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Renting audiobooks

SFFaudio Commentary

Renting audiobooks is a cost-effective way of getting your hands on some very good stuff. How does it work? With the companies listed here, you select a book or two that is sent to you in a self-addressed stamped box. Usually you keep the book for 30 days, after which you put the book back in the box, tape it closed, then drop it in a mailbox.

Blackstone Audio
Blackstone Audio has been building a fantastic science fiction and fantasy collection. Their narrators are generally good. Some of their latest include Spider Robinson’s Callahan books and Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy. They also carry titles by Catherine Asaro, Charles Sheffield, Robert Silverberg, and Lois McMaster Bujold. They also produce MP3-CD versions of much of their catalog, which makes purchasing the titles outright very attractive.

Recorded Books, Inc.
Recorded Books has the biggest collection of high quality science fiction and fantasy titles out there. Their narrators are just excellent, and include Frank Muller, George Guidall, Rob Inglis, and Richard Ferrone, among many others. To name a few titles: Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, several Robert A. Heinlein titles, Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality series, and Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis are also here. Their rental plan now includes a Netflix-style option – for $30/month you can have as many titles as you can hear.

Simply Audiobooks

Simply Audiobooks has taken the Netflix model and applied it to audiobooks. Unlike the two options above, who with just a few exceptions rent only their own titles, Simply Audiobooks has a very nice Science Fiction and Fantasy selection from publishers across the spectrum. They currently charge $19.95 per month for unlimited rentals, and they invite you to try it out FREE.

And last, don’t forget to check out your local library. Many libraries are building fine audiobook collections in response to patron requests.

NOTE: Books on Tape no longer rents audiobooks.

Review of Callahan’s Con by Spider Robinson

Callahan’s Con
By Spider Robinson; Read by Barrett Whitener
8 CDs – Approx. 10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2004
ISBN: 0786183470
Themes: / Science Fiction / Humor / Crime / Time Travel / Immortality / Telepathy / Florida /

Jake Stonebender, our favorite intergalactic barkeep, rivets us to our stools with yet another wild and wooly yarn about the goings on of his Key West cantina. This time though, it isn’t the end of the world that is the trouble. Instead, it’s a mountainous mole-hill of a thug named Tony Donuts Jr. who wants to make his bones by fleecing Jake and his neighboring businesses for “protection money”. Jake could solve this problem with straight-on firepower, but that’d only bring down more government attention on him and his hippie clientele. And more heat is what he doesn’t need – because wouldn’t you know it – a dedicated bureaucrat from the Florida family services department has been sniffing around to find out why Jake’s only daughter has not been to school since she was born some thirteen years ago! So Jake and his extended family set about concocting a sting so devious it will make Florida Swampland real estate look good. The grift involves, among other things, time-travel, the Russian Mob, and the Fountain of Youth!

Full of brain-smearing puns and gawdawful song parodies Callahan’s Con is guaranteed to entertain anyone who enjoys Robinson’s Hugo award winning fiction. Myself, I come for the jokes and stay for references. In this case a nice homage to literature’s most unlucky master criminal: John Dortmunder. Callahan’s Con is proof that not only can Robinson like to write in the style of Heinlein – as he did in the previous installment, Callahan’s Key, – but also that he can write in the style of Mystery Writers Of America Grandmaster Donald E. Westlake! Interestingly this means that that Jake’s first person perspective is stretched-out to include multiple viewpoints – as is the Westlake’s Dortmunder novels. I’m not sure how Robinson did it, but he managed to convey other character’s perspectives in a way I can only describe as fictionalizing the fiction. I should also note that in a break with tradition Robinson hasn’t merely added to the seeming ever growing entourage surrounding Jake – for a major of character in the series dies. Though this could be troubling it is handled with grace and a few tears.

Reader Barrett Whitener, in this third Blackstone Audio Callahan audiobook does his familiar and fun vocal gymnastics routine – spouting off one liners in a dozen comic voices. Whitener, an Audie Award winner, is well matched with comic material – it really and truly is his forte. Blackstone Audio has been known to use a mix of art from the hardcover or paperback and their own original cover art. Their own art has been steadily improving and I’m pleased to say this is the nicest original cover so far!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase
By Douglas Adams, adapted by Dirk Maggs, performed by a Full Cast
3 CD’s, 3 hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0792735919
Themes: / Science Fiction / Comedy / Time travel / Space travel /

A review by Steven H Silver

When The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy originally appeared on the BBC from 1978-1980, it consisted of twelve episodes (called “fits”). The first six of these fits were later refashioned to form the novels The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Turning his back on the medium of radio for several years, Douglas Adams continued the story with the novels Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and Mostly Harmless. This caused continuity problems when the decision was made to return the series to its original medium.

Following in the footsteps of Arthur C. Clarke, who decided to write a sequel to the more widely known film 2001 rather than his book of the same title, the BBC produced a radio sequel to the books Adams wrote rather than to the radio series. The result is the complete disregard for fits 7 through 12 of the radio broadcasts as the beginning of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Tertiary Phase picks up where the now retitled The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Primary Phase left off. There is a slight attempt to explain Zaphod’s adventures in those missing fits, but not Arthur nor that of Ford.

The BBC has successfully put together the surviving cast from the first series, which was more than they did for the second series. Simon Jones, Stephen Moore, and Mark Wing-Davey, who played Arthur Dent, Marvin, and Zaphod Beeblebrox on both radio and television, and Geoffrey McGivern (Ford Prefect) return for their third series. Susan Sheridan, who portrayed Trillian in the first series has returned to the role for the third series. The replacement of Peter Jones (the Book) by William Franklyn and Richard Vernon (Slartibartfast) by Richard Griffiths works well.

The inclusion of Adams’s own voice for the character Agrajag is a nice touch. Since Adams died before the series could begin production, a recording of him reading Agrajag’s lines from the audio version of Life, the Universe and Everything was used with some resampling which allowed it to fit in quite well with the general flow and sound of the broadcast.

Unfortunately, one of the problems with the Tertiary Phase is the same as one of the problems with the novel upon which it is based. Notably, although it contains the characters Adams created for the Hitchhiker’s Guide series, the story itself is a plot originally created by Adams for the television series Doctor Who. Another difficulty with the Third Phase is that because it is based on the novel, Life, the Universe and Everything, it lacks the sense of originality of the first two series, which formed the basis of everything that came after.

The Tertiary Phase strives to recreate the feel of the original series broadcast twenty-five years ago, and manages to achieve that goal. However, both the dialogue and the plot lack the originality of wit which caused those first two series to be so successful and launch Adams’s career. Fans of the Guide will enjoy listening to the broadcast, and will eagerly await the final phase, but it won’t recreate the feeling of listening to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in the late seventies.

Review of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams

The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
By Douglas Adams, performed by a Full Cast
6 Cassettes, 6 hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: The Mind’s Eye
Published: 1988
ISBN: 0881425671
Themes: / Science Fiction / Audio Drama / Humor / Aliens / Space travel / Time travel /

I have to cringe whenever an important milestone in Dr. Seuss’s surprisingly robust afterlife comes around, because it is inevitably greeted with a hundred grating “Seuss-like” paeans from every journalist, columnist and otherwise admittedly illiterate citizen who makes the amazing discovery that the English language is crammed to bursting with words that rhyme. More, even, if you make up a few of the words yourself. Douglas Adams can be similarly “inspirational”. Much of what is written about him is filled with disorientingly obscure citations and facile imitations. I appreciate why: He and Seuss made it look so easy, we can scarcely resist attempting to recreate their magic ourselves. But I will admit right now that if I could write like Adams, I wouldn’t be sitting here bashing out brief audio book reviews for an utter lack of pay. I will also admit that I have incorporated much of Adams’ prose into my own genome, and hope to transfer it genetically to my offspring (an aspiration my wife does not seem to regard with the same urgency). I will not, however, take a crack at trying to impress you with my abilities to mimic and quote. I don’t want to embarrass myself.

These tapes are of the very first incarnation of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Ur-myth that inspired a trilogy of four novels, a diabolical computer game, a television show, and an upcoming movie. More than just a recording of a funny radio play, these tapes represent the annunciation of Douglas Adams as the major talent in science fiction humor: a veritable shot heard round the world. The story itself is an ambling monstrosity of interplanetary adventure, time travel, and hidden questions about the meaning of the universe and the origin and fate of the planet earth. Of course, with all successful humor, what it is really about are the characters (in this case, chiefly Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, and Marvin the android) and the way they interact and bicker as wave after wave of crazy crap happens to them. The prose is exquisite (“They hung in the air exactly the way bricks don’t.” Oop! That was a quote, wasn’t it?), the settings range from imaginative (Magrathea) to bizarre (Milliways), and the information provided by the Guide itself is always tangential and hilarious.

But for fans of the books or the television show, what is truly remarkable about the first and second half of the tapes (the primary and secondary phases of the radio play) is not their utter perfection, but Adams’s uncanny ability to tweak them to even greater heights. The escape from Milliways is an excellent example. In these tapes, the use of an alien navy commander’s space ship is a little weak, but in the latter versions, the material Adams adds about the band “Disaster Area” and their cataclysmic concerts not only makes a better doomed escape, but contains some of the most memorable lines and images in the whole series. And the way he combines the primary and secondary phases of the radio show to produce an interweaving of the Dent/Prefect and Beeblebrox/Zarniwoop story lines in the novels not only increases the dramatic tension more organically, but also fills many of the logic holes that perforate the second half of these tapes. It’s like a graduate-level class in editing, only funny.

Of course, this radio play is not simply a virtuoso performance by the author, but a monumental ensemble production, as well. Mark Wing-Davey’s spacey portrayal of Zaphod Beeblebrox makes even Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman look pretty well plugged in, and Stephen Moore’s Marvin the android is a walking mechanical disaster of painfully amusing dimensions. Those are my two favorite performances, but the others are similarly tight: Simon Jones captures the bewilderment and hysteria of Arthur Dent perfectly; Geoffrey McGivern delivers a Ford Prefect who is helpful, roguish, and enigmatic; Peter Jones gives the voice of the book a zany, reassuring sound like a kindly but mad uncle; and Susan Sheridan provides a smart yet seductive Trillian Add in the myriad voices of mice, computers, doors, and smug waiters; the wonderful special effects of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop; and the loopy grandeur of the Eagles’ “Journey of the Sorcerer” as the main theme and you have a work of audio magic that will tickle your brain and delight your ears.

But don’t believe for a minute that we all walk around quoting this radio play in our daily speech simply because it provides hours of silly hijinx.. Adams ventures beyond situational and linguistic surprise to grapple with the humiliating vastness of the universe and the mind-boggling possibilities of infinity, and it is this theme that anchors the series so firmly in the subconscious. Philosophy, religion, and calculation are shown to be helpless before the unrelenting immensity of everything, and the only response we are left with is either suicidal hopelessness or laughter. We are forever indebted to Douglas Adams and the BBC cast for saving us with laughter. So I urge you to buy, rent, or steal these tapes as soon as you can and begin stuffing as much of the prose into your memory as it will hold. What else are you saving all that underpowered gray matter for?

Posted by Kurt Dietz

Review of A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

Fantasy Audiobooks - A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin A Wizard of Earthsea
By Ursula K. LeGuin; Read by Harlan Ellison and Ursula K. LeGuin
Audio Download – 6 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Fantastic Audio (downloaded from Audible.com)
Published: 2003
ISBN: 1574535587 (Audio CD version)
Themes: / Fantasy / Series / Magic / Dragons / Wizards /

Just minutes into this audio book, the Kargs are attacking the village of Ten Alders, confused by a fog a young wizard has woven into an impenetrable shield, harried by invisible weapons and diaphanous shapes in the mist, and headed for certain destruction. You realize, as Harlan Ellison’s already non-standard voice rises in pitch and his words pile up against one another as he charges faster and faster through the narrative, pausing only to slurp back the fevered spittle he has worked up, that this is not your average narrator. His voice doesn’t resound with the Stradivarius polish of most professional performers, and his characterizations are neither entirely distinct nor consistent, but you can’t help yourself. He has you spellbound. And why? Because his is the authentic voice of a reader, one so caught up in the story that you can’t resist being pulled along with him on his journey.

And what a journey it is! A Wizard of Earthsea is brilliant, a notable gem even among the manifold wonders of such an accomplished author as LeGuin. It is the origin story of Ged, one of the most famous sorcerers in the world of Earthsea and a lesson in both the imprisoning power of our own dark deeds and the redemption that comes through facing them. It follows Ged from his home village of Ten Alders to the City of Gont, from there on to the great school for wizards on the central island of Roke, and then on a fearful, bold chase across the whole of Earthsea. Most island settings fairly drip with the damp richness of the Pacific Northwest, and the characters span a veritable rainbow of colors and cultures. This is epic fantasy in the European tradition, but with a distinctively American flavor.

As in so many of LeGuin’s works, truth is of paramount importance on Earthsea. The old language of Earthsea, like the psychic language that unites the planets in her science fictional Hainish universe, is a language in which men cannot lie. It is also the language in which the true names of all things are recorded, which makes it the basis of all magic on Earthsea. But this latter property also gives the old language of Earthsea Platonic overtones of ideal forms lurking behind every imperfect manifestation in nature, and lends A Wizard of Earthsea a palpable sense of great truth buried just below the surface of what we see. Thus, LeGuin subtly exhorts us to explore beyond the level of the richly imagined fantasy action. And what she has placed there is well worth spending the time to think about.

There are only two off-key notes in this work and its production. The first is that, though LeGuin is given co-narration credits, she only reads a very brief poetic prologue and an only slightly less brief prose epilogue. If you’re looking to experience the author interpreting a major work with her own voice, you’re not going to find that here. The second is that, though LeGuin is noted for her progressive, feminist opinions, some of what we see in this story seems almost misogynistic. There is only one female character who seems not to harbor outright selfishness, evil, or temptation; and female magic is given an unrepentant indictment in several places. I’m new to the series, so maybe these issues are redeemed in the later books. I certainly hope so.

In any case, this production of Ursula K. LeGuin’s A Wizard of Earthsea offers a dark, compelling glimpse at the forces behind the turning of the world as told in the raw, earnest voice of Harlan Ellison. My recommendation: Skip the TV miniseries—which LeGuin apparently hated—and spend your time marveling at the wonders of this quirky, enthralling audio book.

Posted by Kurt Dietz

Review of A Walk in the Sun By Geoffrey A. Landis

A Walk In The Sun
By Geoffrey A. Landis; Read by Amy Bruce
1 CD – 51 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: 2004
ISBN: 1884612318
Themes: / Science Fiction / Hard SF / The Moon / Survival /

A haunting piano melody cascades into the shimmering electronic signature music of Infinivox’s “Great Science Fiction Stories” series. IT IS EPIC… and deservedly so. This Hugo Award winning short story is a poignant and ingenious tale of a stranded Astronaut on the moon. Theoretically Trish Mulligan’s smashed spaceship’s contains everything she needs to survive; maps, food, water and her solar-powered spacesuit. She manages to broadcast a distress signal to Earth, but to survive until they arrive she’ll also need to outrun the sunset. If the sun sets, her suit’s automated life support system will stop working and she’ll die on the moon….. So, she’ll have to race the sun. On Earth it would be an interminable marathon pace but at least there she wouldn’t be alone. Though author Geoffrey Landis is only a part time science fiction writer, he works for NASA as his day job; you wouldn’t know it by this story. A Walk In The Sun reads like it was written by a Grandmaster! I really enjoyed this problem-solving story, I can see why it won the Hugo award!

This is a relatively unadorned production, but there are voice effects, echoing, static etc., but they don’t hurt the story at all. Sound quality on this CD release is 100% perfect – with a pair of headphones on you’ll be right there in the moment. Musical interludes are used now and again throughout the reading to effectively suggest the passage of time.

While narrator Amy Bruce is no vocal chameleon, her range is limited, the emotional investment she gives her reading delivers the goods. This Infinivox re-release (the original was published on cassette in 1998) is a threefold improvement on the same production. Packaging. This CD comes in an ingenious slimline case that securely sandwiches the disc – but allowing you to see it at the same time. The cover art for the audiobook is the disc itself! This saves space, stores easier and safer and costs less. What is not to love? Even better, in celebration of these new CD format, Infinivox has placed all their titles (cassette and CD both) on sale for 50% off. At that price I couldn’t resist, I bought one of each, even though I already owned most of them on cassette! Also of note is the attention to fixing problems – Infinivox staff have corrected an error in the packaging copy for these CD releases – the original cassette edition mistakenly stated A Walk In The Sun was a “Nebula Winner”, when it was in fact a “Hugo Winner”. Better sound quality, better packaging, lower price, an AWESOME story, what is not to love?

Posted by Jesse Willis