Free @ Harper Audio: Richard Matheson, Neil Gaiman, Marcia Talley

SFFaudio Online Audio

Harper Audio, as part of their “Summer of Books” promotion, is giving away three must download short stories from their recent and upcoming audiobook releases. These are “limited time” releases, so download them right away.

Harper Audio - Road Rage by Richard Matheson, Stephen King and Joe HillDuel (from Road Rage)
By Richard Matheson; Read by Stephen Lang
1 |MP3| – Approx. 63 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: February 2009
“Driving to San Francisco, a businessman finds himself the victim of a deadly game being played by the driver of a huge, mysterious truck. Later to become Steven Spielberg’s classic 1971 film.”

Harper Audio - Fragile Things by Neil GaimanA Study In Emerald (from Fragile Things)
By Neil Gaiman; Read by Neil Gaiman
1 |MP3| – Approx. 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: September 2006
Alluding to both the Sherlock Holmes canon and the Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos, this Hugo Award winning short story will delight fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.P. Lovecraft, and of course, Neil Gaiman. A Study in Emerald draws listeners in through carefully revealed details as a consulting detective and his narrator friend solve the mystery of a murdered German noble. But with its subtle allusions and surprise ending, this mystery hints that the real fun in solving this case lies in imagining all the details that Gaiman doesn’t reveal, and challenges listeners to be detectives themselves.

Harper Audio - Two Of The Deadliest edited by Elizabeth GeorgeCan You Hear Me Now (from Two Of The Deadliest)
By Marcia Talley; Read by
1 |MP3| – Approx. 20 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: July 2009
“Need can make men desperate, but greed, in my experience, makes men stupid.” – From a new collection of short stories featuring “Lust, Greed, and Murder from Outstanding Women of Mystery”

[via Mary Burkey’s Audiobooker blog]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Neil Gaiman blogs about reading (audio) books

SFFaudio News

NeilGaiman.comNeil Gaiman, who reads most of the audio versions of his books himself, (and I can testify for his amazing skills as a performer from having seen him live in London last November) shares some thoughts and advice on how to best books aloud. Interesting post and potentially useful for all the aspiring audio book narrators out there.

Check it out on Neil Gaiman’s blog

Posted by Carsten Schmitt

The SFFaudio Podcast #031 – NEW RELEASES/AUDIOBOOK: Founding Fathers by Robert Bloch

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #031 – Jesse (that’s me) and Scott (my buddy) are again joined by Rick Jackson of Wonder Audio. We talk about audiobooks, new and newer, a little about radio drama, throw in some politics, some Canada bashing, and then add in two complete short stories. The first short story is read by me (it is only two sentences long) and the other runs about 40 minutes and is performed by a professional narrator. Enjoy it folks!

Talked about on today’s show:
Full Cast Audio, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Hugo Nominees, Young Adult novels, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins |READ OUR REVIEW|, On Basilisk Station by David Weber, Grover Gardner, Shards Of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, Barayar, The Honor Of The Queen, Paul W. Campbell, Honor Of The Clan by John Ringo and Julie Cochrane, Cally’s War, Audible Frontiers, Brilliance Audio, Paperback Digital, Hyperion by Dan Simmons, The Canterbury Tales, The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas, Black Library Audio, Warhammer 40,000: Heart Of Rage by James Swallow, Warhammer 40,000: Slayer Of The Storm God by Nathan Long, Infinivox, The Year’s Top Ten Tales Of Science Fiction edited by Alan Kaster, Ted Chiang is awesome, Zombie Astronaut posts 5 adaptations of Knock by Frederic Brown, Earthmen Bearing Gifts, Expedition, Arena, Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men On The Moon by Craig Nelson, Penguin Audio, 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Digital Apollo by David A. Mindell, MIT Press, Wernher von Braun, I Aim For The Stars (1960), Ascent by Jed Mercurio |READ OUR REVIEW|, Voyage by Stephen Baxter (and adapted by Dirk Maggs to radio drama), Four Sided Triangle by William F. Temple, Ray Bradbury, Damon Knight, William Coon, The Fabulous Clip-Joint by Frederic Brown, The Alcoholics by Jim Thompson, Audible.com/wonderaudio, Rule Golden by Damon Knight, Worlds Of The Imperium by Keith Laumer, Mark Douglas Nelson, This Crowded Earth and Other Stories by Robert Bloch, overpopulation, James Powell, The Vanishing Venusians by Leigh Brackett, noir, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Lawrence Kasdan, Body Heat (1981), Wolfbane by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, Plague Of Pythons by Frederik Pohl, Passengers by Robert Silverberg, The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi, Old Man’s War, Zoe’s Tale, The Sagan Diaries, Lord Valentines Castle by Robert Silverberg |READ OUR REVIEW|, Stephan Rudnicki, Greg Margarite, LibriVox.org, Deathworld by Harry Harrison, Philip K. Dick, Andre Norton, William Coon, Amazon Kindle, ebooks, where the great lakes came from, Comics, The Iliad by Homer; Adapted by Roy Thomas, The Punisher: From First To Last by Garth Ennis, The Golden Slave by Poul Anderson, The Lies Of Loch Lamora by Scott Lynch = Lankhmar meets Oliver Twist, Harry Potter, Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert, messiahs, clairvoyance, the dangers of charismatic leaders, Dune, Harkonnen government was poor management, BBC versions of the Falco books by Lindsey Davis, Radio Downloader, the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters, The Name Of The Rose (1986), Umberto Eco.

And last, but not least, a complete short story, courtesy of Wonder Audio, by Robert Bloch:

This Crowded Earth and Other Stories by Robert BlochFounding Fathers
By Robert Bloch; Read by William Coon
Approx. 40 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: The SFFaudio Podcast
Podcast: July 20th, 2009
A humorous time travel tale.
First published in Fantastic Universe July 1956.

Get more Robert Bloch read by Willam Coon HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis

NPR: Neil Gaiman eulogizes Batman

SFFaudio Online Audio

NPR - Talk Of The Nation Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader? is Neil Gaiman’s latest comics creation. Neal Conan of Talk Of The Nation has Gaiman as a guest on his latest show.

A new graphic novel from DC Comics is “part coda, love letter and summation of Batman’s raison d’etre,” says writer Neil Gaiman.

Gaiman’s take on the Batman mystique — Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? — was published in two parts as the final editions of the long-running Batman and Detective Comics series.

Now it’s a hardcover edition. The story takes readers inside a memorial service for Batman, looking back at the friends and enemies he touched. And since comic-book heroes never really die, it also offers a hint of what comes next for the Batman character.

The British-born Gaiman penned the Sandman series at DC Comics in the 1980s on his way to a multifaceted writing career. He has written novels for adults, fantasy tales (Stardust) and children’s books (Coraline). Gaiman talks with Neal Conan about the Batman project.

Have a listen |MP3| – I’ve also added it to my HuffDuffer feed:

http://huffduffer.com/jessewillis/rss

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[via SFSignal]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Audible.com: Chivalry by Neil Gaiman FREE

SFFaudio Online Audio

If you’ve got an Audible.com account you can get a FREE Neil Gaiman short story called Chivalry. This is a live reading recorded for the Selected Shorts Vol. 18 a collection of short stories with the theme of “Lots Of Laughs!”

Symphony Space - Chivalry by Neil GaimanChivalry
By Neil Gaiman; Read by Christina Pickles
Audible Download – Approx. 27 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Symphony Space, Inc.
Published: 2004
Provider: Audible.com
A delicious tale of an elderly British matron who buys the Holy Grail at a rummage sale.

[via Maria Lectrix]

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 2: Jonathan Ross talks to Neil Gaiman

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 2: Jonathan RossJonathan Ross, of BBC Radio 2, gets to “chat about one of his favourite subjects with comic book writer Neil Gaiman.” Have a listen |MP3|. Broadcast May 9th, 2009.

Podcast feed:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio2/ross/rss.xml

Posted by Jesse Willis