Of the latest Tantor Media releases, here are my picks for the three most exciting titles. Check out their complete August catalog here |PDF|.

The Most Powerful Idea In The World: A Story Of Steam, Industry, And Invention
By William Rosen; Read by Michael Prichard
11 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 13 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: June 2010
ISBN:9781400117093 (cd), 9781400167098 (mp3-cd)
If all measures of human advancement in the last hundred centuries were plotted on a graph, they would show an almost perfectly flat line—until the eighteenth century, when the Industrial Revolution would cause the line to shoot straight up, beginning an almost uninterrupted march of progress. In The Most Powerful Idea in the World, William Rosen tells the story of the men responsible for the Industrial Revolution and the machine that drove it—the steam engine. In the process he tackles the question that has obsessed historians ever since: What made eighteenth-century Britain such fertile soil for inventors? Rosen’s answer focuses on a simple notion that had become enshrined in British law the century before: that people had the right to own and profit from their ideas. The result was a period of frantic innovation revolving particularly around the promise of steam power. Rosen traces the steam engine’s history from its early days as a clumsy but sturdy machine, to its coming-of-age driving the wheels of mills and factories, to its maturity as a transporter for people and freight by rail and by sea. Along the way we enter the minds of such inventors as Thomas Newcomen and James Watt; scientists, including Robert Boyle and Joseph Black; and philosophers John Locke and Adam Smith—all of whose insights, tenacity, and ideas transformed first a nation and then the world.

The Evolutionary Void (Book Three In The Void Trilogy)
By Peter F. Hamilton; Read by John Lee
20 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 25 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: August 31, 2010
ISBN: 9781400111848 (cd), 9781400161843 (mp3-cd)
Exposed as the Second Dreamer, Araminta has become the target of a galaxywide search by government agent Paula Myo and the psychopath known as the Cat, along with others equally determined to prevent—or facilitate—the pilgrimage of the Living Dream cult into the heart of the Void. An indestructible microuniverse, the Void may contain paradise, as the cultists believe, but it is also a deadly threat. For the miraculous reality that exists inside its boundaries demands energy—energy drawn from everything outside those boundaries: from planets, stars, galaxies…from everything that lives. Meanwhile, the parallel story of Edeard, the Waterwalker—as told through a series of addictive dreams communicated to the gaiasphere via Inigo, the First Dreamer—continues to unfold. But now the inspirational tale of this idealistic young man takes a darker and more troubling turn as he finds himself faced with powerful new enemies—and temptations more powerful still. With time running out, a repentant Inigo must decide whether to release Edeard’s final dream: a dream whose message is scarcely less dangerous than the pilgrimage promises to be. And Araminta must choose whether to run from her unwanted responsibilities or face them down, with no guarantee of success or survival. But all these choices may be for naught if the monomaniacal Ilanthe, leader of the breakaway Accelerator Faction, is able to enter the Void. For it is not paradise she seeks there, but dominion.

Omnitopia Dawn
By Diane Duane; Read by Kirby Heyborne
12 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 15 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: August 2010
ISBN: 9781400118465 (cd), 9781400168460 (mp3-cd)
In an increasingly wired and computer-friendly world, massive multiplayer online games have become the ultimate form of entertainment. And the most popular gaming universe of all is Omnitopia, created by genius programmer Dev Logan. For millions of people around the world, Omnitopia is an obsession, a passionate pastime, almost a way of life. But there’s a secret to Omnitopia, one that Dev would give his life to protect—the game isn’t just a program or a piece of code. It’s become sentient—alive. And it’s Dev’s job to keep it that way.

Posted by Jesse Willis