Tag: audiobook

Review of Methuselah’s Children by Robert A. Heinlein

Jenny

SFFaudio Review

Methuselah's ChildrenMethuselah’s Children
By Robert Heinlein; Read by MacLeod Andrews
6 CDs – 7 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: July 2012
ISBN: 9781455878987
Themes: / space / genetic engineering / genetic modification / aging / death / interstellar travel / aliens /

Publisher Summary:

After the fall of the American Ayatollahs as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land and chronicled in Revolt in 2100, the United States of America at last fulfills the promise inherent in its first Revolution: for the first time in human history there is a nation with Liberty and Justice for All.

No one may seize or harm the person or property of another, or invade his privacy, or force him to do his bidding. Americans are fiercely proud of their re-won liberties and the blood it cost them; nothing could make them forswear those truths they hold self-evident. Nothing except the promise of immortality….

This 1941 novel by Robert Heinlein is a short but epic space adventure about the Howard Families, a population of people who can live very long lives thanks to a history of selective breeding. Over the centuries, they took on different identities to hide their long-life nature from “short-lifers,” but eventually some of them decided to share their scientific achievement with the public.

However, instead of celebrating the Howard Families’ scientific achievement, the short-lifers suspect them of concealing the true secret to long life. This is where the story starts: when the government and the public begin to persecute the Howard Families, Lazarus Long (the kilt-wearing leader of the group who is more than 200 years old and who always has a knife strapped to his thigh) hijacks a city-sized starship so the families can flee Earth and go in search of a new home.

Despite its short size, this book covers a long length of time, is packed with ideas, and manages to explore deep themes such as aging, death, human genetic modification, and individualism, among others. There’s bound to be something in here for everyone, although personally I struggled with the first half because of the lengthy democratic meetings and the seemingly endless strategizing about what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. I also thought the discussions about the technicalities of interstellar travel or alien biology were a little tedious, but I’m sure hard-SF fans will love every moment.

I really got into the story later, when the families started arriving on other planets and things got weird. The alien cultures, worlds and philosophies were brilliant and often eerie. How can you not love aliens who say things like, “My people will like to see you and smell your skin.”

The human characters, on the other hand, were less lovable for me. They lacked depth and tended to speak literally and directly, without subtext. The narration on the audiobook didn’t help warm the dialog up either, because in the reading the characters sometimes sounded like they were barking lines at each other, and at other times odd words in the dialog were emphasized that I don’t think should have been.

The narrator McLeod Andrews did give a very clear reading though, and once I got used to his style the odd emphases were less noticeable. He did an awesome job of embodying the voice of grumpy but optimistic Lazarus Long, who was the most developed and interesting character.

Ultimately, even though not everything might be to your taste, there are just so many great ideas and themes squished into this book that you’re bound to find a ton to enjoy, despite its short length.

Review by Marissa VU

The Chaser by John Collier

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Chaser by John Collier

John Collier’s modern fairy tale, The Chaser, was adapted as an episode of the first season of the original The Twilight Zone. And now the story has just been narrated for Tom Elliot’s The Twilight Zone Podcast.

The Twilight Zone PodcastThe Chaser
By John Collier; Read by Danny Davis
1 |MP3| – Approx. 11 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: The Twilight Zone Podcast
Podcast: March 18, 2013
Alan, a lovelorn man, desperate for the object of his affections to return them, visits a queer chemist for a solution. First published in The New Yorker, December 28, 1940.

Podcast feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheTwilightZonePodcast

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Here is a |PDF| of the story, and here is another |PDF|.

And here’s The Twilight Zone adaptation:

The story also inspired a Tales From The Crypt story, in issue 25:

Tales From The Crypt #25

That, in turn, was adapted for the television series, using the same name:

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #204 – AUDIOBOOK: The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #204 – The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley, read by Gregg Margarite.

This UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOK (4 Hours 53 Minutes) comes to us courtesy of LibriVox.org. The Status Civilization was first published under the title Omega and was serialized in the August and September 1960 issues of Amazing Science Fiction Stories Magazine.

Go back to episode (SFFaudio Podcast #056) to hear our discussion of it.

Will Barrent awakes without memories just before being deposited on Omega, a planet for criminals where the average life expectancy is three years. He’s listed as a murderer and released into the illicit society as a “peon” the lowest class imaginable. A mysterious girl gives him a weapon that starts him on his path to status, a path that requires constant brutality. But it must be borne if our hero is to discover the reason for his imprisonment; A reason that pits him against himself, and involves the sardonically similar but devoutly different creeds of Omega and Earth.

Amazing Science Fiction Stories - OMEGA by Robert Sheckley

Omega by Robert Sheckley - illustration by Grayam

Omega by Robert Sheckley - illustration by Grayam

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Raft-Builders by Lord Dunsany

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Raft-Builders by Lord Dunsany

Maureen O’Brien, of the Maria Lectrix podcast, reads the prose poem The Raft-Builders by Lord Dunsany:

|MP3|

First published in the December 18, 1909 issue of Saturday Review.

Here’s the entire text:

The Raft-Builders by Lord Dunsany

‘All we who write put me in mind of sailors hastily making rafts upon doomed ships.

When we break up under the heavy years and go down into eternity with all that is ours our thoughts like small lost rafts float on awhile upon Oblivion’s sea. They will not carry much over those tides, our names and a phrase or two and little else.

They that write as a trade to please the whim of the day, they are like sailors that work at the rafts only to warm their hands and to distract their thoughts from their certain doom; their rafts go all to pieces before the ship breaks up.

See now Oblivion shimmering all around us, its very tranquility deadlier than tempest. How little all our keels have troubled it. Time in its deeps swims like a monstrous whale; and, like a whale, feeds on the littlest things–small tunes and little unskilled songs of the olden, golden evenings–and anon turneth whale-like to overthrow whole ships.

See now the wreckage of Babylon floating idly, and something there that once was Nineveh; already their kings and queens are in the deeps among the weedy masses of old centuries that hide the sodden bulk of sunken Tyre and make a darkness round Persepolis.

For the rest I dimly see the forms of foundered ships on the sea-floor strewn with crowns.

Our ships were all unseaworthy from the first.

There goes the raft that Homer made for Helen’.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Hemp (A Virginia Legend) by Stephen Vincent Benét

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Hemp (A Virginia Legend) by Stephen Vincent Benet

Stephen Vincent Benét’s The Hemp (A Virginia Legend) is a lovely rhyming ballad about a despicable scabrous pirate.

LibriVox has the audio |MP3|. And I’ve made a |PDF| from the original publication in the January 1916 issue of Century Magazine (complete with illustrations).

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Wizardborn by David Farland

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Fantasy Audiobook - Wizardborn by David FarlandWizardborn: Book 3 of the Runelords
By David Farland; Read by Ray Porter
19.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
Themes: / Fantasy / Epic Fantasy / Magic / Battle /

Book three in the Runelords series is far better than book two, in my opinion. Although you should read all the books in order, as it’s one story in four parts, this book (like the others) can stand alone.

Wizardborn begins immediately after the Battle at Carris where Gaborn is regrouping and preparing to chase the Reavers back to the Underworld. He has lost the ability to warn his Chosen of danger and must do what he can to save mankind from the dark times to come.

Binnesman discovers that Averan is wizardborn and an Earth Warden and takes her on as his apprentice. In addition to learning how to be an Earth Warden, Averan must find the Waymaker, a Reaver who knows the paths in the Underworld and can tell her who to get to the Lair of Bones.

The book follows four storylines that all break off from the Battle at Carris. Gaborn’s fight against the Reavers, Borenson and Myrrima’s journey to Inkarra, Erin Connall and Prince Celinor’s journey north and Raj Ahten’s return to Indhopal.

I like how each chapter in this series begins with a title and a quote from an historical figure or book. It gives the world a sense of history and depth beyond the immediate story. The characters know their legends and heroes and their stories so the narration only touches on them, which lets the reader see enough to understand without feeling preachy. Indeed, it gives you the feel that this world is complex and has a living, vibrant history. The pacing is good and each chapter ending leaves you wanting to know more.

The book builds the tension of each story, cutting from one group to another until the end, where everyone is at a life-or-death crossroad and you can’t wait to see how it resolves.

The book is very well written. The narrator does an excellent job of keeping you engrossed in the book and separating the voices. He’s a good reader and suits the story well. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it an 8.

And now, on to read book four…

Posted by Charlene Harmon