Review of Ender’s Game: Special 20th Anniversary Edition by Orson Scott Card

Science Fiction Audiobooks - Ender's Game by Orson Scott CardEnder’s Game: Special 20th Anniversary Edition
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir, David Birney and a FULL CAST
9 CDs – 10.5 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Published: 2004
ISBN: 1593974744
Themes: / Science Fiction / War / Children / Military / Politics / Spaceships / Space Station / Aliens /

Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin isn’t just playing games at Battle School; he and the other children are being tested and trained in Earth’s attempt to find the military genius that the planet needs in its all-out war with an alien enemy. Ender Wiggin is six years old when his training begins. He will grow up fast. Ender’s two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world–if the world survives.

Many male children covet uniforms and the manly art of war – and on the surface that is what Ender’s Game appears to be about, a wish-fulfillment novel for the pre-teen set. But it isn’t only that. Science Fiction is an accumulative literature, perhaps more so than any other kind. Good creations stick in SF and accumulate and grow. Robots once invented, need not be reinvented. Faster than light travel, time travel or Asimov’s “three laws” are tools which once created need not be ignored as outside the scope of another SF novel, quite the contrary in fact. Simply ask yourself; in what other literature could a constructed story device like an “ansible” (invented by Ursula K. Le Guin in 1966 but used in Ender’s Game) be mentioned without renaming it? But it is not just the story props that SF shares, the concepts and themes of science fiction can never be fully appreciated in isolation. Every science fiction story is in dialogue with another.

Ender’s Game is especially engaged with two other superlative science fiction novels that preceded it, namely Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers and Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War, and like those two masterpieces of science fiction Ender’s Game has something new and unique to say. Whereas Starship Troopers can be viewed as the relationship between a teenager’s individualism and his relationship to society (a neo-Hobbesian social contract concept typical of mid-career Heinlien), and The Forever War as a discussion of that same relationship but with a college aged young man and his more skeptical worldview (the post Vietnam influence) Ender’s Game engages neither an adult’s nor a teen’s relationship to his society its war. Instead Ender’s Game is that relationship from a child’s perspective. It is also, paradoxically, not a grunt’s view of a war, as was the case with both Heinlein’s and Haldeman’s novels, but rather is about how the supreme commander of an interstellar war is created.

Orson Scott Card has not ignored the disconnect between a child’s desire to play at war and the brutal cost of killing, and the burden of ultimate responsibility. We primarily follow Ender and his classmates as they train to command Earth’s military in a genocidal war against a hostile alien threat, but the parallel story of his two siblings back on Earth compels equally. Each character in this novel is in a chess match of emotional and philosophical conflict with one another and their society. There are a few better hard science fiction stories, and a few better soft science fiction stories, but there are fewer science fiction stories as well constructed and emotionally satisfying as this one.

The 20th anniversary of the novel’s re-publication brought about this audiobook. It is regrettable that the cover art of this edition is as generic as it is because the folks at Audio Renaissance have quite literally have brought greatness to the text. They’ve included an introduction and a postscript read by Card himself, both of which place the novel and the audiobook in its context as well as enlightening us to the author’s method of its construction. Multiple readers lead by Stefan Rudnicki work perfectly to vocally illustrate each chapter, character and scene. Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle De Cuir, David Birney and the rest of the readers have given us an audiobook perfectly rendered. In what is the pattern for the Enderverse novels adapted for Audio Renaissance readers trade off at the ends of chapters, and when two unplaced voices are unattributed – except by what they actually say – two actors engage in conversation. Multi voiced readings have never been better.

And so it is with great pleasure that we enter this Special 20th Anniversary edition of Ender’s Game as the first into the ranks of the SFFaudio Essential audiobooks.

Posted by Jesse Willis

More new and cool podcasts: Broadcasting from t…

SFFaudio News

More new and cool podcasts:

Broadcasting from the University Of California, Davis, host Karl J. Mogel has just started podcasting his show The Inoculated Mind. It is available through iTunes‘ search function. Science and science fiction are the focus. The very limited website can be found at www.inoculatedmind.com

alienETHOS is a new podcast with a focus on exploring the ethical and moral dilemnas illustrated by science fiction. The examples used so far have mostly been from television and movies, but perhaps they’ll delve into the more literary examples in the future. Hey guys how about James Blish’s A Case Of Conscience? Check out the website here: www.alienethos.com

Spaceship Radio isdedicated to bringing you the best of the classic 1950s science fiction and fantasy radio shows like Dimension X and X Minus One. It is surprising it has taken this long to come up with such a clever idea for a podcast! Visit the slick Spaceship Radio website here.

The Twilight Tales Audio Experience, www.twilighttales.com, is a primarily horror and dark fantasy story series of readings, a kind of anthology of the horrific. Three great sounding podcasts out so far.

Sound Stages is another podcast with a bent towards radio drama (and audio drama), it has podcast things like Bradbury 13, Imagination-X and Icebox Radio Theatre. The website needs some organization but the content itself is very keen!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Imagination X: The First Album by Jeffrey Adams

Science Fiction Audio Drama - Imagination XImagination X: The First Album
By Jeffrey Adams; Performed by a Full Cast
1 CD – 1 hour [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Bud C. Productions
Published: 2003
ISBN: 0974201200
Themes: / Fantasy / Horror / Ghosts / Artificial Intelligence / Dreams /

If you are a fan of Twilight Zone fiction, you are going to enjoy Imagination X. There are eight dramatized stories included in this 1-hour album, each performed by a full cast:

“The House in the Woods” – A woman is haunted by visions in her dreams of a house in the woods.

“Box Love” – A hilarious look at love between two artificially intelligent kitchen appliances.

“Up on the Rooftops” – Something’s moving up on the roof – is it Santa Claus?

“Background” – A researcher goes to a haunted house and tape records notes while he looks around. But the tapes contain more than his voice…

“Mandible Hill” – Do you know what the person sitting next to you is capable of?

“The Prisoner” – A tortured soul cries out his torment – or does he?

“Distance” – A space traveler deals with his computer which is also trying to deal with him.

Find this audio at Bud C. Productions – you’ll be glad you did. The website leaves quite a bit to be desired, but there is some interesting information there. If you click on an episode, you can find some of Jeffrey Adams’ notes on the production along with cast info. A piece of data I found interesting: The computer voice was played by the ‘Speakable Items’ function of my iMac computer, the existence of which was the inspiration for the episode, and, to some extent, for the entire series.

I enjoyed the time I spent with these stories, and am looking forward to more from Jeffrey Adams and crew.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

The ::overclocked:: podcast

SFFaudio News

The ::overclocked:: podcast is waycool. Though it covers tech, science and lots of other things it is the “sci-fi” content that interests us most. Far more intellectual than nearly every other non-fiction podcasts that talks about science fiction ::overclocked:: doesn’t dwell on TV and movies as much as concepts and developments in modern Science Fiction literature. The man behind this cool Seattle based podcast is Bluejack, he’s also a contributing editor to the The Internet Review Of Science Fiction. Three ::overclocked:: podcasts defintely worth listening to are listed below:

The Singularity
Show #024
: The Singularity has been one of the most challenging new ideas in science fiction: challenging for writers to approach in interesting ways, as well as a challenge to everyone’s beliefs about the significance of humanity. This show discusses some of the specifics of Vinge’s idea, and presents some objections. It also takes a quick look at what the concept has meant for science fiction.

Post Humans
Show #017: Science Fiction has long explored ideas about the next step in human evolution: steps that we will consciously choose; science isn’t quite catching up on all fronts, but scientists are undermining the very notion of consciousness.

Genre Purists
Show #006
Reading stuff that might or might not be in the spirit of science fiction (or related genres) brings some new insight to bear on the age-old topic, debated by Genre Purists everywhere, of what is science fiction? Or what should it be?

Though Podiobooks.com is leading the charge of del…

SFFaudio News

Though Podiobooks.com is leading the charge of delivering podcast audiobooks there are a number of independent novelists and podcasters who’ve started publishing on their own. We’ve assembled a list of some of the Science Fiction, Fantasy and related titles:

Ancestor
By Scott Sigler; Read by Scott Sigler and others
– STATUS: IN PROGRESS
A technothriller centered on a transnational corporation’s scheme to create a creature that can be used to harvest organs for human use. And rather than debate the issue …. extreme violence is our best option.
http://www.project-daemon.net/

Pirate Jack
By Allessandro Cima; Read by ??????
– STATUS: IN PROGRESS
A Young Adult novel about pirates with fantastic elements.
http://piratejack.blogspot.com/

The Master Of The World
By Jules Verne; Read by Eileen
[UNABRIDGED] – STATUS: IN PROGRESS
This famous public domain science fiction novel is being read by the good folks Eileen at The Public Domain Podcast. Good on ya e!
http://publicdomainpodcast.blogspot.com/

Forever Fifteen
By Kiberley Steele; Read by ??????
– STATUS: STARTED
The first and only teen vampire novel to be published so far. Think of it as Buffy the vampire. No slayer.
http://www.foreverfifteen.com/

Brace for Impact
By ?????????; Read by ????????
– STATUS: STARTED
“The mythology of Mick Aloha and Apocalypse Dowell, superhero / wrestling archenemies who must join forces for a common cause. If you’re looking for literature that will challenge your mind and improve your life…sorry.”
http://freepodcastnovel.com/

Tannis Island
By Gavin L. Lowe; Read by ????????
– STATUS: STARTED
“Two divers on holiday in the Middle East discover an artifact beneath the coral growth under the Red Sea.”
http://www.gavinsphoto.com/page2/page2.html

Angelikae: Take Flight
By Colin Coltera; Read by ????????
– STATUS: STARTED
Described as “Fantasy / Sci-fi.”
http://angelikae.blogspot.com/

Sermons on Little Known Gods
By Lauren Merritt; Read by ????????
– STATUS: STARTED
Described as “Humorous alternative fantasy.”
http://cedarhillservices.com/sermons/

and perhaps most exciting….

Burn
By James Patrick Kelly; Read by James Patrick Kelly?
– STATUS: BEGINS NOVEMBER
http://www.jimkelly.net/

Posted by Jesse Willis

Podiobooks.com is now in BETA and there are severa…

SFFaudio News

Podiobooks.com is now in BETA and there are several great sounding speculative fiction or related “podiobooks” (podcast audiobooks) that are in the pipe. Podibooks from Podiobooks.com will be available for FREE, but all donations go to the author and the bandwith and other costs to support the podcasts. Here’s a list of titles we know so far:

Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana
By Tee Morris and Lisa Lee; Read by Tee Morris
[ABRIDGED] – STATUS: COMPLETED
This was the first podcast novel finished and it is very, very good!
http://www.teemorris.com/podcast

Earthcore
By Scott Sigler; Read by Scott Sigler
[UNABRIDGED?] – STATUS: COMPLETED
Hands down the most popular Podcast novel released.
http://www.scottsigler.net/earthcore/

The Pocket and the Pendant
By Mark Jeffrey; Read by Mark Jeffrey
[UNABRIDGED?] – STATUS: COMPLETED
I’m listening to this one now and expect to be giving it a review after I finish.
http://markjeffrey.typepad.com/

Tom Corven
By Paul Story; Read by Paul Story
[UNABRIDGED] – STATUS: ?????????
– STATUS: ?????????
http://www.dreamwords.com/TomCorven.htm

Killed by Death
By R. Scott Bolton
– STATUS: ?????????
Four years ago, Man-of-Action Horatio Bartholomew Fist closed the final chapter on the Zombie Slave War with the apprehension of the War’s most notorious criminal, Arnold X. DemiGod. Now, DemiGod has turned up missing, and Fist finds himself on the trail of the vicious killer again. Armed with his merciless Dimensional Minimizer weapon, Fist and a showgirl named Pepper Shaker traverse the universe…
http://www.authorsden.com/rscottbolton

Spherical Tomi: A Novel of Despair
by Jack Mangan
– STATUS: ?????????
Can one woman escape her past? Not if she is one of the greatest combat programmers in history. Caught between two powerful warlords in the far future, and trapped by the memory of the man she couldn’t save, Tomi must face the ghosts from her own past, and hide from a world that counts her among its most heinous criminals. Add to this challenge her rapidly deteriorating cloned body, falling apart just in time to meet a new invasion from an old friend, but not quite time enough to replace, and you have the makings of an all around bad day…
http://www.irosf.com/user/show.qsml?loaduser=13579

Fiddle and Burn
By Jason Pomerantz
– STATUS: ?????????
Part comedy. Part soap opera. A fiction blog. A serialized sit-com. A daily comic strip in prose. It’s the continuing adventures of the staff of Fiddle and Burn Magazine.
http://www.fiddleandburn.com/

Noggle Stones
By Wil Radcliffe; Read by ?????
– STATUS: ?????????
In his tortured dreams, the mad goblin scholar, Bugbear, saw the coming war. Pride would crumble to dust. Glory would melt to tears. Wisdom would shatter to madness. And the shadows would reign supreme. Only an eldritch scroll, a humble bee, and Bugbear’s awkward human apprentice could win this desperate struggle… a conflict that began in a time now remembered only in faded parchments, fractured whispers, and a children’s rhyme…
http://nogglestones.com/

AmerIndian 2192
by J. Scott Garibay; Read by Leanne Garibay
– STATUS: IN PRODUCTION
The story of two brothers, Wovoka and Keokuk, restoring the Native American people to a Homeland where their culture can thrive. Lodge ships, Cybershaman rituals and Tsimshian high technology are all elements in this action-oriented tale of interstellar Elder politics and personal struggles. Sounds something like the Kirniyaga series by Mike Resnick.
http://garibaywrite.tripod.com/garibay/

Escape Pod
Editor Steve Eley Read by Steve Eley and Various Readers
[UNABRIDGED] – STATUS: ?????????
Short stories, science fiction and fantasy and fun. Guaranteed to be GREAT!
http://www.escapepod.info/

????????????????
By Kelley Armstrong; Read by Kelley Armstrong
– STATUS: ?????????
We’re not sure what the title will be yet, but its a previously published Armstrong novel. Cool!
http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/

Geek Fu Action Grip
By Mur Lafferty; Read by Mur Lafferty
– STATUS: ?????????
Essays with a Geek Fu Action Grip. Solid!
http://www.geekfuactiongrip.com/

Posted by Jesse Willis