aliens – Page 27

Review of Suicide is Painless by Don Norum

Tuesday, March 16, 2010Monday, March 15, 2010 Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Back in SFFaudio’s first year, a moose bit my sister…

Suicide is Painless
By Don Norum; Read by Paul Campbell
55 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Cossmass Infinities
Published: 2010
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military SF / Battles / Aliens /

If you’ve got circuits installed all over your body, does that make you a cyborg? Or do you need to have metal limbs or something? Not sure, but in “Suicide is Painless”, Don Norum presents us with Lucia, a beautiful female plus circuits. Those circuits allow her to interface with her battle machine in a deep way – submerged in fluid to help with shock absorption, she connects with machine and fights with lots of firepower. I loved the descriptions of how she joined with the machine.

Who’s the enemy? Cockroach-like creatures that infest asteroids in the asteroid belt. They’ve been there for millions of years, but they didn’t originate from there. Bring ’em on!

Paul W. Campbell himself performs the narration of this, the third story in his Cossmass Infinities podcast. He’s paying the authors with donations, so be sure to throw a tip their way if you like the story. I enjoyed Paul’s narration here and in Episode One: “Fluff and Buttons on the Teddy Bear Range” by Matthew Sanborn Smith.

Find Cossmass Infinities |HERE|

And the podcast feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/cossmass/infinities

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

The SFFaudio Podcast #049

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #049 – Jesse and Scott talk about recent arrivals, new releases, audiobooks, podcasts and plenty more!

Talked about on today’s show:
SFFaudio.com is 7 years old, So I Married An Axe Murder, San Fransisco, California, Alcatraz, recent arrivals, Brilliance Audio, military SF, Fearless: The Lost Fleet Book 2 by Jack Campbell, space opera, Gene Roddenberry‘s Andromeda, Buck Rogers, Live Free or Die: book 1 in the Troy Rising series by John Ringo, Paperback Digital, Cally’s War by John Ringo and Julie Cochrane |READ OUR REVIEW|, John Ringo can give his books away and sell books too, Time’s Eye: A Time Odyssey Book 1 by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, it’s not a sequel it’s an “othrquel“, time is orthogonal to space (in relativity theory), Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, benevolent aliens, malevolent aliens, H.P. Lovecraft, The Eternal Wall by Raymond Z. Gallun, LibriVox, Gregg Margarite, time travel, Blackstone Audio, Identity Theft by Robert J. Sawyer, Mars, consciousness uploading/downloading, Treason by Orson Scott Card, A Planet Called Treason by Orson Scott Card, Stefan Rudnicki, Spider Robinson, Melancholy Elephants by Spider Robinson |READ OUR REVIEW|, copyright, copyfight, the philosophy of art, The Graveyard Book |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, Harry Potter, The Dark Is Rising, A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, ripping off Heinlein is legit when you are Spider Robinson, Friday by Robert A. Heinlein, new releases, Wonder Audio, The Men Return & Worlds Of Origin by Jack Vance, Brilliance Audio, The Songs Of Dying Earth: Stories In Honor Of Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe, The Book Of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe, David D. Levine, Tk’Tk’Tk’ by David D. Levine, The Moon Moth by Jack Vance |READ OUR REVIEW|, Suldrun’s Garden, The Green Pearl, Madouc by Jack Vance, Swimming Kangaroo Books, Need For Magic by Joseph Swope, BBC Audiobooks America, Great Classic Science Fiction: Eight Unabridged Stories, Forgotten Classics podcast talks James Gunn’s The Road To Science Fiction series, paperback book bags, A Game Of Thrones coming to HBO, A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin |READ OUR REVIEW|, Roy Dotrice, John Lee, Shogun (the TV miniseries), FlashForward, Stephen King’s Storm Of The Century, 1408, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: Steve, The First by Matt Watts |READ OUR REVIEW|, @ the CBC store, radio drama, post apocalypse, humor, Canadia: 2056 |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Hitch-hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: The Chronicles Of Solomon Kane, Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Robert E. Howard, The Iliad, Ralph Macchio, Red Shadows by Robert E. Howard, religion, Solomon Kane, The Punisher.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Forgotten Classics: Breaking Point by James Gunn

Friday, March 5, 2010Friday, March 5, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

My friend, Julie D. of the Forgotten Classics podcast, has recently completed her unabridged reading of Dorothy Macardle’s novel The Uninvited. Now she’s working on a pure Science Fiction story, picked from SFFaudio Challenge #4. But that’s not all, Julie begins the podcast with some thoughts on James Gunn’s best known work, a series of scholarly collections entitled: The Road To Science Fiction. I have volumes 3 and 4 in my paperbook collection.

There are also two more recent volumes The British Way (Vol. 5) and the other places Around The World (Vol. 6). But I won’t post their cover art here because they really suck.

Breaking Point
By James Gunn; Read by Julie D.
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Forgotten Classics
Podcast: March 2009 –
The ship was proof against any test, but the men inside her could be strained and warped, individually and horribly. Unfortunately, while the men knew that, they couldn’t really believe it. The Aliens could—and did.

Podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/forgottenclassics

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Heart of Rage by James Swallow

Thursday, March 4, 2010Thursday, March 4, 2010 Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Yet another entry in the 7th Anniversary SFFaudio Story Review Marathon! (For the cure!)

Warhammer 40,000: Heart of Rage
By James Swallow; Performed by Toby Longsworth
1 CD – 75 minutes – [AUDIO ORIGINAL]
Publisher: The Black Library
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781844167968
Themes: / Science Fiction / War / Aliens / Cyborgs /

My not-so-vast knowledge of the Warhammer universe stems from two bits of information only; first, it started as a game I’ve seen played at cons with small figures on tabletop landscapes, and second, that it’s about war.

Add this third fact: The Black Library’s Warhammer productions bring mayhem to your ears like nothing else I’ve heard. It all starts with the superior dramatic reading of the narrator, who in this case is Toby Longworth. He performs all of the characters as distinct roles, bringing each one to life as if this were an audio drama. Next, sound is added that pays particular attention to what is being narrated. The sound is also not front and center – the story doesn’t pause so that an effect can be heard. It’s all mixed together in a perfect integration of narrator and sound into one organic production.

This technique does NOT work for everything – in fact, I normally dislike audio drama/audiobook hybrids, but this is done just right. I enjoyed the technique in Star Trek and Star Wars audiobooks, and this is even more skillful.

“Heart of Rage” is a Warhammer 40,000 story that last a bit over an hour. Big battle-ready fellows Nord and Kale come across a tyrannid (satisfactorily nasty baddies) hive ship, and fighting ensues. Fans of this universe should enjoy this production.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Week 1: Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly

Monday, March 1, 2010Sunday, February 28, 2010 Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

SFFaudio celebrates its 7th anniversary this month! What better way to celebrate than with more posts? I’m going to listen to one short story every weekday through the month of March, and tell you all about it here. Here’s the first!

Think Like a Dinosaur
By James Patrick Kelly; Read by James Patrick Kelly
1 Hr – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: James Patrick Kelly
Published: 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Aliens / Physical Laws / Morality / Teleportation /

Before the rest of us knew what this podcasting stuff was all about, James Patrick Kelly was busy reading his stories into a microphone and publishing them over in the “Free Reads” section of jimkelly.net. Many stories have reached his Free Reads listeners, including his Hugo-winning novella Burn. And he’s still at it; his current Nebula nominee, “Going Deep” can be found over there too, free for the downloading.

“Think Like a Dinosaur” was part of another fine audio delivery innovation. In partnership with Audible.com, Jim published 4 sets of stories, called StoryPods, as podcasts-for-purchase delivered through Audible. You can still buy the StoryPods or the individual stories at Audible.

But the story – this is one of those stories that keeps you thinking long afterwards. Like Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations” (JPK explains in the afterword exactly how that story influenced this one), the main character is presented with a moral dilemma of the highest order. Things are not exactly the same as in “The Cold Equations”, though, because it’s not clear if the concept of “harmony” is something invented by the aliens in the story, or is an actual, unbreakable physical law.

On thing is for certain, though. “Think Like a Dinosaur” has become as much a part of science fiction’s Great Conversation as Godwin’s story. Required reading!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 024

Friday, February 12, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Who wants FREE Science Fiction short story audiobook collection?

I do! I do!

And here it is…

Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 024
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
Science Fiction is speculative literature that generally explores the consequences of ideas which are roughly consistent with nature and scientific method, but are not facts of the author’s contemporary world. The stories often represent philosophical thought experiments presented in entertaining ways. Protagonists typically “think” rather than “shoot” their way out of problems, but the definition is flexible because there are no limits on an author’s imagination. The reader-selected stories presented here were written prior to 1962 and became US public domain texts when their copyrights expired.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-24.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

The Altar At Midnight
By C.M. Kornbluth; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 14 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
Doing something for humanity may be fine—for humanity—but rough on the individual! From Galaxy Science Fiction November 1952.

The Defenders
By Philip K. Dick; Read by mkargo
1 |MP3| – Approx. 49 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
No weapon has ever been frightful enough to put a stop to war—perhaps because we never before had any that thought for themselves! From Galaxy Science Fiction January 1953.

Foundling on Venus
By John de Courcy and Dorothy de Courcy; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 19 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
Venus was the most miserable planet in the system, peopled by miserable excuses for human beings. And somewhere among this conglomeration of boiling protoplasm there was a being unlike the others, a being who walked and talked like the others but who was different—and afraid the difference would be discovered. You’ll remember this short story. From Fantastic Universe March 1954.

The Leech
By Robert Sheckley; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
A visitor should be fed, but this one could eat you out of house and home … literally! From Galaxy Science Fiction December 1952.

The Repairman
By Harry Harrison; Read by Linda Dodge
1 |MP3| – Approx. 38 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
Being an interstellar trouble shooter wouldn’t be so bad … if I could shoot the trouble! From Galaxy February 1958.

Second Landing
By Floyd Wallace; Read by Linda Dodge
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
A gentle fancy for the Christmas Season—an oft-told tale with a wistful twistful of Something that left the Earth with a wing and a prayer. From Amazing Science Fiction Stories January 1960.

The Talkative Tree
By Horace Brown Fyfe; Read by Linda Dodge
1 |MP3| – Approx. 23 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
Dang vines! Beats all how some plants have no manners—but what do you expect, when they used to be men! From Worlds of If January 1962.

They Twinkled Like Jewels
By Philip Jose Farmer; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 38 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
It was only a year and a half ago that Phil Farmer, till then a totally unknown (editorially speaking at any rate) young man of Peoria, wrote himself a novel that won him instantaneous acclaim as perhaps the hottest new science fiction writer currently astir. Its title was The Lovers and since then he has gone right on proving himself a top-hand craftsman. From Fantastic Universe January 1954.

Warm
By Robert Sheckley; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 23 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
It was a joyous journey Anders set out on … to reach his goal … but look where he wound up! From Galaxy Science Fiction June 1953.

Wind
By Charles L. Fontenay; Read by Linda Dodge
1 |MP3| – Approx. 38 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: August 7, 2009
When you have an engine with no fuel, and fuel without an engine, and a life-and-death deadline to meet, you have a problem indeed. Unless you are a stubborn Dutchman—and Jan Van Artevelde was the stubbornest Dutchman on Venus. From Amazing Science Fiction Stories April 1959.

Posted by Jesse Willis