Tag: pirates

LibriVox: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxStrange Maps is a fun blog (and now a book) by Frank Jacobs. Here is a smidgen of the proprietor’s post on Treasure Island:

“…was there a real-life model for the generically named Treasure Island – and if so, where was it? It seems to have been a chance invention by Lloyd Osbourne, RLS’s stepson, while holidaying with the family in a Scottish Highland cottage. As Osbourne later recalled:

‘… busy with a box of paints I happened to be tinting a map of an island I had drawn. Stevenson came in as I was finishing it, and with his affectionate interest in everything I was doing, leaned over my shoulder, and was soon elaborating the map and naming it. I shall never forget the thrill of Skeleton Island, Spyglass Hill, nor the heart-stirring climax of the three red crosses! And the greater climax still when he wrote down the words Treasure Island at the top right-hand corner! And he seemed to know so much about it too – the pirates, the buried treasure, the man who had been marooned on the island … . ‘Oh, for a story about it’, I exclaimed, in a heaven of enchantment …’

And that is how Stevenson got started writing Treasure Island – as a back story to the map originally drawn by his stepson.”

Cool hey?

There’s more to the story, and I encourage you to have a read of the original post |HERE|. After that you should be sufficiently primed to download the public domain audiobook version from LibriVox.org…

LibriVox - Treasure Island by Robert Louis StevensonTreasure Island
By Robert Louis Stevenson; Read by Adrian Praetzellis
17 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 7 Hours 33 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: December 14, 2007
A mysterious map, pirates, and pieces of eight! When young Jim Hawkins finds a map to pirates’ gold he starts on an adventure that takes him from his English village to a desert island with the murderous Black Dog, half-mad Ben Gunn, and (of course) Long John Silver. Arr Jim lad! R.L. Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Scotland and travelled extensively in California and the south Pacific.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/treasure-island-by-robert-louis-stevenson-2.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

A map of Treasure Island:

Treasure Island Map

And the 1934 film version:

Posted by Jesse Willis

Pulp Nocturne: Donovan Pike And The City Of The Gods

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Pulp NocturneWhen Paul Bishop, of the Bish’s Beat takes the time to email me about something on his blog, I have to sit up and take notice. Bish directs my attention to THIS post. And when I follow the links there it leads me to a new adventure novel called Donovan Pike And The City Of The Gods that’s being delivered via blog text posts and in the MP3 format.

Its author, Mark Justice, sez:

I grew up with the pulp adventures of Doc Savage, The Shadow and The Avenger. I even published a Doc Savage fanzine with a high school friend, back in the 70s. In that one issue I began a Doc Savage pastiche novel which, thankfully, remains unfinished and forgotten.

I moved on to different forms of fiction, but I always came back to the pulps, having discovered G-8, Operator #5 and The Spider. I also enjoy modern pulp fiction, particularly the works of Clive Cussler and, more recently, James Rollins.

When I started writing for publication, it was initially in the horror field, with an occasional foray into science fiction. As in my reading, though, I came back to the pulps.

I plan to use this blog to serialize new pulp fiction. Some of the stories will have a contemporary setting, like our initial offering. A future project will be set in the blood and thunder 1930s pulp world.

Regardless of the era, my goal is to bring you tales of two-fisted adventure, venomous villains and larger-than-life heroes.

I hope you have fun with the stories. I know I will.

Here is Chapter 1 |MP3| of Donovan Pike And The City Of The Gods by Mark Justice.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Fast Ships, Black Sails A PIRATE ANTHOLOGY

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Night Shade Books - Fast Ships, Black Sails edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer Do you love the sound of a peg leg stomping across a quarterdeck? Or maybe you prefer a parrot on your arm, a strong wind at your back? Adventure, treasure, intrigue, humor, romance, danger–and, yes, plunder. Oh, the Devil does love a pirate–and so do readers everywhere.

Swashbuckling from the past into the future and space itself…

Night Shade Books published Fast Ships, Black Sails an anthology of fantastik pirate stories in 2008. Since then there have been two audiobook versions made of the 18 stories contained within the collection. If more get turned into audiobooks I’ll add them to this post!

PodCastlePC064: Castor On Troubled Waters
By Rhys Hughes; Read by Alasdair Stuart
1 |MP3| – Approx. 27 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: PodCastle
Podcast: August 4, 2009


Escape Pod LogoEP226: Pirate Solutions
By Katherine Sparrow; Read by Sarah Tolbert, Kate Baker, Nate Periat, and Steve Eley
1 |MP3| – Approx. 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Escape Pod
Podcast: November 26, 2009

Contents:
Introduction: “Raising Anchor” by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
Boojum by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette
Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake by Naomi Novik
Avast, Abaft! by Howard Waldrop
I Begyn as I Mean to Go On by Kage Baker
Castor on Troubled Waters by Rhys Hughes |MP3|
Elegy for Gabrielle, Patron Saint of Healers, Whores and Righteous Thieves by Kelly Barnhill
Skillet and Saber by Justin Howe
The Nymph’s Child by Carrie Vaughn
68˚06’N, 31˚40’W by Conrad Williams
Pirate Solutions by Katherine Sparrow |MP3|
We Sleep on a Thousand Waves by Brendan Connell
Pirates of the Suara Sea by David Freer & Eric Flint
Voyage of the Iguana by Steve Aylett
Iron Face by Michael Moorcock
A Cold Day in Hell by Paul Batteiger
Captain Blackheart Wentworth by Rachel Swirsky
The Whale Below by Jayme Lynn Blaschke
Beyond The Sea Gate Of The Scholar-Pirates of Sarskoe by Garth Nix

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: The Pirates Of Ersatz by Murray Leinster

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxElliot Miller, one of the participants in last year’s SFFaudio Challenge has completed his audiobook project! Elliot recorded one of the funnest, and funniest SF novels of the 1950s:

The Pirates Of Ersatz by Murray Leinster!

I’m loving this novel’s playful storytelling, I find it very reminiscent of The Space Merchants.

First published in three successive 1959 issues of Astounding Science Fiction magazine. It was later republished as half of an Ace double novel under the title The Pirates Of Zan.

LibriVox - The Pirates Of Ersatz by Murray LeinsterThe Pirates Of Ersatz
By Murray Leinster; Read by Elliott Miller
12 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 6 Hours 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: November 19, 2009
Bron is the offspring of infamous space pirates but instead of following in the family footsteps he decides to become an electronic engineer. Unfortunately, every time he tries to get out, something pulls him back in. This is a tongue-in-cheek space adventure along the lines of the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison. It was originally published in the FEB-APR issues of Astounding Science Fiction in 1959.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/rss/3120

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[In addition to the reader, this audio book was produced by the good works of dusty, Betty M. and David Lawrence – Thanks so much folks!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Candlelight Stories: A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Candlelight StoriesI first experienced Alessandro Cima’s narrative abilities back in 2005. Back then podcasting was barely a toddler – still wobbly legged, with novel length podcasts being few an far between. Cima was reading his own young adult Pirate Jack.Here’s the “Pirate Jack” pitch:

Young Jack Spencer sees his father’s boat-building business destroyed by a powerful land developer. Then Jack unearths three ancient scrolls that propel him on a dangerous adventure through time in search of a pirate treasure. When Jack finds himself aboard the pirate ship Revenge he enters a life or death world of ship battles, jungle islands, prison escapes, gold, and treachery.

It was and is a compelling pirate adventure story (with some fantastic elements). If you’ haven’t heard it you can check it out through the same podcast feed as his latest project. He’s about a third of the way through this novel…

A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice BurroughsA Princess Of Mars
By Edgar Rice Burroughs; Read by Alessandro Cima
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Candlelight Stories
Podcast: 2009
This is the first John Carter of Mars novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author of the Tarzan books. It was his first novel, published in 1917 and it’s a work of rip-roaring science fiction that has inspired many of the great writers in the genre. The story concerns soldier John Carter who is mysteriously transported to the red planet where he fights to protect his princess against impossible odds and many peculiar creatures. The book is very much a product of its time, with outdated ideas about the red planet and outdated social ideas. But if you can just go along for the adventurous ride, you are in for a sci-fi space opera swashbuckling treat.

Podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/CandlelightStoriesAudio

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Guest Law by John C. Wright

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Infinivox Science Fiction Audiobook - Guest Law by John C. WrightGuest Law
By John C. Wright; Read by Tom Dheere
1 CD – 52 minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: October 2008
ISBN: 9781884612831
Themes: / Science Fiction / Pirates / Space Travel /

There be pirates in the vast void of space! Does not the poet say: “Beware the strangeness of the stranger. Unknown things bring unknown danger?” The noble ship Procrustes was silent as a ghost. Warships can be silent if they are slow; only their missiles need speed. And so it was silently, slowly, that the Procrustes approached the stranger’s cold vessel.

Perhaps it is a short story like “Guest Law” that best showcases John C. Wright’s considerable talent. Told from the point of view of a lowly engineer on a pirate ship, Wright uses their encounter with a broken-down ship to paint an entire universe. We learn of the adaptations that the pirates made to themselves to adapt to life in space, We learn that there is a universally accepted “guest law” to which all must adhere. We learn why people left Earth to live in space and why. We learn the pirates’ usual method of subjugation of those they conquer. One would think that might be enough, but against that background, the pirates’ method of dealing with the other ship’s captain reveals a great deal about honor and humanity that is timeless no matter what the setting.

Wright’s use of language is almost poetic and is nicely showcased by Tom Dheere’s narration. The only problem I encountered is Dheere’s choice of different accents for different characters. Some seemed to be British or Irish but the choices seemed entirely random to me unless the purpose was to point out high or low class. If so, perhaps a different technique could have been used as I found it almost jarring when the various accents would come up in the story. However, this is not enough of a problem to stop you from listening and greatly enjoying the story itself.

Posted by Julie D.