LibriVox Short Science Fiction Stories Collection #006

SFFaudio Online Audio

Here comes Volume #6 in the Short SF Stories Collection series – all public domain, all 100% FREE, from the folks at LibriVox…

LibriViox Short Science Fiction Collection Volume #6Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 006
By various; Read by various
Zipped MP3 Files, Podcast or individual MP3s – Approx. 4 Hours 20 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: July 25, 2008
Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi with varying punctuation and case) is a broad genre of fiction that often involves sociological and technical speculations based on current or future science and technology. This is a reader-selected collection of short stories, originally published between 1752 and 1962. Those published after 1922 entered the US public domain when their copyright was not renewed.

Here’s the podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-vol-006.xml

And here are the individual stories with my own notes on some…

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - Accidental Death by Peter BailyAccidental Death
By Peter Baily; Read by RK Wilcox
1 |MP3| – Approx. 23 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
From the pages of Astounding Science Fiction magazine’s February 1959 issue. A tale about, aliens and space travel, told in a curious recorded epistolary form (and its set atop Mount Everest). Strange, but kind of familiar, worth listening to, but not likely to be at all memorable.

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - After A Few Words by Randall Garrett…After a Few Words…
By Randall Garrett; Read by Alex Becker
1 |MP3| – Approx. 18 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
First published in Analog magazine’s October 1962 issue – with the LibriVox team identifying the author, “Seaton McKettrig,” as actually Randall Garrett using one of his many pseudonyms. A few off-pronunciations aren’t enough to mar this solid reading. A historical tale – that really isn’t.

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - The Diamond Maker by H.G. WellsThe Diamond Maker
By H.G. Wells; Read by Jerome Lawsen
1 |MP3| – Approx. 17 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
A canvas sack full of several hundred pounds worth of diamonds, proffered on a London bridge for a paltry £100. It sounds like a con, at the very least a deal too good to be true. But the owner of the diamonds has a tale of woe to explain why he is selling them at such a cut-rate price. This one reminds me of Wells’ The Crystal Egg. Narrator, Jerome Lawsen, has a nice setup, the recording on this one is very clean.

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - Egocentric Orbit by John CoryEgocentric Orbit
By John Cory; Read by Perry Clayton
1 |MP3| – Approx. 7 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
It took a long time for human beings to accept that our little piece of meteoric rubble wasn’t the exact and absolute center of the Universe. It does appear that way, doesn’t it? It may not take so long for a spaceman to learn … First published in Astounding Science Fiction’s May 1960 issue. This is the second version of this story to be recorded by LibriVox.

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - Flight From Tomorrow by H. Beam PiperFlight From Tomorrow
By H. Beam Piper; Read by Jerome Lawsen
1 |MP3| – Approx. 47 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
First published in the unwieldy titled “‘Future’ combined with ‘Science Fiction Stories’” magazine’s September/October 1950 issue. This one’s a novelette, an out-in-out time travel tale, that though a bit predictable, and certainly very period, has a certain vintage charm. Jerome Lawsen, reads it well.

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - In the Year 2889 by Jules VerneIn The Year 2889
By Jules Verne; Read by James Christopher
1 |MP3| – Approx. 31 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
First published in 1889, and credited to Jules Verne, it was actually written by Michel Verne, Jules Verne’s son. But then just to confuse matters more it was published under Jules Verne’s name correctly a year later when the senior Verne re-wrote it (and changed the title to In The Year 2890). In any case, this tale is set a mere one thousand years in the future.

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - The Measure Of A Man by Randall GarrettThe Measure of a Man
By Randall Garrett; Read by D.E. Wittkower
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
“What is desirable is not always necessary, while that which is necessary may be most undesirable. Perhaps the measure of a man is the ability to tell one from the other … and act on it.” From the April 1960 of John W. Campbell’s Astounding Science Fiction magazine.

LibriVox Proto-Science Fiction Short Story - Micromegas by VoltaireMicromegas
By Voltaire; Read by Annoying Twit
1 |MP3| – Approx. 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
An 18th century tale (first published in 1752), Micromegas is significant in the pre-history of SF. Earth is visited by a pair of alien visitors, one from a planet circling Sirius and the other from the planet Saturn! This reading is also significant as it was recorded using a £1800 microphone!

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - The Sky Trap by Frank Belknap LongThe Sky Trap
By Frank Belknap Long; Read by Dr Special
1 |MP3| – Approx. 35 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
From Comet magazine’s July 1941 issue (the same issue that has Leigh Brackett’s A World Is Born – which is also available HERE). This is Dr. Special’s first recording for LibriVox. He reads it very well, even though there are a lot of lines like… “Good God Dave, do you suppose something has happened to space?”

LibriVox Science Fiction Short Story - Test Rocket by Jack DouglasTest Rocket
By Jack Douglas; Read by Lance
1 |MP3| – Approx. 5 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
From the Amazing Science Fiction Stories magazine’s April 1959 issue (which had an amazing cover).

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox Science Fiction: The Highest Treason by Randall Garrett

SFFaudio Online Audio

Here’s the cover story from the January 1961 issue of Analog Science Fact & Fiction magazine. The tagline for it is:

“The highest treason of all is not so easy to define—and be it noted carefully that the true traitor in this case was not singular, but very plural . . .”

LibriVox Science Fiction Audiobook - The Highest Treason by Randall GarrettThe Highest Treason
By Randall Garrett; Read by Lee Elliot
8 Zipped MP3s or podcast – 2.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 2008
Set in a future in which humanity’s dream of total equality is fully realized and poverty in terms of material wealth has been eliminated, humanity has straight-jacketed itself into the only social system which could make this possible. Class differentiation is entirely horizontal rather than vertical and no matter what one’s chosen field, all advancement is based solely on seniority rather than ability. What is an intelligent and ambitious man to do when enslaved by a culture that forbids him from utilizing his God-given talents? If he’s a military officer in time of war, he might just decide to switch sides. If said officer is a true believer in the principles that enslave him and every bit as loyal as he is ambitious, that’s tantamount to breaking a universal law of physics, but Colonel Sebastian MacMaine has what it takes to meet the challenge.

Subscribe to this yummy podcast audiobook via this feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/the-highest-treason-by-randall-garrett.xml

Posted by Jesse Willis

Maria Lectrix SF Podcast: Despoilers of the Golden Empire by Randall Garrett

SFFaudio Online Audio

Maureen O’Brien, of the Maria Lectrix podcast, has been podcasting SF novels faster than a Corellian can make a Kessel run. But for April 1st 2008 she’s turned her attention to a shorter piece called Despoliers Of The Golden Empire. This is an extremely compelling tale (that you ABSOLUTELY DON’T WANT TO RESEARCH before listening to – trust me) – Maureen sez of it:

“…a very good story by Randall Garrett, and it makes a very good comment on sf as a genre….it was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, for April Fools’ Day.”

And “Randall Garrett was known for his skill in writing adventure science fiction, alternate world fantasy mysteries, and stories full of great humor and horrible puns. This story, first published in Astounding in March 1959 under the pseudonym ‘David Gordon’, is truly characteristic of his body of work.”

I agree, this is a fun story, very pulpy – deliberately so – it even has its own Wikipedia entry (which is quite rare for a short story) – but don’t click on it until after you hear the story.

Despoilers Of The Golden Empire by Randall GarrettDespoilers Of The Golden Empire
By Randall Garrett; Read by Maureen O’Brien
5 Zipped MP3s or Podcast – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Maria Lectrix
Podcast: April 1st 2008
A seasoned military commander travels to another world to find the metal that brings power, and ends up bringing down a barbaric empire.

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://marialectrix.wordpress.com/feed

P.S. This story is full of de-spoilers. So please don’t de-spoil the story for others, okay?

Posted by Jesse Willis