombies Of Dr. Krell, Roger Gregg, The Sonic Society, Radio Drama Revival, Whipping Star, Frank Herbert, Tantor Media, Dune, The Road To Dune, Children Of Dune, Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, MP3 to iPod Audiobook Converter, iTunes 8.0, zombies, StarShipSofa, SFSignal.com, Ian McDonald, The River Of Gods, Lawrence Block, Donald E. Westlake, Stephen King, John Scalzi, Old Man’s War, Anathem, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, BBC Audiobooks America, Hard Case Crime, Ed McBain, The Lies Of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch, Dragon Page: Cover To Cover, Roger Zelazny, Locus, The Dead Man’s Brother, Robert McGinnis, Glen Orbik, Behind The Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed, Christa Faust, Money Shot, public libraries, secret societies, Podiobooks.com, Evo Terra, The Book Of The New Sun, Gene Wolfe, Grifter’s Game, Random House Audio, The Colorado Kid, Aural Noir, Sunshine, 28 Days Later, I, Robot, I Am Legend, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Fortress Draconis (a book with a king named Augustus), Robert Capa, John Searle, Brian Cox (physicist), IMDB.com

Posted by Jesse Willis

Afterhell: Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel – get it now, or pay later

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

AfterhellJamie Lawson, a co-producer on Afterhell: Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel sez:

This is a heads-up to let everyone know that “Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel” will soon be removed from the Afterhell podcast feed. If you wanted to check out our tale of gangsters, zombies, and other strangeness at the dawn of the Afterhell, but hadn’t had a chance, go grab any and all of the nine installments now! Copy and paste this address into your podcast-catcher of choice:

http://www.afterhell.com/audio/AHSD.rss

The good news is that “Afterhell Volume 3: Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel” will soon be released on CD! This is the same award-winning story as on the podcast feed, but with a full stereo mix and without the podcast bumpers. There will also be a bonus track!

I’ve heard most of the show, this is a splatter-style Horror audio drama series that’s well acted and edited. Sound effects can sometimes be a little too familiar, but the story has nice twists on old themes. Well worth listening to, and previous shows in the Afterhell series are worth getting too (I believe they are available on CD). Read more about it HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Call Of The Wild by Jack London FREE @ SimplyAudiobooks.com (too bad it sucks)

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Simply AudiobooksSeptember’s Free Download over on Simply Audiobooks website is Jack London’s The Call Of The Wild.

The Call of the Wild – Jack London’s classic 1903 story of Buck, a courageous dog fighting for survival in the Alaskan wilderness, is widely considered to be his masterpiece. Sometimes wrongly considered simply a children’s novel, this epic vividly evokes the harsh and frozen Yukon during the Gold Rush. As Buck is ripped from his pampered surroundings and shipped to Alaska to be a sled dog, his primitive, wolflike nature begins to emerge. Savage struggles and timeless bonds between man, dog, and wilderness are played to their heartrending extremes, as Buck undertakes a mystic journey that transforms him into the legendary “Ghost Dog” of the Klondike.

Call OF The Wild
By Jack London; Read by Michael Scott
WMD – [ABRIDGED]
Provider: SimplyAudiobooks.com / ThoughtAudio.com
Available: September 2008

Unfortunately, after a simple entry of a name and email address the download comes in a WMD file (Windows Media Download) making it virtually unusable. The MP3 files are in there, but they are very hard to get at. Unless you want to fiddle with it for more than an hour (that’s how long it took me) you’ll have to play it using a windows media device (a Zune presumably) or in a windows media player (sitting in front of your computer).
It’s absolutely not worth it. It turns out the audiobook pictured is not the audiobook you get. Simply Audiobooks displays the free audiobook as the UNABRIDGED Tantor Media version, as read by Patrick Lawlor, but instead what you actually download is the ThoughtAudio.com version (which is ABRIDGED and read by Michael Scott).

So, here’s my suggestion, download the public domain LibriVox version. That version of Call Of The Wild is UNABRIDGED, and is available in naked MP3s, a Zipped MP3 bundle, by torrent and as a podcast :

LibriVox Audiobook - Call Of The Wild by Jack LondonCall OF The Wild
By Jack London; Read by various readers
Zipped MP3s or Podcast – Approx. 3.25 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 2005

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/call-of-the-wild-by-jack-london.xml

The downside is that it is read by multiple readers, which is annoying, but at least it’s not going to suck up your valuable time.

Posted by Jesse Willis

iTunes 8.0 offers more control over audiobooks

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

iTunes 8.0The latest version of iTunes NOW finally, gives you some more control over your own audiobooks, at least sort of. According to a post over on Podiobooks.com’s blog:

The new iTunes 8 has launched and fans of audiobooks couldn’t be happier. Prior versions of iTunes kept the Audiobooks section under lock and key. The only files that would display in the Audiobooks section on your iTunes or iPod were books purchased from the iTunes music store. Not very handy to people who buy copies of audio books on CD or download them from other sources on the interwebs.

With 8.0, iTunes now allows you to change the Media Kind for files to Audiobook, taking them out of the Music section (where they never belonged in the first place). So score one for iTunes for enabling those who just want to use the software, but exercise choice in where they get their audiobook content.

Read the full Podiobooks.com blog post HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis