TWIT’s Security Now podcast science fiction episode

SFFaudio Online Audio

Usually the Security Now podcast covers the latest stress-inducing security holes in Windows, Flash, Acrobat, and Java.  But at the end of last December in episode 333 Steve Gibson devoted an episode to his favorite science fiction.  He started with some movies:  This Island Earth, Forbidden Planet, and The Day The Earth Stood Still.  But most of the episode covered books, and Steve has good taste and likes Hard SF.  He started with Asimov’s Robot mystery novels, beginning with The Caves Of Steel.  His favorite Larry Niven is Protector, but The Mote In God’s Eye was ok too.  He also enjoyed Fred Saberhagen’s Berserker series.

And I actually learned about Peter F. Hamilton from him: the Mandel Series, the Night’s Dawn series (huge), Fallen Dragon (standalone novel), and the Pandora’s Star/Judas Unchained duology.

Next came an independent author who sells from his own site, Michael McCollum at scifi-az.com.  Michael has the Antares series and the Gibralter series.  Someone told me to check out his 1st 2 books from the 80’s.  There’s also The Sails Of Tau Ceti.  Some free short stories are available.  There’s no audiobooks unfortunately (an opportunity for someone?), unless you count some computer generated audio files.

Steve also mentioned Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet series, Graham Sharp Paul’s Helfort’s War series, David Weber’s Honor Harrington series, Greg Bear’s Eon, and Gregory Benford’s Galactic Center saga.

Feed:  http://leo.am/podcasts/sn

MP3: http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/aolradio.podcast.aol.com/sn/sn0333.mp3

Posted by Tamahome

The SFFaudio Podcast #143 – NEW RELEASES/RECENT ARRIVALS

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #143 – Scott, Jesse, Tamahome, and Kristin (A.K.A Terpkristin) talk about recently arrived audiobooks, new releases and more.

Talked about on today’s show:
The origin of the name ‘Terpkristin’, Scott has a pile of audio, (see also the NewAudioBookIn twitter feed), Hominids and Humans from Robert J. Sawyer, evolved Neanderthals, Farseer (the dinosaur book), Flashforward, Kristin’s scientific evaluations, “needs more ego”, Pamela Sargent’s Earthseed (Seed, #1), Greg Bear’s Forge of God, memorable earth destruction, Peter F. Hamilton’s Void Trilogy (‘Hawking m-sink’ weapon), the Star Trek movie, Burning Chrome anthology by William Gibson includes Johnny Mnemonic, when will they list all the short stories on the audiobook package?, precursor to Neuromancer, William Gibson’s non-fiction Distrust That Particular Flavor is out from Tantor (Jesse will establish later), he’s a crossover, who will read Sisterhood Of Dune?, extending a series, Zelazny’s Amber series, Glasslands (Halo, #8) by Karen Traviss (she also did a lot of Star Wars books), “stuff happens fiction”,  Eve Online, “gateway books”, James Blish Star Trek books, Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye, The Thirteen Hallows by Michael Scott and Colette Freedman, I Am Number Four, YA series, “contractual sweatshop”, Infernal Devices by K.W. Jeter, a steampunk pioneer, “quick off the mark”, Little Big by John Crowley narrated by the author, Stephan Rudnicki was denied Aegypt (at 43 min), the legend of the Cottingley Fairies, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle believed it, “the Fairy Gap”, Larry Niven’s The Ringword Engineers and The Ringworld Throne, The Protector, the Security Now science fiction episode, “The Ringworld is unstable!  The Ringworld is unstable!”, A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr., NPR dramatized it, good for Scott and Julie’s A Good Story Is Hard To Find podcast?,  Working For The Devil (Dante Valentine, #1) by Lilith Saintcrow, Dante is a woman?, Neal Stephenson’s Currency (The Baroque Cycle, Book 3, Vol. 7), they broke it down, Kristin read the whole thing!, Tantor has drm-free downloads, A Fall Of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke, a Poseidon adventure on the moon, BBC Radio drama version, Timecaster by Joe Kimball, sounds like Minority Report, an idea for someone else to write, the Assassin’s Creed game, Brent Weeks’s Night Angel trilogy, hoodies are popular, the comic Chew‘s gruesome premise, Mur Lafferty likes it (5 stars on Goodreads!), Aces High (Wild Cards, #2) edited by George R.R. Martin, Jenny’s special message about A Wrinkle In Time, the 50th anniversary, a parallel world thing, the Pern series, The Greg Mandel trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton, my review of Mindstar Rising (Greg Mandel, #1), psychic powers, Lady And The Tramp, Scott’s box of audio has become infected with a zombie virus, Rise by Gareth Wood, “we’re not desolate or empty!”, entering New Releases territory, Blackstone, Raylan by Elmore Leonard, Justified tv show does a good Leonard, style, Out Of Sight movie and book, it was J-lo’s best, Sixth Column by Heinlein, Jesse can’t remember it, The Voice From The Edge series by Harlan Ellison, he’s got a passion, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream was dramatized on BBC radio too, Robert Sheckley’s Immortality, Inc. (our readalong should be out next week), Bronson Pinchot narrated, (I think this is where I lost my mic because I was trying to say “transplant!” from that audiobook), A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski, a classic feminist science fiction novel, no men needed, Brilliance audiobooks are cheap!, “Someone explain the point of Audible” (at least I can still text), “What’s the fascination with zombies?”, societal significance or commercial? (I’m starting to think they’re ignoring me), Twilight and their ilk, Night Of The Long Knives by Fritz Leiber, how these subgenres are grouped together, vs the U.K., Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey is fantasy or science fiction?, Star Wars gadgetry, Alan Moore’s Lovecraft salute comic Neonomicon, the Audible app, Tamahome is in the hole

Posted by Tamahome

Recent Arrivals: Macmillan Audio – Halo: Cryptum by Greg Bear

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Macmillan AudioThe first book, of a planned trilogy, called the “Forerunner Saga.” The Halo wiki has a quote from Frank O’Connor (the Franchise Development Director for Halo) saying:

“It’s going to be a trilogy. A connected universe that will remain faithful to the scale and mysteries, while exploring the detail and challenges of a VERY powerful culture. This won’t be some skirt-raising exercise in Forerunner populist-ism. Folks know way more about Forerunners than you think, but we’re definitely going to respect that strange sense of wonder and awe that Bungie infused from day one. It will be BIG Greg Bear fiction in a faintly familiar place, but one that’s full of surprises. Think Eon.”

The audiobook also includes a three and a half minute introduction, written and read, by Greg Bear himself. In it he says that he drew inspiration for the trilogy from Olaf Stapledon, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, E.E. Doc Smith, Larry Niven and Robert A. Heinlein. There’s also a sentence particularly about Ringworld.

Macmillian Audio - Halo: Cryptum by Greg BearHalo: Cryptum (Book One of the Forerunner Saga)
By Greg Bear; Read by Holter Graham
7 CDs – Approx. 8 Hours 40 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Published: March 29, 2011
ISBN: 9781427210081
One hundred thousand years ago, the galaxy was populated by a great variety of beings. But one species–eons beyond all others in both technology and knowledge–achieved dominance. They ruled in peace but met opposition with quick and brutal effectiveness. They were the Forerunners–the keepers of the Mantle, the next stage of life in the Universe’s Living Time. And then they vanished. This is their story. – Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting is a young rebellious Forerunner. He is a Manipular, untried–yet to become part of the adult Forerunner society, where vast knowledge and duty waits. He comes from a family of Builders, the Forerunners’ highest and most politically powerful rate. It is the Builders who create the grand technology that facilitates Forerunner dominance over the known universe. It is the Builders who believe they must shoulder the greatest burden of the Mantle–as shepherds and guardians of all life. Bornstellar is marked to become a great Builder just like his father. But this Manipular has other plans. He is obsessed with lost treasures of the past. His reckless passion to seek out the marvelous artifacts left behind by the Precursors–long-vanished superbeings of unknowable power and intent—forces his father’s hand. Bornstellar is sent to live among the Miners, where he must come to terms with where his duty truly lies. But powerful forces are at play. Forerunner society is at a major crux. Past threats are once again proving relentless. Dire solutions–machines and strategies never before contemplated–are being called up, and fissures in Forerunner power are leading to chaos. On a Lifeworker’s experimental planet, Bornstellar’s rebellious course crosses the paths of two humans, and the long lifeline of a great military leader, forever changing Bornstellar’s destiny …and the fate of the entire galaxy. This is a tale of life, death, intergalactic horror, exile, and maturity. It is a story of overwhelming change–and of human origins. For the Mantle may not lie upon the shoulders of Forerunners forever.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #111

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #111 – Scott and Jesse talk with Luke Burrage and Tamahome about the latest releases.

Talked about on today’s show:
name order??, James Powell’s Last Laugh In Flugal Park, Greg Bear’s Halo: Cryptum book, game tie-ins with popular authors, Tobias Buckell’s The Cole Protocol (Halo, #6), Peter Watts Crysis: Legion, Larry Niven’s Ringworld, Hull Zero Three, “in spaaace”, Tim Powers’s The Stress Of Her Regard, “short books”, towel on Luke’s head, George Alec Effinger’s When Gravity Fails, no ebook to speak of, published in 198x?, the game Circuits Edge, Infocom, Beneath A Steel Sky, “comic book look”, comic book artist Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), more game tie-ins, Terry (Monty Python) Jones’s Douglas Adams’s Starship Titanic, Jeff Vandermeer’s Halo story Mona Lisa, from the Halo: Evolutions anthology, motion comic adaption, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter’s First Born (A Time Odyssey, #3), Civilization/Evolution, The Light Of Other Days, Bob Shaw, loss of privacy, “slow glass”, spoiler alert!, Poul Anderson’s Broken Sword, Yggrdsil (hear it pronounced), contemporary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship Of The Ring, Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies, the audiobook cover, David Friedman on Luke’s new podcast, “everything comes back to zombies”, Alden Bell’s The Reapers Are The Angels discussed on Scott and Julie’s podcast, Luke’s feedback, “email you when I’m dead”, Daniel Suarez’s Daemon, Mark Russinovich’s Zero Day, Edward Wellen’s Mind Slash Matter, |OUR REVIEW|, P.D. James’s Children Of Men, |READ OUR REVIEW|, Fred Hoyle’s The Black Cloud, “sciency”, John Brunner’s The Crucible Of Time, M.P. Shiel’s The Purple Cloud, it’s not about Prince, the Songbird audiodrama from the Radio Repertory Company of America, Harlan Ellison’s The Voice From The Edge #4 & #5 on sale, includes this year’s award winner How Interesting A Tiny Man, John Scalzi’s Fuzzy Nation, H. Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy, a 2-fer, Old Man’s War, which 1/3 do you like?, “I’m a sucker for new bodies”, Albert Brooks’s 2030: The Real Story Of What Happens To America, the film Defending Your Life, Will McIntosh’s Soft Apocalypse, George R. Stewart’s Earth Abides is also soft, Brent Weeks’s short Perfect Shadow is on Graphicaudio too, Valley Of The Dead: The Truth Behind Dante’s Inferno by Kim Paffenroth, Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven’s Inferno — sf writer tries to explain hell, the remix generation, Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines, “I Am Legend with superheroes”, A. Lee Martinez’s oeuvre, Sleeper: Season One the comic book, Mark Millar’s Trouble, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “the estate works for their money”, Luke talks to a comic book artist, SF Keyword Bingo

DARK HORSE PRESENTS - How Interesting A Tiny Man by Harlan Ellison

Posted by Tamahome

New Releases: Macmillan Audio for WINTER 2011

New Releases

Macmillan AudioIn the last Macmillan Audio press release the biggest item is the relaunch of the long running “Wheel Of Time” series.Winter’s Heart is “book nine of the addicting Audie Award-winning series.” Also of note, but little more than a curiosity, is that a general fiction title (an abridged Jackie Collins novel) is being given the “full cast” treatment!

Most interesting, to me, are the smaller titles, books like the Keigo Higashino novel The Devotion Of Suspect X and Robert Charles Wilson’s Vortex. And of course there is also The Elephant To Hollywood, Michael Caine’s newly updated autobiography.

Here’s the full Macmillan Audio Winter 2011 Catalog |PDF|.

Here’s a list of the SFF and Aural Noir titles it includes:

Halo: Cryptum by Greg Bear; narrators TBA; 1/4/11
The Devotion Of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino; read by David Pittu ; 2/1/11
First Grave On The Right by Darynda Jones; read by Lorelei King; 2/1/11
Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow; read by Marguerite Gavin; 2/1/11
A Heartbeat Away by Michael Palmer; read by Robert Petkoff; 2/15/11
Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan; read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading; 3/1/11
Hellhole by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson; read by Scott Brick; 3/15/11
The Trinity Sixby Charles Cumming; narrator TBA; 3/15/11
False Impression by Jeffrey Archer; read by Byron Jennings; 4/12/11
Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson; narrator TBA; 4/12/11 – DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ONLY

And while we’re at it, here’s the Macmillan Young Listener’s Winter 2011 catalogue |PDF|

In it Enclave (formerly “Razorland”) is probably the most interesting. It’s a title well positioned to capitalize on the vacuum in The Hunger Games market:

“Ann Aguirre’s highly anticipated YA debut, [introduces] listeners to 15 year-old Deuce and the apocalyptic New York City she lives in, set decades into the future. The city has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20’s. Part City Of Ember; part I Am legend; part Hunger Games; Aguirre’s compelling plot will capture those beyond the young adult audience and is certain to keep listeners glued to their earphones until the end.”

The rest of the big SFF titles are here:

Awakened by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast; read by Caitlin Davies; 1/4/11
Doctor De Soto by William Steig; read by Stanley Tucci; 1/4/11 (ONLY 32 PAGES LONG)
Death Cloud: Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Lane RECEIVED
Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon; read by Holter Graham; 3/22/11
Enclave by Ann Aguirre; read by Emily Bauer; 4/12/11 (formerly titled “RAZORLAND“)

Posted by Jesse Willis

Commentary: SFSignal Mind Meld on favourite audiobooks (and audio drama) of all time

SFFaudio Commentary

SFSignal.comJohn DeNardo, of the magnificent SFSignal blog, recently asked me to participate in another “Mind Meld.”

Here’s the topic:

“What are your favorite SF/F/H audiobooks and/or audio fiction stories of all time?”

Here’s what I wrote:

As one of the people behind SFFaudio, a website devoted to SFF in the audio format, this is about the hardest question you could possibly ask me. I can’t even begin to start ranking all the gloriously wonderful audio I’ve had the honor of listening to over the last 20 years (unless you count SFFaudio as exactly that). But, I can throw out some titles that are absolutely terrific!

Since I began listening in earnest (around 1991), and to make it manageable, I’ll limit myself to just one audiobook (or audio drama) per year (sorted by publication date). To make it even easier, I’ll list only commercial productions – we have plenty of love for podcasts and other amateur audio on SFFaudio.com. For starters check out our series called Five Free Favourites.

1991: The Best Fantasy Stories Of The Year 1989 (Dercum Audio – ISBN: 1556561431)
1992: The Wind From A Burning Woman by Greg Bear (Recorded Books) |READ OUR REVIEW|
1993: The Children Of Men by P.D. James (Recorded Books) |READ OUR REVIEW|
1994: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (Time Warner – ISBN: 9781570420528)
1995: Mind Slash Matter by Edward Wellen (Durkin Hayes) |READ OUR REVIEW|
1996: Friday by Robert A. Heinlein (Blackstone Audio – ISBN: 0786110546)
1997: Sci-Fi Private Eye ed. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg (Dercum Audio) |READ OUR REVIEW|
1998: Martian Time Slip by Philip K. Dick (Blackstone Audio) |READ OUR REVIEW|
1999: Ringworld by Larry Niven |READ OUR REVIEW|
2000: The Reel Stuff edited by Brian Thomsen and Martin H. Greenberg |READ OUR REVIEW|
2001: Minority Report And Other Stories by Philip K. Dick |READ OUR REVIEW|
2002: Two Plays For Voices by Neil Gaiman (Seeing Ear Theatre / Harper Audio) |READ OUR REVIEW|
2003: The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer |READ OUR REVIEW|
2004: Ender’s Game (25th Anniversary Edition) by Orson Scott Card |READ OUR REVIEW|
2005: The Dark Worlds Of H.P. Lovecraft Volume 1 by H.P. Lovecraft (Audio Realms) |READ OUR REVIEW|
2006: The Chief Designer by Andy Duncan (Infinivox) |READ OUR REVIEW|
2007: Blake’s 7 – Audio Adventures (Trilogy Box Set) (B7 Media) |READ OUR REVIEW|
2008: The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman (Recorded Books) |READ OUR REVIEW|
2009: Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (Audible Frontiers/Brilliance Audio ) |SFFaudio Podcast #073|
2010: The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison |READ OUR REVIEW|

Posted by Jesse Willis