fantasy – Page 100

Review of Super Pal and Jewels of the 11th Generation

Thursday, June 28, 2007Friday, December 30, 2016 admin

SFFaudio Review

Great Northern Audio - Super Pal The Saving of the World: Super Pal (Includes Jewels of the 11th Generation)
By Great Northern Audio Theatre; Performed by a FULL CAST
1 CD – Approx. 70 minutes [LIVE AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Great Northern Audio
Published: 2005/2006
Themes: / Fantasy / Comedy / Superheroes / Meteors / Jewels / Space Travel / Children / Squeak Toys / Computers

A comet is heading towards Big City, but is it a job for Super Pal?

Great Northern Audio brings you the tale of the blue-glowing superhero, as told from those closest to him. The nurse who helped birth him, the girlfriend who likes the cape (nudge-nudge), his best friend growing up, even the crooks he brought down.

Meanwhile, the comet comes closer, and Super Pal is nowhere to be found. The mayor begins to look at other superheroes, but no help is available. One kinked their back while lugging an oil rig across the desert, and another is expecting a baby and is on light duty. You know, bank robbers.

What to do? Well, Super Pal does have a weakness for cats in trees….

The CD also includes The Jewels of the 11th Generation, a story of two zany treasure-hunters looking for the ultimate treasure. They certainly find more than that! Children, pirates- and… squeak toys? But where are the jewels? This is also a lot of fun and well-written. Mix that with excellent acting, including the talents of David Ossman of Firesign Theatre, and you know exactly why I enjoyed it so much.

These performances were a lot of fun. I loved the documentary-style interviews in telling the tale of Super Pal, and the jokes in Jewels made me laugh out loud a couple of times! Very witty, and hearing the audience respond now and then in the background really made it all the more enjoyable. For a live performance, it has a better sound than a lot of in-studio performances. A very enjoyable hour!

Both SuperPal and Jewels of the 11th Generation were part of live Great Northern Audio performances in 2005 and 2006. Definitely worth going over to Great Northern’s website and getting a copy today!

posted by Dani Cutler

Second Season of Second Shift

Monday, June 25, 2007 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Second Shift, that highly original podcast audio drama we told you about last year starts-up again tonight for its second season with an online release party! Brad sez:

“We’re going to kick off the season by holding a live chat where fans can talk with cast and crew while listening to the season premiere. Ever watched a TV show while talking on IM with a friend about it? This is just like that. We will release the episode during the chat, so everyone can download, listen and type “OMG!” together!

The chat will start between 9:00-9:15 p.m. EST, so show up then to make sure everyone’s in. At 9:30, we’ll release the episode on our site, and listen together.

To join the chat:
1) Go to http://chat.efnet.org
2) Enter whatever you want as a user name
3) Select “Other” on the menu
4) Type in “#secondshiftreleaseparty” in the dropdown

Or, if you’re familiar with IRC, just join “#secondshiftreleaseparty” on efnet.”

Catch up, or join in by plugging this feed into your podcatcher:

http://www.secondshiftpodcast.com/xml/2shift.xml

posted by Jesse Willis

Mark Time/Ogle Winners Announced!

Thursday, June 21, 2007 admin

SFFaudio News

Presented by

The American Society For Science Fiction Audio
(ASFSFA)

The winners of the Mark Time/Ogle Awards have been officially announced! Boy it was difficult keeping my mouth shut for so long!

Mark Time Awards / Ogle Awards
Winners – 2007
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Audio Production
http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MarkTime.html

Mark Time Award
SILVER

Through the Turnstiles
Produced by Sam A. Mowry
Written by Carole Dane
Willamette Radio Workshop
www.radiowork.com

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Canadia: 2056
Produced by Joe Mahoney
Written by Matt Watts
CBC Radio A & E
www.assortednonsense.com

Tears of the Tin God
Produced by Richard Sellers
Story by T. Ray Gordon
www.apexaudiotheatre.com

Ogle Award
GOLD

God of the Razor
Produced by Scott Hickey
Story by Joe R. Lansdale
The Grist Mill
www.amfmtheater.com
and
Dandelion Wine
Produced by Jerry Robbins, & Mark Vander Berg
Script by Ray Bradbury
The Colonial Radio Theatre On the Air
www.colonialradio.com

SILVER

HURF
Produced by Sam A. Mowry
Written by Craig Kenworthy
Willamette Radio Workshop
www.radiowork.com

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
In Science Fiction Audio

* Norman Corwin
* Ray Bradbury

A Gold and a Silver Mark Time Award, and a Gold and a Silver Ogle Award, will be awarded at CONvergence,, July 6-7-8 of 2007.

posted by Dani Cutler

H.P. Lovecraft DOCUMENTARY on BBC Radio 3

Monday, June 11, 2007 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 3 has re-aired a fascinating documentary from November of last year…

Weird Tales – The Strange Life Of H.P. Lovecraft
Radio Broadcast – Approx. 45 Minutes [DOCUMENTARY]
BROADCASTER: BBC Radio 3
BROADCAST: Sunday June 10th 2006 @ 20:00 – 20:45 (UK TIME)

“Geoff Ward examines the strange life and terrifying world of the man hailed as America’s greatest horror writer since Poe. During his life Lovecraft’s work was confined to lurid pulp magazines and he died in penury in 1937. Today, however, his writings are considered modern classics and published in prestigious editions. Among the writers considering his legacy are Neil Gaiman, S.T. Joshi, Kelly Link, Peter Straub and China Mieville.”

This is available via the ‘Listen Again‘ right now and the link should be around for the next 5 days or so.

posted by Jesse Willis

Mister Ron’s Basement – Fortunate Island by Max Adeler

Saturday, June 9, 2007 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio OnlineAudio

Mister Ron’s Basement podcast has completed the serialization of the 1880 novelette Fortunate Island by Max Adeler. Ron has even built a special webpage that makes it easy to listen to. The tale concerns a contemporary American professor (contemporary to 1880) and his daughter who find themselves stranded on “a mysterious island filled with castles, knights, and descendants of King Arthur’s kingdom.” Apparently, Adeler was convinced that Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court published eight years after Fortunate Island, had plagiarized much from his tale. Mister Ron himself thinks there are “certainly some compelling arguments to be made for Adeler’s case.” Have a listen and decide for yourself.

Fortunate Island
By Max Adeler; Read by Ron Evry
8 MP3s – Approx. 4? Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Mister Ron’s Basement
Podcast: Apr – May 2007
This novelette originally appeared as “Professor Baffin’s Adventures” in Beeton’s Christmas Annual (1880). All subsequent printings are under the title Fortunate Island

And don’t forget, you can subscribe to Mr. Ron’s podcast, and visit the basement daily, via this feed:

http://slapcast.com/rss/revry/index.xml

posted by Jesse Willis

Who Knows What Evil Lurks In the Hearts Of Men? Doc Savage!

Thursday, June 7, 2007Saturday, September 25, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Okay, before you click anything, first note, Mark Butler has placed an important disclaimer on his website, Mark’s Place, about these readings:

THESE BOOKS ARE COPYRIGHTED AND THESE FILES MAY NOT BE LISTENED TO WITHOUT FIRST BEING PURCHASED IN PRINT FORM. BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW YOU AGREE THAT YOU ARE A LEGAL OWNER OF A VERSION OF THESE BOOKS.

For those poor saps who haven’t already got ’em, paperbook or pulpmag copies of both of these out of print beauties can often be found on either eBay or Abebooks.com.

First up is, Doc Savage: Birds Of Death, which was originally published in Doc Savage Magazine‘s October 1941 issue. It follows The Man Of Bronze and his associates as they “battle strange yellow canaries whose mere song can kill a man and then bring him back to life!” This pulpy romp takes you from the streets of New York to the deepest darkest jungles.

Narrator, and Savage enthusiast, Mark Butler sez:

“I read this book into the microphone, trying to give the proper emphasis to the words and convey the feelings being written about. I’m not very good with different voices so the various characters sound a lot alike. But the story shines through my attempts. I’ve also added a lot of sound effects. Its not an ‘audio adaptation’ but I think it really enhances the audio.”

Doc Savage: The Birds Of Death
By Kenneth Robeson (AKA Lester Dent); Read by Mark Butler
14 MP3 Files – Approx. 3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Source: Mark’s Place
Posted: 2004
Doc’s musical accomplishments are almost as well known as his scientific genius – but even he can’t match the peculiar talent of the strange yellow canaries whose sweet music is the song of death!

Chapter 01 |MP3| Chapter 02 |MP3| Chapter 03 |MP3|
Chapter 04 |MP3| Chapter 05 |MP3| Chapter 06 |MP3|
Chapter 07 |MP3| Chapter 08 |MP3| Chapter 09 |MP3|
Chapter 10 |MP3| Chapter 11 |MP3| Chapter 12 |MP3|
Chapter 13 |MP3 | Chapter 14 |MP3|

A similar description accompanies, The Living Shadow, this is a single narrator reading that includes sound effects. First published in 1931, in hearing it you’ll be hearing the original Shadow character, in his first ever story! It’s difficult to imagine that this character has spanned more than 75 years of spicy tales that can …”cloud men’s minds”… hmmm, what was I saying?

The Shadow: The Living Shadow
By Maxwell Grant (AKA Walter B. Gibson); Read by Mark Butler
38 MP3 Files – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Source: Mark’s Place
Posted: 2006
“The Living Shadow is the first Shadow novel. It sets the tone for all of the stories to follow. The Shadow recruits Harry Vincent and we learn with Harry about the Shadow’s remarkable organization and methods. The story is full of mystery as Harry gradually learns the real truth behind the Laidlow murder and the missing diamonds.”

MP3s:
|Introduction|
|01|02|03|04|05|06|07|08|09|10|
|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|
|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|29|30|
|31|32|33|34|35|36|37|

Thanks so much Mark!

posted by Jesse Willis