Tag: science fiction

Review of Creatures of the Abyss by Murray Leinster

Julie

SFFaudio Review

Science Fiction Audiobook - Creatures of the Abyss by Murray LeinsterCreatures of the Abyss
By Murray Leinster; Read by Mark Douglas Nelson
5 Hours 36 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Librivox
Published: 2013

Radar expert and electronic engineer Terry Holt has been recruited by a scientific expedition in the Phillipines to make underwater listening devices. They won’t tell him what his inventions are meant to investigate. And that makes him mad.

He has some ideas though. Orejas de ellos, the things who listen, have been the explanation Videos about What is Factory Wholesale Hot Selling Durable Liquid Silicone Rubber to Make Crafts by fishermen about strange catches of fish. Are they real or just superstition? What are the mysterious shooting stars that seem to fall with such frequency into the Luzon Deep? Why do mysterious swarms of fish gather in one specific area of the ocean?

Had Leinster been reading Jules Verne? Had he been reading H.G. Wells? Or is this a completely new creation? Those are the questions I repeatedly asked as I vacillated between three different theories about the mysterious “fish herding” and who is doing it. As Leinster always does, I was glued to this adventure story investigating what comes from the abyss, which may be deadly, especially to those who are set on discovering the truth.

I will disclose only this … I was very surprised by the end of the story. Bravo, Murray Leinster.

I listened to the LibriVox free audio version, narrated ir jordan 4 tour yellow 200 by the wonderful Mark Douglas Nelson.

LibriVox link: http://librivox.org/creatures-of-the-abyss-by-murray-leinster

Posted by Julie D.

Escape Pod: Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Rescue Party, seems to have fans, though to my ears it seems rather like Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s worst story. Clarke is at his most unpolished in this novelette, his first sold story. It has, of course, good ideas, as we came to expect of Clarke, but is none of that deft writing. Perhaps most interestingly it is actually an inversion of the plot of one of Clarke’s best written stories, The Star and thus we could say that Rescue Party has at least a kind of a curiosity value. But that’s may be putting it too harshly, the story is pretty good despite it’s bad and lengthy writing.

That there is a full cast reading of Rescue Party seems overkill. Norm Sherman, who also does the audio production for his other podcast, the Drabblecast, has the main narration duty – perhaps you won’t notice, but I found myself hypnotized by the aspiration preceding Sherman’s every sentence – the characters are voiced by various Escape Pod alumni. And some of them seem to have added vocal distortion – I guess to make them more alieny. There are also sound effects.

Podcast - Escape PodRescue Party
By Sir Arthur C. Clarke; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 1 Hour 15 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Escape Pod
Podcast: June 18, 2013
“The mission was to rescue a fraction of a population – because the Galactic Union hadn’t known that Earth’s Sun had inhabited planets until too late. But they did know it was going Nova!” First published in Astounding, May 1946.

Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke

Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke - illustrated by Kildale

Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke - illustrated by Kildale

Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke - illustrated by Kildale

Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke - illustrated by Kildale

Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke - illustrated by Kildale

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Eye in the Sky by Philip K. Dick

Jenny

SFFaudio Review

eyeskyEye in the Sky
By Philip K. Dick; Performed by Dan John Miller
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
8 hours [UNABRIDGED]

Themes: / theology / altered reality / science fiction / particle accelerator / dystopia /

Publisher summary:

When a routine tour of a particle accelerator goes awry, Jack Hamilton and the rest of his tour group find themselves in a world ruled by Old Testament morality, where the smallest infraction can bring about a plague of locusts. Escape from that world is not the end, though, as they plunge into a Communist dystopia and a world where everything is an enemy. Philip K. Dick was aggressively individualistic, and no worldview is safe from his acerbic and hilarious takedowns. Eye in the Sky blends the thrills and the jokes to craft a startling morality lesson hidden inside a comedy.

Eye in the Sky is Philip K. Dick’s 5th published novel, and although his earlier work touched on many themes that would continue throughout his career, this book is one of the first to develop these themes in full. The focus is on a technological mishap that sends Jack Hamilton and 7 other individuals into what amounts to a shared consensual hallucination. The characters quickly find their mutual realities at odds with one another. During the first of these alternate worlds, Philip K. Dick has fun with another of his favorite topics – theology, and it is from this segment that the title Eye in the Sky originates.

Dick’s humor is also more present in this novel than in his previous works. Narrator Dan John Miller is very successful in capturing the sarcasm found in character Jack Hamilton’s dialogue. In addition to humor, horror elements can also be found during another segment late in the story involving a haunted house of sorts. With all of the mind-bending excitement throughout most of the book, the ending may seem anti-climactic; however, I felt the ending was consistent with the author’s own philosophy and  would recommend Eye in the Sky as a great place to start for someone interested in the earlier work of Philip K. Dick.

Posted by Dan VK

Review of Operation: Outer Space by Murray Leinster

Julie

SFFaudio Review

LIBRIVOX - Operation: Outer Space by Murray LeinsterOperation: Outer Space
By Murray Leinster; Read by Mark Douglas Nelson
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 6 Hours 48 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 25, 2011
|ETEXT|

Jed Cochrane is about to take off on man’s first interstellar voyage. His mission: Make sure it’s good television!

Prompted by my enjoyment of the Murray Leinster Collection, I went searching for another likely Leinster book to try. I vaguely recalled Mark Douglas Nelson running Operation: Outer Space at SciPodCast before it went to live at LibriVox.

“A fast-paced, sardonic job that is primarily a satire on the future of mass communications… a jolly tale indeed.” – Groff Conklin

I agree with P. Schuyler Miller who said, “It’s no classic, but it’s good reading.”

As someone who works in advertising I found much to enjoy in Murray Leinster’s tale of an unlikely space expedition financed by television show sponsors. I also appreciated the fact that Jed Cochrane has a loftier ambition fueled by his own unhappiness at the overcrowding on Earth and lack of hope among the population. He is pursuing a solution the only way that he has been trained to do, through business opportunity. In this way the book is also a left-handed compliment to capitalism, albeit tongue-in-cheek.

Mark Douglas Nelson’s narration, as always, is spot on. I always enjoy his reading and he lets the story shine through.

Posted by Julie D.

Review of Space Casey by Christiana Ellis

Julie

SFFaudio Review

Space Casey audio drama Space Casey
By Christiana Ellis; Performed by a full cast
10 Episode Podcast Series – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: SpaceCasey.com
Podcast: 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Humor /

Some heroines will steal your heart… This one will steal your wallet.”

Space Casey is a 10-part audiodrama miniseries which won the Gold Mark Time Award for Best Science Fiction Audio Production by the American Society for Science Fiction Audio and the 2008 Parsec Award for Best Science Fiction Audio Drama.

Pure nostalgia took me back to this really fun little audio drama. Listening to Mur Lafferty read The Shambling Guide to New York City made me recall the other Podiobooks I discovered with such pleasure.

The story follows con artist Casey as she boosts a spaceship from a greenhorn. Problem is, the spaceship was programmed to take off for uncharted territories. Uncharted to humans that is. I won’t say more about the plot other than we see Casey rise to new heights as she struggles to return to human space with all the odds against her. Never was her ability to con people (and aliens and robots and spaceships) more necessary for her survival.

This is a lot of fun and I found myself laughing aloud several times. I absolutely love Christiana Ellis’s sense of humor and narration. She also got a lot of voice talent assistance from other well-known Podiobooks and podcasting talent. I had fun seeing if I could identify them before the credits at the end.

Perfect summer fun, or actually fun for whenever you’re listening.

Podiobooks link
http://podiobooks.com/title/space-casey/

Christiana Ellis’ link
http://christianaellis.com/?page_id=559

Posted by Julie D.