Tag: magic

Billy: Messenger of Powers by Michaelbrent Collings

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Look what popped into my spam folder (addressed to “undisclosed-recipients”):

Looking for a break from studying, research, work, the whole bit?

Would you like to read a book that is as good as – or better than – Harry Potter? Eragon? Twilight? Fablehaven?

How about if it is GUARANTEED… you don’t like it, you don’t pay.

At www.whoisbillyjones.com, that is EXACTLY what you get. BILLY: MESSENGER OF POWERS is the story of a high school student thrust into the world of the Powers – you or I would call them witches – when he discovers that he may be the key to victory in the upcoming war between Dawnwalkers and Darksiders.

I’ve just started listening to this audiobook. So far it is both well narrated and well written! A reference to “patriot missles” in the first chapter makes me think it was written about twenty years ago but that’s not the only thing that’s retro. Sadly, to make the site the Billy-crew seems to have used a frightful mid-1990s website template. The only thing missing from the site is a spinning GIF. It’s got music, sparkly purple mouse trails, a whimsical EULA and a color scheme right out of the heyday of GeoCities. But nowhere amongst all of the goo-gaws can you find the most important feature for a self published audiobook … a podcast feed!

So in the interest of usability I’ve made one (two actually because HuffDuffer has a 20 file max per feed). Here’s the skinny…

Billy: Messenger Of Powers by Michaelbrent CollingsBilly: Messenger Of Powers
By Michaelbrent Collings; Read by Andy Bowyer
32 MP3 Files or HuffDuffer Podcasts – Approx. 16 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: WhoIsBillyJones.com
Published: 2009
Billy: Messenger Of Powers is the story of a high school student thrust into the world of the Powers – you or I would call them witches – when he discovers that he may be the key to victory in the upcoming war between Dawnwalkers and Darksiders.

HuffDuffer podcast feed (Part I):

http://huffduffer.com/tags/billy%3A_messenger_of_powers_parti/rss

HuffDuffer iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE| (Part I)

HuffDuffer podcast feed (Part II):

http://huffduffer.com/tags/billy%3A_messenger_of_powers_partii/rss

HuffDuffer iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE| (Part II):

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 4: The Three Knots

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Radio Times - Afternoon Play: The Three Knots - reviewed by Jane AndersonBBC Radio 4Next Tuesday BBC Radio 4’s Afternoon Play is The Three Knots. This atmospheric drama is set against the backdrop of the “Disruption” during which Scotland’s church split in two. It’s inspired by a real community who, having been refused any land to worship on by the laird, commissioned a floating kirk which they harboured in Loch Sunart.

BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Play: The Three KnotsAfternoon Play: The Three Knots
By Linda Cracknell; Performed by a full cast
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 / Afternoon Play
Broadcast: December 22, 2009 @14:15-15:00
Drama about faith and the supernatural by Linda Cracknell, set in 19th-century Scotland. Two men stranded on a mountain on a stormy December night meet a mysterious old woman who believes she can control the elements.

Cast:
Angus …… Finn den Hertog
Thomas …… Robert Jack
Old Woman …… Gerda Stevenson
Elizabeth …… Hannah Donaldson
Minister …… Jimmy Chisholm

Directed by Kirsty Williams

Sez the author, Linda Cracknell, on her blog:

I spent two days at the end of last week at the BBC in Glasgow to sit in on the recording of my new play The Three Knots. It was great fun to return to that world after several years away. I heard the words I had hounded down and harnessed through numerous drafts springing into new life, was awed that they could mobilise five actors, a Director, three audio staff, an administrator and a whole world of electronic sound effects into a collaborative act of creation. To witness the nuances of meaning and subtext teased out through the sensibilities of the actors and Director; to remember that fewer words often mean more power; and to find that a terrifying storm can be invoked by layerings of sound, is a huge privilege. For the solitary fiction writer, this is a radically different, and a most exciting way of working.

The Three Knots is the realisation of an idea seeded at least three years ago when, while looking through back copies of the Scots magazine in the National Library of Scotland for something else, I stumbled upon an engraving of a remarkable vessel arriving on Loch Sunart in the West Highlands in 1846. It remained anchored there for ten years, and played a highly significant role in the spiritual and political life of the local community. I was intrigued. I have written about how it captivated me before, here. I walked the hills there, and started to inhabit the place with my imagined characters, until they grew, gathered to themselves relationships, conflicts, mythical associations, and so shaped a story.

Sounds like it might be good eh?

[Thanks Roy!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Fantasy Audiobook - Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon SandersonAlcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
By Brandon Sanderson; Read by Charlie McWade
6 Hours, 15 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2008
Themes: / Fantasy / YA / Talent / Magic /

I have to admit, I bought the book when it first came out, because I like the author and I like the premise. But, since I am visually impaired, I had to wait for the audiobook. It was worth the wait.

What appealed to me about the book?

First, it’s a book about a cult of EVIL LIBRARIANS. I love librarians. I have friends who are librarians. I have two library cards. But still… the idea makes me smile. And that was before I read the book.

Second, the first sentence of the book is: “So, there I was, tied to an altar made from out-dated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians.”

Third, Alcatraz Smedry, the protagonist of the book, claims to be the true author. Brandon Sanderson is a pseudonym used to publish the book in Libraria – the lands controlled by the evil librarians.

So, I was already bouncing on my chair at the prospect of finally getting to hear the book… Would it live up to its promise? I’ll let you read to the end before I answer that one. Because, like Alcatraz Smedry, I’m not always a nice person. Hehehe

Alcatraz, the narrator, has a running commentary around chapters. He comments on the story as he goes along. Delightful asides that enlighten and entertain as the story goes along. When Smedry mentioned Heisenberg, my inner geek was happy.

On Alcatraz’ 13th birthday, he receives a box of sand, sent 13 years ago by his parents. As he had a knack for causing damage, he also burns down the kitchen of his foster parents’ house and is told he will once again be taken from one foster family and sent to live with another. The next day, his grandfather, who is always running late, shows up to keep Alcatraz’ inheritance from falling into the hands of the evil librarians. Too late. The sand is gone.

Thus begins Alcatraz’ adventures. He learns that Smedries have powerful talents. Alcatraz breaks things. His grandfather, Leavenworth, is late. His cousin, Sing Sing, falls down. His other cousin, Quentin, speaks gibberish. Why are these powerful magical talents? Read the book. (Told you I wasn’t very nice.)

Alcatraz, his grandfather, cousins, and his grandfather’s bodyguard, Bastille, have to sneak into the City Library, a powerful building filled with evil librarians to get it back before they can turn the sand into powerful, magical glasses.

Trust me. It just gets better from here. Wait until you meet the dinosaurs!

The book is a middle grade reader, written for 5th – 7th graders, but I, a female over 40, LOVED the book. I am now a fan of Alcatraz and will get EVERY Alcatraz book and audiobook. And tell all my friends to get the books, too.

The book is refreshingly quirky, action-filled and absolutely delightful. On a scale of 1-10, I give it an 11. Charlie McWade does an awesome job of bringing Alcatraz to life.

Listen to the audiobook. Make your friends listen. Give them to your kids. Give them to your friends’ kids. This is a book the entire family can enjoy. Trust me. Don’t let the evil librarians win. Buy the book and the audiobook. Then buy the sequel. You’ll thank me for it. I promise.

Posted by Charlene C. Harmon

BBC Radio 4: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz RADIO DRAMA

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Radio Times - The Saturday Play - The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz reviewed by Jane AndersonBBC Radio 4Do you like your roads yellow bricked?

Do you prefer your lions cowardly?

How about your scarecrows?

You like them brainless right?

I knew you did.

BBC Radio 4 - The Saturday Play - The Wonderful Wizard Of OzThe Wonderful Wizard Of Oz
Based on the novel by L. Frank Baum; Adapted by Linda Marshall; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 1 Hour [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 / Saturday Play
Broadcast: December 19, 2009 @ 14:30-15:30
When a tornado strikes her farmhouse in Kansas, young Dorothy is lifted to the magical world of Oz, where she embarks upon a perilous journey to find her way back home.

Cast:
Dorothy …… Amelia Clarkson
Wizard of Oz/Kalidah/Uncle Henry …… Jonathan Keeble
Scarecrow …… Kevin Eldon
Tinman …… Burn Gorman
Lion …… Zubin Varla
Witch of the North/South/West/Aunt Em …….Emma Fielding
King Monkey/Miner …… Andrew Westfield
Munchkin/Gatekeeper …… Graeme Hawley

With Original Music by Olly Fox

Directed by Nadia Molinari

First published in the USA in 1900, and constantly in print since then, L. Frank Baum’s novel of Kansas and another world is the first in a series of 14 books that have entered the public domain in the USA. Though there have been many adaptations – most notably the 1939 film, radio dramatizations have been few and far between.

Incidentally, TellTaleWeekly.org, a website I shamefully haven’t mentioned in a few years, has an excellent DRM-free audiobook version of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz available for download (and it’s cheap @ just $6.00). |READ OUR REVIEW|

Audiobook fans who prefer the simplicity and immediacy of a LibriVox audiobook should also take note of the all public domain edition of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz available for FREE over on LibriVox.org!

[Thanks to the man behind the curtain, Roy!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Allan’s Wife by H. Rider Haggard

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxYou can make a good case for the sexism in old books. Just look at the Book of Genesis: Lot’s Wife. Noah’s Wife. These are the ladies so oppressed that they didn’t even deserve names. However, I think we can attribute what looks like the exact came same kind of sexism in titling Allan’s Wife more to marketing than anything else. This is, after all, the third novel in the Allan Quatermain series. And it’s not actually very much about his wife, at least at the start. It tells more tales of Quatermain’s time in South Africa, his observations about two dueling witchdoctors (they use their magic to control lighting), his father’s death, and eventually the fate of his wife. For the record Allan Quatermain’s wife (of the title) is named “Stella Carson.” Come to think of it, some clever writer could probably do a whole series of YA books called The Adventures Of Allanah Quatermain (perhaps a secret grandaughter?). Until then…

LibriVox - Allan's Wife by H. Rider HaggardAllan’s Wife
By H. Rider Haggard; Read by Elaine Tweddle
15 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 49 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: December 2009

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/3718

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to mim@can and James Christopher]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Poison Sleep by T.A. Pratt

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Fantasy Audiobook - Poison Sleep by T.A. PrattPoison Sleep (A Marla Mason Novel)
By T.A. Pratt; Read by Jessica Almasy
9 Hours, 41 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: 2009
Themes: / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / Magic / Crime /

This is the second Marla Mason novel from T. A. Pratt, yet you don’t need to have read the first book to appreciate this one. Marla is once again back in her home town of Felport. Marla is the chief Sorcerer of the city and she works to keep all the other sorcerers in the city in line. A thankless job. Part crime boss, part superhero. At her side is her somewhat reluctant friend, Rondeau. He’s not one to back down from danger, but the toilets in his night club need unblocking and Marla should really learn to do her own laundry. And shopping. And driving. She could use a Personal Assistant.

Freshly escaped from the Blackwing institute is a prisoner, Genevieve, who has been asleep for the last fifteen years. The Blackwing Institute is a prison that holds criminally insane sorcerers. You know, those that want to kill everyone in sacrifice to their own gods, or others that are a danger to the normal people who don’t believe in magic. Genevieve isn’t a criminal though. But she is unimaginably dangerous as her dreams affect reality. Unfortunately she has a lot of nightmares, so being catatonic for the last decade and a half has been a good thing for everyone else.

As Marla and Rondeau try to find Genevieve, there is also a rouge assassin somewhere in town stalking his prey. And one of her sorcerer isn’t answering her calls. Genevieve is affecting the city more and more. It is a race to reach her when she next appears out of her dream realm and starts changing the city.

Marla is a kick-in-the-door and subdue everyone kinda woman. She’s very strong and not afraid of a fight. The subtler side of negotiations sometimes elude her, particularly if they require much in the way of patience.

Although Genevieve’s story is tragic and disturbing, this is a fun story and Jessica Almasy carries you smoothly into the winter of Marla’s snow-bound Felport.

If you love your urban fantasy, hold the vampires and werewolves,
you’ll enjoy Poison Sleep.

Posted by Paul [W] Campbell