adventure – Page 16

LibriVox: Red Nails by Robert E. Howard

Sunday, June 20, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVox This may be the best treat in the month of June! Check out this wonderful reading of the original 1936 CONAN novella, Red Nails, by my friend Gregg Margarite! Read what Robert E. Howard wrote about it, as he was writing it:

“‘You see, girl [Howard was writing to Novalyne Price], when a civilization begins to decay and die, the only thing men or women think about is the gratification of their body’s desires. They become preoccupied with sex. It colors their laws, their religion — every aspect of their lives.[…]’Girl, I’m working on a yarn like that now –a Conan yarn. Listen to me. When you have a dying civilization, the normal, accepted life style ain’t strong enough to satisfy the damned insatiable appetites of the courtesans and, finally, of all the people. They turn to Lesbianism and things like that to satisfy their desires…I am going to call it The Red Flame of Passion.'”

We call it Red Nails!

I broke out my copies of Savage Tales #2 and Conan Saga #9 in order to illustrate some of the terrific art that Robert E. Howard’s last Conan story has generated. Here are some of additional materials from the original publication too. First up, it’s desribed as:”One of the strangest stories ever written—the tale of a barbarian adventurer, a woman pirate, and a weird roofed city inhabited by the most peculiar race of men ever spawned”Then the editorial staff of Weird Tales had this to say:

“Nearly four years ago, WEIRD TALES published a story called The Phoenix On The Sword, built around a barbarian adventurer named Conan, who had become king of a country by sheer force of valor and brute strength. The author of that story was Robert E. Howard, who was already a favorite with the readers of this magazine for his stories of Solomon Kane, the dour English Puritan and redresser of wrongs. The stories about Conan were speedily acclaimed by our readers, and the barbarian’s weird adventures became immensely popular. The story presented herewith is one of the most powerful and eery weird tales yet written about Conan. We commend this story to you, for we know you will enjoy it through and through.”

And, after you begin listening, be sure to compare the three scenes from the story I’ve matched up.

Red Nails
By Robert E.Howard; Read by Gregg Margarite
5 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 3 Hours 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 19, 2010
Text Source: Gutenberg.org |HTML|
Conan the Cimmerian pursues the beautiful and deadly pirate Valeria after she kills a Stygian only to find himself cornered by a dragon. Apparently this dragon doesn’t know who he’s messing with. The pair then encounters the city of Xuchotl with its warring factions and ancient secrets. Swordplay and sorcery ensue. – Red Nails is Howard’s final Conan story. First published in the July, August, September and October 1936 issues of Weird Tales magazine.

Chapter 1 |MP3| Chapter 2 |MP3| Chapters 3 & 4 |MP3| Chapters 5 & 6 |MP3| Chapter 7 |MP3|

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/4404

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Art from the original 1936 Weird Tales publication:

Weird Tales July, August-September and October 1936 issues

WEIRD TALES - Red Nails by Robert E. Howard

Art from the Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith comics adaptation from 1973 & 1974 :

Roy Thomas And Barry Windsor Smith adapt Red Nails

Thomas/Smith - Red Nails Dragon Scene
Thomas/Smith - Red Nails Throne Room Scene
Thomas/Smith - Red Nails - Tolkemec Laser and Knife Scene

[Thanks also to Betty M. and David Lawrence]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Golden Age Stories: FREE AUDIOBOOK – Pearl Pirate by L. Ron Hubbard

Friday, June 4, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

GoldenAgeStories.com (aka Galaxy Press) has a new FREE audiobook download for their newsletter’s subscribers:

Pearl Pirate
By L. Ron Hubbard; Read by ????
1 |MP3| – Approx. 47 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
Publisher: Galaxy Press
Published: March 2010
American captain Smoke Engel loses his ship, the Witch, to a corrupt Chinese money lender and must then embark on a deadly errand to regain his rightful property—by stealing a fortune in black pearls from the most ruthless pirate on the South Seas.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Aural Noir Review of Gentlemen Of The Road by Michael Chabon

Monday, May 31, 2010Thursday, June 3, 2010 Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: Review

RANDOM HOUSE AUDIO - Gentleman Of The Road by Michael Chabon Gentlemen Of The Road: A Tale Of Adventure
By Michael Chabon; Read by Andre Braugher
Audible Download – Approx. 4 Hours 13 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: October 2007
Provider: Audible.com
Themes: / Adventure / Crime / Jewishness / War / Politics / Mercenaries / Con-men / Khazaria /

Gentlemen Of The Road was first published as a serial in The New York Times Magazine. Despite it’s sword and sorcery feel, it is not actually a Fantasy novel, but is instead a “swashbuckling adventure” set in an obscure, but real, historical setting. Its heroes, Amram and Zelikman, are an odd, but vaguely familiar, pair. Familiar in their companionable rivalry and clearly inspired by Fritz Leiber’s famed pair of characters: Fafhrd and Grey Mouser. But, instead of one being a short, urban thief and the other a hulking Northern barbarian, the two are instead the titular gentlemen of the road, wandering Jews, or as Chabon himself states in the audiobook’s afterword “Jews With Swords.” And that’s what was really important in this story; though each of these two Jews looks entirely unalike from the other, they are tied together by far flung tradition, common heritage and similar tales of woe. The larger of the pair is Amram, a swarthy Abyssinian with a penchant for shatranj and quite literally an axe to grind. The slighter and paler of the pair is Zelikman, a fair haired Frank, who far from being a member of the thieves guild is actually a doctor (he wields an “over-sized bloodletting lance as a rapier”). Together they are a neat pair of dark age sell-swords/con-men, working the taverns and inns of southern Eurasia. It is, all in all, one of the neatest set-ups for a book I’ve ever heard. And you couldn’t find a funner fictional premise for illustrating the Jewish diaspora in an adventure novel.

One evening (circa AD 950), a chance encounter at a roadside inn in the kingdom of Aran leads to a body-guard job. The job involves a journey to the neighboring khaganate of Khazaria. Along the way they meet many a fellow road traveler and have some less than polite encounters. Eventually, Amram and Zelikman (A & Z) find themselves fully entangled in a rebellion and plot aimed at restoring a displaced Khazar prince to the throne.

Narrator Andre Braugher is a television actor that I’ve admired since his portrayal of the unwaveringly professional detective Frank Pembelton on Homicide: Life on The Street. Braugher has a powerful voice that he uses to deliver Chabon’s ornately constructed descriptive scenes and dialogue. You can tell, with every sentence of Braugher’s delivery, that Chabon loves language. I thoroughly enjoyed the book after I got into it. But it wasn’t easy, I really had to shift gears. This is embellished storytelling, it feels both old-fashioned and unrepentantly ostentatious. It has very little of the usual fantasy stylings, it dumps any ordinary flat or prosaic description in favour of the deliberately lavish. Once I did get into it, I loved it. There’s a lot of detail to enjoy here. Chabon’s hulking Abyssinan, for instance, has a battle-axe. He gained it after combat with the Varangian Guard in Byzantium. A runic inscription on it roughly translates into “defiler of your mother.” Another writer would have done it another way – another writer wouldn’t have done it at all. This is what makes Chabon, his books and this novella in particular so special.

Sadly, the audiobook lacks the map and the 15 terrific black and white illustrations (by Gary Gianni ) found in the paperbook. Here is a peek at both:

Gentlemen Of The Road - MAP

Gentlemen Of The Road - PAGE 161

Posted by Jesse Willis

Tantor Media: FREE AUDIOBOOK: The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Tantor Media, one of the best sources for professional narrations of public domain audiobooks and modern copyrighted audiobooks alike, is offering a FREE MP3 download of The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood to registrants. Sez Tantor:

The free download is for personal use only and is not for commercial distribution. Limit one download per customer. Limited time only.

Click HERE to get it, you’ll have to be registered (no credit card required) and signed in. I had quite a bit of trouble getting and staying signed in, and getting the downloads. This may be due to a high server demand or some other issue. I eventually downloaded each MP3 file individually rather than the zipped folder. One other point to note, the final file, listed as “Epilogue” is actually mis-linked, and should be downloaded via this URL:

http://www.tantor.com/download.asp?BookStem=1705_RobinHood&File=022-RobinHood.mp3

Narrator Simon Vance makes all the trouble I had worthwhile.

The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood
By Howard Pyle; Read by Simon Vance
22 Zipped MP3 Files – Approx. 9 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: April 26, 2010
In Merry England, in the time of old when good King Henry the Second ruled the land, there lived within the green glades of Sherwood Forest near Nottingham Town a famous outlaw whose name was Robin Hood. No archer ever lived that could speed a gray goose shaft with such skill and cunning as his, nor were there ever such yeomen as the sevenscore merry men that roamed with him through the greenwood shades. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor, and in so doing became an undying symbol of virtue. But most important, Robin Hood and his band of merry men offer young audiences more than enough adventure and thrills to keep them listening intently. Filled with action, villains, and surprises, who could resist the arrows flying, danger lurking, and medieval intrigue?

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Releases: Robin Hood, Jane Slayre, Fools Die, The Twilight Zone Companion, and MORE!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010Monday, April 5, 2010 Jesse Willis

New Releases

Here’s a batch of new Blackstone Audio audiobooks that have my frontal lobes salivating … huh … while I’m waiting for them to arrive maybe I should consult a doctor on this salivating brain thing.

First up, a new movie-tie-in audiobook for the upcoming Ridley Scott movie of the same name…

Robin Hood
By David B. Coe; Read by Robin Sachs
7 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: April 27, 2010
ISBN: 9781441755964 (cd), 9781441755971 (mp3-cd)
In 13th century England, the legendary figure known by generations as Robin Hood leads an uprising that will forever alter the balance of world power and will make one man of humble beginnings an eternal symbol of freedom for his people. An expert archer once interested only in self-preservation, Robin now serves in King Richard’s army. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation. There he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion, who is skeptical of the motivations of this mysterious crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and to save the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct the injustices of the sheriff.

Here’s another re-mixed vampires in classics book inspired by the success of Pride And Prejudice And Zombies. Scott figures this fad has run its course. I’m thinking it has at least a couple of more seasons left in it.

Jayne Slayre (The Literary Classic…with a Blood-Sucking Twist)
By Charlotte Brontë and Sherri Browning Erwin; Read by Rosalyn Landor
12 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 14.2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: April 13, 2010
ISBN: 9781441752185 (cd), 9781441752192 (mp3-cd)
Raised by vampyre relatives, Jane grows to resent the lifestyle’s effect on her upbringing. No sunlight, keeping nighttime hours, and a diet of bloody red meat is no way for a mortal girl to live. Things change for Jane when the ghost of her uncle visits her, imparts her parents’ slayer history, and charges her with the responsibility of striking out to find others of her kind and learn the slayer ways. After trying her luck at a school full of zombies, Jane finds a position as a governess, where she meets and falls in love with Mr. Rochester. But evil strikes in the form of Mr. Rochester’s first wife, a violent werewolf he keeps locked in the attic. Jane departs to study the slayer tradition with her cousins, but finds herself yearning to reunite with Mr. Rochester. She returns to find that Mr. Rochester has been bitten by the werewolf, and only she can release him from his curse.

I first read this book, Fools Die, when I discovered an unabridged Books On Tape edition of this in a Port Moody thrift store years and years ago. It may have been my best thrift store find ever. Marked at $5.00, it was a steal and a half. It has been out of print for years, so I know a ton of folks are going to want to hear it. It’s all about gambling, brotherhood, corruption and the meaning of life, and its so well written you’ll think about it for years to come. I know I do.

Fools Die
By Mario Puzo; Read by Kristoffer Tabori
16 CDs or 2 MP3-CD – Approx. Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 9781441715005 (cd), 9781441715012 (mp3-cd)
From the blockbuster author of The Godfather comes this bold international best-seller about the feverish world of a big-time gambler. Merlyn and his brother, Artie, obey their own code of honor in the ferment of contemporary America, where law and organized crime are one and the same. Set within America’s golden triangle of corruption and excess—New York, Hollywood, Las Vegas—the novel plunges into the glittering and ruthless worlds of gambling, publishing, and the film industry, where greed, lust, and violence hold sway. As high rollers, hustlers, and scheming manipulators use power, sex, and betrayal to win, the strongest survive—but fools die.

This looks like it could be terrific! In the tradition of The Aneid, the original re-mix of a classic story…

The Hittite
By Ben Bova; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
8 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 9.3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: April 13, 2010
ISBN: 9781441728135 (cd), 9781441728166 (mp3-cd)
Ben Bova brings us an exciting new take on the timeless legend of Troy. This is the tale of Lukka, the Hittite soldier who traveled across Greece in search of the vicious slave traders who kidnapped his wife and sons. He tracks them all the way to war-torn Troy, where he proves himself a warrior to rank with noble Hector and swift Achilles. Lukka is the man who builds the Trojan horse for crafty Odysseus, who topples the walls of Jericho for the Israelites, and who steals the beautiful Helen—the legendary face that launched a thousand ships—from her husband Menaleus, fighting his way across half the known world to bring her safely to Egypt.

From the author of The Blue Max!! Here’s an audiobook I almost overlooked, first published in 1982…

Florida Is Closed Today
By Jack D. Hunter; Read by Tom Weiner
5 CDs – Approx. 5.6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: March 1, 2010
ISBN: 9781433219580 (cd), 9781433219610 (mp3-cd)
CIA sleuth Roger Wagner has retired and moved to Florida with his smart, pretty wife. But his leisure is disrupted when the body of a fellow secret agent washes ashore near his beach-front house. The incident launches him on a frantic, hazardous race against time to neutralize a doomsday bomb hidden by a group of terrorists, who are holding his wife—and the entire state of Florida—as hostages.

And finally, a non-fiction audiobook of the kind I’d love to see a ton more of. Also included, in this audiobook package, is a batch of pictures on a CD-ROM. Nice!

The Twilight Zone Companion (Second Edition)
By Marc Scott Zicree; Read by Tom Weiner
13 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 15.4 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: March 1, 2010
ISBN: 9781433223426 (cd), 9781433223457 (mp3-cd)
The Twilight Zone Companion is the complete, five season (1959-64) show-by-show guide to one of television’s greatest series. Zicree’s well-written account is fascinating reading for even the casual fan. Coverage of each episode includes plot synopsis, Rod Serling’s opening narration, behind-the-scenes stories from the original artists who created the series, and a complete list of cast and credits.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Podkayne Of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein

Thursday, April 1, 2010Thursday, April 1, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Review

[Jesse’s Note: This is a first time review from one of my students. Rose sat down with a tattered old paperback copy of Podkayne Of Mars and a brand new Blackstone Audio CD audiobook of Podkayne Of Mars for a readalong – the result was this terrific review – Thanks Rose!]

SFFaudio Essential Podkayne of Mars
By Robert A. Heinlein; Read by Emily Janice Card
5 CDs – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 1433251612
Themes: / Science Fiction / Adventure / Reproduction / Politics / Family / Gambling / Venus / Mars /

From the author of Friday and Rocketship Galileo comes this classic tale featuring the grand master of science fiction’s most remarkable heroine. Podkayne Fries, a smart and determined maid of Mars, has just one goal in life: to become the first female starship pilot and rise through the ranks to command deep-space explorations. So when she is offered a chance to join her diplomatic uncle on an interstellar journey to distant Earth via Venus, it’s a dream come true—even if her only experience with diplomacy is handling her brilliant but pesky younger brother, Clark. But she’s about to learn some things about war and peace because Uncle Tom, the ambassador plenipotentiary from Mars to the Three Planets Conference, is traveling not quite incognito enough, and certain parties will stop at nothing to sabotage negotiations between the three worlds….

This is the first Robert A. Heinlein audiobook, or Heinlein book, and my first audiobook that I have ever read. I also hadn’t read any Science Fiction before. This was mostly because I thought Science Fiction was just fiction that was “beyond reality,” so I wasn’t really interested in it. However, after reading and listening to Podkayne Of Mars, I found myself considering reading another. Heinlein’s idea, that to freeze babies and decant them whenever the parents want, is fascinating. Since many women are busy with their work and have no time to take care of their babies, I think this practice and technology may come true in the future. One issue for me was I didn’t really like Clark at first. He acts brusquely, seemed selfish and didn’t seem to care about his family. I was, therefore, impressed by Clark when he decided to become more responsible and caring.

Emily Janice Card, daughter of Orson Scott Card, narrated Podkayne Of Mars. Card narrates the whole 176 page story all as Poddy, except seven pages from the end when Clark, her younger brother, takes over. I think Card’s voicing of Poddy was in-sync with a sentimental, skeptical, and ambitious young teen. It made me feel as if Poddy was reading her own story. However, Card’s voicing of Clark wasn’t as harmonious. Probably, this was because she is female. Compared to 1979 paperback edition, Poddy on this cover doesn’t really look like Poddy. Poddy looks quite cynical. I much prefer the 1979 edition because there Poddy looks more of a sentimentalist.

Posted by Rose [장미]