My mother’s so hip she not only knows what a podcast is, she’s recommending them! She just sent me an email regarding one of the podcasts she recently listened to. My mom recommends:
The Cambridge Science Festival Podcast, which recently aired a show that includes “The Science Of Doctor Who” |MP3|. You can subscribe to the podcast via this feed:
http://mediaplayer.group.cam.ac.uk/pods/other/CSF.rss
Posted by Jesse Willis
Mainspring
By Jay Lake; Read by William Dufris
Audible Download – Approx. 13.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: macmillan audio / audible.com
Published: December 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Alternate Universe / Steampunk / Religion / Angels / Science /
The mainspring of the Earth is running down, and disaster to the planet will ensue if it’s not rewound. To do the job the Archangel Gabriel approaches a young clockmaker’s apprentice and explains the problem. He can’t be that surprised, in a clockwork solar system, where the planets move in a vast system of gears around the lamp of the Sun – how could he be? This is a universe where the hand of the Creator is visible to anyone who simply looks up into the sky and sees the track of the heavens, the wheels of the Moon, and the great Equatorial gears of the Earth itself.
Clockmaker’s apprentice Hethor Jacques is graced by a visit from the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel tells him that he’s been chosen to re-wind the running down mainspring of the earth. If it isn’t re-wound, the world will end – and as such he must find something called “the Key Perilous” (the Mainspring equivalent of our “Holy Grail”). A series of short introductions and good-byes later (with the help of a friendly librarian), Hethor is pressed into the service of a Royal Navy airship (the Bassett) and soon is heading south towards the equatorial wall, atop which the brass gear-works of the Earth and its orbital track meet. Beyond that barrier lies the mysterious ‘Southern Earth.’ Hethor’s quest will take him there and farther south – to the ends of the earth – one way or another.
In a clockwork world who could doubt the existence of God? None, but some still doubt the existence of angels. And that’s just what happens to Hethor. His master and betters think him at best a liar, at worst a thief, and poor young Hethor seems ill-equipped to save the universe. Luckily, a quick trip to the library and he’s on the right track…
Talk about hard to categorize! Jay Lake’s Mainspring offers an utterly unique vision of a world in which the Medieval ideas about how the universe works are literally manifest. Great premise, but it is an undercooked universe that I didn’t wholly buy. The alternate universe changes are interesting, but are not often well grounded. For instance, in the Mainspring world Jesus wasn’t crucified (nailed to a cross), he was ‘horofixed,’ (strapped to a wheel) – kind of makes sense right? Okay, that’s cool – but why, other than for style, did the United States never revolt from the English crown? Why the 19th century airships? Don’t get me wrong, I love airships, but there doesn’t appear to be a logic to their addition. We don’t find out much about the logic for the changes that aren’t obvious either. And that’s basically its problem. Mainspring has many elegant epicycles around its central action, but that action all lacks a core motivation. How can you suspend disbelief if the force of gravity is both an absent actor in the grand scheme (cosmically) but appears to act locally (people aren’t strapped down to the earth)? There are many flourishes, but there are also so many sidesteps to what should be natural consequences. This makes Mainspring have a mechanical, almost “rail-shooter”-novel feel to it. For instance, the novel insists that gravity isn’t what keeps the earth in orbit around the sun (it’s a massive brass clockwork instead), but what keeps the objects on the Earth on the ground? What keeps the airships up (or down)? None of this is answered – or even addressed. I kept hoping that some revelation, something central to the novel, would be revealed, right up to the final pages. Maybe this universe has an intensified magnetic force in it or something? Instead, no, nothing.
Also underdeveloped, and tragically so, is the religious thread. The consequences of seeing the mechanism of what is clearly “creation” in this world are not explored to any significant degree. Indeed, the ramifications from a created world, a world that ‘can run down’, are so lightly touched upon as to be non-existent. The focus is on the adventure of the naive Hethor, his meager beginnings and his sexual awakening. Mostly though, Mainspring is a series of encounters, and visual incredibilities. Like I was saying earlier, it is all undercooked. Jay Lake has vision and talent but this feels far more like his “Count Zero” novel than his “Neuromancer.”
Mainspring is one of the new batch of “exclusive to audible” titles. Veteran narrator William Dufris brings a calm assurance to the many characters who live in a world that seems normal to them, and crazy to us. Sound quality isn’t quite as good as from CD (but this title isn’t available on CD). Once installed, the audible.com download software and the audible checkout system integrate well. It isn’t quite “one click” ordering, but once you’ve made your choice you can have an audiobook on your portable media player and ready to play in less than 30 minutes. I use an iPod Nano, which displays the cover art and bookmarks the files perfectly. I could switch between a regular playlist, a podcast, and multiple audiobooks (from Audible) without losing my place. The experience of listening to and downloading an audiobook from Audible to your iPod is virtually identical to what iPod podcast users get.
Posted by Jesse Willis
Seeker: Book One of the Noble Warriors
By William Nicholson; Read by Michael Page
9 CDs – 10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781423318354
Themes: / Fantasy / Epic Fantasy / Young Adult / Religion / Magic / Science /
“Three Very Different Heroes, Brought Together By A Shared Dream”
An elite band of fighter monks called the Nomana (AKA the “Noble Warriors”) guard a garden on the island of Anacrea within which dwells “the god who made all things.” Seeker (AKA “Seeker After Truth”) is an extremely intelligent boy of sixteen. He lives on the island, and wishes to follow his brother, the improbably named “Blaze Of Justice”, into the ranks of the Nomana. His father disapproves and he is forced to apply in secret. Morning Star, a girl of sixteen, can read a person’s aura to determine their character and emotions. She has the same goal, namely to become a Noble Warrior. With her father’s blessing and a hired guard, Morning Star sets out on a long journey to Anacrea. The two applicants are joined in the application line by a unschooled but charismatic seventeen year old brigand known only as “Wildman.” Wildman too is determined to become a “hoodie” (his word for the Nomana) after he found himself and his gang defeated by just two of the Noble Warriors. Far away in the imperial city of Radiance, a plot is hatching which will eventually involve all three youths.
When I first started listening to Seeker I couldn’t place just what kind of fantasy novel I’d taken on. It opens in a classroom, with a student named “Seeker After Truth” taking an important exam and deliberately writing down all the wrong answers. Intriguing, huh? Seeker wants to fail – that way, he hopes his father, who is also the class’ teacher, will free him of his planned destiny.
Author William Nicholson is unusually sparse with description. The setting is a school, but what are the desks made of? I don’t know. Do they have electric lighting? No data available. It takes a while for the listener to settle on what sort of technological capacity these people have and it takes even longer to understand what kind of tale this will be. Is this deliberate? After finishing the novel I’m still not sure. This is Nicholson’s second fantasy trilogy, and he’s crafted a recognizably fantasy epic in an unusual form. Is the lack of visual detail deliberate? It may be. Nicholson had a hand in writing plays and film scripts before finding further success with novels. He wrote the film scripts of First Knight (the Arthurian legend starring Richard Gere), Shadowlands (a biographical film about C.S. Lewis), the Ridley Scott-directed film Gladiator, and most recently Elizabeth: The Golden Age!
What I am sure about is this novel, the first of a trilogy, is about the nature of religious experience. Looking at Nicholson’s upbringing and his career, his writing is never far from either fantasy or religion. And perhaps most interestingly, when the novel first came out, he offered a “personal challenge to the reader” – if you could figure out what the nature of the Anacrean god was, before book two or three came out, he’d send you free copies of the books. He said the Anacrean god “is something you can’t possibly imagine.” Intriguing stuff.
The religions of Anacrea (an island fortress) and the city of Radiance, capital of a vast mainland empire, are both monotheistic. Anacrea’s mysterious god is called the “all and only.” It grants its monkish priests special powers which I can liken only to those of Star Wars‘s Jedi Knights. The Radiance god is the sun in their sky, and the citizens there have practiced ritual human sacrifice at twilight for centuries to keep the sun returning. But there are no magical powers for religious practitioners of Radiance. Instead, the upwardly mobile middle class of Radiance concerns itself with commerce or competes for prestige by buying human sacrificial offerings from slavers. And the Radiance elite, who employ something they call “scientists” are developing a weapon to rid themselves of the meddlesome monks on Anacrea.
The novel is good, but it doesn’t stand well enough on its own for an unreserved recommendation. One of the aspects I quite enjoyed was a kind of a con-game played on some willing believers about four-fifths of the way into the novel. The ending, which provides some resolution, wasn’t particularly surprising or revelatory. Nicholson is a successful playwright and an Oscar nominated screenwriter. It remains to be seen whether the mystery at the center of this trilogy will be as big a payoff as Nicholson is claiming – he calls the Noble Warriors trilogy the “most important thing I’ve ever done.” I’m intrigued enough to listen to the second book, entitled Jango (also available from Brilliance).
Reader Michael Page, a ten audiobook veteran for Brilliance Audio, is a British actor who narrates well. His males are distinguishable, his female voices are too, at typically a pitch lower. At one point though, when we meet a roadside oracle, in what proves to be a funny scene, Page presents a character with a Monty Python-style falsetto. His rendition of the “Wildman,” a major figure in the book, is always filled with a fun bluff gusto. The packaging itself features the handsome paperbook art. Each disc does too, and each opens and closes with a musical cue which is handy for people swapping discs. Each disc has 99 files, the idea being it makes for more accurate bookmarking. But if you’re planning on ripping a disc to put on your MP3 player be aware that not all programs make ripping a disc with this many files easy.
Lastly, a quibble. They’ve spelled “Noble” (of an exalted character) as “Nobel” (like the Swedish chemist). This was fixed for the sequel’s cover.
Posted by Jesse Willis
TV Ontario, the channel that brought us Prisoners Of Gravity is now podcasting the audio track from its terrific lecture show Big Ideas. The most recent broadcast and podcast features SF author Robert J. Sawyer expounding on the virtues of Science Fiction (and the original Star Trek) and the vices of Star Wars. Have a listen |MP3| to his 40 minute lecture and be blown away! RJS’ analysis is solid, and his delivery is absolutely Shatnerian. Also under the microscope are the film of Planet Of The Apes and novelist Michael Crichton. Here’s the official description:
“Author Robert J. Sawyer explains how Hollywood’s approach to science fiction, starting with George Lucas’s Star Wars, has dulled the edge that made science fiction such a pertinent film genre. Sawyer disects the problematic aspects of the original Star Wars film and shows how science fiction books continue to tackle difficult issues while their big screen counterparts take the easy road of big explosions and small ideas.”
Subscribe to the podcast feed:
http://www.tvo.org/TVOspecial3/WebObjects/TVOMedia.woa?bigideasfeed
Posted by Jesse Willis
David Livingston, who hosts The Space Show, interviewed Donna Shirley, the former manager of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Shirley was also a director of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (in Seattle, WA). You’ll need to bear with the programs flaws, there are lots of clicks, buzzes, pleas for donations and copyright notifications. Listen directly |MP3| or use the podcast feed:
http://www.gigadial.net/public/station/11253/rss.xml
[via Marooned: Science Fiction books on Mars]
Posted by Jesse Willis
I Am Legend
By Richard Matheson; Read by Robertson Dean and Yuri Rasovsky
10 CDs – Approx. 11 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433203299
Themes: / Science Fiction / Horror / Vampires / Noir / Science /
“Come out Neville!”
Would it be fair to say that I Am Legend is one of the greatest novels of the 20th century? No, I personally wouldn’t argue that. I’d argue that instead it is one of the greatest novels of all time. The very first review on SFFaudio was an out of print audiobook from Books On Tape. I bought it on eBay in 2003, I haven’t seen it for sale since. It was a “double novel” audiobook entitled I Am Legend / The Shrinking Man two of Richard Matheson most famous works. As I said in that review, “I Am Legend is one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to.” That same recommendation goes for this edition. The novel alone is worth killing for. If you’re a fan of Matheson, the included short story collection is a bonus.
I Am Legend is a classic vampire story with the standard man against nature, man against himself themes. It is the psychological journey, of Robert Neville, is the very last man on Earth. Every night male vampires pelt his suburban Los Angeles home with rocks and the female vampires expose their nakedness to him – these, his former neighbors – lust for his blood. During daylight hours, Neville repairs the damage to his home, restocks his larder, and his bar, with canned foods, and whiskey. He needs the whiskey, for his other tasks are to suppress the lustful desires he has. He has a deadly lonliness within him. He’s found the only way to keep himself from going mad is to keep busy, drink heavily and try not to think about what’s happening outside his home at night. Since the plague hit, and his wife died, Neville has had to learn the lathe, for turning stakes, and become a microbiologist – he’s used all sorts of techniques to keep the vampires at bay – and he’s curious as to why some work and some don’t. Garlic works, but mirrors don’t. Holy water doesn’t, but crosses do, at least sometimes. It’s enough of a puzzle to turn an everyman into an experimental scientist – and that journey of science, and the lessons of about the world Neville learns along the way are rewarded in what I can only describe as the best ending to a novel ever.
Some will argue that I Am Legend is one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. I’d argue that it is one of the greatest novels of all time. But that said, I’d still argue that Richard Matheson is a very limited writer. He can’t seem to tell more than one kind of story. As I learned from the ten short stories that round out the later discs of this audiobook, (and my previous experience reading The Shrinking Man), breadth of storytelling is not Matheson’s strength. His strength in I Am Legend is the perfect storm of the “psychology,” “science fiction”, and “noir.” In his other works Matheson doesn’t hold all three, (or any other two) in such a perfect molecular bond. The elements that make up I Am Legend play-out absolutely perfectly. But in the later horror stories of this collection, written between the early 1950s and the late 1980s the psychological element is always present, but that’s about all. Stories included are:
“Buried Talents,” “The Near Departed,” “Prey,” “Witch War,” “Dance of the Dead,” “Dress of White Silk,” “Mad House,” “The Funeral,” “From Shadowed Places,” “Person to Person.”
The premises in these tales are all drowned out by the continuing theme of ‘solitary psychology’, repetitions of ‘solitude and isolation’ in everymen, becomes wearisome and frankly boring. I found my mind wandering off in nearly every short story. None held my attention very well. There was one story about a house haunted by an angry writer “Mad House“, and that was an interesting premise, but it didn’t pay off. Another, about an everyman’s visit to a witch-doctor sounded interesting, but then it made me sleepy. The final story in the collection, “Person To Person,” started off very promisingly. An everyman is woken up by a telephone ringing late at night. But the ringing doesn’t stop when he picks up the phone. He consults doctors about this ringing, found only in his head, but there is no medical reason why it should happen. Soon thereafter, a psychiatrist suggest he try to stop the ringing by visualizing the act of answering a phone in his head. Lo and behold this works, and on the other end of the line is a man claiming to be from a top secret government agency! They are conducting telepathy trials – or at least that’s what the voice says. Unfortunately, the premise then is completely overwhelmed by that same recurrent theme: Psychology, psychology, psychology. Is the man crazy? Is it a mad scientist? Sadly you won’t care. These stories all disappoint. As a booster of short fiction I find myself surprised to be writing this – just forget about these short stories, the novel alone will provide more than enough value. But on the other hand, fans of Matheson’s short work should take note that the short stories are not included in the audible.com and iTunes versions. All ten short stories are exclusive to the CD and MP3-CD hard copies available through Blackstone Audiobooks.
Narrators Robertson Dean and Yuri Rasovsky split duty on this collection. Dean reads the novel and Rasovsky the short stories. Dean has a deep voice, and paints effective emotion in what is essentially a straight reading. I think I still prefer Walter Lawrence’s version (out of print) but this is a good reading. Rasovsky, on the other hand, injects a ferocity into the emotions of Matheson’s characters, his voice is raspy, almost scarred. Unfortunately the stories were not engaging, this despite Rasovsky’s best efforts. Blackstone has outfitted the audiobook with a dark out of focus cover that depicts a silhouette of a man walking a lonely street in the big city. Meh. Finally, I saw the latest movie version recently, I had low expectations so I was happy to see it was pretty good. I bring this up because, I think it important to note that the “Legend” of Robert Neville is a legend for an entirely different group in the book than in this film version. That is to say, if you only watched the movie, listen to the novel – it has a big surprise in store.
Posted by Jesse Willis
