SFFaudio – Page 914 – 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.

The OTR Plot Spot has posted a cool adaptation …

Online Audio

The OTR Plot Spot has posted a cool adaptation of a classic Science Fiction story up for a very limited time. If you don’t want to miss hearing it check out this week’s LISTENING BOOTH right away. There you’ll find The Wall Of Darkness by Arthur C. Clarke posted in MP3 format. This rare broadcast was created by SciFi Radio a series broadcast on NPR in 1989 and 1990. A new character was added to the plot but the drama is faithful to the original short story. Enjoy.

The Wall Of Darkness
By Arthur C. Clarke; Performed by a Full Cast
1 MP3 Files – 28 Minutes 50 Seconds [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: NPR / Sci-Fi Radio
Broadcast: December 3rd 1989
The universe consists of only one star and one planet. Circumscribing the planet is a mysterious impenetrable wall. When a rich man living on that planet engages his wealth into a project to scale and find out what is on the other side he’ll find out what lies beyond and also the reason why it was constructed in the first place.

posted by Jesse Willis

Domo-arigato Dr. Roboto! We’re following up on o…

Online Audio Dr. Roboto! We’re following up on our recent review of Daniel H. Wilson Ph.D‘s How To Survive A Robot Uprising: Tips On Defending Yourself Against The Coming Rebellion we’ve got links to some cool behind the scenes-style “special features” for you:

First, HERE‘s a cool MP3 interview with the author himself, it was conducted by Rick Kleffel of the long running review site The Agony Column.

Second, IT Conversations and Dr. Moira Gunn interviews Wilson, you can snag the MP3 HERE.

Third, Wilson is the featured guest on The NeoFiles Podcast (Show #21). The MP3 for which is right HERE.

And last, Google Video invited Wilson to speak about and read from his book at their Jan 2006 “Author Series.” You can check out the audio (and the oh so useless video) of that event HERE.

posted by Jesse Willis

Pendant Productions now has six different audio …

Online Audio

Pendant Productions now has six different audio drama series on offer. I count five of them as definitely able to pique SFFaudio reader interest. The sixth is a James Bond one and as such almost qualifies as fantasy, right?

Pendant’s series are created by a dedicated crew of authors, actors and fans. They are making audio dramas in a radio serial style first produced in the 1930s and 1940s. I think they are doing some amazing work, I hope you’ll check them out!

Here are the details on each series:

Superman: The Last Son Of Krypton
The “Man of Steel” with those mild manners gets the star treatment in this ongoing monthly serial adventure based on the modern incarnation of the character in DC Comics.

Wonder Woman: Champion of Theysciria
The Amazon princess returns in this ongoing monthly serial adventure based on the modern incarnation of the character in DC Comics.

Batman: Ace Of Detectives
An ongoing monthly serial adventure based on the modern incarnation of Batman found in DC Comics. Alfred, Robin and the Bat himself battle criminals in Gotham.

James Bond: To The End
This is a limited series based on the character created by Ian Fleming. James Bond is of course a suave secret service agent for the British government. Part 6 of this limited series is already in the can, you can subscribe to the podcast using this feed:

Star Trek: Defiant
Set aboard the USS Defiant, last seen in Star Trek Deep Space Nine, this is a fan created Star Trek adventure with a whole new cast and cew! Chock full of the Star Trek Federation space ship sound effects – lots of bleeping and blooping – also found here is a well written, familial show. Lots of fun.

The Dixie Stenberg and Brassy Battalion Adventure Theater
The only all original series from Pendant so far, this is a light hearted “aerial adventure drama” inspired by such shows as Captain Midnight, Hop Harrigan, Adventures by Morse and Speed Gibson. The Dixie Stenberg and Brassy Battalion Adventure Theater is brought to you in part by Umket Industries.

posted by Jesse Willis

Listen up chums! Andy Doan of the Spaceship Radi…

Online Audio

Listen up chums! Andy Doan of the Spaceship Radio Podcast has a new interview with Brave Men Run author Matthew Wayne Selznick. It’s a 22 minute interview with Matt about his excellent podcast novel. If after listening to the interview you consider giving Matt’s novel just one chance I think you’ll be hooked for the duration.

Click HERE to download the Mp3 direct.

posted by Jesse Willis

Review of How to Survive a Robot Uprising by Daniel H. Wilson

How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion
By Daniel H. Wilson; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
1 MP3-CD – 3 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 0786177128
Themes: / Science Fiction / Science Fact / Humor / Robots / Computers /

Today, scientists are working hard to bring these artificial creations to life. In Japan, fuzzy little real robots are delivering much appreciated hug therapy to the elderly. Children are frolicking with smiling robot toys. It all seems so innocuous… and yet, how can so many Hollywood scripts be wrong? How could millions of dollars of special effects lead us astray? So take no chances. Arm yourself with expert knowledge for the sake of humanity. Listen to serious advice from real robotics experts. How else will you survive the inevitable future in which robots rebel against their human masters?
— Daniel H. Wilson

If you’ve been sitting up nights, concerned about this dangerous uprising of robots and other computerized gadgets against the human race, then this book is for you. In here, you’ll find tips on how to outrun a two-legged robot and how to survive a high speed chase involving a robot car. The tools you’ll learn to use will allow you to confuse, distract, and escape from all kinds of robots, from “toaster to Terminator”.

Daniel H. Wilson, the author, is a Ph.D. candidate at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He’s written a fabulous, funny book that is both entertaining and informative. “Every scenario in these pages,” he says, “is either possible or already being realized.” In each section, Wilson describes the current state of a certain type of robotics, then, by describing how a human can defeat the technology, he reveals the limitations.

I loved this audiobook. Stefan Rudnicki did an excellent job capturing the mock-seriousness of the subject matter. How To Survive a Robot Uprising is both a primer on the current state of robotics science, and a hilarious send-up of science fiction involving robot rebellions. Rarely has science fact been mixed with science fiction to providing such an entertaining book. I’m eager to hear it again, and will as soon as I’m done typing.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Good news everyone. BBC7’s the 7th Dimension wil…

Online Audio

Good news everyone. BBC7’s the 7th Dimension will be following up with another classic Isaac Asimov short next Saturday! Those listeners outide the UK can use the BBC7 Listen Again service to catch it for 6 days following the broadcast! The reading will be…

The Last Question
By Isaac Asimov; Read by Henry Goodman
Approx 25 minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Airing between Midnight (00:00) and 12:30am UK TIME (with a repeat at 6pm) on March 18th 2006
Asimov’s classic “man versus machine” short story. In the not too distant future, technology has advanced to the point where global affairs are managed by a huge computer called Multivac which supposedly can provide the answers to all questions… such as… “Can entropy be reversed?”
Produced Gemma Jenkins.

posted by Jesse Willis