New Arrivals – Bolinda Audio

Time Traveler

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

BolindaMates, we’ve got some interesting looking titles just arrived in our headquarters from Down Under. They’re from the Austrailian based audiobook company, Bolinda Publishing. Bolinda sent us a slew of cool titles from authors we’ve never seen in audio before. These audiobooks have worldwide distribution so they’re available to all. Put some shrimp on the barbie and a Bolinda audiobook in your player and enjoy.

Swords of Quentaris by Paul CollinsSwords of Quentaris: Book One of the Quentaris Chronicles
By Paul Collins; Read by Richard Aspel
3 CDs – 3 hrs 15 min [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Bolinda Audio
Published: 2004
ISBN: 9781740935197

The Quentaris Chronicles is a fantasy series set in the magical city of Quentaris. With popular authors Michael Pryor and Paul Collins in charge, The Quentaris Chronicles brings to you books by different writers, each with their tales to tell of this city of infinite variety. Full of magic, mystery and adventure, each book explores Quentaris and its people and brings to you stories of peril and triumph, quests and discoveries, heroes and villains.

Rad de La’rel is a street urchin who yearns to be a guide to adventures in the rift caves of Quentaris. Before he can claim his birthright, he must escape the Theives’ Guild and the notorious Vindon Nibhelline with the help of his friend Tulcia. Only then will he be proclaimed to the greatest guide since his ancestor; the legendary Nathine de La’rel.

Giants of the Frost by Kim WilkinsGiants of the Frost
By Kim Wilkins; Read by Edwina Wren
13 CDs – 15 hrs 18 min [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Bolinda Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781740939676

An epic saga of love, fate and betrayal. Victoria has chosen career over love, but starts to question this decision when she finds herself working at a remote weather research station on a tiny island off the coast of Norway. In this world of midnight sunshine, the Old Gods still watch the affairs of humanity … and one of them has become fixated on Victoria, certain that she is the reincarnation of a woman he fell in love with over a thousand years before; a love affair which threatened the very existence of Asgard.Dangerous love and desire are soon running out of control, as the spectacularly supernatural obliterates Victoria’s refuge in scientific rationalism.

Fantasy audiobook - The Magician's GuildThe Magician’s Guild: Book One of The Black Magician Trilogy
By Trudi Canavan; Read by Richard Aspel
14 CDs – 15 hrs 45 min [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Bolinda Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 9781740939348

Caught up in a confrontation between the hated Guild magicians and the angry youth of the slums, to her dismay Sonea discovers that she possesses the same powers as the reviled magicians. To avoid capture, she must seek protection from the city’s feared underworld, The Thieves. In return she must use her powers for them, but her magic never seems to do quite what she intends it to …

Fantasy audiobook - DreamhunterDreamhunter
By Elizabeth Knox; Read by Edwina Wren
9 CDs – 11 hrs 10 min [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Bolinda Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781740938280

Set in 1906, Dreamhunter describes a world very similar to ours, except for a special place, known simply as The Place, where only a select group of people can go. These people are called Dreamhunters and they harvest dreams which are then transmitted to the general public for the purposes of entertainment, therapy – or terror and political coercion. Fifteen-year-old cousins Laura Hame and Rose Tiebold both come from famous dreamhunting families, but only Laura proves to be blessed with the gift and once inside The Place she finds out what happened to her missing dreamhunter father and reveals how the government has used dreams to control an ever-growing population of convicts and political dissenters.

Fantasy audiobook - Billy ThunderBilly Thunder and the Night Gate
By Isobelle Carmody; Read by Rebecca Macauley
8 CDs – 9 hrs [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Bolinda Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9781740933971

Rage Winnoway’s mother has been asleep since she had a terrible accident. In a quest to find healing magic, Rage and her animal friends travel through a strange gateway to Valley, a land of mythical beasts, talking dogs and streets that change shapes. But Valley is no paradise. Harsh guardians rule a sinister black city, and fugitive witch folk work forbidden magic. Rage desperately wants to go home, but the one person who can help her, a wizard, has disappeared. Her only guides are the treacherous firecat and an enchanted hourglass …

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

StarShip Sofa talks Olaf Stapledon

Tony

SFFaudio Online Audio

Star Ship SofaIs it that time again?

Boy… the StarShipSofa is busy of late. This week I pilot the SOFA towards Olaf Stapledon. A writer who in the beginning never realized just how cutting edge his SF ideas were.

This mild mannered Englishman tackled subjects and themes that even today are fresh and bursting with possibilities. In the 1930’s Olaf Stapledon gave us some classic works, including Last and First Men and Star Maker. Join me on the good-ship StarShipSofa and find all about this great SF writer.

Blast Off!

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

www.starshipsofa.com/rss

Posted by Tony C. Smith

Review of A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Review

LibriVoxA Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court
By Mark Twain; Read by Steve Anderson
45 Zipped MP3 files or Podcast – 13 Hours 43 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Librivox.org
Publshed: 2006
Themes: / Fantasy / Time Travel / Satire /

“This is the first book I recorded for LibriVox. As is the first recording, it is a bit rough in places, but I am happy with it, it is certainly enjoyable listening, if you are not me; and you are not. The Yankee is a long time favorite of mine, though some might be surprised to know that. I encourage you to download and listen, it’s free. Give copies to your friends.” – Narrator, Steve Anderson

In the opening chapters of A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court, Mark Twain magically transports the titular Yankee, Hank Morgan, into the mythical world of King Arthur and sets him up to be burned at the stake, then lets Hank weasel his way out with his modern knowledge. The plot is nothing more than a constant rehash of this same type of set-up and escape, but the character is what is most memorable about the book. Twain has a talent for making his characters simultaneously over-the-top and real, creating a person both exasperating and fascinating. Hank, as “The Boss”, is constantly making grand plans and trying to convince his medieval compatriots to adopt a late 19th century lifestyle.

Apart from the unforgettable characters, the other hallmark of Twain’s works is his misanthropy. Toward the end, the sarcasm becomes a bit too harsh to be enjoyable as Twain’s love for persons individually begins to be outweighed by his distaste for people in general. Before this vitriol starts to take effect, though, Twain gently but effectively ridicules organized religion, politics, advertising, personal hygiene, war, and, of course, the Arthurian legend. It helps if you have tried to read (and, perhaps, failed to finish) Mallory’s Le Morte D’Arthur, but anyone familiar with chivalrous tales of knights in shining armor is bound to get the joke.

Librivox volunteer Steve Anderson’s reading is full of enthusiasm. He lends just the right amount of sarcasm to his telling and makes Hank’s story come alive with wit. Anderson doesn’t “do voices” for other characters very often, which since the story is told as a 1st person narrative, is just fine. There’s a bit of background hum and the louder tones are cut off, giving the voice a tinny character at times. The sound quality, however, should not distract most people from Twain’s excellent story or the reader’s infectious love of the book.

Here is the podcast feed for the audiobook:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/a-connecticut-yankee-in-king-arthurs-court-by-mark-twain.xml

Posted by Listener of the Free Listens blog

Recent Arrivals: Blake’s 7, Heinlein and more

Time Traveler

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

Science Fiction Audio Drama - Blake's 7Blake’s 7 – Trilogy Box Set
Performed by FULL-CAST
4 CDs, 225 min – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: B7 Media
Published: 2007

This box set contains the episodes Rebel, Traitor, and Liberator as well 40 minutes of bonus features.

In the third century of the second calendar, the galactic Federation, once a beacon of democracy and peace, has become a corrupt tyranny. Roj Blake stood up for the ordinary people. The establishment framed him for crimes he didn’t commit and sentenced him to permanent exile on the notorious prison planet of Cygnus Alpha.

The Federation thinks it has seen the last of Roj Blake.

The Federation will wish it had.

Phantoms by Dean KoontzPhantoms
By Dean Koontz; Read by Buck Schirner
12 CDs – 15 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781423339267

They found the town silent, apparently abandoned. Then they found the first body strangely swollen and still warm. One hundred fifty were dead, 350 missing. But the terror had only begun in the tiny mountain town of Snowfield, California. At first they thought it was the work of a maniac. Or terrorists. Or toxic contamination. Or a bizarre new disease. But then they found the truth. And they saw it in the flesh. And it was worse than anything any of them had ever imagined…

Airman by Eoin ColferAirman
By Eoin Colfer; Read by John Keating
9 CDs – 11 hrs 20 min [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: December, 2007
ISBN: 0739359746

In the 1890s Conor and his family live on the sovereign Saltee Islands, off the Irish coast. Conor spends his days studying the science of flight with his tutor and exploring the castle with the king’s daughter, Princess Isabella. But the boy’s idyllic life changes forever the day he discovers a deadly conspiracy against the king. When Conor tries to intervene, he is branded a traitor and thrown into jail on the prison island of Little Saltee. There, he has to fight for his life, as he and the other prisoners are forced to mine for diamonds in inhumane conditions.

There is only one way to escape Little Saltee, and that is to fly. So Conor passes the solitary months by scratching drawings of flying machines on the prison walls. The months turn into years; but eventually the day comes when Conor must find the courage to trust his revolutionary designs and take to the skies.

Science Fiction audiobook - Sunrise Alley by Catherine AsaroSunrise Alley
By Catherine Asaro; Read by Hillary Huber
10 CDs – 11.5 hrs [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: December 2007
ISBN: 1433213007

When a shipwrecked stranger washed up on the beach near research scientist Samantha Bryton’s home, she was unaware that he was something more than human. He said his name was Turner Pascal—but Pascal was dead, killed in a car wreck. This man only held the remainder of Pascal’s consciousness in a technologically-enhanced humanoid body. He was, in fact, an experiment by the notorious criminal Charon, a practitioner of illegal robotics and android research. Charon has been secretly copying human minds into android brains, with plans to make his own army of slaves. On the run from this most ruthless criminal, Samatha and Turner seek help from Sunrise Alley, an underground organization of AIs and androids that have gone rogue. But these cybernetic outlaws are rumored to have their own hidden agenda.

Science Fiction audiobook - The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert A. HeinleinThe Cat Who Walks Through Walls
By Robert A. Heinlein; Read by Tom Weiner
11 CDs – 13.5 hrs [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Published: December 2007
ISBN: 1433212918

When a stranger attempting to deliver a cryptic message is shot dead at his dinner table, Ames is thrown headfirst into danger, intrigue, and other dimensions where Lazarus Long still thrives, where Jubal Harshaw lives surrounded by beautiful women, and where a daring plot to rescue the sentient computer called Mike can change the direction of all human history.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

BBC 7 the Week Ahead: Daphne du Maurier, Tanith Lee and more

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 - BBC7BBC Radio 7’s The 7th Dimension commissioned the following to mark the centenary of du Maurier’s birth…

The Blue Lenses
By Daphne du Maurier; Read by Emma Fielding
2 Parts – Approx. 60 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
“One of the most celebrated and best-loved British authors of the 20th Century, wrote this dark fantasy exploring the sinister side of human nature. Marda West, whilst recovering from a serious eye operation, discovers that her vision has been heightened to a frighteningly new degree of clarity and the darker aspects of the human psyche which people prefer to keep hidden are on full display.”

Also from du Maurier, “First broadcast on BBC7 in 2005, a beguiling combination of romantic atmosphere, haunting psychology and assured storytelling”…

The House On The Strand
By Daphne du Maurier; Read by Julian Wadham
12 Parts – Approx. 6 Hours [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Monday to Friday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
First published in 1969 to critical and public acclaim, and was du Maurier’s personal favourite of all her novels. The tale revolves round the narrator Dick Young, who escapes from his troubles in the form of a new drug, which transports him six centuries back in time. But his attempts to change history bring terror to the present and throw his own life into the balance.

Also available in the week ahead, a chance to listen again to this popular, thought-provoking and gripping BBC7 thriller from 2006…

Jefferson 37
By Jenny Stephens; Performed by a full cast
4 Parts – Approx. 2 Hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Monday to Thursday at 6pm and Midnight
“Set in the not too distant future, clones are made purely for those who can afford it, as spare-parts for surgery. The story tells of the life for these clones and the ways in which they are de-humanised – but their fundamental humanity cannot be thwarted.”

And, another chance to listen to this BBC7 commission from 2003…

Red As Blood
By Tanith Lee; Read by Stella Gonet
1 Part – Approx. 30 Minutes [ABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Friday at 6pm and Midnight
“This dark study of the Snow White fantasy”

All of these programs will be available via the “listen again” feature for a week after airing.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Wil Wheaton Reading at Phoenix Cactus Comicon 2008

Charles

SFFaudio Online Audio

Pulp Gamer Pulp Gamer has a recording of Wil Wheaton’s reading at Phoenix Cactus Comicom 2008. There are two readings here, the first is a non-fiction story Blue Light Special where Wheaton talks about his childhood and Star Wars toys, while the second is a review of an old Star Trek: The Next Generation episode entitled Justice. Here is the |MP3|.

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/PulpGamer

Posted by Charles Tan