Recent Arrivals from Graphic Audio

Scott D.

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals


If you are a fan of adventure stories and you haven’t heard of Graphic Audio, then you are in for a real treat. They just sent us these utility-belt toting titles! Find a whole catalog full of high adventure at graphicaudio.net.
 
 
52: Part 2
By Greg Cox; Performed by a full cast
6 hours – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Graphic Audio
Published: February 2008
ISBN: 9781599503691

This one will go nicely with our 52: Part 1, which is in the process of being reviewed!

A year without Superman. A year without Batman. A year without Wonder Woman. But not a year without heroes… Earth’s most revered heroes have vanished. In their absence, the cities of Metropolis and Gotham have fallen prey to the machinations of super-villains and the criminal activities of Intergang. Booster Gold, a hero from the future, has stepped into Superman’s boots only to find them too big to fill, especially when rival hero Supernova arrives on the scene. Recruited by the mysterious crime fighter known as the Question, detective Renee Montoya investigates an even more mysterious vigilante prowling the streets: Batwoman. These and other veteran and rookie heroes around the world must unite against a vast conspiracy of evil about to usurp control of the Earth once and for all…
 
 
Batman: The Stone King
By Alan Grant; Performed by a full cast
6 hours – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Graphic Audio
Published: July 2008
ISBN: 9781599504582

Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. The Flash. Green Lantern.

They are the world’s greatest super heroes, fighting endlessly against corruption and injustice. Each of them is a formidable opponent of evil, but banded together their powers are unmatched. Ever ready, they stand united as the —

JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA

Something has been unearthed in Gotham City, something that should not have been disturbed. An ancient pyramid has unleashed supernatural energies throughout the world. Drawn to the eye of this arcane storm, the heroes of the JLA become caught in the grip of a force far beyond their extraordinary powers. Only Gotham’s protector, Batman, manages to escape—but to free his allies and stop the chaos that is fast engulfing the world, the Dark Knight must somehow unlock the pyramid’s secret curse.
 
 
Justice League of America: Exterminators
By Christopher Golden; Performed by a full cast
5 hours – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Graphic Audio
Published: May 2008
ISBN: 9781599504445

When a mass outbreak of super-powered individuals threatens the world, the JLA determines that latent metahuman abilities are being triggered by an alien contagion, one that’s spreading throughout Earth as it transforms its hosts into monstrous engines of destruction. Racing to contain the infection, the world’s greatest super heroes link the parasitic plague to an alien invasion from the team’s earliest days and make a horrifying discovery: the JLA itself is responsible for the imminent disaster they now face.
 
 
Posted by Scott D. Danielson

PodCastle – Hallah Iron-Thighs And The Change Of Life by K. D. Wentworth

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Podcastle PodCastle, the fantasy fiction podcast, has a new old/story out that has drawn my eyes, and ears… it’s a story first published in the highly arousing popular “Chicks N Chainmail” anthology series.

I have to disagree with Podcastle editor Rachel Swirsky though. I still think chain-mail bikinis offer more protection than she suggests. My theory is that they offer support in the places where both gravity and barbarians often attack first. Making them a kind of ‘law of diminishing returns’ kind of armour. On the other hand, I hear that the chainmail can be a bit abrasive, which clearly makes them unrealistic (and hence a perfect fit for Fantasy). Bikinis in Science Fiction though, tend to be more along the lines of the moulded and polished metal alloy type, rather than of the linked chain variety. Thus the SF bikini offers solid protection from both gropey aliens and laser beams – while still adhering to the ‘diminishing returns’ idea. So all in all, I’m for armoured bikinis in both genres.

Hallah Iron-Thighs and the Change of Life by K. D. WentworthHallah Iron-Thighs And The Change Of Life
By K.D. Wentworth; Read by M.K. Hobson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 34 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Hallah and Gerta are guarding a hymnal-seller. But why is Hallah’s armour getting so tight?

You can subscribe to the feed at:

http://feeds.escapeartists.net/PodCastle_Main

Posted by Jesse Willis

Beware the Moon Wraith: The Orb of Phoebe

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Beware the Moon Wraith: The Orb of PhoebeAn outfit called “Curious Echo Radio Theater” has begun the podcasting of Beware the Moon Wraith: The Orb of Phoebe. Here’s the skinny on it:

The Moon Wraith, a vengeful ghost for justice, has stolen the mysterious Orb of Phoebe. But Virgil Caine, the real identity of the Moon Wraith, has no memory of committing this crime. So Caine, with wealthy socialite Sandra Ashton and plucky newsboy Crabby Jones, struggle to clear the Moon Wraith’s name, find the Orb of Phoebe, and deal with the naked woman in Caine’s bedroom.

Hmmm…. personally, I’d deal with the last part first, it’s liable to be the most sticky.

Check it out via their podcast feed:

http://www.curiousecho.org/wordpress/?feed=podcast

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Toy Trouble by Engle and Barnes

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

TITLEToy Trouble
By Engle & Barnes; Performed by a full cast
2 CDs – ~2 hours – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 1996
ISBN: 1423308387
Themes: / Horror / Fantasy / Possession / Toys / Young Adult

Some stories inspire great things. This story, being the second “Strange Matter” release I have listened to, has inspired me to write a computer program to generate any future reviews of the series. The reviewer just plugs in the story title, the main character, and the horror de jeur, and voila, out pops a review that starts like this: “Karen Sanders is a likeable little protagonist as the story opens. But even the first scene, in which she ‘loses’ one of her new toys in a tragic head-swapping surgery gone wrong, drags on past enjoyment…” and ends like this: “And so we come to a fiery, bloody conclusion that has left all sense and interesting character development so far behind, we can hardly remember what such noble pursuits feel like…” In between lie paragraphs of brilliant prose riddled with verbal howitzer shells like “pejorative” and “bamboozlement” to make you forget you’re reading something a computer typed.

It’s not that Toy Trouble is any worse than Plant People, it’s that the two are bad in the same ways. The general flow of action, the characters, and the gradual deterioration of the promising story into silly drivel are so frighteningly similar that the pair seem generated from the same generic outline.

I will say that the cast and audio effects people make a valiant attempt to bring Toy Trouble to life, but, like Karen Sanders’ doll, this story never had a chance. After the initial attempt to make our diminutive heroine seem something like an actual girl, the authors are happy to simply toss her around, smacking her against an evil spirit (a ghast, if you care) that possesses toys, her weirdo brother and her woefully underdeveloped friends in a series of increasingly improbable and illogical perils. No amount of voice acting or Foley wizardry can vivify that.

So save your time and money for something worthier of your attention. Like, say, a nice, short Computer-Generated Review®.

Posted by Kurt Dietz

LibriVox: Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxThe Quasar Dragon blogmeister Wolfkahn is excited about the newest SF novel to be catalgoued at LibriVox:

“Yes!!! LibriVox has just finished a free audiobook version of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ adventure masterpiece Pellucidar, the first sequel to At the Earth’s Core.”

Meanwhile, that preceding novel in the series (At The Earth’s Core) is still listed as“in progress” and is set to be a multi-voiced production as opposed to this single narratored one. Check it out…

LibriVox Science Fiction Audiobook - Pellucidar by Edgar Rice BurroughsPellucidar
By Edgar Rice Burroughs; Read by Ralph Snelson
16 Zipped MP3s or Podcast – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 2008
Pellucidar is a fictional “Hollow Earth” milieu invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. The stories initially involve the adventures of mining heir David Innes and his inventor friend Abner Perry after they use an “iron mole” to burrow 500 miles into the earth’s crust. This is the second book in the series.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/pellucidar-by-edgar-rice-burroughs.xml

[via Quasar Dragon]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Mary Robinette Kowal: Campbell Award Winning “Best New Author”

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Tor.comTor.com’s blog has posted a short |MP3| interview with Mary Robinette Kowal the newest John W. Campbell Award winning “Best New Author”! She’s not just the “Best New Author” (and thus the holder of the “Campbell Tiara“), she’s also a puppeteer (not the Niven kind), an audiobook narrator, and an audiobook reviewer (for SFFaudio). Über-congrats to MRK!

Posted by Jesse Willis