Tag: mystery

The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha Christie being podcast

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: Online Audio

Maureen O’Brien, of the Maria Lectrix podcast is reading Agatha Christie! While World War I rages on, an English country town’s peace is broken by murder. So a wounded officer named Hastings asks for help from a Belgian refugee name Poirot! The podcast has just begun (Maureen’s only on Chapter 2). This is pretty exciting stuff my friends…

Here’s the blurb as it appeared on the original 1920 dustjacket:

“This novel was originally written as the result of a bet, that the author, who had previously never written a book could not compose a detective novel in which the reader would not be able to ‘spot’ the murderer, although having access to the same clues as the detective. The author has certainly won her bet, and in addition to a most ingenious plot of the best detective type she has introduced a new type of detective in the shape of a Belgian. This novel has had the unique distinction for a first book of being accepted by the Times as a serial for its weekly edition”.

Mystery Audiobook - The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha ChristieThe Mysterious Affair At Styles
By Agatha Christie; Read by Maureen O’Brien
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Maria Lectrix
Podcast: August 2008 –
Join Hercule Poirot, Hastings and Inspector Japp in Christie’s first published novel! Told in first person, by Hastings, it features many of the elements that have become icons of the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction.” It is set in a large, isolated country manor; there are a half-dozen suspects, most of whom are hiding facts about themselves; the book includes maps of the house, the murder scene and a drawing of a fragment of a will; and there are a number of red herrings and surprise plot twists.

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://marialectrix.wordpress.com/category/mysteries/feed

Posted by Jesse Willis

Transmissions From Beyond – podcasting Interzone, Black Static and Crimewave stories

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Transmissions From Beyond - the TTA Press podcastLongtime friend of SFFaudio, Paul S. Jenkins, alters us to the existence of the new TTA Press fiction podcast: Transmissions From Beyond. This podcast gets its stories from the pages of three TTA Press magazines:

Interzone (Science Fiction and Fantasy), Black Static (Horror), and Crimewave (Crime and Mystery). Their launch this month includes one story from each magazine! Check em out…

A Handful Of Dust by Ian R. FaulknerA Handful of Dust
By Ian R. Faulkner; Read by John Berlyne
1 |MP3| – Approx. 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Transmissions From Beyond
Podcast: August 2nd 2008
From Crimewave #9: Transgressions.


Lady Of The Crows by Tim CassonLady Of The Crows
By Tim Casson; Read by Paul S. Jenkins
1 |MP3| – Approx. 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Transmissions From Beyond
Podcast: August 2nd 2008
This story was published in Black Static #1.


The Algorithm by Tim AkersThe Algorithm
By Tim Akers; Read by John Berlyne
1 |MP3| – 53 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Transmissions From Beyond
Podcast: August 2nd 2008
From Interzone #212.

And, upcoming podcasts will include stories from authors: Greg Egan, Marion Arnott and Mercurio D. Rivera. Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://www.transmissionsfrombeyond.com/feed

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

Time Traveler

SFFaudio Review

The Naked Sun by Isaac AsimovThe Naked Sun
By Isaac Asimov; Read by William Dufris
7 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 8 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 2007
ISBN: 140010422X (CDs), 1400154227 (MP3-CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mystery / Robots / Artificial Intelligence / Sociology / Alien World

On the beautiful Outer World planet of Solaria, a handful of human colonists lead a hermit-like existence, their every need attended to by their faithful robot servants. To this strange and provocative planet comes Detective Elijah Baley, sent from the streets of New York with his positronic partner, the robot R. Daneel Olivaw, to solve an incredible murder that has rocked Solaria to its foundations.

[disclaimer- As an audiobook publisher (www.wonderaudio.com), I have a working relationship with the narrator, William Dufris. I have no other professional associations with this title. Although I’ve kept the paragraph about the narration on this title brief, reader’s may question the objectiveness of the review in such cases. On the other hand, just because I have an association with an author or narrator doesn’t negate my reason or enthusiasm for that artist.]

The Naked Sun is a sequel to The Caves of Steel. It can be read or listened to without first acquainting yourself the first title, but it’s recommended that they be read in order…(The Caves of Steel was also designated an SFFaudio Essential by a different reviewer).

Like the first book, the main character is Earthman detective Elijah Baley. And he is reunited with robot and assistant Daneel Olivaw. He is sent to Solaria, which is hostile to Earth, to investigate a murder. Asimov takes the setting of The Caves of Steel and flips is on it’s head. In that first book the setting was of a vastly overpopulated Earth living in the confines of gigantic city/buildings. The mere thought of being outside is frightening to Earth’s inhabitants.

In The Naked Sun, Elijah Bailey, is sent to the planet Solaria to investigate a murder. Solaria’s inhabitants live on vast estates alone or with their spouses. They communicate with one another via holographic telepresence. They call this “viewing” versus “seeing.” “Seeing” is when they are in one another’s physical presence. They have a natural aversion to “seeing” and consider it a social taboo. This has additional relevance to our own society, or should I say to our social media networked world. Socially, we have moved closer to the virtual aspects of a world like Solaria than the world of 1956 when the novel was first published in Astounding Stories.

Asimov’s writing style is very clean, sparse and not very stylistic in a literary way. He’s fond of moving the story along with one-on-one dialogue. This is not untypical of the mystery genre and serves the Robot Novels very well. One of William Dufris’ strengths is handling dialogue. And he’s perfect for these novels. His voice characterization are distinctive, and he’s got a gift for pacing a conversation.

The murder mystery is very satisfying and there’s a much larger implication between the future of Earth and the Spacers giving the novel a larger feel than just a murder mystery with a SF setting. I find The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun to be the best of Asimov’s novels and should be on every SF enthusiast’s list of must listens.

There is another sequel with Elijah Baley and Daneel Olivaw called The Robots of Dawn. This title was written much later in Asimov’s career and is also published by Tantor with William Dufris as narrator.

Posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

Review of The Caves Of Steel by Isaac Asimov

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Review

Science Fiction Audiobook - The Caves of Steeel by Isaac AsimovThe Caves of Steel
By Isaac Asimov; Read by William Dufris
6 CDs – 7.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781400104215
SAMPLE |MP3|
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mystery / Robots / Artificial Intelligence / Sociology / New York /

A millennium into the future, two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov’s Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together.

Elijah Baley and his wife and son live in an overcrowded New York city (the titular Caves Of Steel) in our distant future. Outside the insular Earth, humans have colonized many planets with their robot servants to assist them. These “Spacer” worlds are rich, have small populations, and high standards of living. The Earthers all live in vast city complexes and never venture outside. The Spacers maintain an embassy, from which they seek to help their backward progenitors – but this help is both resented and rebuffed. The latest incident is revealed when Elijah Bailey, a New York detective, is called into his superior’s office and tasked with solving a murder in the “spacer” enclave. But his boss has one more demand of him. Elijah must partner up with a robot named R. Daneel Olivaw for the duration of the case.

Asimov’s vision of New York in The Caves Of Steel fits neatly somewhere in between the well envisioned arcologies like “Todos Santos” (Larry Niven and Steve Barnes’ Oath Of Fealty), future cities like “Mega-City One” (Judge Dredd) and that of “Diaspar” (found in Arthur C. Clarke’s The City And The Stars). As such it is an experience not to be missed. The mixture of politics, psychology and sociology that’s found in Asimov’s Foundation novels is also present. But central to the experience of The Caves Of Steel is Mystery. It is a Mystery in a Science Fiction setting and not the other-way round. The well realized economy, culture, and characters (this latter in a surprisingly good turn for Asimov) are all carefully explained so as to set up the mystery – even the red-herrings are important to the plot.

Isaac Asimov basically invented the small sub-genre of the Science Fiction Mystery, and this was the novel that started it all. I’ve read lots of other books of his, including one straight Mystery that was set at a Science Fiction convention (starring a detective modeled on Harlan Ellison). And like that novel, this one keeps you guessing right up until the very end. That’s a good thing too – Asimov doesn’t cheat. We’ve got a city full of suspects, but the motive – when it’s ultimately revealed – is as logical as the deduction is sound.

It isn’t an insult to say that William Dufris sounds like a robot. He sounds like a robot when it’s a robot speaking, and sounds like a man when it’s a man speaking. He can also inflect his voice to sound more feminine – which is handy for females (and female robots too). Suffice it to say William Dufris reads Asimov’s spare and unadorned prose with alacrity. I’m excited to say the sequel, The Naked Sun is also available from Tantor!

Posted by Jesse Willis

CBC’s new Radio Drama series: World of Mystery

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: News

CBC Radio One’s World Of MysteryThere are 12 new shows in CBC Radio One’s “Radio Summer 2008” lineup. And one of them is a new Mystery radio drama anthology series…

“International radio drama at its most mysterious. We share mysteries from the BBC World Service, Radio New Zealand, Ireland, Australia and the U.S.”

But, at least so far, it isn’t being podcast! And, it’s also the only one without an audio preview. If any CBC show is going to be podcast it should be the radio dramas! Still, World of Mystery airs twice a week, first on Wednesdays at 11pm and then it repeats Fridays at 11:30am.

Here are the episodes:

From ABC (Australia)…
“Concerto for Humans and Semtex”
Broadcast: Part One airs on July 9th, Part Two airs on July 16th
Four intricately interwoven stories, each featuring a conversation between two people with opposing attitudes who have been affected directly by the aggression, explore the bigger questions of war and terrorism. Reading through each story separately gives the impression that the “war on terror” is a drawn-out, tragic and futile exercise fuelled by hypocrisy, self-interest and hidden agendas.

From Radio New Zealand…
“The Moehau”
Broadcast: Part One airs on July 23rd, Part Two airs on July 30th
A young woman hiker lies in a psychiatric hospital, traumatised, babbling in a language she has never learned, and refusing to open her clenched eyes. Has she unwittingly awakened something dark, primitive and unspeakable in the mountains and ravines of the Moehau Range, or did she herself commit an unspeakable crime? The Moehau stirs up mythological undercurrents from New Zealand’s ancient past, disturbing the placid surface of our beliefs and fears.

From BBC Worldwide…
“The Black Cat Murder Mystery”
Broadcast: Part One airs on August 6th, Part Two airs on August 13th
London 2008. A comic murder mystery set in an apartment block in Fitzrovia: a cosmopolitan neighbourhood a step away from the BBC’s famous Broadcasting House. Featuring a corpse in flat 6; a mysterious hermit in flat 12; a cognitive neuroscientist looking for love in flat 3; a Russian businessman in flat 11; a Japanese bassoonist in flat 8; a seductive blonde in flat 5 – and an extremely unusual detective.

CBC Radio One…
“The World According to Charlie D: Long Time Listener/First Time Caller”
Broadcast: Part One airs on August 20th, Part Two airs on August 27th
The brilliant and disfigured late night radio show host Charlie D is a regular in Gail Bowen’s best-selling Joanne Kibourn mystery series. In this play, we have Charlie D and his faithful producer Nova, trying to figure out if one of his devoted, demented fans is also a killer…

Posted by Jesse Willis

Wormwood Season 2 – Crossroads

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Wormwood Season 2 - CrossroadsWormwood Season 2 is active and well underway!!!

So what’s Wormwood? And why are you so excited about it?

Well, Wormwood is one of the coolest audio dramas I’ve ever heard. It features a large cast of characters who reside in a small town called “Wormwood” – this is the kind of place H.P. Lovecraft would have lived in if he’d moved to California. Last season, the mysterious Xander Crowe, who sports a mysteriously withered hand, arrived in town chasing after a vision he had of a drowned woman. He closed in on the mystery near the season finale, but that only brought many new questions – all scary.

Some quick advice before listening:

1. Be sure to put on your brown trousers.
2. Listen only during daylight hours.
3. Don’t listen alone!

The new season is subtitled “Crossroads,” here’s the teaser |MP3| and here are the first 6 episodes:

Season 2 Episode 1 |MP3| One Month Later
Season 2 Episode 2 |MP3| The Rescue
Season 2 Episode 3 |MP3| The Missing Month (part 1)
Season 2 Episode 4 |MP3| Thinning (part 1)
Season 2 Episode 5 |MP3| A Sentimental Nature
Season 2 Episode 6 |MP3| Ghosthunters Of Wormwood

Click HERE to subscribe via iTunes, or plop this feed into any podcatcher:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/WormwoodMystery

Posted by Jesse Willis