FREE @ Audible.com: Any one of 50 Audiobooks (for NEW MEMBERS ONLY)

SFFaudio News

Audible.com: Summer Free Audiobook Giveaway

It seems I posted the last post a bit too quickly. Audible.com is offering any one of FIFTY audiobooks to NEW Audible.com MEMBERS. Here’s the text:

“Welcome to Audible.com’s Summer FREE Audiobook Giveaway! We’re offering some of the season’s top titles, along with a number of our best-sellers, absolutely free with no strings attached. This is your best opportunity to try an audiobook absolutely free and kick-start your summer with a great book. Choose 1 FREE audiobook on us. There is no credit card required to participate. This event ends July 2, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST.”

Titles of interest include:
METAtropolis |READ OUR REVIEW|
The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
On Basilisk Station by David Weber |READ OUR REVIEW|
Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
I Am Legend: Free Version by Richard Matheson |READ OUR REVIEW|
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
The Lion’s Game by Nelson DeMille

There are plenty of others available too. Check it out |HERE|.

There is a limit of 1 audiobook per customer. Some audiobooks may not be available outside the United States and Canada.

Addendum: If you already have an existing account you probably won’t be eligible for this deal. Click on through to find out.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #057

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #057 – Jesse and Scott talk about the recently arrived audiobooks

Talked about on today’s show:
Penguin Audio, Stephen King, Brian Murphy of The Silver Key blog, The Dark Half, The Tommyknockers, Christine, It, reading all of Stephen King’s books, Brilliance Audio, Directive 51 by John Barnes, The Stand, Hater by David Moody, “the worst sin that any book can commit”, Angelology by Danielle Trussoni, reading out loud vs. reading in your head, Lost Fleet: Victorious by Jack Campbell, Audible Frontiers, Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks, The Player Of Games, RadioArchive.cc, audio drama, State Of The Art, the GoodReads.com HARD SF group, Hard SF, space opera, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman |READ OUR REVIEW|, the phenomenon of characters named “Jack“, Jack Bauer from 24, Armor by John Steakley, “Jack Crow”, recycling the names of characters, Vampire$ by John Steakley, the hidden history of Jack, why people like 24, Jane Slayre by Charlotte Brontë and Sherri Browning Erwin, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the trend of remixing public domain classics with modern monsters, Dancing On The Head Of A Pin by Thomas E. Sniegoski, “magic sword book, with angels”, The Invention Of Lying, WWW: Wake by Robert J. Sawyer |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Dying Earth: Cugel’s Saga by Jack Vance, The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, The Android In The Iron Mask, Andre Norton, Web Of The Witch World, Year Of The Unicorn, Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, what is YA (young adult) fiction?, is YA is for adults too?, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow |READ OUR REVIEW|, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Harry Potter, Paul Bishop of the Bish’s Beat blog loves YA books!, would Dirty Harry read YA?, the ability to affect the world, The Science Of Harry Potter, riding on the coattails of another book, the Open Court Presents podcast, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale, Firefly‘s philosophy episode Objects In Space, Hitchcock And Philosophy, Alfred Hitchcock‘s Rope, Anne Is A Man, the Catholic Stuff You Should Know podcast, Dan Carlin’s HardCore History “Show 33 – (BLITZ) Old School Toughness”, Murdoch Mysteries, Corner Gas, Dog River, Saskatchewan, Connie Willis wrote a whole book about bells, Bellwether by Connie Willis, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: Blackout by Connie Willis, The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, To Say Nothing Of The Dog by Connie Willis, time travel, Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, reading about books (in books), Castle, fictional fictional characters (a great wikipedia entry), Bones, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy by Hawthorne Abendsen, is Hawthorne Abendsen supposed to be an alternate universe Robert A. Heinlein?, Colorado, “deeply nested fiction”, Ellery Queen, Dr. John Watson, Swords And Deviltry by Fritz Leiber, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Sword Of Sorcery, Blackstone Audio, The Musashi Flex by Steve Perry, Peter David, the Audio Drama Review blog, James Snowe’s review of The Zombie Astronaut’s Frequency Of Fear, W. Ralph Walters, awards, Startide Rising by David Brin |READ OUR REVIEW|, Kiln People by David Brin, Surrogates is “a big-old-fashioned-clunky-80s-action-movie”, Halfway To The Grave by Jeaniene Frost, The Twilight Zone Companion, 2nd Edition by Marc Scott Zicree, King Kong |READ OUR REVIEW|, Orson Scott Card, Dercum Audio, A Dirge For Clowntown by James Powell, Dreamsongs Vol. 1 by George R.R. Martin |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Road To Science Fiction, Science Fiction 101 (aka Worlds Of Wonder) edited by Robert Silverberg, Home Is The Hunter by Henry Kuttner, Honest Roger Belamy, New York, The Monsters by Robert Sheckley, Wonder Audio, Fondly Fahrenheit, Scanners Live In Vain by Cordwainer Smith, Little Black Bag by C.M. Kornbluth, Day Million by Frederik Pohl, perhaps the first ever singularity story, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: Pride Of Baghdad, the second Gulf War, anthropomorphic fiction, Baghdad.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals from Brilliance Audio

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Science Fiction Audiobook - Live Free or Die by John RingoLive Free Or Die
By John Ringo; Read by Mark Boyett
17 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2010

FIRST CONTACT WAS FRIENDLY

When aliens trundled a gate to other worlds into the solar System, the world reacted with awe, hope and fear. The first aliens to come through, the Glatun, were peaceful traders and the world breathed a sigh of relief.

WHO CONTROLS THE ORBITALS, CONTROLS THE WORLD

When the Horvath came through, they announced their ownership by dropping rocks on three cities and gutting them. Since then, they’ve held Terra as their own personal fiefdom. With their control of the orbitals, there’s no way to win and Earth’s governments have accepted the status quo.

LIVE FREE OR DIE

To free the world from the grip of the Horvath is going to take an unlikely hero. A hero unwilling to back down to alien or human governments, unwilling to live in slavery and with enough hubris, if not stature, to think he can win.
Fortunately, there’s Tyler Vernon. And he has bigger plans than merely getting us from under the fist of the Horvath.
Troy Rising is a book in three parts — Live Free or Die being the first part — detailing the freeing of Earth from alien conquerors, the first steps into space using off-world technologies and the creation of Troy, a thousand trillion ton battlestation designed to secure the Solar System.

 
 
Science Fiction Audiobook - Saucer: The Conquest by Stephen CoontsSaucer: The Conquest
By Stephen Coonts; Read by Eric Conger
9.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2010

After discovering the secrets of a 140,000-year-old spacecraft in Saucer, Rip Cantrell and beautiful test pilot Charley Pine think their days of high-flying extraterrestrial adventure are over. But when Pine takes up flying spaceplanes to the moon for the French lunar base project, she discovers that the project director has installed a world-threatening antigravity beam.

The French kidnap Rip’s Uncle Egg and force him to fly a saucer, hidden in Area 51, to the moon. Rip and Charley have no choice; to rescue Egg and save the world, they must steal the first saucer from its new home, the National Air and Space Museum, and hit the not-so-friendly skies again.

Stephen Coonts’s first Saucer was a smash-hit nationwide. Now the unlikely duo of Rip Cantrell and Charley Pine are back, so strap in and leave your passports behind as the fight for freedom on the new frontier begins.
 
 
Fantasy Audiobook - Where Angels Fear to Tread by Thomas E. Sniegoski border=Where Angels Fear to Tread
By Thomas E. Sniegoski; Read by Luke Daniels
9 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2010

Six-year-old Zoe York has been taken, and her mother comes to Remy for help. He thinks the cops would be a better choice—until the desperate woman shows Remy why she chose him out of all the private detectives in Massachusetts.

There are drawings. Crude childlike drawings that show Zoe’s visions of the future. Everything leading up to her abduction, and some beyond. Such as the picture of a man with wings who would come and save her—a man who is an angel. This is more than a mere kidnapping.

Zoe’s preternatural gifts have made her a target for those who wish to exploit her power for their own destructive ends. And the search takes Remy to dark places he would rather avoid. But to save an innocent, Remy will ally himself with a variety of lesser evils—and his soul may pay the price.
 
 
Science Fiction Audiobook - Fearless by Jack CampbellThe Lost Fleet: Fearless
By Jack Campbell; Read by Christian Rummel
10 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2010

Outnumbered by the superior forces and firepower of the Syndicate Worlds, the Alliance fleet continues its dangerous retreat across the enemy star system. Led by the legendary Captain John “Black Jack” Geary, who returned to the fleet after a hundred-year suspended animation, the Alliance is desperately trying to return home with its captured prize: the key to the Syndic hypernet, and the key to victory…

Geary is convinced that the Syndics are planning to ambush the fleet and finish it off once and for all. Realizing the fleet’s best (and only) chance is to do the unexpected, Geary takes the offensive and orders the fleet to the Sancere system. There, a multitude of possible routes home give the Alliance fleet a better chance of avoiding their pursuers — and an attack on the Sancere shipbuilding facilities could decimate the Syndic war effort.

Weary from endless combat, the officers and crew of the Alliance fleet can’t see the sense in charging deeper into enemy territory — prompting a mutiny that divides them and leaves Geary with higher odds against him than ever before…

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

The SFFaudio Podcast #049

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe 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

Recent Arrivals from Brilliance Audio

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Science Fiction Audiobook - Earth Abides by George R. StewartEarth Abides
By George R. Stewart; Read by Jonathan Davis
13 CDs – 15 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781441806147
|Listen to an AUDIO SAMPLE|

An instant classic upon its original publication in 1949 and winner of the first International Fantasy Award, Earth Abides ranks with On the Beach and Riddley Walker as one of our most provocative and finely wrought post-apocalyptic works of literature. Its impact is still fresh, its lessons timeless.

When a plague of unprecedented virulence sweeps the globe, the human race is all but wiped out. In the aftermath, as the great machine of civilization slowly, inexorably, breaks down, only a few shattered survivors remain to struggle against the slide into barbarism . . . or extinction.

This is the story of one such survivor, Isherwood “Ish” Williams, an intellectual loner who embraces the grim duty of bearing witness to what may be humanity’s final days. But then he finds Em, a wise and courageous woman who coaxes his stunned heart back to life and teaches him to hope again. Together, they will face unimaginable challenges as they sow the seeds of a new beginning.
 
 
Science Fiction Audiobook - Orphan Star by Alan Dean FosterOrphan Star
By Alan Dean Foster; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
7 CDs – 8 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781423395539
|Listen to AUDIO SAMPLE|

It is a strange childhood for a kid, to be adopted by the restless Mother Mastiff and raised in the bustling marketplace of Drallar. Flinx never knew the mom and dad who abandoned him years ago. In fact, his birth has always been shrouded in mystery. But Flinx eventually discovers that his unknown parents have passed along extraordinary mental powers that are both a marvelous gift and a dreaded curse.

This double-edged legacy will lead Flinx, along with his loyal protector, the mini-dragon Pip, on a harrowing journey in search of the truth . . . about who he is and where he comes from. It is a daring adventure that brings him to another world — and into the clutches of a powerful and evil man…
 
 
Science Fiction Audiobook - The Lost Fleet: Relentless by Jack CampbellThe Lost Fleet: Relentless
By Jack Campbell; Read by Christian Rummell
9 CDs – 10 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781441806390
|Listen to AUDIO SAMPLE|

Thawed out after a century of cryogenic sleep, Captain John “Black Jack” Geary has led the Alliance fleet through Syndicate Worlds space, thwarting the enemy at every turn — even within his own ranks — during the long journey home.

Alliance prisoners of war are being held at a labor camp in the Heradao Star System, which also happens to be the location of the majority of the surviving Syndic warships. Determined not to leave any of his people behind, Black Jack Geary orders the fleet to strike hard and fast to rescue the POWs with minimal Alliance losses.

The raid is successful, but victory is short-lived. Geary discovers that the Syndics plan to ambush the fleet with their powerful reserve flotilla in an attempt to annihilate it once and for all — but he doesn’t know where the enemy is located. And as Geary has the fleet jump from one star system to the next, hoping to avoid the inevitable confrontation, saboteurs contribute to the chaos…
 
Posted by Scott D. Danielson

New Releases – Allen Steele and Jack Campbell

New Releases

From a mysterious new imprint called “Audible Frontiers” (that I’ll try to find out more about) check out these new Audible.com exclusive titles including some Allen Steele novellas yum yum!

First, a Hugo Award winning novella from 1998…

…Where Angels Fear to Tread by Allen Steele…Where Angels Fear to Tread
By Allen Steele; Read by Marc Vietor
Audible Download – 2 Hours 56 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: March 2008
When two chrononauts from the 24th century travel back in time, they inadvertently disrupt the ill-fated voyage of the Hindenburg, causing it to land successfully. Now, lost in a parallel universe, their mistake will be felt by every single human being.
This title also features BONUS AUDIO: Author Allen Steele explains what convinced him to write this Hugo Award-winning novella, despite vowing never to touch the subject of time travel.

And, a Hugo Award winning novella from 1996…

The Death of Captain Future by Allen SteeleThe Death of Captain Future
By Allen Steele; Read by Marc Vietor
Audible Download – 2 Hours 6 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: March 2008
Union laborer Rohr Furland begrudgingly takes a job on a space freighter piloted by Captain Future, an immature and slightly crazed captain with an obsession for early 20th-century science-fiction novels. When they receive a distress call from a nearby space station, Furland and the first officer blend the dangers of reality into the captain’s fantasy world. This title also features BONUS AUDIO: Author Allen Steele talks about his love of pulp fiction, and its direct influence on this Hugo Award-winning novella.

And, here’s a Hugo Award Nominated novel from 2002…

Stealing Alabama by Allen SteeleStealing Alabama
By Allen Steele; Read by Marc Vietor
Audible Download – 3 Hours 8 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: March 2008
The second American Revolution has propelled the Southern-controlled United Republic of America into power, its oppressive laws enforced by the National Reform Program’s re-education camps. The citizens are suffering from a militaristic tyranny and federal extortion at the expense of an ambitious space program designed to propagate the galaxy with model citizens of the Republic. But a silent underground faction plans to commandeer a ship and make a great escape to the stars. This title also features BONUS AUDIO: Author Allen Steele explains how he drew from U.S. history to write this Hugo-nominated novella.

Next, set one-hundred-plus years into an interstellar war between two different human cultures, the protagonist of this series is discovered floating in a hibernation/escape pod one-hundred years after he made a heroic ‘last stand’ against the enemy fleet at a famous battle. In the present, he’s a renowned hero to his side and his name and actions are used to justify poor tactics and decisions. Awakened just during a secret mission that turns out to be an enemy trap, he’s suddenly dropped into the fleet commander’s chair and expected to live up to a legend that has grown to impossible levels… That sounds very cool!

Dauntless (The Lost Fleet - Book 1) by Jack CampbellDauntless (The Lost Fleet – Book 1)
By Jack Campbell; Read by Christian Rummel
Audible Download – 9 Hours 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: March 2008
The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century, and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who has emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief. Captain John “Black Jack” Geary’s legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic “last stand” in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics. Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance’s one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic “Black Jack” legend. BONUS AUDIO: Author Jack Campbell explains how the legend of King Arthur, the Greek historian Xenophon, and other writings influenced the Lost Fleet series.

Fearless (The Lost Fleet - Book 2) by Jack CampbellFearless (The Lost Fleet – Book 2)
By Jack Campbell; Read by Christian Rummel
Audible Download – 9 Hours 51 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: March 2008
Outnumbered by the superior forces and firepower of the Syndicate Worlds, the Alliance fleet continues its dangerous retreat across the enemy star system. Led by the legendary Captain John “Black Jack” Geary, who returned to the fleet after a hundred-year suspended animation, the Alliance is desperately trying to return home with its captured prize: the key to the Syndic hypernet, and the key to victory. Geary is convinced that the Syndics are planning to ambush the fleet and finish it off once and for all. Realizing the fleet’s best (and only) chance is to do the unexpected, Geary takes the offensive and orders the fleet to the Sancere system. There, a multitude of possible routes home give the Alliance fleet a better chance of avoiding their pursuers – and an attack on the Sancere shipbuilding facilities could decimate the Syndic war effort. Weary from endless combat, the officers and crew of the Alliance fleet can’t see the sense in charging deeper into enemy territory – prompting a mutiny that divides them and leaves Geary with higher odds against him than ever before. BONUS AUDIO: Author Jack Campbell describes how he brought real-world physics to the Lost Fleet series.

Courageous (The Lost Fleet - Book 3) by Jack CampbellCourageous (The Lost Fleet – Book 3)
By Jack Campbell; Read by Christian Rummel
Audible Download – 9 Hours 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: March 2008
The Alliance has been fighting a losing battle against the Syndicate Worlds for over a century. Now, Captain John “Black Jack” Geary, who returned to the fleet after a hundred-year suspended animation, must keep the Alliance one step ahead of its merciless foe. After a series of deadly engagements, the Alliance fleet is severely damaged and its arsenal is running low. Forced to halt in the Baldur Star System to raid the Syndic mines for raw materials, Geary is anxious to get moving again. But what should the fleet’s next move be? The Syndics are starting to catch on to Geary’s tactics, and as the Alliance ships jump from system to system, it’s getting harder to keep one step ahead. What’s more, Geary has started to piece fragments of intelligence together into a highly disturbing picture: the Syndics have been keeping the existence of another potential player in the war a secret – and this unknown power may have the means to annihilate the human race. BONUS AUDIO: Author Jack Campbell explains how his own background in the military shaped the Lost Fleet series.

Posted by Jesse Willis