Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum podcasting their novella True Names

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Cory Doctorow’s Craphound PodcastCory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum are podcasting a new novella that they co-wrote. It will appear in print in the forthcoming anthology, Fast Forward 2. It’s an homage to Vernor Vinge’s famous story of the same name… Rosenbaum sez:

“This story came out of a conversation at the Hugo Loser’s party at Worldcon 2002 — the part about ‘the second law of thermodynamics as the ultimate party-spoiler in a transhuman utopia of self-spawning consciousness’; it acquired shades of Jane Austen, Voltaire, megamillion year ideological warfare, gender theory, coming-of-age story, and musical theater along the way.

We’ve pretty much been working on it for the past six years. It’s been a delight to work on, and it’s surprisingly exciting to have it done and ready for readers — or first, in this case, listeners.

See, Cory, inexhaustible font of energy that he is (for those who don’t know Cory and who think of me as energetic, talkative, and full of enthusiasm for various projects — Cory is me cubed; he makes me look like a laconic hermit), has declared that we are podcasting it.

And so we are! I just have to hunt down a decent microphone so I can record the next installment….”

Science Fiction Novella - True Names by Cory Doctorow and Benjamin RosenbaumTrue Names
By Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum; Read by Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Cory Doctorow’s Craphound
Podcast: March 2008 –
“Involves the galactic wars between vast, post-Singularity intelligences that are competing to corner the universe’s supply of computation before the heat-death of the universe.”

Subscribe to the podcast feed here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Posted by Jesse Willis

StarShipSofa and the BSFA

Tony

SFFaudio Online Audio

Star Ship SofaStarShipSofa has now uploaded the last of the short stories that are up for BSFA Best Short Story 2007. Today is Alastair Reynolds and his story The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter. First published in Interzone #209

She stopped in sight of Twenty Arch Bridge, laying down her bags to rest her hands from the weight of two hogs’ heads and forty pence worth of beeswax candles. While she paused, Kathrin adjusted the drawstring on her hat, tilting the brim to shade her forehead from the sun. Though the air was still cool, there was a fierce new quality to the light that brought out her freckles.

Tony sez “Well that is all the short stories up online that have been nominated for the BSFA Award for Best Short Story 2007. It’s been fun getting them out everyday. Hope you have enjoyed this little diversion from the normal? Join myself and Fred Himebaugh next week as we try and pick the winner.”

If you missed any of the other posts, here are all stories and links to mp3’s:

Pop over to the StarShipSofa forums and cast your vote. You can subscribe free via iTunes or direct from the StarShipSofa website.

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:www.starshipsofa.com/rss

Posted by Tony C. Smith

Review of Canadia: 2056 – Season One

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

CBC Radio - Canadia 2056Canadia: 2056: Season 1
By Matt Watts; Perfomed by a full cast
5 CDs – Approx. 5 Hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: CBC Audio
Published: January 21, 2008
Product ID: ERART00217
Themes: / Science Fiction / Humor / Canada / War / Toilets / Audio Drama / CBC /

This entertaining sci-fi comedy series is written by one of Canada’s best-loved comedy writers, Matt Watts. The United States has launched an armada to destroy an alien threat. Canada sends the nation’s only publicly-funded spacecraft, The Canadia – a ship with a single purpose – to plunge the Americans’ toilets.

There are lots of audio dramas out here on the internet, but if you want to hear a professional piece of work that will make you laugh out loud, you should give Canadia 2056 300 minutes of your time. Matt Watts and the entire cast and crew of Canadia 2056 have created something special. The show is an absolute gem.

The Canadia of the series is a Canadian spaceship that has been sent to war with a United States fleet, which in turn has been sent to perform a pre-emptive strike on a planet called Ipampilash. Midshipman Max Anderson is the only American member of the crew, and his relations with all of the Canadians is central to the comedy of the show. I’m not a Canadian, so I’m certain that I’m missing the deeper meaning of some of the jokes, but the scripts are crafted and performed in such a way that I really didn’t feel I was missing out.

An example of this occurs in the very first episode. The captain of the Canadia (hilariously performed by Paul O’Sullivan) is choosing a voice for the computer. He goes through a few, then settles on a gravelly female voice. I found the scene funny without knowing what I was told later – the voice selected was Shauna MacDonald, who is known as the Promo Girl in Canada. Apparently, her voice was heard all the time on CBC, and the debate between the folks that wanted her off the air and the folks who wanted her to stay made her famous. (I’d have wanted her to stay, by the way. I adore her voice.)

Max Anderson (played by series writer Matt Watts) makes an interesting representative of the United States. He’s cowardly, geeky, selfish, and his mother is an admiral in the US fleet. He feels his way around the crew, and finds his place among them eventually. Holly Lewis was captivating as Amanda Lewis, the engineer that Max spends the most time with. There’s a lot of tension between the two, and it’s wonderfully played.

I could sit here and start listing my favorite moments, but it’s suffice to say that I loved these shows enough that I listened more than once. There’s a short list of audio drama that’s really excellent, and even a shorter list of comedic audio drama that’s really excellent. Canadia 2056: Season One is one of those, and I urge you to give it a listen. It’s cruckin’ fanatastic!

Season Two of Canadia: 2056 starts next week on CBC Radio! It looks like the first airing will be at 11:00pm, Wednesday, March 19th. Click here to keep your eye on the CBC Radio schedule.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

The Dial P For Pulp podcast dials up the goodness

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Dial P For PulpWith a mere six podcasts completed Dial P For Pulp has already proven itself as a reliable source for great pulpy fiction. The host, David Drage, talks about pulp magazines, pulp authors, pulp books, the pulp era and games inspired by pulp. Older shows include stories by H. Rider Haggard and Robert E. Howard, but it is the most recent show, another Howard tale, that interests us the most. It’s a short story taken for the Second Annual SFFaudio Challlenge!

Fantasy / Horror Audiobook - The Cairn on the Headland by Robert E. HowardThe Cairn on the Headland
By Robert E. Howard; Read by David Drage
1 |MP3| – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Dial P For Pulp
Podcast: March 2008
What lies beneath the stone cairn on the headland of Clontarf, where the Christian Irish defeated the pagan Vikings in pitched battle a thousand years ago? An unscrupulous extortionist plans to uncover the secret. First published in the January 1933 issue of Strange Tales of Mystery And Terror magazine.

Set your podcatcher to pulp, and subscribe to the RSS feed:

http://dpfp.libsyn.com/rss/podcasts

Posted by Jesse Willis

StarShipSofa and the BSFA

Tony

SFFaudio Online Audio

Star Ship SofaStarShipSofa and the BSFA are now hitting the home stretch with Day Four. Today the Sofa brings you Ted Chiang’s story The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate. This was first published in September’s F&SF 2007.

O MIGHTY CALIPH AND Commander of the Faithful, I am humbled to be in the splendor of your presence; a man can hope for no greater blessing as long as he lives. The story I have to tell is truly a strange one, and were the entirety to be tattooed at the corner of one’s eye, the marvel of its presentation would not exceed that of the events recounted, for it is a warning to those who would be warned and a lesson to those who would learn.

So that leaves only one story to go. Be sure not to miss it tomorrow, then pop over to StarShipSofa Forums and cast your vote on which one you think will win the BSFA Best Short Story 2007.

Join the StarShipSofa today and subscribe free via iTunes or direct from the StarShipSofa website and collect all five short stories that are up for the award.

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:www.starshipsofa.com/rss

Posted by Tony C. Smith

Mary Robinette Kowal is running for SFWA Secretary!

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Commentary

Mary Robinette Kowal for SFWA SecretaryMary Robinette Kowal is running for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Secretary!

Personally I don’t really care about the internal politics of the SFWA, and that’s why I support Mary. I’m a reader of SFF, not a writer of it. I just want my SFF, and I want it in my hands (and ears) with the authors of it compensated for their work. I don’t want bogus takedown notices, I don’t want committee members spreading false information. Mary is smart, tapped into the new technologies, she knows about audio rights and podcasts, and she has plans to reform the derailed SFWA committees. Mary’s is a voice found all over the net (including SFFaudio). She’s been getting Science Fiction into the ears of the consumers of it for at least a few years now, and she has related experience too. Check out her policies and plans on her blog post HERE. And if you’re a SFWA member seriously consider VOTING FOR MARY!

Posted by Jesse Willis