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Review of Star Trek: Vulcan’s Soul: Exodus by Sherman and Shwartz

Science Fiction Audiobook Review

Star Trek: Vulcan’s Soul: Exodus
By Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz; Read by Richard Poe
6 Cassettes – 8.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 2005
ISBN: 141930920X
Themes: / Science Fiction / Star Trek / Vulcans /

I have read the previous works by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz, titled Star Trek: Vulcan’s Forge and Star Trek: Vulcan’s Heart, and both were excellent. Star Trek: Vulcan’s Soul: Exodus is no different. All are excellent meditations on what it means to be Vulcan, and Exodus delves into the planet’s history, back to the time of Surak, the Vulcan who guided his race into suppressing their emotions and adhering to logic. The main focus of this novel is a group of Vulcans who are preparing to leave the planet. These people eventually become the Romulans, and their story will continue into the next books, titled Exiles and Epiphany. Plus, a story that takes place in the 24th Century after the Dominion War, where the Romulan homeworlds are threatened by the alien Watraii. Spock and his wife Saavik, as well as centenarian Admirals Uhura and Chekov, assemble a fleet of Federation, Klingon and
Romulan ships, against Starfleet orders, to deal with them. (I guess if McCoy can still be alive to take a tour of the Enterprise-D 100+ years after his first tour as Kirk’s chief medical officer, then I guess Uhura and Chekov can still be alive after the Dominion War.)

I also like the addition and update of another Original Series character, The Romulan Commander from “The Enterprise Incident”, and I’m pleased to see she’s finally been given a name: Charvonek.

The audiobook is read by Richard Poe(who played Gul Evek in several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager). You’d think that his deep, distinctive voice would make it hard to give voice to the women in his story, but he manages admirably. He also does well at giving emotion to the characters, applying just the right anger and sadness, and even adding breathlessness to fight scenes. I can’t wait to hear the next book.

Ed. – This audiobook is the first Unabridged Star Trek novel we’ve come across. Recorded Books has very recently published an Unabridged version of the second book in the series, Star Trek: Vulcan’s Soul: Exiles, also read by Richard Poe.

posted by Scott A.

Dimension-X and X Minus 1 OTR available from the Internet Archive

SFFaudio Online Audio

Dimension X and its successor, X Minus 1, produced some of the most popular and successful science fiction radio drama of the 1950s using classic stories by some of the most famous authors. These episodes are now available at the Internet Archive for download or streaming playback. Get the Dimension X episodes here and the X Minus 1 episodes here.

Find listener recommendations and cool CD cover art for these programs at The OTR Plot Spot.

Dimension X shows are in the public domain, but X Minus 1 episodes are released under the Creative Commons license.

posted by Moriond

Review of Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

Science Fiction Audiobook Review

Pattern Recognition
By William Gibson; Read by Shelley Frasier
9 CDs – 10.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 2004
ISBN: 140010095X
Themes: / Science Fiction / Internet / 9-11 / Crime /

“Cool Hunter.” How about that for a dream job? Companies pay you (and ply you with the latest technological goodies) to identify trends and fashions that spring up at street level so that they can commodify them and turn a buck. As far as I know, William Gibson (the man responsible for the term “cyberspace”) didn’t coin “cool hunting,” but he makes good use of the idea in “Pattern Recognition.” Cayce Pollard is Gibson’s heroine and the consummate cool hunter. Cayce can spend an afternoon walking through the teenagers clogging the streets of London when school lets out and identify at least three of tomorrow’s money-making fashion trends. She can look at two potential logos for a company and immediately know which of them will connect better with the targeted demographic. Like any other talent, though, being able to tell what works and what doesn’t has its downside. Cayce has an almost allergic reaction to most brand names; she’s got to have the labels removed from and the words filed off of the rivets on her black 501’s, her Casio G-Shock has got to be logo-free, and don’t even think about coming near her with a picture of the Michelin Man. Cayce is also deeply obsessed with a captivating film that has been mysteriously released, bit-by-bit, over the Internet, an obsession that opens the door for Gibson’s intricate plot.

Pattern Recognition was written soon after 9-11 (the events of which it references regularly), and is set in a very realistic 2002. The book probably doesn’t even technically qualify as science fiction, but Gibson keeps his ear so close to the tech-development ground that the story gives the impression of being futuristic. In fact, the book can be used as a sort of barometer to gauge your level of tech-geekiness. Are image-based search engines and vintage calculator fetishes old-hat to you? Congratulations, you’re ready to tackle Doctorow and Stross. Is the idea of a “render farm” unknown to you, and do you still double-take when you hear “google” used as a verb? Better stick to Card and Haldeman.

Having said that, this is probably the most accessible of all of Gibson’s books. His embrace of a post-cash economy era heroine and his tangential explorations of Internet forum social hierarchies and information-age Russian Mafia thugs will satisfy sci-fi vets (and provides solid evidence of Gibson’s place as a powerful influence on the new wave of cyber-post-punk writers), but the realness of Cayce’s femininity, the lack of one-dimensional characters, and, particularly, the overall attractive melancholy mood of the book make it one that you can safely recommend to your sci-fi avoidant spouse and friends.

I read the text version of Pattern Recognition soon after it came out, and was pleasantly surprised at how much enjoyment the audio book added to my experience. Shelley Frasier’s pleasantly dry narration, able handling of accents, and especially the sexy innocence she gives Cayce’s voice had me popping discs in one after another. I have a very pleasant memory of taking a break from a late-night Fawlty Towers marathon to get some Burger King, and staying in my garage five extra minutes just to finish listening to Shelley describe a British noodle bar called “Charlie Don’t Surf”.

The text version of the book includes a drawing of an object that is vital to the plot, and I was worried that the audio book might get awkward at that point, but truth be told, I didn’t even notice the absence of the drawing.

So, hats off to Gibson, Frasier, and the folks at Tantor Media for putting together an excellent reading of a great science fiction novel (that isn’t even really science fiction). As wonderful as Gibson’s more speculative work is, if Pattern Recognition is what it looks like when both of his feet touch ground, then I wouldn’t mind if he came down to earth more often.

posted by Cory Myler

James Tiptree, Jr. Biographer and "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" Radio Drama

SFFaudio Online Audio

James Tiptree, Jr: The Double Life of Alice Sheldon Julie Phillips, biographer and author of James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice Sheldon, speaks about the science fiction writer in this week’s episode of To The Best of Our Knowledge. The podcast is available through iTunes subscription or through its RSS feed and may also be downloaded as an mp3 file from here.

A 1990 radio dramatization of Tiptree’s Hugo and Nebula award-winning story, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” that was broadcast on WBAI radio’s Hour of the Wolf on August 26 is available for streaming replay from their audio archives or may be currently accessed as a RealAudio mp3 download.

This Sci-Fi Radio production aired in two half-hour episodes. The first episode runs from 53:40 – 1:21:30 and the second episode runs from 1:25:50 – 1:53:50. A 2-hour long interview with Phillips from the August 5 program of Hour of the Wolf is also available from their streaming archives and as an mp3 file.

Links to Tiptree stories available online are given on Phillips’ web pages. The first chapter of James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice Sheldon can be read at the New York Times First Chapters web pages (requires free registration at the NY TImes site).

posted by Moriond

Review of Star Trek: Captain’s Glory by Shatner with Reeves-Stevens

Science Fiction Audiobook Review

Star Trek: Captain’s Glory
By William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Read by William Shatner
3 CD’s – 3 hours – [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 0743539621
Themes: / Science Fiction / Star Trek / Space Travel / Aliens /

40 years of Star Trek. In the last year I’ve heard quite a bit about that, and it really is amazing when you sit down and think about it. In 40 years, there have been five television series, ten movies, and hundreds of novels, and even though the last series was cancelled, the franchise still has a very strong fan base. Truly something. Why is it so popular? To me, the answer is simple, and threefold. First, it was the first television show I ever watched that spoke to me about bigger issues. Sure, it wasn’t always lofty, it wasn’t always touching. But sometimes it was, and I liked it. Second, it was optimistic. It presented a future where many of the daily troubles we deal with are ancient history. And third, despite the optimistic future, the characters were people, even if they were aliens. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are still amongst my favorite all-time characters, even after all the fiction (science or not) I’ve consumed since discovering the series back in the 70’s.

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are all in Captain’s Glory, the latest Shatner/Reeves-Stevens collaborative Star Trek novel. Like most of the previous Star Trek Simon and Schuster Audio titles, this one is abridged, and presented with sound effects and music. William Shatner narrates, and does a fine job with it. Of course, he performs Kirk to perfection. Since Kirk is the main character, that works out real nice, but the novel is populated with characters from all the incarnations of Star Trek on the screen (except for Enterprise) and don’t expect good impersonations. Janeway, Picard, Riker, Troi, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and others are all here.

The authors do a good job using characters that should be there in the timeline. The story takes place after Star Trek: Nemesis, but at the same time on a timeline that belongs to these novels alone. Scotty was moved forward in time in a TNG episode, and Kirk was in a movie. (Listen to Shatner’s The Return to find out how and why Kirk is still alive…) Spock is long-lived and appeared in a TNG episode, as did McCoy, even though he was quite old. This novel refers often to events that occurred not only on the screen, but also in previous novels in the ongoing series.

The story is classic Star Trek material. An entity with incredible power cruises through the galaxy, causing all kinds of havoc. Warp engines are failing all over the quadrant as the entity does its thing. Then Kirk and friends get involved. When his son is taken (see previous books), all bets are off as Kirk’s actions to get him back pit him not only against the entity, but against Starfleet and Picard.

The abridgement is quite well-done. I had no problem following any of it, and I enjoyed it a great deal. I felt that this was the best of the Shatner novels, with the exception of The Return. It was good fun.

Wow. I just wrote an entire review of a Star Trek novel without mentioning how much I hope the next movie isn’t a prequel. Maybe next time.

Links:

SFFaudio’s very own Star Trek page – if it’s Star Trek, and on audio, you can find it here.

Simon and Schuster’s Star Trek page – an informative page on the hundreds of Star Trek novels published by Simon and Schuster

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Crazy Dog Theater creates Gothic Tuesdays through October via Ireland’s RTÉ Radio 1

Online Audio

Our UK correspondent, Roy, sez that RTÉ Radio 1 (Ireland Public Radio) is airing a new series throughout October. Ireland’s award winning Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has created “Audio Gothic” a series of five radio plays. Each of the plays is written, directed and produced by Roger Gregg, recently hailed on BBC Radio 4 as ‘one of a handful of truly great radio dramatists.’

Varying in styles from dark comedy to sombre character studies, each play focuses on individuals who struggle with loneliness, loss and self-delusion. Each production features all of the hallmarks of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre; original music scores, location recordings, state-of-the-art sound design and some of the very best Irish and international voice talents.

Roy writes: “Given Crazy Dog’s track record this should be well worth investigating at least. However, I’m not sure that the Tuesday Play slot is necessarily archived for later listening or mp3 download even though from the ‘past shows’ link previous Crazy Dog productions such as Diabolic Playhouse still appear to be available from 2004.”

Crazy Dog has posted the entire 5 episode description on their website.

Tuesday 3 October:

SEANY BOY
Unable to deal with his grief, Seany Boy, an elderly Cork farmer, has retreated into his fantasy of being a gun toting, singing cowboy of the Old West. Seany is dismissed as a colourful eccentric until he draws a gun to intervene in a racist attack on an asylum seeker and the consequences rapidly spiral out of control. Liam Heffernan stars in this modern tale of the West.

Tuesday 10 October:

BRAD’S BOOK OF LIES
Following a nervous breakdown, the world’s greatest marketing guru awakens to the fact that the only truth he’s ever known is how to best tell lies. He resolves to become a new person but soon discovers that the world around him will not let his old self die. Simon O’Gorman stars in this dark comedy.

Tuesday 17 October:

MARY MAGUIRE SURROUNDED BY LOVED ONES
A moving portrait of a lonely Dublin woman spending a day reunited with her long-lost nearest and dearest. Karen Ardiff stars as Mary Maguire in this tale of loss and love.

Tuesday 24 October:

MARSYAS: THE HIPPEST SATYR
A modern jazz retelling of the Greek myth of Marsyas, a humble satyr who comes under the spell of a cursed magical horn. Leading Irish guitarist Giordai Ua Laoghaire is the featured musician in this comic musical fable of pride and self-delusion.

Tuesday 31st October:

MARINETTE 1.1.
A special Halloween tale of voodoo and vengence. A maladjusted computer expert comes to believe he’s being guided by a vengeful voodoo spirit named Marinette. Phil Proctor of RUGRATS stars in this voodoo tale for Halloween.

Thanks for the heads-up Roy!

posted by Jesse Willis