SFFaudio – Page 684 – 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.

New Releases: Clarke and Pohl

Friday, August 29, 2008 Jesse Willis

New Releases

The Last Theorem
By Arthur C. Clarke and Frederick Pohl; Read by Mark Bramhall
10 CDs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Books On Tape / Random House Audio
Published: August 5, 2008
ISBN: 9780739376959

In 1637, the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat scrawled a note in the margin of a book about an enigmatic theorem: “I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.” He also neglected to record his proof elsewhere. Thus began a search for the Holy Grail of mathematics–a search that didn’t end until 1994, when Andrew Wiles published a 150-page proof. But the proof was burdensome, overlong, and utilized mathematical techniques undreamed of in Fermat’s time, and so it left many critics unsatisfied–including young Ranjit Subramanian, a Sri Lankan with a special gift for mathematics and a passion for the famous “Last Theorem.” When Ranjit writes a three-page proof of the theorem that relies exclusively on knowledge available to Fermat, his achievement is hailed as a work of genius, bringing him fame and fortune. But it also brings him to the attention of the National Security Agency and a shadowy United Nations outfit called Pax per Fidem, or Peace Through Transparency, whose secretive workings belie its name. Suddenly Ranjit–together with his wife, Myra de Soyza, an expert in artificial intelligence, and their burgeoning family–finds himself swept up in world-shaking events, his genius for abstract mathematical thought put to uses that are both concrete and potentially deadly. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone on Earth, an alien fleet is approaching the planet at a significant percentage of the speed of light. Their mission: to exterminate the dangerous species of primates known as homo sapiens.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals from Blackstone Audio

Thursday, August 28, 2008Thursday, August 28, 2008 Scott D.

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Heinlein! de Lint! Dick! And a novel, translated from French, by Maurice G. Dentac.

Babylon Babies
(Now the Fox Motion Picture Babylon A.D..)
By Maurice G. Dantec; Read by Joe Barrett
16 CDs – 20 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433211904

Set in the hidden breeding grounds of the first cyborg communities, Dantec’s science fiction thriller mixes metaphysics with cyberpunk post-humanism in the spirit of Philip K. Dick.

Toorop, a hard-boiled leatherneck veteran, has been assigned to escort a young woman from Russia to Canada. But Marie is no ordinary girl. A schizophrenic and a possible carrier of a new artificial virus, Marie is bearing a mutant embryo created by an American cult, which dreams of producing a genetically modified messiah that will end all human life as we know it. Moving at breakneck speed, Toorop risks his life to save Marie as her brain, linking to the neuromatrix, surpasses all limits to become the universe itself.

Exploring the symbiosis between organic matter and computer power to spin new forms of consciousness, Babylon Babies rides Nietzsche’s prophecy: “Man is something to be overcome.”

Moonheart
By Charles de Lint; Read by Paul Michael Garcia
16 CDs – 20 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433230707

When Sara and Jamie discovered the artifacts, they sensed the pull of a dim, distant place, a world of misty forests, ancient magics, mythical beings, ageless bards, and restless evil.

Now, with their friends and enemies alike—Blue, the biker; Keiran, the folk musician; the Inspector from the RCMP; and the mysterious Tom Hengyr—Sara and Jamie are drawn into this enchanted land through the portals of a sprawling downtown edifice that straddles two worlds.

From ancient Wales to the streets of Ottawa today, Moonheart entrances listeners with its tale of this world and the other one at the very edge of sight. A tale of music, motorcycles, and fey folk beyond the shadows of the moon, Moonheart is pure magic.

Starman Jones
By Robert A. Heinlein; Read by Paul Michael Garcia
7 CDs – 8.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433230387

It was a desperate time, when one’s next meal and the comforts of home couldn’t be taken for granted. Max Jones, a practical, hard-working young man, found his escape in his beloved astronomy books. When reality comes crashing in and his troubled home life forces him out on the road, Max finds himself adrift in a downtrodden land. Until an unexpected, ultimate adventure carries him away as a stowaway aboard an intergalactic spaceship—but to where? And when? And how could he ever get back? With the ship’s pilot dead and his charts and tables all destroyed, Max must call upon all of his untested knowledge and skills in order to survive.

Ubik
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Anthony Heald
6 CDs – 7 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433228148

Glen Runciter is dead. Or is everybody else?

Chip works for Glen Runciter’s anti-psi security agency, which hires out its talents to block telepathic and paranormal crimes. But when its special team tackles a big job on the moon, something goes terribly wrong, and Runciter is seemingly killed. Now, his mourning employees are receiving bewildering messages from their boss—on toilet walls, traffic tickets, product labels, and even U.S. coins. And the world around them is warping in ways that suggest that their own time is running out—or already has.

Philip K. Dick’s searing metaphysical comedy of death and salvation is a tour de force of panoramic menace and unfettered slapstick, in which the departed give business advice, shop for their next incarnation, and run the continual risk of dying yet again.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Just Added to our AUTHOR PAGES: Robert E. Howard

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Speaking of CONAN, and his creator Robert E. Howard. I’ve just now added an entry on our We’ve been adding to our AUTHOR PAGES for the inventor of Sword & Sorcery. It lists all the commercial releases that we know about, too few (and none by Conan Properties International so far), all of the public domain audiobooks released through LibriVox, a few other podcast releases (woo hoo) and a couple of old audio dramas released on LP. There are a few holes in the listing – but we’re gonna be filling them. In the meantime, go visit our nearly complete ROBERT E. HOWARD author page, which will list everything audio related to the man’s writings.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BSAP’s CONAN audio dramas and audiobooks threatened by a big corporate monster

Tuesday, August 26, 2008Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

The Queen Of The Black Coast by Robert E. Howard On the 22nd August 2008 Broken Sea Audio Productions, and its chief bottle-washer Paul Mannering, received a cease and desist letter from a law firm representing Conan Properties International LLC (aka Paradox Entertainment).

Sez Paul:

The letter claims that BSAP is selling audio books of Robert E. Howard’s work. BrokenSea have responded by confirming that we do not sell any material, and no income is received by us for making these audio files available to the public. Our production of both audio books and audio drama’s of Robert E. Howard’s work is based entirely on work that is in the public domain (www.gutenberg.org.au)

Out of respect for tangible brands, such as the “Conan” title we are changing the title and logo of our Conan audio drama to “Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Sagas.” We expect this change to be in place by Thursday 28th August.

Here is the |PDF| of Conan Properties International’s CEASE AND DESIST letter sent to Broken Sea.

Here are my $0.02…

For a man who killed himself 72 years ago, with no children and no spouse to inherit his estate (nearly all of which is in the public domain) it’s amazing how ~~spurious~~ vigorous Robert E. Howard’s defense of his lapsed copyright is.

I chalk it up to either the nefarious forces of Stygian evil, or the Black Seers of Yimsha. Either way, R.E.H. has been zombified, and forced to say things – or rather has had his lawyers say things that aren’t true. Time for some barbarians to overthrow the forces of civilization (by ignoring the intended effects of cease and desist chill).

SFFaudio will still be calling spades shovels and Conan stories Conan stories. Long live Broken Sea Audio Productions, long live BSAP’s CONAN!

UPDATE: The ever vigilant Quasar Dragon has a posted a post on this issue check it out HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis