Mike Resnick – Page 6

Review of Starship: Rebel by Mike Resnick

Sunday, February 22, 2009Monday, November 23, 2009 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Review

SFFaudio Essential Starship: Rebel
By Mike Resnick; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – 8 Hours 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 16th 2008
Themes: / Science Fiction / Space Opera / Galactic Civilization / Aliens / Rebellion / War / Military SF / Space Station /

The date is 1968 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now. The Republic, dominated by the human race, is in the midst of an all-out war with the Teroni Federation. Almost a year has passed since the events of Starship: Mercenary. Captain Wilson Cole now commands a fleet of almost fifty ships, and he has become the single greatest military force on the Inner Frontier. With one exception. The Republic still comes and goes as it pleases, taking what it wants, conscripting men, and extorting taxes, even though the Frontier worlds receive nothing in exchange. And, of course, the government still wants Wilson Cole and the starship Theodore Roosevelt. He has no interest in confronting such an overwhelming force, and constantly steers clear of them. Then an incident occurs that changes everything, and Cole declares war on the Republic. Outnumbered and always outgunned, his fleet is no match for the Republic’s millions of military vessels, even after he forges alliances with the warlords he previously hunted down. It’s a hopeless cause…but that’s just what Wilson Cole and the Teddy R. are best at.

A good audiobook can make a regular day enjoyable. A great audiobook can put a delightful spring in your step for a whole week. Starship: Rebel has made for absolutely terrific listening. As I was listening to it over the course of a week or so I’d wake up in the morning, remember that I’d still got a few hours of listening left, and smile as if I’d won the Nobel Prize for luck. I’ve heaped a lot of praise for this terrific series of audiobooks since Audible Frontiers started releasing it back in Spring 2008. The closest I’ve come to criticism has been a little humming and hawing about how the series is ‘short on ideas and originality.’ That, it feels like a better version of Star Wars. And that’s all still true, nothing in the Starship series feels anything like innovative. The weapons technology has no new ideas, the faster than light space travel relies on the same few tropes, the aliens are all Star Wars-ish. Despite this, there is an amazing feeling of being safely ensconced in the hands of a master storyteller when listening to this series. The team of writer Mike Resnick with narrator Jonathan Davis is absolutely stupendous.

With this book, Book 4, Resnick is raising the stakes by forcing Captain Cole and the crew of the Theodore Roosevelt to take on the Republic itself. And that’s good, but it isn’t everything. Resnick also pulls an unexpected maneuver – a very important character is killed about a third of the way into the novel – and that hit, a real hit, shakes up that feeling of familiarity and safety in a way that just freezing Han Solo into a block of carbonite can never do. Barring accidents I expect to be enjoying another terrific week when Starship: Flagship, the 5th and final book in the Starship series, comes out in December 2009.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #025

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #025 – Jesse and Scott are joined by Brian Murphy of The Silver Key and The Cimmerian blogs. We mostly talk about Fantasy, with a little war talk to make things manlier.

Talked about on today’s show:
Recent Arrivals, Penguin Audio, re-release of Stephen King audiobooks, Desperation, The Regulators, Thinner, Rose Madder, Joe Mantegna, Blair Brown, Kathy Bates, Kate Nelligan, the origins of the “Richard Bachman” pseudonym, Donald E. Westlake, Chapterhouse Dune, Frank Herbert, full cast narration, Macmillan Audio, Starship series, Mike Resnick, Jonathan Davis, Book Of The Road, dual narration, Elric Of Melbinone, Michael Moorcock, Audio Realms, The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman, the Canadian publishing industry, Raincoast Books, Od Magic, Patricia A. McKillip, Dreams Underfoot, Charles de Lint, cover art matters, Black Gate blog, Confessions Of A Speed Reading Instructor, “how long is a book ?”, Top 10 Fantasy Battles Of All Time, The Iliad, Homer, Recorded Books, George Guidall, the Robert Fitzgerald translation, reciting Homeric length epics (the documentary In Search Of The Trojan War), Bernard Cornwell, The Winter King, King Arthur (2004), Clive Owen, Excalibur (1981), Audio Renaissance (Macmillan Audio), Chivers Audio (BBC Audiobooks America), ISIS Audio, the Sharpe television series, George R.R. Martin, A Song Of Ice And Fire series.

King Arthur,

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals – Blish, Resnick, Metzler, Westlake

Thursday, January 29, 2009Sunday, October 4, 2009 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

A Case Of Conscience
By James Blish; Read by Jay Snyder
Audible Download – 7 Hours 55 Muinutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: November 2008
Father Ruiz-Sanchez is a dedicated man – a priest who is also a scientist, and a scientist who is also a human being. He has found no insoluble conflicts in his beliefs or his ethics…until he is sent to Lithia. There he comes upon a race of aliens who are admirable in every way except for their total reliance on cold reason; they are incapable of faith or belief.Confronted with a profound scientific riddle and ethical quandary, Father Ruiz-Sanchez soon finds himself torn between the teachings of his faith, the teachings of his science, and the inner promptings of his humanity. There is only one solution: He must accept an ancient and unforgivable heresy -and risk the futures of both worlds…

Starship: Rebel
By Mike Resnick; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – 8 Hours 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 16th 2008
The date is 1968 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now. The Republic, dominated by the human race, is in the midst of an all-out war with the Teroni Federation. Almost a year has passed since the events of Starship: Mercenary. Captain Wilson Cole now commands a fleet of almost fifty ships, and he has become the single greatest military force on the Inner Frontier. With one exception. The Republic still comes and goes as it pleases, taking what it wants, conscripting men, and extorting taxes, even though the Frontier worlds receive nothing in exchange. And, of course, the government still wants Wilson Cole and the starship Theodore Roosevelt. He has no interest in confronting such an overwhelming force, and constantly steers clear of them. Then an incident occurs that changes everything, and Cole declares war on the Republic. Outnumbered and always outgunned, his fleet is no match for the Republic’s millions of military vessels, even after he forges alliances with the warlords he previously hunted down. It’s a hopeless cause…but that’s just what Wilson Cole and the Teddy R. are best at.

The Book Of Lies
By Brad Meltzer; Read by Scott Brick
10 CDs – Approx. 11.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Published: September 2008
ISBN: 9781600243806
Cain kills Abel in Chapter Four of the Bible. It is the world’s most famous murder. But the Bible is silent about one key detail: the weapon Cain used to kill his brother. That weapon is still lost to history.
In 1932, Mitchell Siegel was killed by three gunshots to his chest. While mourning, his son dreamed of a bulletproof man and created the world’s greatest hero: Superman. And like Cain’s murder weapon, the gun used in this unsolved murder has never been found. Until now. Today in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Cal Harper comes face-to-face with his family’s greatest secret: his long-lost father, who’s been shot with a gun that traces back to Michell Siegel’s 1932 murder. But before Cal can ask a single question, he and his father are attacked by a ruthless killer tattooed with the anicent markings of Cain. And so begins the chase for the world’s first murder weapon. What does Cain, history’s greatest villain, have to do with Superman, the world’s greatest hero? And what do two murders, committed thousands of years apart, have in common?

BBC Audiobooks America (via Audible.com) - Watch Your Back by Donald E. Westlake Watch Your Back
By Donald E. Westlake; Read by William Dufris
Audible Download – 9 Hours 4 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America
Published: October 2008 (at Audible.com)
Provider: Audible.com
Hapless criminal John Dortmunder returns in another rollicking tale of disorganized crime from Grand Master of Mystery Donald E. Westlake. It’s the score of a lifetime: easy access to a lavish New York City apartment, hordes of valuables, and an absentee owner avoiding the lawyers of his unhappy ex-wives. But before they pull the job, Dortmunder’s crew is startled to find their beloved gin joint, the OJ, in the clutches of the Mafia – who consider it perfect for a little fraud, courtesy of a nice big fire. For tactical and highly superstitious reasons, the fate of the OJ is even more important to the crew than the enormous score. Now, Dortmunder and his gang are determined to split their time, fighting the mob, and robbing the rich simultaneously.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #022

The SFFaudio Podcast #022 – Jesse and Scott are guestless so they decide to talk about themselves and audio in the third person.

Talked about on today’s show:
LibriVox’s releases 1, 2, Wonder Audio, Mark Douglas Nelson, Audible.com’s “first book in a series” offer, Mike Resnick’s Starship Mutiny, Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon, Robert J. Sawyer’s Hominids, the Science Fiction Book Review Podcast, Robert J. Sawyer, Wake, Golden Fleece, multiple voice recordings, Dune, Ted Chiang (“best short story writer ever”), Exhalation, Nightshade Books, Eclipse Two, British Science Fiction Awards, Tony Smith’s StarShipSofa, The Merchant And The Alchemist’s Gate by Ted Chiang; read by James Campanella |MP3|, Gene Wolfe, The Tree Is My Hat |MP3|, Edgar Allan Poe’s 200th birthday, Wayne June‘s readings of Poe Into That Darkness Peering Vol. 1 |READ OUR REVIEW|, Mars, Usher II by Ray Bradbury, Leonard Nimoy, Tommorow’s Crimes by Donald E. Westlake, Anarchaos, Drukin Hayes, Nackles, Santa’s Twin by Dean Koontz, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein, By His Bootstraps, The Green Hills Of Earth, Gentlemen Be Seated, psychedelic William Shatner readings, Mimsy Were The Borogroves, Star Trek: New Voyages (aka Phase II), Star Trek audiobooks, Star Wars: Millennium Falcon by James Luceno; read by Mark Thompson, Star Wars: Splinter In The Minds’s Eye by Alan Dean Foster, Jonathan Davis, radio drama: Slipsteam by Simon Bovey, WWII, Fallout 3, The Adventures Of Herbert Daring Dashwood, 1950s, The Republic of Dave, Agatha’s song.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #018

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #018 – a podcast about audiobooks, audio drama, History and most of all mutiny! This is mutiny mister!

Talked about on today’s show:
One way to get around DRM (swapping iPods), Blackstone Audio arrivals, The Selected Stories Of Philip K. Dick Volume 1, The Selected Stories Of Philip K. Dick Volume 2, X-Minus One: Colony, The Days Of Perky Pat, Alpha, Catherine Asaro, Inferno, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, New Releases, Starship: Rebel, Mike Resnick, Allen Steele, Coyote, Wayne June, The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, audio drama of The Maltese Falcon, Yuri Rasovsky, The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch, The Sacred Book Of The Werewolf, Victor Pelevin, Canadia: 2056 – Season 2, Matt Watts, Steve The First, Steve The Second, sez Scott: ‘Matt Watt’s stuff is way better than Red Dwarf‘, Matt Watt’s blog entry on Canadia: 2056, Nova Swing, M. John Harrison, Tantor Media, The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan, Replay, Ken Grimwood, Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: Reopening the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles, Pierre Bayard, Pandora’s Star, Peter F. Hamilton, The DIY Scholar Blog, Stephen Pott’s UCSD Literature Of The World course on Science Fiction, LibriVox’s release of Uller Uprising, H. Beam Piper, the Sepoy Mutiny, 1984, George Orwell, what’s wrong with writers today (their works are not inspired by History), Mike Resnick’s the exception to this rule.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Starship: Mercenary by Mike Resnick

Wednesday, December 24, 2008Sunday, October 4, 2009 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Review

Starship: Mercenary, Book 3
By Mike Resnick; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – 8 Hours 37 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: April 2008
Themes: / Science Fiction / Space Opera / Galactic Civilization / Aliens / Crime / Military SF / Space Station /

Seeking to find a new life, Wilson Cole first remade the Teddy R. as a pirate ship plying the spaceways of the lawless Inner Frontier. But military discipline and honor were a poor match for a life of pillaging and plundering, and Cole’s principles naturally limited his targets. Seeking a better way of life, the Teddy R. becomes a mercenary ship, hiring out to the highest bidder. Whether it’s evacuating a hospital before war can reach it, freeing a client from an alien prison, or stopping a criminal cartel from extorting money from a terrified planet, the crew of the Teddy R. proves equal to the task. Along the way they form a partnership with the once human Platinum Duke, team up with a former enemy, and make the unique Singapore Station their headquarters. But the life of a mercenary is not always predictable, and eventually circumstance pits Cole and the Teddy R. against his right-hand woman, the former Pirate Queen known as the Valkyrie. Soon the fragile trust that has grown between these two legends is put to the test as they find themselves on opposite sides of a job.

I’m gobbling up this terrific series like a yummy gummy candy. I can’t recommend it highly enough for space opera fans looking for a less restrictive and less incestuous version of the venerable Star Wars universe. Resnick uses all the tropes of space opera without creating any real new ones. This makes this a series without a lot of deep thoughts. But, that doesn’t mean its a series without value. The characters and scenarios are as compelling as hell, and with each book in the series Resnick has added at least one fascinating new crew member to join the vagabond gang of mutineers. Val (Valkyrie), a brash pirate whose mighty physical prowess is only matched by her joined the show in book two, as did David Copperfield, an alien who insists he’s the Dickens character (and that Captain Wilson Cole is his schoolboy chum “Steerforth”). In book three, this book, the two and a half characters from the first book: chief of security Sharon Blacksmith, alien engineer “Slick” (and his symbiotic “gorib” skin) get short shrift in order to make room for the added notable book 3 characters: a canny cyborg space station owner named the “Platinum Duke,” and an honorable enemy alien starship captain, once Wilson’s greatest enemies.

The prior to books in this series should probably be read first (and they are also available via Audible Frontiers). They set up the story line of the wandering Navy hero who got himself exiled. Now, as mutineers with a bounty on all their heads, and with their stolen powerful (but elderly) naval warship they try to make a living however they can (without actually breaking their captain’s moral code). Piracy and mercenary work with a moral code? Hard to do, but Cole and company pull it off – at least most of the time.

Like the first two books in this Audible exclusive audiobook series, Starship: Mercenary begins with an informative introduction by Resnick himself (this continues with the recently released Book 4). Narrator Jonathan Davis has narrated more than 30 Star Wars audiobooks. This is just his third book in this series, but he has given each of the dozen or so characters their own unique voices, keeping track of how he did the old ones and adding a few more distinctive new ones for this terrific adventure. As with the previous novels, much of the story is told through the words of the characters. Resnick makes every word count, and Davis does the same. There’s not one word of filler from either artist. The plot and descriptions are almost completely delivered via dialogue – one doesn’t even notice that the visual descriptions of nearly everything is virtually absent – it just doesn’t seem to matter when you’re making those images appear in your mind.

Posted by Jesse Willis