music – Page 7 – SFFaudio

The Music Of Erich Zann by H.P. Lovecraft

Friday, August 19, 2011 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Music Of Erich Zann is one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most popular short stories (it runs just 3,450 words).

The Music Of Erich Zann - illustration by Andrew Brosnatch

Here are the opening lines:

“I have examined maps of the city with the greatest care, yet have never again found the Rue d’Auseil. These maps have not been modern maps alone, for I know that names change. I have, on the contrary, delved deeply into all the antiquities of the place, and have personally explored every region, of whatever name, which could possibly answer to the street I knew as the Rue d’Auseil. But despite all I have done, it remains an humiliating fact that I cannot find the house, the street, or even the locality, where, during the last months of my impoverished life as a student of metaphysics at the university, I heard the music of Erich Zann.

That my memory is broken, I do not wonder; for my health, physical and mental, was gravely disturbed throughout the period of my residence in the Rue d’Auseil, and I recall that I took none of my few acquaintances there. But that I cannot find the place again is both singular and perplexing; for it was within a half-hour’s walk of the university and was distinguished by peculiarities which could hardly be forgotten by any one who had been there. I have never met a person who has seen the Rue d’Auseil.

The Rue d’Auseil lay across a dark river bordered by precipitous brick blear-windowed warehouses and spanned by a ponderous bridge of dark stone. It was always shadowy along that river, as if the smoke of neighboring factories shut out the sun perpetually. The river was also odorous with evil stenches which I have never smelled elsewhere, and which may some day help me to find it, since I should recognize them at once. Beyond the bridge were narrow cobbled streets with rails; and then came the ascent, at first gradual, but incredibly steep as the Rue d’Auseil was reached.”

And the Rue d’Auseil, by the way, translates to “street of the threshold” – most appropriate.

Public domain:

The Music Of Erich Zann
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Cameron Halket
1 |MP3| – Approx. 19 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 19, 2008
|ETEXT|
A student of philosophy is forced, by lack of funds, to to take lodgings in a run down rooming house in a strange part of Paris. First published in National Amateur (March 1922), then later in the May 1925 issue of Weird Tales.

Creative Commons:

Episode #100 – The Music Of Erich Zann
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by B.J. Harrison
1 |MP3| – Approx. 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Pseudopod
Podcast: July 25th, 2008

Commercial audiobook:

The Dark Worlds Of H.P. Lovecraft, Volume 4: The Rats In The Walls, The Shunned House, The Music Of Eric Zann
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Wayne June
3 CDs – 2 Hours 41 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Realms
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1897304242
|READ OUR REVIEW|

Discussion:

Episode #23 – The Music Of Erich Zann
Participants Chris Lackey, Chad Fifer and Andrew Leman
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [DISCUSSION]
Podcaster: H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast
Podcast: September 12, 2010

Other:

The Music Of Erich Zann

There is a very good comics adaptation, by writer Roy Thomas and artist Johnny Craig, done for issue #5 (June 1970) of Marvel Comics’ Chamber Of Darkness (the title was changed to The Music From Beyond).

Here’s a disturbingly wordless stop motion animation adaptation:

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Song Bird from RRCA

Saturday, July 30, 2011Saturday, July 30, 2011 Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Song Bird
Starring Kelli O’Hara, Shirley Jones, and Ed Asner
2 CDs – 2 Hours – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Radio Repertory Company of America
Published: 2011
Themes: / Audio Drama / Science Fiction / Music / Precognition / Private Investigator /

I know the Radio Repertory Company of America best for the Anne Manx series. I’m a fan of those entertaining comic book dramas (|SFFaudio Review|) so I’m always thrilled when they send me something.

Before they get back to Manx, Angelo Panetta and crew offer Song Bird, a standalone science fiction audio drama. The story opens with a singer named Maureen Barnett (Kelli O’Hara) singing in an out of the way lounge. This is odd because she’s famous and should be singing in front of huge crowds. Amelia Storm (Shirley Jones) is also a singer and she’s got something to give Maureen – the ability to see the future. The gift immediately becomes a burden as Maureen sees disturbing things about her teenage daughter. The story then shifts into a higher gear when the things that worry Maureen actually take place and she’s forced to hire a private investigator to help her find her daughter.

After listening to this production, and so many other audio dramas over the years, I continue to be impressed by RRCA. The quality of the actors is one of the things that set RRCA’s productions apart. The actors here are excellent. Ed Asner plays a retired police officer turned private investigator, and is hilarious. Asner and Shirley Jones together are a delight and I wanted to hear more of them when it was over. First rate performances all around.

The second mark of an RRCA production is the quality of the sound. Music plays a large role here, and Kelli O’Hara and Shirley Jones sound great. Great care is taken with sound effects and background music. I urge you to grab a nice pair of headphones and give this production your full attention! It’s well worth your time. Enjoy!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

The SFFaudio Podcast #076 – READALONG: Mindswap by Robert Sheckley

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #076 – Jesse talks with Gregg Margarite, Julie Davis and Luke Burrage about Robert Sheckley’s 1966 novel Mindswap.

Talked about on today’s show:
Blackstone Audiobooks audiobook edition of Mindswap by Robert Sheckley, The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley, Rick Jackson’s Wonder Audio version of The Status Civilization, Marvin, existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre, Søren Kierkegaard and Martin Heidegger, Mars, swapping minds vs. swapping bodies, xenophiles, “metaphoric deformation”, one of the greatest scenes of comedy ever in a novel, mind vs. body, mind vs. brain, consciousnesses and memories, Mindswap is “a subversive ontological satire,” Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, extracting sunlight from a cucumber, “theory of searches”, existentialism for a Science Fiction audience, Voltaire’s Candide, Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, balance is superfluous, “contemplation is the most direct form of involvement (and so it is avoided by everyone)”, Bertrand Russell, New York, solipsism, cognitive dissonance, Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court, Future Shock by Alvin Toffler, Chekhov’s gun, comedic soliloquies, speaking with a lisp, the twisted world, the interventionist fallacy, the authorial sting, “the ripe greenness of her ovipositors”, Luke defends the honour of the name Kathy, Marvin The Paranoid Android vs. Marvin The Martian, Roland Barthes, absurdity is funny, a pseudo-Gulliver’s Travels, the mechanics of the humor, Gregg’s top five written objects, Laputa, “the pinnacle of satire”, A Modest Proposal, “everything is bullshit”, Dr. Jeykll And Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (our next readalong), Dracula, Lair Of The White Worm, Ken Russell, Gothic, On The Buses, Africa, “Africa? Where do you mean in Africa?”, Namibia vs. South Africa, Kilimanjaro vs. Everest, a set can’t be a member of itself, “it’s all a big giant steaming pile of absurdity” vs. “the glory and excitement of being alive”, monsignors vs. bishops, “you’re just not in our target market”, “I don’t believe what someone believes has to be true or not”, spiritual experiences vs. explanations of them, there’s a helmet for that (spiritual experiences), the charismatic formula, true vs. honest, Luke’s blog post on spiritual experiences and atheism, Thomas Aquinas, “truth is relative”, Gregg has big sets!, Julie is completely talk-able, Margaret Atwood history denier, the Apollo missions, making stupid easier, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a great aggregator , Glenn Beck’s snakedance, smart people are making the universe complex, “the enemy of nuance” vs. “the enemy of history”, rejecting reality, why they argued with Jefferson, their totally alienable, “this is why I watch 30 Rock“, Kids In The Hall, you have the potential of niche markets, ‘the United States is the greatest country in the world (with the greatest failures and great achievements)’, nobody cares about Africa (or South America), not knowing the Prime Minister of Canada vs. not knowing the Governor of Guam, Peter F. Hamilton’s latest book, a bunch of fun loving existentialists, Sheckley’s short stories, City by Clifford D. Simak (it has conflict), Sheckley at his best is Voltaire and soda (or Voltaire and tonic), Flannery O’Connor, the keyword game, Earth Abides by George R. Stewart, art and craft are the same thing, craftsmen aren’t artists, I Hate Music, “I’m NOT tone deaf!”, Charlie Parker, iTunes=music, mp3=music, “it’s like I’m gay and I’m the only one”, This Is Your Brain On Music, Gregg is too emphatic (?), “I – do not – sound – like – William Shatner.”, Weird Al Yankovic, “my guitar is the best girlfriend I ever had.”

Galaxy June 1965 - MINDSWAP by Robert Sheckley - Cover

Galaxy June 1965 - MINDSWAP by Robert Sheckley - Page 7

Galaxy June 1965 - MINDSWAP - Page 9

Galaxy June 1965 - MINDSWAP by Robert Sheckley - Page 27

Galaxy June 1965 - MINDSWAP by Robert Sheckley - Page 53

Galaxy June 1965 - MINDSWAP by Robert Sheckley - Pages 67 and 85

DELL - Mindswap by Robert Sheckley

Posted by Jesse Willis Become a Patron!

Commentary: I Hate Music

Thursday, September 23, 2010Sunday, October 24, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Commentary

This post is off topic to our general subject. It was originally written in 2008, but was never posted because it was so off-topic. Sadly, it keeps having to be re-written as private emails. I have decided to save myself writing it over and over again.

How shall I put this? I might as well say I hate puppies and rainbows as say it. But it is the truth so I’ll just come right out and say it.

I hate music.

Can we still be friends? I’m being honest here.

For as long as I can remember I’ve hated music. I certainly didn’t always classify my feelings as hate. I had a mixture of emotions: Indifference, perplexity, boredom. Now I classify that entire block of feelings all as hate. Now hate is a pretty strong word. But I think it’s justifiable. See, it’s hate because music is a block in my path towards whatever isn’t music.

It isn’t that there isn’t any music I appreciate. There is, but I feel like I’m the world’s only homosexual living in a 100% heterosexual world. If it isn’t funny, isn’t literary, if it isn’t connected to some emotional or visual memory already in me, I just refuse to music. Music without those things honestly bores the shit out of me and always has. And I feel utterly alone in this. Apparently there is a psychological condition called, melophobia. It’s sufferers reportedly have symptoms of:

“breathlessness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying, becoming mad or losing control, a sensation of detachment from reality or a full blown anxiety attack.”

But I have none of those symptoms. I simply become annoyed and seek to turn off the offending noise. There isn’t a Wikipedia entry on melophobia, so it can’t be very common. Apparently Sigmund Freud had the same reaction to music. That’s one thing we have in common.

Everyone else seems to love or at least like music to some degree or other, and I really just don’t. It isn’t that I haven’t tried to like music. I have, I’ve tried over and over and over again. I even attempted to learn to play an instrument (a dismal failure). I tried listening to music – like all my friends did – but I never really connected with it the way almost everyone else seems to have. As a kid, when my peers were ooh-ing and aww-ing about the latest Michael Jackson song or carving “Def Leppard” into their desks, I’d be rebelling by reading books. I also discovered a few audio dramas as a kid.

I did listen to music. But it was never something I did with any zest. I’d listen to Weird Al Yankovic, Cream or The Beatles. I enjoyed the humor in Yankovic’s songs, his making fun of regular music, I loved the literary references in Cream songs and I loved everything about The Beatles. I connected with a few bands here and there, a few songs here or there, but my general disdain for music never felt at all normal. A couple friends of mine grew up to be professional musicians. One of them didn’t write lyrics (or when he did it wasn’t with enthusiasm). I hate his music. My other friend did write lyrics, and I can connect with his song lyrics. They have his sense of humor and his personality. Listening to his music is like spending time with him. It’s the personal connection in the lyrics – the shared experiences. But everyone I know, even people who don’t listen to music often – still claim to love music – as a kind of general thing. I never did.

In my youthful attempts to become “normal” I went to concerts.

Barenaked Ladies (middling funny music – but why watch them play it?)

Lenny Kravitz (utterly sucked – I’ll pay not to go again!)

Concerts all seemed more like a punishment than pleasure to me.

I have friends who are musicians, I have musicians in my family. I just don’t get the appeal of music.

One strange thing though, I’ve found I can connect with music that appears on screen. No problem there. I like Clannad from watching Robin Of Sherwood, and Vangelis from Blade Runner, and even the lyric-less Tangerine Dream from some of Michael Mann’s movies. Even classical music can work for me, Wagner from Apocalypse Now. But sitting down and listening to music? Guh.

I think the way I can best explain my relationship to music is by analogy. I see music as color in comic books. Its nice, it can enhance an image, but without the bold inks, without the story, and the word balloons it is an utter nothing. To get what I’m saying, think of yourself sitting around with your friends staring at colour chips – everyone else loves the colours, thinks they’re worth starting at for hours on end. Does that sound fun to you? That’s how it feels to me when I try to just listen to music – it’s an intellectual desert.

This is probably one of the reasons I’m so passionate about audiobooks.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals: Blackstone Audio

Saturday, August 28, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Here’s stack of new Blackstone Audio audiobooks! We’ve talked about them on the podcast, now have a gander at the art!

Which of these have you heard? Which are you planning to hear? And, in which order?

First up, an audiobook I’m going to try to get us reading for an SFFaudio Readalong…

Mindswap
By Robert Sheckley; Read by Tom Weiner
4 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 4.3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 1441736476 (CD), 9781441736505 (mp3-cd)
Interstellar travel to alien worlds is too expensive for Marvin, a college student in need of a good vacation. And so he signs up for what he can afford: a mind swap, in which his consciousness is swapped into the body of an alien life-form. Unfortunately, Marvin finds himself in the body of an interstellar criminal—a body that he has to vacate, fast. But that criminal consciousness has stolen Marvin’s earthly body. Now Marvin has to find a body on the black market just to stay alive! Travel with Marvin from world to world, each one crazier than the last, as he keeps finding far-from-ideal bodies in awful situations.

Next, in the tradition of Pride And Prejudice And Zombies comes…

Jayne Slayre (The Literary Classic…with a Blood-Sucking Twist)
By Charlotte Brontë and Sherri Browning Erwin; Read by Rosalyn Landor
12 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 14.2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9781441752185 (cd), 9781441752192 (mp3-cd)
Raised by vampyre relatives, Jane grows to resent the lifestyle’s effect on her upbringing. No sunlight, keeping nighttime hours, and a diet of bloody red meat is no way for a mortal girl to live. Things change for Jane when the ghost of her uncle visits her, imparts her parents’ slayer history, and charges her with the responsibility of striking out to find others of her kind and learn the slayer ways. After trying her luck at a school full of zombies, Jane finds a position as a governess, where she meets and falls in love with Mr. Rochester. But evil strikes in the form of Mr. Rochester’s first wife, a violent werewolf he keeps locked in the attic. Jane departs to study the slayer tradition with her cousins, but finds herself yearning to reunite with Mr. Rochester. She returns to find that Mr. Rochester has been bitten by the werewolf, and only she can release him from his curse.

Fourth, here’s the 4th audiobook in Wellington’s vampire series…

23 Hours – A Vengeful Vampire Tale
By David Wellington; Read by Bernadette Dunne
8 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2010
ISBN: 9781441743213 (cd), 9781441743244 (mp3-cd)
When vampire hunter Laura Caxton is locked up in a maximum-security prison, the cop-turned-con finds herself surrounded by countless murderers and death-row inmates with nothing to lose and plenty of time to kill. Caxton’s always been able to watch her own back—even when it’s against a cell-block wall. But soon she learns that an even greater threat has slithered behind the bars to join her. Justinia Malvern, the world’s oldest living vampire, has taken up residence, and her strength grows by the moment as she raids the inmate population like an all-you-can-drink open bar of fresh blood. The crafty old vampire knows just how to pull Caxton’s strings, too, and she’s issued an ultimatum that Laura can’t refuse. Now Laura has just 23 hours to fight her way through a gauntlet of vampires, cons, and killers.

More than exciting!

More Than Human
By Theodore Sturgeon; Read by Stefan Rudnicki and Harlan Ellison
7 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: June 2010
ISBN: 9781433275111 (cd), 9781433275142 (mp3-cd)
In this genre-bending novel, among the first to have launched science fiction into literature, a group of remarkable social outcasts band together for survival and discover that their combined powers render them superhuman. There’s Lone, the simpleton who can hear other people’s thoughts; Janie, who moves things without touching them; and the teleporting twins, who can travel ten feet or ten miles. There’s Baby, who invented an antigravity engine while still in the cradle, and Gerry, who has everything it takes to run the world except for a conscience. Separately, they are talented freaks. Together, they may represent the next step in evolution—or the final chapter in the history of the human race. As they struggle to find whether they are meant to help humanity or destroy it, Sturgeon explores questions of power and morality, individuality and belonging.

After my review of Hater |READ OUR REVIEW| I’m kind of surprised to see this, its sequel, Dog Blood, sitting here in my hands.

Dog Blood
By David Moody; Read by Gerard Doyle
8 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: June 2010
ISBN: 9781441740489 (cd), 9781441740496 (mp3-cd)
The Earth has been torn apart. Everyone is either Human or Hater. Victim or killer. Major cities have become vast refugee camps where human survivors cower together in fear. Amidst this indiscriminate fighting and killing, Danny McCoyne is on a mission to find his daughter, Ellis. Free of inhibitions, unrestricted by memories of the previous world, and driven by instinct, children are pure Haters, and might well be the deciding factor in the future of the Hater race. But as McCoyne makes his way into the heart of human territory, an incident on the battlefield sets in place an unexpected chain of events, forcing him to question everything he believes he knows about the new order that has arisen, and the dynamic of the Hate itself.

Like, Jane Slayre (above), this is a kind of mash-up novel, and perhaps the strangest of its kind yet…

Paul Is Undead – The British Zombie Invasion
By Alan Goldsher; Read by Simon Vance
7 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: June 2010
ISBN: 9781441764225 (cd), 9781441764232 (mp3-cd)
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to really meet the Beatles. This is a delightfully gory retelling of the Beatles’ U.S. tour that reimagines the Liverpool foursome as bloodthirsty zombies who take over the world…literally! For John Lennon, a young, idealistic zombie guitarist with dreams of global domination, Liverpool seems the ideal place to form a band that could take over the world. In an inspired act, Lennon kills and reanimates local rocker Paul McCartney, kicking off an unstoppable partnership. With the addition of newly zombified guitarist George Harrison and drummer/Seventh Level Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, the Beatles soon cut a swath of bloody good music and bloody violent mayhem across Europe, America, and the entire planet. In this searing oral history, discover how the Fab Four climbed to the Toppermost of the Poppermost while stealing the hearts, ears, and brains of smitten teenage girls. Learn the tale behind a spiritual journey that resulted in the dismemberment of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Marvel at the seemingly indestructible quartet’s survival of a fierce attack by Eighth Level Ninja Lord Yoko Ono. And find out how the boys escaped eternal death at the hands of England’s greatest zombie hunter, Mick Jagger. Through all this, one mystery remains: Can the Beatles sublimate their hunger for gray matter, remain on top of the charts, and stay together for all eternity? After all, three of the Fab Four are zombies, and zombies live forever.

Urban Fantasy alert! Here’s a chunky sized audiobook that’s part of the “Newford” series…

Widdershins
By Charles de Lint; Read by Kate Reading
17 CDs or 2 MP3-CD – Approx. 20.4 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: July 2010
ISBN: 9781441750419 (cd), (mp3-cd)
Ever since Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell were introduced in De Lint’s first Newford story, “Timeskip,” back in 1989, their friends and readers alike have been waiting for them to realize that they belong together. Now, in Widdershins, a stand-alone novel of fairy courts set in shopping malls and the Bohemian street scene of Newford’s Crowsea area, Jilly and Geordie’s story is finally being told. Before it’s over, we’ll find ourselves plunged into the rancorous and sometimes violent conflict between the magical North American “animal people” and the more newly-arrived fairy folk. We’ll watch as Jilly is held captive in a sinister world based on her own worst memories—and Geordie, attempting to help, is sent someplace even worse. And we’ll be captivated by the power of love and determination to redeem ancient hatreds and heal old magics gone sour.

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection 027

Monday, February 15, 2010Thursday, April 8, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

This new LibriVox collection of short SF has a few tales worthy of your ears. H. Beam Piper’s Weird Tales story, Dearest, is interesting and very Piper. The morality of it though is actually rather unnerving – and I’m not at all sure that that was intentional.

Short Science Fiction Collection 027
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
Science Fiction is speculative literature that generally explores the consequences of ideas which are roughly consistent with nature and scientific method, but are not facts of the author’s contemporary world. The stories often represent philosophical thought experiments presented in entertaining ways. Protagonists typically “think” rather than “shoot” their way out of problems, but the definition is flexible because there are no limits on an author’s imagination. The reader-selected stories presented here were written prior to 1962 and became US public domain texts when their copyrights expired.

Podcast feed:
http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-027.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Dearest
By H. Beam Piper; Read by Ric F
1 |MP3| – Approx. 41 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
Colonel Ashley Hampton is an veteran of many battles. Now, in his golden years, he’s begun talking to himself. Ask him nicely and maybe he’ll tell you about his invisible playmate. From Weird Tales March 1951.

Flamedown
By Horace Brown Fyfe; Read by JohanG
1 |MP3| – Approx. 9 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
It was, of course, one Hell of an ending for a trip to Mars— From Analog Science Fact & Fiction August 1961.

The Flying Cuspidors
By V.R. Francis; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
A trumpet-tooter in love can be a wonderful sight, if Local 802 will forgive our saying so; when extraterrestrials get involved too—oh brother! V.R. Francis, who lives in California and has previously appeared in men’s magazines, became 21 and sold to FANTASTIC UNIVERSE all in the same week.
From Fantastic Universe August 1958.

Invasion
By Murray Leinster; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 59 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
The whole fighting fleet of the United Nations is caught in Kreynborg’s marvelous, unique trap. From Astounding Stories March 1933.

Keep Out
By Fredric Brown; Read by Megan Argo
1 |MP3| – Approx. 8 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
With no more room left on Earth, and with Mars hanging up there empty of life, somebody hit on the plan of starting a colony on the Red Planet. It meant changing the habits and physical structure of the immigrants, but that worked out fine. In fact, every possible factor was covered—except one of the flaws of human nature… From Amazing Stories March 1954.

Fantastic Universe September 1955 The Long Voyage
By Carl R. Jacobi; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
When we published Carl Jacobi’s last story we had no assurance he would be with us so soon again. For when a uniquely gifted science-fantasy writer becomes radio-active on the entertainment meter and goes voyaging into the unknown, he may be gone from the world we know for as long as yesterday’s tomorrow. But Carl Jacobi has not only returned almost with the speed of light—he has brought with him shining new nuggets of wonder and surmise. From Fantastic Universe September 1955.

Navy Day
By Harry Harrison; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 13 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
The Army had a new theme song: “Anything you can do, we can do better!” And they meant anything, including up-to-date hornpipes! From If Worlds of Science Fiction January 1954.

One-Shot
By James Blish; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 32 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
You can do a great deal if you have enough data, and enough time to compute on it, by logical methods. But given the situation that neither data nor time is adequate, and an answer must be produced … what do you do? From Astounding Science Fiction August 1955.

Sjambak
By Jack Vance; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 1 Hour [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
Wilbur Murphy sought romance, excitement, and an impossible Horseman of Space. With polite smiles, the planet frustrated him at every turn—until he found them all the hard way! From If Worlds of Science Fiction July 1953.

Two Timer
By Fredric Brown; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 5 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 28, 2009
Here is a brace of vignettes by the Old Vignette Master … short and sharp … like a hypodermic! From Galaxy Science Fiction February 1954.

[Extra thanks to Gregg Margarite, Wendel Topper and Lucy Burgoyne]

Posted by Jesse Willis