New Releases

SFFaudio New Releases

I love the smell of trilogy in the afternoon, it smells like…

Fantasy Audiobook - The Phoenix Unchained - Book One of The Enduring Flame by Mercedes Lackey and James MalloryThe Phoenix Unchained – Book One of The Enduring Flame
By Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory; Read by William Dufris
11 CDs, 2 MP3-CDs – 13 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Audiobooks
Published: 11/12/2007
ISBN: 9781400135745 (CDs), 9781400155743 (MP3-CDs)
In this opening volume of a new epic fantasy trilogy from bestselling authors Lackey and Mallory, Harbormaster-to-be Harrier and the young nobleman Tiercel begin a marvelous journey to uncover their destinies. Along the way, they meet a charming female centaur, several snooty Elves, and the most powerful dragon their world has ever known.

Now this novel, like others by Harrison, takes its inspiration from classic movie titles…

Horror Audiobook - Every Which Way But Dead by Kim HarrisonEvery Which Way But Dead
By Kim Harrison; Read by Marguerite Gavin
2 Mp3-CDs or 13 CDs – 16 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Audiobooks
Published: December 2007
EAN: 9781400154739 (MP3-CDs), 9781400104734 (CDs)
Some days, you just can’t win. Witch and former bounty hunter Rachel Morgan has managed to escape her corrupt company, survive living with a vampire, start her own runner service, and face down a vampire master. But her vampire roommate, Ivy, is off the wagon; her human boyfriend Nick is out of town indefinitely and doesn’t sound like he’s coming back, while the far-too-seductive vampire Kisten is looking way too tempting; and there’s a turf war erupting in Cincinnati’s underworld. And there’s a greater evil still. To put the vampire master behind bars and save her family, Rachel made a desperate bargain. Now there’s hell to pay—literally. For if Rachel cannot stop him, the archdemon Algaliarept will pull her into the sorcerous ever-after to forfeit her soul as his slave. Forever.

Originally written in 1966 when its author was only 17, it was published in paperback in 1980 by Manor Books, which went bankrupt shortly afterwards. It’s been out of print for 24 years. This newly expanded/re-written edition is available now in audio too…

Science Fiction Audiobook - The Morcai Battalion by Diana PalmerThe Morcai Battalion
By Diana Palmer; Read by Todd McLaren
1 Mp3-CD or 8 CDs – 9 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Audiobooks
Published: December 2007
EAN: 9781400155835 (MP3-CD), 9781400105830 (CDs)
Drama and excitement explode in this new, expanded version of New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer’s legendary first book, The Morcai Battalion. A ragtag band of humans from the Terravegan colonies fights the Rojok invaders and their ship is destroyed. Rescued by the Centaurian commander of the terror-inspiring Holconcom, the humans must learn to live with their hostile alien counterparts when they are captured by the Rojoks and thrown into the galaxy’s most horrible prison camp. The female exobiologist has to save the life of the alien commander in order to save her captain, her comrades, and herself. A rocket ride full of action, humor, and sacrifice.

The children’s fantasy classic in an all new unabridged version exclusive to audible.com…

Redwall by Brian JacquesRedwall
By Brian Jacques; Read by Stuart Blinder
Audible Download – Approx. 12.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers / audible.com
Published: November 2007
As the inhabitants of Redwall Abbey bask in the glorious Summer of the Late Rose, all is quiet and peaceful. But things are not as they seem. Cluny the Scourge, the evil one-eyed rat warlord, is hell-bent on destroying the abbey’s tranquility as he prepares to fight a bloody battle for the ownership of Redwall.

In a clockwork world who could doubt the existence of God? None, but some still doubt the existence of angels. Another exclusive to audible title…

Mainspring by Jay LakeMainspring
By Jay Lake; Read by William Dufris
Audible Download – Approx. 13.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: macmillan audio / audible.com
Published: December 2007
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 Equitorial gears of the Earth itself.

The latest Hugo Award winning novel, exclusive to audible.com…

Rainbow’s End by Vernor VingeRainbows End
By Vernor Vinge; Read by Eric Conger
Audible Download – 14 Hours 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: macmillan audio / audible.com
Published: December 2007
Set a few decades from now, Rainbows End is an epic adventure that encapsulates in a single extended family the challenges of the technological advances of the first quarter of the 21st century. The information revolution of the past 30 years blossoms into a web of conspiracies that could destroy Western civilization. At the center of the action is Robert Gu, a former Alzheimer’s victim who has regained his mental and physical health through radical new therapies, and his family. His son and daughter-in-law are both in the military, but not a military we would recognize, while his middle-school-age granddaughter is involved in perhaps the most dangerous game of all, with people and forces more powerful than she or her parents can imagine.

Posted by Jesse Willis

audible.com’s big Science Fiction and Fantasy push continues

SFFaudio News

Audible.comWe’ve some exciting news regarding audible.com. Earlier this year we told you about audible’s big push for more Science Fiction and Fantasy. Since then the staff at audible.com have been acquiring new titles and new providers at a serious clip. Now we’ve got more news on that front. Here’s the list of some of the upcoming releases – I’m almost certain these are all ‘exclusive to audible’ titles. Included amongst them are the follow up book to our latest SFFaudio Essential designee!

Macmillian Audiobooks being released exclusively through audible.com:

Escapement
By Jay Lake
Release date: June 2008

Rainbow’s End*
By Vernor Vinge
Release date: December 2007
*this year’s Hugo winner (novel)

Jumper: Griffin’s Story*
By Steven Gould
Release date: January 2008
*the movie comes out Feb 14th

Spin
By Robert Charles Wilson
Release date: Q1 2008

Axis
By Robert Charles Wilson
Release date: Q1 2008

The Ghost Brigades
By John Scalzi
Release date: Q1 2008

Territory
By Emma Bull
Release date: Q1 2008

“In house” produced Audible exclusives:

Saturn Returns (Astropolis Book 1)
By Sean Williams
Release date: soon

Centotaxis*
By Sean Williams
Release date: soon
*a novella related to Saturn Returns (“essentially it’s Book 1.5”)

Posted by Jesse Willis

Sci-Fi Scoundrels Podcast

SFFaudio Online Audio

Podcasts - Sci Fi ScoundrelsSci-Fi Scoundrels podcast tends heavily towards TV Sci-Fi, but every so often they give their opinions on books. Hosted by the self styled “bad boys” of Sci-Fi the podcast is done very conversationally. Some people claim it is “irreverent” and full of “keen insights.” Myself, I’ve found this roundtable podcast potty-mouthed, low brow and marginally entertaining. Its more for the slow pitch podcast fan who likes swearing for swearing’s sake and also likes Sci-Fi. Check out one of the podcasts to see if this is for you. I’d recommend trying the Ender’s Game show. In that one the Scoundrels bring the goods to the table, critiquing how the elementary age kids of that novel aren’t speaking very realistically. That one is very meta show – but a careful listen will show these guys aren’t quite as dopey as they at first sound.

Sci-Fi Scoundrels – Episode 38 – Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451|MP3|.

Sci-Fi Scoundrels – Episode 51 – Vernor Vinge’s Marooned In Real Time |MP3|.

Sci-Fi Scoundrels – Episode 53 – Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game |MP3|.

Subscribe to the scoundrels via this feed:

http://scifiscoundrels.com/?feed=rss2&category_name=podcasts

The Hugo Awards were given yesterday (September 4,…

SFFaudio News

The Hugo Awards were given yesterday (September 4, 2004) and here are the results:

Best Novel: Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

Best Novella: “The Cookie Monster” by Vernor Vinge

Best Novelette: “Legions in Time” by Michael Swanwick

Best Short Story: “A Study in Emerald” by Neil Gaiman

Best Related Book: The Chesley Awards for Science Fiction and Fantasy Art: A Retrospective by John Grant, Elizabeth L. Humphrey, and Pamela D. Scoville

Best Dramatic Presentation, short form: Gollum’s Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards

Best Dramatic Presentation, long form: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Professional Editor: Gardner Dozois

Best Professional Artist: Bob Eggleton

Best Semiprozine: Locus, Charles N. Brown, Jennifer A. Hall, and Kirsten Gong-Wong, eds.

Best Fanzine: Emerald City, Cheryl Morgan, ed.

Best Fan Writer: Dave Langford

Best Fan Artist: Frank Wu

A big surprise to me was that Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form award. Gollum’s Acceptance Speech? Come on, people. The Firefly episode entitled “The Message” was deserving of the award. If you get a chance to see that series, do! You won’t be disappointed – it’s excellent, and available on DVD. A feature film is in the works.

The only item here represented on audio (or about to be represented on audio) is Lois McMaster Bujold’s Paladin of Souls. Blackstone Audio has published the first volume in that series, entitled The Curse of Chalion, and will publish Paladin of Souls soon.

Congratulations to all the nominees and award winners!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson