Tag: science fiction

The Flying Cuspidors by V.R. Francis

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

My friend Julie Hoverson described this story as “Runyonesque” (I had to look it up). Having now heard it I can see why she read it. Julie is an absolute ham for certain quirky American accents air jordan 30 quai 54 cosmos 863586 010 and she nails this one beautifully. Of the story itself she said it featured a jazz style band, made up of some suitably jazzy types. The plot, such as it is, is kind of beside the point. It’s a kind of a fish out of water story in which the band, though seemingly born in the future, still finds themselves sounding very much like a set of 1950s characters. Indeed, they find themselves stuck in a Science Fiction future but with 1950s problems.

At the time of publication of The Flying Cuspidors, August 1958, the author, one V.R. Francis, was said to have been a 21 year old Californian, who had “previously appeared in men’s magazines.” But whether that was as a model, or an author, is unfortunately lost to history.

This is the only known story by V.R. Francis

The Flying Cuspidors by V.R. FrancisThe Flying Cuspidors
By V.R. Francis; Read by Julie Hoverson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 23 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: Julie Hoverson
Provided: May 2013
This was love, and what could be done about it? It’s been happening to guys for a long time, now. First published in Fantastic Universe August 1958.

Here’s a |PDF|, and Gutenberg has |ETEXT| versions.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Sci-Fi Radio Theater: Hyper Nocturnal: A Horror Sci-Fi Radio Play

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Sci-Fi Radio TheaterSci-Fi Radio Theater has a new show. Part fine popsicle, part bad yogurt it’s called Hyper Nocturnal and it’s “an 8 part hybrid sci-fi/horror radio play.”

I’d describe it as horror meets humor in a Science Fiction setting.

Here’s the first episode in its entirety:

In deep space the crew of a cargo vessel known as the Macedonia must confront an unspeakable evil birthed from the frayed fabric of reality.

And here’s the trailer:

Posted by Jesse Willis

A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum

A Martian Odyssey is a classic of alien human interaction. Isaac Asimov said of it and of Weinbaum:

“With this single story [A Martian Odyssey], Weinbaum was instantly recognized as the world’s best living science fiction writer, and at once almost every writer in the field tried to imitate him.”

It is also argued that this is the first story to satisfy Astounding editor John W. Campbell’s famous challenge:

“Write me a creature who thinks as well as a man, or better than a man, but not like a man.”

When it was republished, just 4 years later, in Startling Stories, A Martian Odyssey was added to the “Scientifiction Hall Of Fame”:

Scientifiction Hall Of Fame - Editor's Note
And with that that same printing was this extolling editorial explanation:
Stanley G. Weinbaum - Pioneer Of Scientifiction

LibriVoxA Martian Odyssey
By Stanley G. Weinbaum; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 58 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: January 13, 2009
Early in the twenty-first century, nearly twenty years after the invention of atomic power and ten years after the first lunar landing, the four-man crew of the Ares has landed on Mars in the Mare Cimmerium. A week after the landing, Dick Jarvis, the ship’s American chemist, sets out south in an auxiliary rocket to photograph the landscape. Eight hundred miles out, the engine on Jarvis’ rocket gives out, and he crash-lands into one of the Thyle regions. Rather than sit and wait for rescue, Jarvis decides to walk back north to the Ares. First published in Wonder Stories, July 1934.

Here’s an illustrated |PDF| made from the original publication in Wonder Stories.

A Martian Odyssey - illustration by Frank R. Paul

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #211 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Beside Still Waters by Robert Sheckley

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #211 – Beside Still Waters by Robert Sheckley, narrated by Julie Davis. This is a complete and unabridged reading of the short story (9 minutes) followed by a discussion of it. Participants in the discussion include Jesse, Julie Davis, and Rose Davis.

Talked about on today’s show:
Futurama, The Odyssey, Argos (Odysseus’ dog), a cup of sadness, depressing and beautiful, packed in sensitivity, The Status Civilization by Homer, Ray Bradbury, Amazing Stories, cold war worries, racism, Genesis, Psalms, Philip K. Dick, Eric S. Rabkin, there is no truth about what’s really happening in fiction, the final arbiter is the word, Martha, the 23rd psalm, Martha’s story, Julie’s patron saint, an expensive ointment, this slab of rock, “no girl he had ever known”, make a C.L.A.I.M., how many characters are in this story?, three?, Four?, robots, it was always night on Martha, everything is alive, Look! Language!, bedtime forever, Charles is Adam, a man created in the image of man, God isn’t interested in girls, the father he had never known, the “immaculate” shack, God is hard to find, the pallor of space, deprogramming the slave circuit, Willis the robot, the etymology of Charles (coming from Carl), the robot is a “free man”, …, “he restoreth my soul”, “I will fear no evil”, graveside usage, Robert Alter’s translation of Genesis, familiar yous, soul vs. spirit vs. breath vs. ghosts, God breathes, Gospel of John, Pentecost, neither water nor air, Martha’s tapped out, a Wall-E situation, was Charles sent by God?, was he an Angel?, once we start down the name path…, Mother Theresa, the guest/host relationship, God as the shepherd, in the shadow of death, flail and crook, rod and staff, Charles as Mark’s better self, Science Fiction, Martha as bitter, the “black tamed soil”, Martha as one, the Aramaic meaning, baby name websites, prefigurement, Exodus, graveyards, the purpose of slabs in graveyards, R.U.R. by Karel Čapek, Galactic Pot-Healer, Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe, Don Quixote, “over the mountains of the moon”, it was not good for Man to be alone, bone of his bones, the end miracle, something from outside of the story, rusted servos, “Where’s my hankie?”

Beside Still Waters by Robert Sheckley - Illustration by Virgil Finlay

Posted by Jesse Willis

Clarkesworld: Guest Of Honor by Robert Reed

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

I first heard Robert Reed’s outstanding novelette, Guest Of Honor, as an audiobook in the mid-1990s. It was narrated by Amy Bruce for Infinivox (get that version HERE).

It blew me away.

Guest Of Honor is undeniably GREAT SCIENCE FICTION, the kind of which only seems to show up once or twice a decade. If you haven’t already heard it, prepare yourself for some pure idea fiction.

There’s no official description for this astounding story so here’s mine:

When immortality is on the table accidents are naturally the uppermost fear on your mind. As an immortal you wouldn’t do anything nearly so dangerous as space travel, but all the same as an immortal you’d necessarily crave such new sensations so as to offset the boredom of an infinite future. And that’s where Pico comes in, she’s an adventurer gathering experiences for the immortals who sponsored her back on Earth. Her story, or stories, even if they are only vicarious, will be cherished by the many and she will be the guest of honor when she returns.

Clarkesworld MagazineClarkesworld Magazine #79 – Guest Of Honor
By Robert Reed; Read by Kate Baker
1 |MP3| – Approx. 1 Hour 21 Minuites [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Clarkesworld
Podcast: April 22, 2013
First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1993.

Podcast feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/clarkesworldmagazine/podcast

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Star Pit by Samuel R. Delany

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Star Pit by Samuel R. Delany

“In 1967, WBAI produced a two-hour radio dramatization of Samuel R. Delany’s first short piece [a novelette] of SF, ‘The Star-Pit’, with narration by Delany himself.” That broadcast is STILL available as 4 FREE MP3s, all of which are downloadable HERE, along with a fascinating article chronicling the radio drama’s production history. Enjoy!

Benjamen Walker's Theory Of EverythingThe Star Pit
By Samuel R. Delany; Perfomed by a Full Cast
4 MP3 Files – Approx. 2 Hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: Mind’s Eye Theater / WBAI FM New York
Broadcast: 1967
A tale of loneliness and difference, about grounded workers who service the starships that will travel the galaxy. First published in Worlds of Tomorrow, February 1967.

All four parts:
Part One (24.3 MB)
Part Two (23.7 MB)
Part Three (22.8 MB)
Part Four (25.9 MB)

Performers: Samuel R. Delany, Baird Searles, Randa Haynes, Walter Harris, Jerry Matts, Joan Tanner and Phoebe Wray.
Produced by Baird Searles
Production Assistant Neal Conan
Directed by Daniel Landau
Music and Sound Effects by Susan Schweers
Technical Direction by David Rabkin and Ed Woodward

The Star Pit by Samuel R. Delany - iIlustrated by Gaughan

The Star Pit by Samuel R. Delany - illustrated by Gaughan

The Star Pit by Samuel R. Delany - illustrated by Gaughan

[this post is an update on one from 2006]

Posted by Jesse Willis