slavery – Page 11

Review of The Stonehenge Gate by Jack Williamson

SFFaudio Audiobook Review

The Stonehenge Gate
By Jack Williamson; Read by Harlan Ellison
7 CDs – 8.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9780786146550 (Cassette), 9780786174119 (MP3-CD), 9780786167784 (CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Stargate / Journey / Slavery / Evolution / Aliens /

Click here for audio sample.

This is Jack Williamson’s last book, at least it’s the last book published in his lifetime. The man has had a long career, a very long career. Jack’s first story was published in the fairly new Amazing Stories in 1928. Jack has been able to adapt his fiction to the changing and maturing literature that we call Science Fiction, again and again.

One admirable quality of Jack’s work that remained consistent over the nine decades in which he wrote, was his ability to tell a good yarn. His stories can always hold your attention, and he never forgot to have a beginning, middle and an end. This may sound like a trait that all writers should have, but it is really not the case. This always kept Jack’s works above the average SF writer.

In The Stonehenge Gate, we have four poker buddies that find a gateway into other worlds. The four characters are academics who are excavating a site under the sands of the Sahara. Will is an English Professor who narrates the story. Ram is an African professor who has a strange birthmark that mimics the shape of the Stonehenge Gate that they find. Stranger still is that the birthmark seems to be hereditary.

They soon pass into many new worlds throughout this novel. The majority of the novel takes place in a world inhabited by a preindustrial society with institutionalized black slavery. The characters have to grapple with functioning in this world while supporting abolishinest causes. There’s a dark quality to this part of the journey that has more than a passing nod to Joseph Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness.

Harlan Ellison’s narration is spectacular. This is likely the only audiobook that is written by one SF Grand Master and read by another. Of course, there aren’t any SF Grandmaster’s that have also won an Audie award like Harlan has. Harlan throws himself into his acting. He’s energized and seems to be convincingly living the parts he’s portraying to a greater degree than can be said of most voice actors.

How does this book stack up against the rest of the Williamson cannon? I don’t believe this is one of Jack’s best books nor one of his lesser efforts. Placing it somewhere in the middle. But in the case of Jack, that’s a pretty damn good book.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

Review of Taken Liberty by Steven H. Wilson

SFFaudio Review

Taken Liberty – A Tale From The Artiber Chronicles
By Steven H. Wilson; Read by Steven H. Wilson
Podcast Novel – Approx. 8 Hours [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Published: September 2006
Themes: / Science Fiction / Drama / Action / Slavery /

“I don’t believe you’ve convinced me of her crime.”
“She posed as a human!”
Atal raised an eyebrow. “Is that a crime?”

So begins the intriguing, sad, yet hopeful and inspiring story of a girl who only wanted her freedom. This is the story of Aer’La, a Varthan Feral raised strictly to be a sexual slave. She escapes, and, dying her blue skin and posing as a human, becomes a high-ranking officer on board one of the most esteemed ships in the Confederate Navy- the Arbiter. Only after a routine medical check-up is the truth of what she is discovered. It is ultimately reported to authorities, and then to the media. Aer’La then has no choice but to tell her story to her Captain, Jan Atal. It then becomes a clash of doing what is right, vs. doing what the law states. Aer’La also learns who her allies and her enemies are, as well as a few life lessons about trust and friendship.

Taken Liberty is a tale of truth, friendship, comradery, love, loss, and above all the right to be free. It covers so many genres, you tend to forget that you’re listening to Science Fiction. This is a very key thing for me to say here, because I am not the biggest Science Fiction fan. I know, I know, yet here I am writing reviews for SFFaudio. Let’s just say I’m… picky.

Steven Wilson also does an excellent job with the reading. He gives each character a unique voice, and thanks to his voice acting background, it pays off. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Wilson. The well-driven plot causes you to feel yourself being sucked into the tension of the situation, and really questioning how this poor girl will remain free, instead of being returned to a life of slavery.

If you are a fan of Prometheus Radio Theatre and their Arbiter Chronicles, you will enjoy this book because it goes more in-depth into the characters you know all ready. If you have never heard of the Arbiter Chronicles before, you will still enjoy this book. The story remains separate enough that you are still able to connect and follow the characters and the story without feeling lost. As a matter of fact, my bet will be if you listen to this podiobook, you will want to move on to hear more about the Arbiter and its crew- which can be found via podcast at http://prometheus.libsyn.com/

If a “semi” Science Fiction fan is impressed and enjoyed this podiobook, imagine what a huge science-fiction fan will think!

posted by Dani Cutler

Review of Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

Falling Free
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan
7 Cassettes – 9 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: The Reader’s Chair
Published: 1996
ISBN: 0962401099
Themes: / Science Fiction / Genetic Engineering / Space Travel / Space Stations / Slavery / Corporations /

When I heard about The Reader’s Chair going out of business, I couldn’t help but to revisit this book. I first started writing about audiobooks back in 2001, and one of the first columns I wrote for SFSite was about The Reader’s Chair. In that column, I said:

The audio versions are first-rate. Hanson and Cowan read the books with enthusiasm, providing different characters with different inflections. Great care was taken to make these novels a listening pleasure.

Upon listening to this Nebula-winning novel, and after hearing I have no clue how many audiobooks since, I can still say that the Reader’s Chair titles are amongst the finest out there. Michael Hanson has a deep sonorous voice that demands attention, and Carol Cowan is a warm yet feisty counterbalance.

Falling Free is a novel that fits into Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series, but the events occur 200 years before the birth of the famous Miles Vorkosigan. The story involves a corporation that genetically engineers a new race of humans (called Quaddies) that are uniquely adapted for work in zero-gravity. Enter Leo Graf, an engineer hired to teach zero-g welding techniques to this new race of slave labor. When he sees how the Quaddies are treated, he becomes very uneasy. Think you know where this is heading? Bujold pulls it off brilliantly.

This one is now officially out of print, but well worth finding. The Reader’s Chair productions are top notch, from the high quality production value to the sturdy and fine-looking packaging. I’m very sorry to see them go.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold

Science Fiction Audiobooks - Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold Falling Free
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan
7 Cassettes – 9 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: The Reader’s Chair
Published: 1996
ISBN: 0962401099
Themes: Science Fiction / Genetic Engineering / Slavery / Space Travel /

Wikipedia defines Space Opera as “a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic adventure, faster-than-light travel and space battles where the main storyline is interstellar conflict.” A fair definition, I think. I also think that this definition of Space Opera is what most folks outside of science fiction fandom would accept as a definition of the whole genre of science fiction. The perception is both well-earned and difficult to fight since nearly every successful science fiction film and television series fits that definition of Space Opera. I’ve expressed several times how I wish that perception wasn’t true, because I enjoy only so much of this kind of SF. I like my science fiction to have meat on the bones, and there is plenty of that around in written SF. Enough, in fact, that the average Space Opera doesn’t even have to be on the menu.

Of course, there are the exceptions and Lois McMaster Bujold is one of them. She’s the author of the Vorkosigan series of novels – an extremely well-written series which proves that Space Opera can be done well. Falling Free is a Nebula-award winning novel in a series that has also picked three Hugos. The story, which takes place 200 years before the other books, involves a company that genetically engineers a new race of humans (Quaddies) that is uniquely adapted for work in zero-gravity. Enter Leo Graf, an engineer hired to teach zero-g welding techniques to this new race of slave labor. Think you know where this is heading? Bujold pulls it off brilliantly.

The audio version of this book is another exception. It’s performed by two narrators – Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan. They swap narrating duties with changes in the story’s point of view – a technique I first heard in this audiobook and that I find very effective. The two narrators also perform some conversations together during the story, somewhat like an audio drama. This is something I have found to be extremely INeffective in other audiobooks I’ve heard since this one, but here I enjoyed their interplay and didn’t experience the jarring effect that I’ve felt in other books that have attempted the same technique.

posted by Scott D. Danielson