Tag: adventure

LibriVox: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxStrange Maps is a fun blog (and now a book) by Frank Jacobs. Here is a smidgen of the proprietor’s post on Treasure Island:

“…was there a real-life model for the generically named Treasure Island – and if so, where was it? It seems to have been a chance invention by Lloyd Osbourne, RLS’s stepson, while holidaying with the family in a Scottish Highland cottage. As Osbourne later recalled:

‘… busy with a box of paints I happened to be tinting a map of an island I had drawn. Stevenson came in as I was finishing it, and with his affectionate interest in everything I was doing, leaned over my shoulder, and was soon elaborating the map and naming it. I shall never forget the thrill of Skeleton Island, Spyglass Hill, nor the heart-stirring climax of the three red crosses! And the greater climax still when he wrote down the words Treasure Island at the top right-hand corner! And he seemed to know so much about it too – the pirates, the buried treasure, the man who had been marooned on the island … . ‘Oh, for a story about it’, I exclaimed, in a heaven of enchantment …’

And that is how Stevenson got started writing Treasure Island – as a back story to the map originally drawn by his stepson.”

Cool hey?

There’s more to the story, and I encourage you to have a read of the original post |HERE|. After that you should be sufficiently primed to download the public domain audiobook version from LibriVox.org…

LibriVox - Treasure Island by Robert Louis StevensonTreasure Island
By Robert Louis Stevenson; Read by Adrian Praetzellis
17 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 7 Hours 33 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: December 14, 2007
A mysterious map, pirates, and pieces of eight! When young Jim Hawkins finds a map to pirates’ gold he starts on an adventure that takes him from his English village to a desert island with the murderous Black Dog, half-mad Ben Gunn, and (of course) Long John Silver. Arr Jim lad! R.L. Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Scotland and travelled extensively in California and the south Pacific.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/treasure-island-by-robert-louis-stevenson-2.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

A map of Treasure Island:

Treasure Island Map

And the 1934 film version:

Posted by Jesse Willis

Pulp Nocturne: Donovan Pike And The City Of The Gods

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Pulp NocturneWhen Paul Bishop, of the Bish’s Beat takes the time to email me about something on his blog, I have to sit up and take notice. Bish directs my attention to THIS post. And when I follow the links there it leads me to a new adventure novel called Donovan Pike And The City Of The Gods that’s being delivered via blog text posts and in the MP3 format.

Its author, Mark Justice, sez:

I grew up with the pulp adventures of Doc Savage, The Shadow and The Avenger. I even published a Doc Savage fanzine with a high school friend, back in the 70s. In that one issue I began a Doc Savage pastiche novel which, thankfully, remains unfinished and forgotten.

I moved on to different forms of fiction, but I always came back to the pulps, having discovered G-8, Operator #5 and The Spider. I also enjoy modern pulp fiction, particularly the works of Clive Cussler and, more recently, James Rollins.

When I started writing for publication, it was initially in the horror field, with an occasional foray into science fiction. As in my reading, though, I came back to the pulps.

I plan to use this blog to serialize new pulp fiction. Some of the stories will have a contemporary setting, like our initial offering. A future project will be set in the blood and thunder 1930s pulp world.

Regardless of the era, my goal is to bring you tales of two-fisted adventure, venomous villains and larger-than-life heroes.

I hope you have fun with the stories. I know I will.

Here is Chapter 1 |MP3| of Donovan Pike And The City Of The Gods by Mark Justice.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Blackstone Audio’s $5 audiobook sale – STUNNING DEALS

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Blackstone Audio Five Dollar Overstock SaleBlackstone AudiobooksCan anyone resist Blackstone Audio’s just announced $5.00 clearance sale?

This comes not a month after they announced their $9.99 overstock sale!

$5 for an audiobook.

That’s the deal of the year people!

Admittedly, not all of the available titles in this sale are unabridged, but they mostly are. There are a dozen SFF titles, plenty of crime, mystery and noir as well as a shelfload of history audiobooks. There are even a couple of audio dramas in there.

Here’s just a smattering of what excited me:

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; read by Ben Kingsley
THE AENEID by Virgil; read by Frederick Davidson
BABYLON BABIES by Maurice G. Dantec; read by Joe Barrett
THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London; read by Ethan Hawke
CASINO ROYALE by Ian Fleming; read by Simon Vance
CHRISTOPHER’S GHOSTS by Charles McCarry; read by Stefan Rudnicki
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT by Mark Twain; read by Carl Reiner
CRIMINAL PARADISE by Steven M. Thomas; read by Patrick Lawlor
THE DEAL by Peter Lefcourt; read by William H. Macy
DEATH MATCH by Lincoln Child; read by Barrett Whitener |READ OUR REVIEW|
DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA by Miguel de Cervantes; read by Robert Whitfield
EVIL, INC. by Glenn Kaplan; read by Glenn Kaplan
THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX by Elleston Trevor; read by Grover Gardner
FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley; read by Julie Harris
FRANKENSTEIN, OR THE MODERN PROMETHEUS by Mary Shelley; read by Simon Templeman, Anthony Heald, and Stefan Rudnicki
HOW TO SURVIVE A ROBOT UPRISING by Daniel H. Wilson; read by Stefan Rudnicki |READ OUR REVIEW|
HUCK FINN AND TOM SAWYER AMONG THE INDIANS by Mark Twain and Lee Nelson; read by Grover Gardner
I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson; read by Robertson Dean |READ OUR REVIEW|
I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves; read by Frederick Davidson
THE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS by Jack Finney; read by Kristoffer Tabori
IT’S SUPERMAN! by Tom De Haven; read by Scott Brick
JAMES BOND BOXED SET by Ian Fleming; read by Simon Vance
KING KONG by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper; novelization by Delos W. Lovelace; read by Stefan Rudnicki |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE by Richard Condon; read by Christopher Hurt
THE MARTIAN CHILD by David Gerrold; read by Scott Brick
MARTIAN TIME-SLIP AND THE GOLDEN MAN by Philip K. Dick; read by Grover Gardner
MILDRED PIERCE by James M. Cain; read by Christine Williams
MYSTIC WARRIOR by Tracy and Laura Hickman; read by Lloyd James
PETER PAN by J.M. Barrie; read by Roe Kendall
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde; read by Simon Vance
THE PRESTIGE by Christopher Priest; read by Simon Vance
QUANTUM OF SOLACE by Ian Fleming; read by Simon Vance
RINGWORLD’S CHILDREN by Larry Niven; read by Barrett Whitener |READ OUR REVIEW|
ROCKET SHIP GALILEO by Robert A Heinlein; read by Spider Robinson |READ OUR REVIEW|
SUPERMAN RETURNS by Marv Wolfman; read by Scott Brick |READ OUR REVIEW|
SWEENEY TODD AND THE STRING OF PEARLS by Yuri Rasovsky; read by a full cast
TARZAN OF THE APES by Edgar Rice Burroughs; read by Ben Kingsley
THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE by David Hajdu; read by Stefan Rudnicki
THERMOPYLAE by Paul Cartledge; read by John Lee
THE THREE MUSKETEERS by Alexandre Dumas; read by Michael York
THE TIME MACHINE by H.G. Wells; read by Ben Kingsley
THE TRIAL by Franz Kafka; read by Geoffrey Howard
UTOPIA by Sir Thomas More; read by James Adams
V FOR VENDETTA by Steve Moore; read by Simon Vance |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS by H.G. Wells; read by Christopher Hurt
WHERE’S MY JETPACK? by Daniel H. Wilson; read by Stefan Rudnicki |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE by Don Winslow; read by Dennis Boutsikaris
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO NARNIA by Jonathan Rogers; read by Brian Emerson

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox – The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxBack in October I was telling you folks about the two Howard Pyle audiobooks that had been released over on LibriVox.org. I had actually meant to tell you about THREE Pyle audiobooks – but I got distracted by something shiny and never finished the post. Well I’m finishing it now! The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle is a public domain book about the original highwayman of Nottinghamshire. First published in 1883 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood served as the basis for many later adaptations of the story of Robin Hood and his merry band.

LibriVox - The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood by Howard PyleThe Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
By Howard Pyle; Read by various
22 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 11 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: January 26, 2007
Robin Hood is the archetypal English folk hero; a courteous, pious and swashbuckling outlaw of the mediæval era who, in modern versions of the legend, is famous for robbing the rich to feed the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. He operates with his “seven score” (140 strong) group of fellow outlawed yeomen – named the Merry Men. He and his band are usually associated with Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. The Victorian era generated its own distinct versions of Robin Hood. The traditional tales were often adapted for children, most notably in Howard Pyle’s Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. These versions firmly stamp Robin as a staunch philanthropist, a man who takes from the rich to give to the poor.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood-by-howard-pyle.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Incidentally, if you’re not a fan of the multiple amateur narrators in this reading, you might want to shell out for the new Blackstone Audio version. It’s read by a single professional narrator. You can get that one |HERE|.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 4: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz RADIO DRAMA

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Radio Times - The Saturday Play - The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz reviewed by Jane AndersonBBC Radio 4Do you like your roads yellow bricked?

Do you prefer your lions cowardly?

How about your scarecrows?

You like them brainless right?

I knew you did.

BBC Radio 4 - The Saturday Play - The Wonderful Wizard Of OzThe Wonderful Wizard Of Oz
Based on the novel by L. Frank Baum; Adapted by Linda Marshall; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 1 Hour [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 / Saturday Play
Broadcast: December 19, 2009 @ 14:30-15:30
When a tornado strikes her farmhouse in Kansas, young Dorothy is lifted to the magical world of Oz, where she embarks upon a perilous journey to find her way back home.

Cast:
Dorothy …… Amelia Clarkson
Wizard of Oz/Kalidah/Uncle Henry …… Jonathan Keeble
Scarecrow …… Kevin Eldon
Tinman …… Burn Gorman
Lion …… Zubin Varla
Witch of the North/South/West/Aunt Em …….Emma Fielding
King Monkey/Miner …… Andrew Westfield
Munchkin/Gatekeeper …… Graeme Hawley

With Original Music by Olly Fox

Directed by Nadia Molinari

First published in the USA in 1900, and constantly in print since then, L. Frank Baum’s novel of Kansas and another world is the first in a series of 14 books that have entered the public domain in the USA. Though there have been many adaptations – most notably the 1939 film, radio dramatizations have been few and far between.

Incidentally, TellTaleWeekly.org, a website I shamefully haven’t mentioned in a few years, has an excellent DRM-free audiobook version of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz available for download (and it’s cheap @ just $6.00). |READ OUR REVIEW|

Audiobook fans who prefer the simplicity and immediacy of a LibriVox audiobook should also take note of the all public domain edition of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz available for FREE over on LibriVox.org!

[Thanks to the man behind the curtain, Roy!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Allan’s Wife by H. Rider Haggard

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxYou can make a good case for the sexism in old books. Just look at the Book of Genesis: Lot’s Wife. Noah’s Wife. These are the ladies so oppressed that they didn’t even deserve names. However, I think we can attribute what looks like the exact came same kind of sexism in titling Allan’s Wife more to marketing than anything else. This is, after all, the third novel in the Allan Quatermain series. And it’s not actually very much about his wife, at least at the start. It tells more tales of Quatermain’s time in South Africa, his observations about two dueling witchdoctors (they use their magic to control lighting), his father’s death, and eventually the fate of his wife. For the record Allan Quatermain’s wife (of the title) is named “Stella Carson.” Come to think of it, some clever writer could probably do a whole series of YA books called The Adventures Of Allanah Quatermain (perhaps a secret grandaughter?). Until then…

LibriVox - Allan's Wife by H. Rider HaggardAllan’s Wife
By H. Rider Haggard; Read by Elaine Tweddle
15 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 49 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: December 2009

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/3718

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to mim@can and James Christopher]

Posted by Jesse Willis