Tag: economics

Maria Lectrix: Medal Of Honor by Mack Reynolds

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Maureen O’Brien, of the Maria Lectrix podcast, has just wrapped up a short story by one of the truly under-appreciated SF authors. Here’s what Maureen said of him:

“Mack Reynolds was an extremely prolific author who was very popular back in the fifties, sixties and early seventies. (He apparently was a member of the Socialist Labor Party, which surprises me. I always thought he was an early libertarian or something. Well, I’m no pundit.) Anyway, he always struck me as a very Western-ornery sort of writer, and he wrote a lot of military and political sf. It was fairly obvious that he loved throwing what-ifs into the speculation blender. Today he’s almost totally forgotten by younger sf readers, except for his 1968 Star Trek kids’ novel, which was recently reprinted at John Ordover’s behest. (A very nice behest.) I don’t think any of his books were precisely great, but they were all pretty good reads.”

Mack Reynolds also wrote some very readable utopian and dystopian novels that engaged the philosophy of Karl Marx in social Science Fiction thought experiments. No other SF author has engaged communism, socialism and economics like Mack Reynolds did. And that’s not only really strange, it’s really pretty shameful. Economics is a fascinating subject in SF – perhaps the problem is it’s harder to write about?

Here’s Maureen’s latest…

Maria Lectrix - Medal Of Honor by Mack ReynoldsMedal Of Honor
By Mack Reynolds; Read by Maureen O’Brien
4 MP3 Files – Approx. 87 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Maria Lectrix
Podcast: September – October 2009
Provider: Archive.org
If you’d received the Galactic Medal of Honor, you could do no wrong, they said. But what if the wrong man received the award, and still found out that was true? Dallas McCord “Mack” Reynolds was a well-known and prolific writer of military SF and stories of political extrapolation during the nineteen-sixties and seventies. From Amazing Science Fiction Stories November 1960.

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3| Part 3 |MP3| Part 4 |MP3|

Posted by Jesse Willis

SFOHA: The Science Fiction Oral History Association

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Science Fiction Oral History AssociationThe Science Fiction Oral History Association, has a new blog (that’s also soon to be a podcast). SFOHA is currently presided over by el presidente Rick Jackson. Rick is a former reviews editor for SFFaudio. The site is just getting started – but it’s a terrific start with several cool convention panels Rick recorded at Penguicon 2009 (a combination Science Fiction and open source software convention) and CONfusion 2009.

Penguicon 2009:

Copywhat Copyrights! Open Source Licensing in Literature |MP3|
Panel: Rick Jackson,

Creating a Wikinomic Online Community |MP3| Panel: Rick Jackson, Sarah Elkins

Legal Issues and Podcasting |MP3|
Panel: Rick Jackson, Steve Eley

Selling Your Soul – Marketing Your Work on a Limited Budget |MP3|
Panel: Rick Jackson, Jim C. Hines

Cyptic CONfusion 2009:

What Turns Great Ideas Into Short Stories Or Novels?
Panelists: Kelley Armstrong, Violette Malan [M], Paul Melko, Catherine Shaffer and Sandee Rodriguez
1 |MP3| – Approx. 46 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Recorded: Saturday January 24, 2009 10am
We all know where ideas come from, don’t we? But what are we supposed to do with them after that? How do we translate those ideas into successful stories and novels? Come and find out!

Did Captain Kirk Own A Wallet?
Panelists: Cory Doctorow, Tobias Buckell [M], Philip Edward Kaldon, Paul Melko and Matthew Stewart-Fulton
1 |MP3| – Approx. 52 Minutes [CONVENTION PANEL]
Recorded: Recorded: Saturday January 24, 2009 11am
Economics and SF how has science fiction has portrayed economics of the future over the years how have things changed, what are some of the enduring themes?

Setting: Haven’t I been here before?
Panelists: Violette Malan [M], Karl Schroeder, Catherine Shaffer, Doselle Young and Jim Frenkel
1 |MP3| – Approx. 46 Minutes [CONVENTION PANEL]
Recorded: Recorded: Saturday January 24, 2009 12pm
How important is setting to a reader’s understanding and enjoyment of the story? Is setting the real difference between S and SF? Are we overusing the settings we have, and are there any new ones?

Meet the New Boss: Young Adult SF
Panelists: Cory Doctorow, Kelley Armstrong, Anne Harris [M], Jim Frenkel, Doselle Young, Steven Harper Piziks
1 |MP3| – Approx. 56 Minutes [CONVENTION PANEL]
Recorded: Saturday January 24, 2009 1pm
How it is the same and different from adult SF and how it has evolved over the years and where it is going. Will it overtake Paranormal Romance and become the next big thing?

Big Brother Is Watching You!
Panelists: Cory Doctorow, David Rozian, Steve Buchheit, Karl Schroeder [M], Catherine Shaffer
1 |MP3| – Approx. 58 Minutes [CONVENTION PANEL]
Recorded: Saturday January 24, 2009 3pm
Personal privacy in the electronic age we now have or will have chips on everything we own including pets, where is this all going? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Podcasting — the future of it
Panelists: Cat Rambo, Matthew Stewart-Fulton, Alexander Bouchard, and Rick Jackson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 45 Minutes [CONVENTION PANEL]
Recorded: Sunday January 25, 2009 12pm

Posted by Jesse Willis

Worldcon 2009: Charlie Stross and Paul Krugman talk Science Fiction and economics

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

I’ve been listening to StarShipSofa‘s Sofanauts reports on Worldcon 2009 so I knew Paul Krugman and Charles Stross were at the convention. But, what I didn’t know was that they had had a public conversation there.

Paul Krugman And Charles Stross @ Worldcon 2009

Here it is |MP3| There’s also a transcript available |TRANSCRIPT|.

[via BoingBoing]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Imager by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Fantasy Audiobook - Imager by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.Imager (The First Book of the Imager Portfolio)
By L.E. Modesitt, Jr.; Read by William Dufris
2 MP3-CDs – 18 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781400161805
Themes: / Fantasy / Magic / Politics / Coming of Age / Economics /
| MP3 Audio Sample |

L.E. Modesitt, Jr. has published over 50 novels, both science fiction and fantasy. Imager, his latest novel, is the first time his work has appeared on audio.

Imager is the start of a new fantasy series called “The Imager Portfolio”. It’s the story of Rhenn, who at the beginning is an apprentice portrait painter. In a life-changing event, he realizes two things: First, he can no longer continue in his profession, and second, he is an “imager” – a person who can make things real by visualizing them in his mind. Imagers are not common, but common enough to be feared and respected in Modesitt’s world.

After this, the novel takes it’s time in following Rhenn grow into his new-found ability. He climbs the ladder as an imager taking various and interesting training that use his ability in unique ways. My first thought was not that an imager would make a good bodyguard, but imaging something into a person’s body makes for quick defense – or a potent offense.

William Dufris is wonderful as always. The novel is not quick paced, as if Modesitt is using this volume to firmly create the world for future volumes. Dufris is as engaged a narrator while relating the details as he is during the exciting bits. A pleasure to hear!

Tantor will be publishing the next two volumes of this trilogy, and I will be listening!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Story Speiler: Accidental Death and All The World A Grave

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Here are another two excellent unabridged audiobook short story offerings from Roy Turnbull…

The first, Accidental Death by Peter Baily, is definitely Science Fiction. It’s about an ill-fated expedition to an alien planet with some friendly, though dangerous, tennis-playing aliens. It speculates on the nature of luck in a first person present tense narrative – which is fun.

The second story, All The World A Grave by C.C. MacApp, is either Fantasy or Science Fiction, depending on your view of human nature. I take it as very apt satirical SF, in the same vein as The Space Merchants – as such, and despite its vintage, it has some very promising economic stimulus ideas for the new Barack Obama administration. Go economy, go!

Accidental Death by Peter BailyAccidental Death
By Peter Baily; Read by Roy Turnbull
1 |MP3| – Approx. 20 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Story Spieler Podcast
Published: 2009?
Provider: Internet Archive
From Astounding Science Fiction February 1959. The most dangerous of weapons is the one you don’t know is loaded.

And All The Earth A Grave by C.C. MacAppAnd All The Earth A Grave
By C.C. MacApp; Read by Roy Turnbull
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Story Spieler Podcast
Published: 2009?
Provider: Internet Archive
From Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1963. There’s nothing wrong with dying—it just hasn’t ever had the proper sales pitch!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Spider Robinson reads The Persistence Of Vision by John Varley

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Spider On The Web - Spider Robinson’s podcastJohn Varley’s Hugo and Nebula award winning 1978 novella The Persistence Of Vision is the latest unabridged story to be recorded by Spider Robinson for his Spider On The Web podcast.

Wow! Could your life get any more thrilling than this?

The Persistence Of Vision is the perfect tale for these times. With those bread riots we’ve all got planned for next week and all. Now, all we’ll have to do is let a few of our nuclear power plants do The China Syndrome-thing, get the survivors together, form a few farm collectives, shave off all our body hair, and then paint ourselves a nice shade of purple.

Science Fiction Audio - The Persistence Of Vision by John VarleyThe Persistence Of Vision
By John Varley; Read by Spider Robinson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Spider On The Web
Podcast: November 2008
Wandering the roads and rails of a future USA, our narrator learns the art of living in a dead economy. Only a mysterious wall on the New Mexico/California border and a collective of the blind-deaf keep his wandering feet from moving on.

And, here are the details for the new Audible Frontiers version (which is done by a different narrator and is minus the sounds of pages turning)…

Audible Frontiers Science Fiction Audiobook - The Persistence Of Vision by John VarleyThe Persistence Of Vision
By John Varley; Read by Peter Ganim
Audible Download – 2 Hours 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 2008
Listen to a sample |MP3|
On the surface, this Hugo and Nebula Award-winning classic is about a drifter who comes to stay in a New Mexico commune founded by a group of deaf-blind people. But beneath the story, author John Varley examines deep, universal issues. What is the nature of communication? What does an individual gain – or lose – by subsuming himself to the whole? Can an outsider ever truly “belong”? Varley says that he has had more response to this story than anything he has ever written, that some readers have even told him it changed their lives. Listening to The Persistence of Vision, it is easy to understand why.

Posted by Jesse Willis