Tag: acting

Review of Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton

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Audiobook - Just a Geek by Wil WheatonJust a Geek
By Wil Wheaton; Read by Wil Wheaton
MP3 Download – 373Mb – 10 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: 10 Quick Steps
Published: 2005
Themes: / Non-fiction / Biography / Star Trek / Acting / Writing / Blogs / Internet /

So, there’s this guy named Wil Wheaton, right? And he wrote this book called Just a Geek, which is filled with his experiences as a Star Trek actor, as an ex-Star Trek actor, as a stepfather, a husband, a son… in short, Just a Geek is filled with life, and it’s compelling listening.

Wheaton started a blog a while back which now resides at http://www.wilwheaton.net. It’s not your average celebrity website; Wheaton’s blog entries are personal, honest, and interesting. He is as likely to talk about his family life as he is about his projects. And he is an excellent writer who writes things that resonate with his readers, as evidenced by the many folks who revisit his site to read more (myself included).

Just a Geek contains many blog entries from his site, along with much more material. Included are things from many parts of his life, from the time as a kid he traded a Death Star for a Land Speeder and five bucks to his experiences during and after the filming of Star Trek: Nemesis.

I knew Wil Wheaton was a good narrator before I clicked PLAY on my MP3 player, because I’d heard the audio version of the Hugo-winning science fiction story “Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers” by Lawrence Watt-Evans. Wil Wheaton read that, and I thought he was excellent. I came away even more impressed here. He reads about his life as if he’s talking to you personally across a table. Again, compelling is the word that comes to mind. I never once lost interest. This audiobook will make you smile, it will touch you, and it will make you want to go to Hooters for some chili cheese fries.

Oh yeah, and Wil wants all of you over for a Guinness later. Bring your own action figure.

Just a Geek is available for MP3 download or on Audio CD at 10 Quick Steps – click here!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Review

Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein; Read by Lloyd James
5 Cassettes – 7.5 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Blackstone Audiobooks
Date Published: 1999
List Price: USD $39.95 – IN PRINT
ISBN: 0786117451
Themes: Science Fiction / Sci-Fi / Fantasy / Mystery / Pulp / Politics / Mars / Spaceships / Acting / Theatre / Shakespeare

One minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was – as usual – in a bar, drinking away his troubles as he watched his career go down the tubes. Then a space pilot bought him a drink, and the next thing Smythe knew, he was shanghaied to Mars. Suddenly he found himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who had been kidnapped. Peace with the Martians was at stake – failure to pull off the act could result in interplanetary war. And Smythe’s own life was on the line – for if he wasn’t assassinated, there was always the possibility that he might be trapped in his new role forever!

Some Heinlein readers believe that the philosophy in Starship Troopers was Heinlein’s personal philosophy. They’re wrong. Heinlein’s primary philosophy was to provoke thought by explicating political consequences of certain philosophies… and to be entertaining doing it. Double Star proves this emphatically, presenting a completely different political system than Starship Troopers. The plot is a well known one. As old as the fairy tale The Prince and The Pauper, The Prisoner of Zenda or The Man In The Iron Mask; As new as the Hollywood movie Dave (1994) starring Kevin Kline.

This unabridged audiobook has so much more: Interplanetary space travel, alien contact and political upheaval. But it also has a fully realized political system, political campaigns, theory of government, theory of acting, kidnapping, murder, dirty tricks and its a mystery! There really is no better science fiction writer than Robert A. Heinlein. There are other great books by other great writers but none is as great as the dean of science fiction RAH. The reason? Simply put, he tells damn fine stories and does so constantly. This novel is a great example of just that. With a wild premise and a somewhat divergent plot (from Heinlein’s various themes) it tells an implausible story plausibly with emotional impact. This book won a Hugo award for 1956 (Heinlein’s first) and deserved it. It’s a fun ride and highly enjoyable. Pop it in your cassette deck and enter a different world.

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posted by Jesse Willis