Review of Technical Error by Arthur C. Clarke

Science Fiction Audiobooks - Technical Error by Arthur C. ClarkeTechnical Error
By Arthur C. Clarke; Read by David Zinn
37 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: 2005
Themes: / Science Fiction / Hard SF / Parallel Worlds
/ Math Fiction /

Another FREE streaming audio short story by Arthur C.
Clarke from Assistive Media. An ingenious concept for a story, Technical Error shows why Arthur C. Clarke is who he is – excellent ideas executed intelligently. The premise is too good to spoil but I’ll give you a hint – imagine a world in which 90% of people are left handed.

This streaming audio story also includes a little introduction written by Clarke. Unfortunately David Zinn doesn’t pause between the introduction and the story’s start – making it slightly confusing. The reading is adequate; Zinn doesn’t have too much to work with given the dialogue and characters, since both are rather flatish. One more minor quibble, it sounds as if someone forgot to turn off the air conditioning in the recording studio.
Available at AssistiveMedia.org.

REALAUDIO LINK: http://www.assistivemedia.org/amrams/TechnicalError.ram

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Harvest by Alec Sand

The Harvest by Daniel SandThe Harvest
By Alec Sand; Read by John Pruskin
1 MP3-CD – 4 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Academic MP3 Audiobooks
Themes: / Science Fiction / Space Travel / Biology / Alien life / Medicine /

Click here for an Audio Trailer

The Harvest is a short novel of future history. No, it’s a bit more than just that. Alec Sand has created a detailed future in which his characters move. It is a future in which a substance called iridium has changed things significantly – it’s a substance from which power is derived and the finding and mining of iridium occupies much of mankind’s time. The Harvest is hard science fiction in which the ideas and concepts generously flow.

In this future, Gideon and his sister Dara reside. Dara has a disease that Gideon is somehow convinced has a cure somewhere “out there”, so he takes her with him on a mining expedition to a new planet. Dara finds much there.

There was some lecturing during the story, which I felt slowed things down a bit. The author could have found smoother ways to introduce information, but it was all interesting, and I found myself eager to know what happened next. I liked the story as a whole very much.

John Pruskin narrates, and overall was very good at keeping my interest. There were a few errors in the narration, but again – I was always eager to continue, and a listener can’t ask for much more than that. He maintained a good, consistent pace throughout and read with clarity.

A unique aspect of this audiobook is its soundtrack. There are several songs that play at various times throughout the audiobook, usually as bridges between chapters or sections. A band called Silk84 provides this music, and the songs are included in full in a different folder on the MP3-CD. I’m listening to some of this music as I write this… I like it! The music ranges from upbeat dance music to beautiful piano music, and though I didn’t always feel the music matched my mood while listening, what Academic did with music in this audiobook is unique and it worked! Yeah, Silk84… I like the sound of your guitar. (You can find Silk84 on iTunes.)

You can get a copy of The Harvest from Academic MP3’s website by clicking right here.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Here are the New Releases for September – a fine l…

Here are the New Releases for September – a fine looking bunch of audiobooks, I must say…

Anansi Boys
By Neil Gaiman; Read by Lenny Henry
Harper Audio, Unabridged
The sequel to American Gods – can’t wait!

Dragonflight
By Anne McCaffrey; Read by Dick Hill
Brilliance Audio, Unabridged
This is a mass market re-release of this title, now available on CD and MP3-CD

The Road to Dune
By Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson
Read by Scott Brick
Audio Renaissance, Unabridged
Click here for the SFFAudio Review!

Speaker for the Dead
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Various
Audio Renaissance, Unabridged
Click here for the SFFAudio Review!

Star Wars: The Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
By Troy Denning; Read by Jonathan Davis
Random House Audio, Abridged

The Warrior’s Apprentice
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Grover Gardner
Blackstone Audio, Unabridged
Available on cassette, CD, and MP3-CD
This is the second Vorkosigan novel released by Blackstone.

Thud!
By Terry Pratchett; Read by Stephen Briggs
Harper Audio, Unabridged
The latest Discworld novel.

To be included in our monthly New Releases post, please contact Scott or Jesse. We’d be happy to include your audio, as long as it is genre related.

Crazy Dog Audio Theatre’s series THE LAST HARBINGE…

SFFaudio News

Crazy Dog Audio Theatre’s series THE LAST HARBINGER will be featured this Friday the 16th on BBC Radio 4’s A World In Your Ear programme just after the main lunchtime news.

Each week the BBC producers and team of researchers of A World In Your Ear select and present samples of what they describe as the ‘world’s best radio’.

In a special space- themed programme, A World In Your Ear hails Crazy Dog Audio Theatre’s THE LAST HARBINGER as; ‘a combination of dark comedy, social critique and riveting radio’, singling out this series as a ‘political satire for our times’.

On-line listeners can hear the programme at their convenience any time next week at the BBC A World In Your Ear page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/aworldinyourear.shtml

Posted by Scott D. Danielson