Review of Simon Bloom: The Octopus Effect by Michael Reisman

SFFaudio Review

Fantasy Audiobook - Simon Bloom The Octopus Effect by Michael ReismanSimon Bloom: The Octopus Effect
By Michael Reisman; Read by Nicholas Hormann
9.5 Hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Listening Library
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9780739382387
Themes: / Science Fiction / YA / Science / biology /

|LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT|

As another chronicle begins Simon Bloom and his friends are thrust back into mortal peril. This time the gang heads to the Order of Biology’s headquarters. When the gang gets there they find an unexpected surprise – it’s underwater! Simon and his friends must prepare themselves for battle against the evil Sirabetta (unsure on spelling) who somehow has regained her memory. Simon and his friends face enemies from other orders and the Order of Biology’s domain itself!

One of the things I liked most about this story was the author’s use of humor for the oddest things. When something gross or funny is described in the book it is described by using words like “air ripping”, or “vacuum cleaner bag smell”. I think that it is brilliant.

The reader, Nicholas Hormann, makes the experience of listening to this book all the more interesting. The way he reads just makes me laugh, you have to listen to the book to know what I mean. He is excellent with accents. When he reads characters in the story like Flangello (again not sure about spelling) he speaks with a very good Italian accent. Nicholas is not the most emotional reader, but this fact does not detract from the story one bit.

I encourage everyone to listen to this audio book, providing that one has read the first book (Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper), otherwise one might not understand the book in its full context. I absolutely loved this audiobook and I am sure any person that enjoys science will feel the same way.

Posted by DanielsonKid

Science Fiction and Politics University Course (has new lectures)

SFFaudio Online Audio

Science Fiction and PoliticsCourtney Brown has added some new classes to his Science Fiction and Politics podcast. Brown is a professor of Political Science at Emory University who posts many of his lectures to his website (he’s actually been podcasting since 2006).

For the first two lectures of the Spring 2009 semester Brown, and class, are talking about Lee Smolin’s The Trouble with Physics. That’s a non-fiction book that bashes the various untestable string theories that physicists have been spinning over the last couple of decades. The second set of two lectures is about a 1991 “feminist science fiction/cyberpunk novel” called He, She And It by Marge Piercy. Next is just one MP3 discussing Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age. And the final two have Courtney and class talking about Philip K. Dick’s Ubik. These are the first new lectures from Courtney Brown talking Science Fiction since 2007.

Here are the new lectures that have been added to course’s podcast:

Lee Smolin’s The Trouble with Physics – Part 1 |MP3|
Lee Smolin’s The Trouble with Physics – Part 2 |MP3|
Marge Piercy’s He, She And It – Part 1|MP3|
Marge Piercy’s He, She And It – Part 2 |MP3|
Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age |MP3|
Philip K. Dick’s Ubik – Part 1 |MP3|
Philip K. Dick’s Ubik – Part 2 |MP3|
Podcast feed:

http://www.courtneybrown.com/classes/scifi/mp3/cb_SciFiPoliticsClass1.xml

For previous lectures either check out one of our older posts about Brown and his classes, |HERE|, |HERE| and |HERE|, or visit Professor Brown’s website directly |HERE|.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC World Service: Pontypool [the radio drama]

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC World ServiceThe BBC World Service commissions an annual collection of new radio plays from around the world each year. They call it “Worldplay” and this year’s theme was “science.” Entries came in from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the USA and Canada. It was Canada’s entry that has drawn my ear. Not only because it is Science Fictional (and Horror-ish) but also because it happens to be related to a movie that I told you radio drama fans would probably dig. Here’s a CBC Edmonton review of the movie |MP3| (now on DVD). Perhaps this Pontypool radio drama would have been broadcast on CBC Radio One too, had not the CBC radio drama department been virtually mothballed. Luckily, the BBC and ABC Radio National seem interested in airing new Canadian radio drama even if CBC itself isn’t.

Now for a few caveats. As the Horror Squad blog points out this is not, strictly speaking, a new recording but rather a radio drama created by editing the movie’s dialogue and sound effects tracks. Ultimately, this does hurt the piece; it would have been better to have had these terrific actors in the studio to recreate their performances (as was done by the likes of Lux Radio Theatre). But to my ears this edit is good, if not the ideal. Here’s what Horror Squad said:

“This is actually not a new recording, but simply the original audio of the film re-cut as a play. If you haven’t seen the film, I’d highly recommend you do before giving it a complete listen. As fantastic as the audio side is, one of the best things about the film is Bruce McDonald’s [he’s the film’s director] ability to visually trap you within the confines of the radio station, which is something I fear this 40 minute shorter take on the material is without.”

I myself have a couple factoids about Pontypool the radio drama. I’ll throw out there. First, this AD has a different ending than does the film. Second, it’s substantially abridged. The movie runs 97 minutes, with dialogue running over the opening and closing credits; whereas the AD runs only 53 minutes. The AD’s end credits also, by the way, say that Pontypool, was directed by Gregory J. Sinclair as a production for CBC. This is news to me considering I haven’t heard it broadcast on CBC radio this year, or even announced for the fall. Sinclair, incidentally, is the producer of CBC Radio’s last standing radio drama series, Afghanada. Have a listen to Pontypool. It’s a very Canadian zombie story. I really liked it a lot!

BBC World Service - Pontypool by Tony BurgessPontypool
By Tony Burgess; Performed by a full cast
Streaming Audio – Approx. 58 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC World Service / Worldplay
Broadcast: June 21, 2009
“Shock jock Grant Mazzy has, once again, been kicked-off the Big City airwaves and now the only job he can get is the early morning show at CLSY Radio in Pontypool Ontario, which broadcasts from the basement of the small town’s only church. What begins as another boring day of school bus cancellations, due to yet another massive snow storm, quickly turns deadly when reports start piling in of people developing strange speech patterns and evoking horrendous acts of violence start piling in. But there’s nothing coming in on the news wires. Is this really happening? Before long, Grant and the small staff at CLSY find themselves trapped in the radio station as they discover that this insane behaviour taking over the town is actually a deadly virus being spread through the English language itself. Do they stay on the air in the hopes of being rescued or, are they in fact providing the virus with its ultimate leap over the airwaves and into the world? Based on the novel Pontypool Changes Everything. Starring Stephen McHattie, Lisa Poole, Georgina Reilly, Rick Roberts, Hrant Alianak and Daniel Fathers .

This is also available in MP3 format via RadioArchive.cc along with more of the Worldplay dramas.

And, for australian listeners without torrent capability, via ABC Radio National |STREAMING|.

[via Monster Rally]

Posted by Jesse Willis

P.S. I think perhaps it’s time for CBC to sell the J. Michael Straczynski radio drama series that they produced and never aired, to a station that will actually broadcast it! Maybe BBC:WS?

J.J. Campanella’s Science News Update

SFFaudio Online Audio

Uvula AudioJames Campanella might be the busiest man in the universe. He’s a podcaster, an audiobook narrator, a Science Fiction writer, a university professor, a scientist and science popularizer (and maybe a dad or something too who knows). How does he do it all?

No clue. I’m just glad he does.

If you know him its probably from his work on StarShipSofa‘s Aural Delights. Not only does James do some of the best damned narration on the podcast, he also does a science essay segment. Those essays are like being read the best articles in Scientific American or Discover magazine but with a friendly scientist commenter who’ll explain some of the implications. He’s basically a 21st century Isaac Asimov in that respect.

I recently mentioned my fondness for his science segments and Jim pointed out he’s got a separate podcast feed for them. Wow!

J.J. Campanella’s Science News Update

Podcast feed:

http://www.uvulaaudio.com/Podcasts/Podcasts.xml

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxThe prospect of listening to an amateur narration of an audiobook may not get your shaft cranking but perhaps that’s because you haven’t yet found the right one. Here’s an older LibriVox recording, one that’s made many a listener happy. Alex Foster’s English accent is perfectly aligned for a reading of The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells – so much so that nobody haas bothered recording another version for LibriVox! This is something rather unusual on LibriVox – at least for a work as famous as The Invisible Man!

LibriVox - The Invisible Man by H.G. WellsThe Invisible Man
By H.G. Wells; Read by Alex Foster
13 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 54 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: 2006
The Invisible Man (1897) is one of the most famous science fiction novels of all time. Written by H.G. Wells (1866-1946), it tells the story of a scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility and uses it on himself. The story begins as the Invisible Man, with a bandaged face and a heavy coat and gloves, takes a train to lodge in a country inn whilst he tries to discover the antidote and make himself visible again. The book inspired several films and is notable for its vivid descriptions of the invisible man–no mean feat, given that you can’t see him!

Podcast Feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/invisible-man-by-h-g-wells.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Uvula Audio: Divers Down! Adventure Under Hawaiian Seas by Hal Gordon

SFFaudio Online Audio

Uvula AudioJames J. Campanella, podcaster, audiobook narrator, science popularizer and lecturer writes in to say:

Uvula Audio is starting a new bookcast this week. It is a science fiction book only in the sense that it has science in it and it is a fictional story, but it is an excellent young adult novel from 1971 which is now rare and long out of print. Starting tomorrow, we will be presenting Divers Down! Adventure Under Hawaiian Seas by Hal Gordon.

This was one of my favorite books in my youth and one of the books that pushed me in the direction of science as a career.

Divers Down! Adventures Under Hawaiian Seas by Hal GordonDivers Down! Adventure Under Hawaiian Seas
By Hal Gordon; Read by James J. Campanella
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Uvula Audio Bookcast
Podcast: May 2009 –
The story concerns Kip Morgan, a student from Connecticut with an interest in undersea engineering. He comes to Hawaii to take part in the Makapuu Oceanic Center’s summer program. There he meets a number of other young scientists, including several from Hawaii, and gets involved in raising the “Ilikai,” a large canoe that sank in the 1860s while carrying a huge stone idol, a representation of the Hawaiian god Kane. Along the way, Kip’s friendship with archaeologist Julie turns romantic, he develops a rivalry with another summer student, and he has adventures under the beautiful Pacific.The story is also an excellent introduction to scuba diving and the Hawaiian language.

Here’s the first file |MP3|. Look for more in the feed soon!

Podcast feed:

http://www.uvulaaudio.com/kids/Kids.xml

Posted by Jesse Willis