SFFaudio – Page 915 – 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.

Pendant Productions now has six different audio …

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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…

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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…

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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

BBC7’s the 7th Dimension had a terrific Isaac As…

Online Audio

BBC7’s the 7th Dimension had a terrific Isaac Asimov short story on offer last night at midnight (UK time). Those listeners who missed it, or who live outside the UK can use the BBC7 Listen Again service to catch it for the next 6 days!

Jokester
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 on March 11th 2006
“Where does man’s sense of humour come from? Discover the answer in this intriguing story by sci-fi master, Isaac Asimov. “

posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong by Joe DeVito and Brad Stickland

Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong
By Joe DeVito and Brad Stickland; Read by a Full Cast
6 CDs – 6.75 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 1933322497
Themes: / Science Fiction / Horror / Movie making / Gorillas / Dinosaurs /

Full Cast Audio has really perfected their style. The first audio I listened to by them was back in 2002 – I reviewed it for SFSite, and you can find it here. Their Full Cast style of audiobook narration was new to me, I was a little put off by it, though I enjoyed the book (as did my son).

Here we are in 2006, and Full Cast Audio presents Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong, during which I marveled at the expert production. The skillful acting, the flawless editing, and the classic story make this a title not to be missed. Nobody does Full Cast Unabridged narration better than Full Cast Audio.

The story is familiar to nearly all of us. Carl Denham is a recklessly ambitious filmmaker in 1930’s New York City. He gathers a crew and an actress (Ann Darrow) to sail to a secret destination where he can film his masterpiece. The crew finds the mysterious island, where they find King Kong in an adventure that turns dangerous in a big hurry.

I haven’t seen the original King Kong film for many years, and it didn’t have the effect on me that it did on so many others, including Peter Jackson. I have seen Peter Jackson’s version, though. This version of the story is not a novelization of the Peter Jackson script. It is an expansion of the original novelization of Cooper’s original Kong story.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson