Tag: science fiction

CBC Radio One airing Canadia: 2056 episode 7

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Canadia 2056Neither rain, nor heat, nor “bandwidth exceeded” notifications shall keep this blog from it’s appointed posts! It’s Friday, so we’re here to remind you of what that means. Indeed! It is Canadia: 2056 day! Episode 7 day! It’s airing on CBC Radio One station across Canada this morning starting at 11:30 am in all time zones (Noon in Newfoundland). Listeners who aren’t patiently waiting at their radios for the appointed hour still have an opportunity to hear it ONLINE via the Streaming Radio Map – be sure to click the time zone in your area at 11:30am. Only THREE more episodes to go!

Here’s the official CBC Radio hotsheet description:

“Head for outer space this morning aboard Canadia 2056, the lone Canadian government spacecraft, sent to support an American space armada fighting hostile aliens. The Canadia receives word that their budget is being cut and the Captain has to decide what to trim. Doc Gaffney isn’t happy with his decisions and takes drastic action. Anderson makes a new best friend, oh – one more thing – the American fleet disappears. Canadia 2056, this morning at 11:30 (noon NT) on CBC Radio One.”

What are those who’ve been listening thinking of the show?

posted by Jesse Willis

Utopia by Sir Thomas More and Dystopia from

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Utopia and dystopia go hand in hand, and LibriVox obviously knows this. They’ve got the audiobooks to prove it. One retro Science Fiction story and a proto-Science Fiction book. First up is Sir Thomas More’s foundational Utopia – a book which has probably influenced more SF than even Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Second is a short story from mainstream great E.M. Forster. First published in 1909, it is a dystopia that predicts computers, television, the internet, instant messaging, videoconferencing, google and even pizza delivery – at least sort of. If you’ve got a portable MP3 player be sure to use the handy podcast feeds!

LibriVox Podcast Audiobook - Utopia by Sir Thomas MoreUtopia
By Thomas More; Read by Jenilee
1 Zipped File of MP3s or podcast – Approx. 4 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 2007
“This book is all about the fictional country called Utopia. It is a country with an ‘ideal’ form of communism, in which everything really does belong to everybody, everyone does the work they want to, and everyone is alright with that. This country uses gold for chamber pots and prison chains, pearls and diamonds for children’s playthings, and requires that a man and a woman see each other exactly as they are, naked, before getting married. This book gave the word ‘utopia’ the meaning of a perfect society, while the Greek word actually means ‘no place’. Enjoy listening to this story about a country that really is too good to be true.”

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/utopia-by-thomas-more.xml

LibriVox science fiction audiobook - The Machine Stops by E.M. ForsterThe Machine Stops
By E. M. Forster; Read by Erin Tavano and Jenilee
3 Zipped MP3s or via podcast – 1 Hour 12 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 2007
Almost all humans have lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual lives in isolation in a ‘cell’, with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Most humans welcome this development, as they are skeptical and fearful of first-hand experience. People forget that humans created the Machine, and treat it as a mystical entity whose needs supersede their own. Those who do not accept the deity of the Machine are viewed as ‘unmechanical’ and are threatened with “Homelessness”.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/the-machine-stops-by-e-m-forster.xml

posted by Jesse Willis

Blake’s 7 The Audio Adventures update

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Blake's 7 Audio AdventuresBlake’s 7 The Audio Adventures series, now streaming exclusively on the Sci-Fi Channel UK website, has been pumping out their short audio drama segments at a delightfully quick pace. Added to the cast, in the more recent episodes, has been Robin Of Sherwood alumnus, Michael Praed. The total run for this show is going to be 36 segments, with new parts released Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Rebel – Chapter 1: Hard Targets
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 7 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 2: Enemy Of The State
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 9 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 3: First Contact
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 7.5 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 4: The Derelict
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 7 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 5: No Surrender
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 6 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 6: Plan B
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 6 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 7: Space Fall
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 5 minutes 30 Seconds Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 8: Survivors
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 7 Minutes 30 Seconds [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 9: Tertiary Stage
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 6 Minutes 30 Seconds [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 10: Hero
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 6 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 11: The Offer
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 7 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Rebel – Chapter 12: Exiles
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – 6 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Sci-Fi Channel UK
Published: May 2007

Resonance FMAlso, Resonance FM, a community based radio station in London, U.K., has a lengthy “behind the scenes” style interview with the creators of the Blake’s 7 The Audio Adventures. It was recorded at this year’s Bristol international Comic Expo. U.S.A. audio drama creators will be extremely jealous of the obvious popularity of audio drama in the U.K.. Not mentioned in the interview, but also fascinating, is that the actors union in the U.K. has negotiated a precedent setting contract with the B7 Audio Adventures team. Have a listen |MP3|.

posted by Jesse Willis

FREE Elizabeth Bear audio fiction from Subterranean Press!

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Subterranean PressSubterranean Press, which produces the “Subterranean Online” magazine, has just released their Summer 2007 issue, and is offering another free audiobook, this one from the issue’s primary focus SF author Elizabeth Bear! This audiobook is read by the talented narrator, and SFFaudio’s very own, Mary Robinette Kowal! Wax is the second standalone tale in Bear’s new mosaic novel New Amsterdam.

Subterranean Press - Wax by Elizabeth BearWax
By Elizabeth Bear; Read by Mary Robinette Kowal
7 MP3s – Approx. 1 Hours 14 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Published: May 2007
|MP3 Chapter 1|MP3 Chapter 2|MP3 Chapter 3|
|MP3 Chapter 4|MP3 Chapter 5|MP3 Chapter 6|
|MP3 Chapter 7|
Abigail Irene Garrett drinks too much. She makes scandalous liaisons with inappropriate men, and if in her youth she was a famous beauty, now she is both formidable–and notorious. She is a forensic sorceress, and a dedicated officer of a Crown that does not deserve her loyalty. She has nothing, but obligations. Sebastien de Ulloa is the oldest creature she has ever known. He was no longer young at the Christian millennium, and that was nine hundred years ago. He has forgotten his birth-name, his birth-place, and even the year in which he was born, if he ever knew it. But he still remembers the woman who made him immortal. He has everything, but a reason to live. In a world where the sun never set on the British Empire, where Holland finally ceded New Amsterdam to the English only during the Napoleonic wars, and where the expansion of the American colonies was halted by the war magic of the Iroquois, they are exiles in the new world–and its only hope for justice.

posted by Jesse Willis

Canadia: 2056 episode 6 airing now!

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Canadia 2056Another Friday, so you know what that means! Yep, it’s Canadia: 2056 day, and today’s CBC Radio One broadcast is of episode 6. It’s airing on every single CBC Radio One station across Canada this morning starting at 11:30 am in all time zones (Noon in Newfoundland). And of course, if you’re not conveniently sitting by your radio at 11:30 am you still have a chance to hear it ONLINE via the Streaming Radio Map – just click the time zone in your area at 11:30am in your time zone, or do a bit of math and you can also time-shift a bit. Only four more episodes left after today’s!

Here’s the official CBC Radio hotsheet description:

“Head for outer space this morning aboard Canadia 2056, the lone Canadian government spacecraft, sent to support an American space armada fighting hostile aliens. This week, the crew loses the ability to navigate the ship, when control is taken over by a cloud. The up side is that the cloud grants them wishes, and the down side is also that the cloud grants them wishes – in other words, they make some questionable choices! Also, Anderson is pining away for Connie, his first love. Canadia 2056, this morning at 11:30 (noon NT) on CBC Radio One.”

I’m sad to say, there’s been no response to my queries to the CBC, about the status of a Canadia:2056 podcast. Perhaps their tired of hearing my lone voice? If you want CBC to make their Radio Dramas available via podcast, or at least by something equivilent to the BBC “Listen Again” service try calling the toll-free phone number (Canada only): 1-866-306-4636 or using the web-contact form.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7’s The Seventh Dimension has a Brian Aldiss short story!

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BBC 7's The 7th DimensionI missed telling you about a cool tale broadcast last Sunday. Though I have been remiss, all is not lost, you can still listen to this specially commissioned reading through the “Listen Again” service of BBC Radio 7. The story is Song Of The Silencer and it is a “chilling account” of man’s attempt to make order out of chaos by constructing an ‘ultimate machine.’ First Published in 1979. The reader is Nigel Anthony, a winner of both Sony award and Radio Times awards for radio performances.

BBC Radio 7 - Song Of The SilencerSong Of The Silencer
By Brian Aldiss; Read by Nigel Anthony
1 Broadcast – Approx. 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday May 20th, 2007 @ 6.30pm and 12.30am (U.K. Time)
Humanity has built a massive computer out in space simply called the Ultimate Machine, that perfectly mimics the human brain — but some are predicting disaster once it is activated.

posted by Jesse Willis