Author: Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals – Mike Resnick, Edgar Allan Poe

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Recently plopped into the SFFaudio Audible Account…

Starship: Mutiny, Book 1 by Mike ResnickStarship: Mutiny, Book 1
By Mike Resnick; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – 7 Hours and 35 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: April 2008
The date is 1966 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now, and the Republic, created by the human race – but not yet dominated by it – finds itself in an all-out war. They stand against the Teroni Federation, an alliance of races that resent Man’s growing military and economic power. The main battles are taking place in the Spiral Arm and toward the Core. But far out on the Rim, the Theodore Roosevelt is one of three ships charged with protecting the Phoenix Cluster – a group of 73 inhabited worlds. Old, battered, some of its weapon systems outmoded, the Teddy R. is a ship that would have been decommissioned years ago if weren’t for the war. Its crew is composed of retreads, discipline cases, and a few raw recruits. But a new officer has been transferred to the Teddy R. His name is Wilson Cole, and he comes with a reputation for heroics and disobedience. Will the galaxy ever be the same?

Starship: Pirate, Book 2 by Mike ResnickStarship: Pirate, Book 2
By Mike Resnick; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – 8 Hours 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: April 2008
Seeking to find a new life for themselves, Cole and comrades remake the Teddy R. as a pirate ship and set sail for the lawless Inner Frontier. There, powerful warlords, cut-throat pirates, and struggling colonies compete for survival in a game where you rarely get a second chance to learn the rules. But military discipline is poor preparation for a life of pillaging and plundering, and Cole’s principles limit his targets. Seeking an education on the nature of piracy, Cole hunts more knowledgeable players: the beautiful but deadly Valkyrie, the enigmatic alien fence David Copperfield, and the fearsome alien pirate known as the Hammerhead Shark.

Audible Frontiers - Starship: Mercenary, Book 3 by Mike ResickStarship: Mercenary, Book 3
By Mike Resnick; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – 8 hours 36 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: April 2008
Military discipline and honor have been a poor match for Capt. Wilson Cole’s life of pillaging and plundering. Seeking a better way of life, the Teddy R. has become a mercenary ship, hiring out to the highest bidder. Whether it’s evacuating a hospital before war can reach it, freeing a client from an alien prison, or stopping a criminal cartel from extorting money from a terrified planet, the crew of the Teddy R. proves equal to the task. Along the way, they form a partnership with the once human Platinum Duke, team up with a former enemy, and make the unique Singapore Station their headquarters. The life of a mercenary is not always predictable. Circumstance now pits Cole and the Teddy R. against the former Pirate Queen, Valkyrie. Soon the fragile trust that has grown between these two legends is put to the test as they find themselves on opposite sides of a job.

And received by mail from Audio Book Case…

Into That Darkness Peering: Nightmarish Tales Of The Macabre Volume IIInto That Darkness Peering: Nightmarish Tales Of The Macabre Volume II
By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by Wayne June
1 CD – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: AudioBookCase
Published: June 2008
Includes four tales of the supernatural, shock and horror:
The Conqueror Worm, The Tell Tale Heart, The Imp Of The Perverse and Hop Frog

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Leviathan Chronicles: a new Audio Drama

SFFaudio Online Audio

Amy Park writes:

“I would love to have your feedback and review of my friends new sci-fi podcast.”

Here is some feedback Amy…

The Leviathan Chronicles - Audio DramaThe Leviathan Chronicles – Season One
By Christof Laputka; Performed by a full cast
25 Audio Files – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: LeviathanChronicles.com
Published: April 2008 –

The idea:

Christof Laputka’s The Leviathan Chronicles describes itself as “a stylish downloadable science fiction audio drama” in the “40’s Style.” The first five episodes are available as a podcast. Future episodes can be downloaded from the website for an as yet unnamed fee. With a cast of more than 40 voice actors, sound effects and an original musical score the idea is to “propel the listener into the dark and mysterious ‘soundscape’.”

The plot:

Macallan Orsel, a young genetic scientist in present-day New York City discovers that she is descended from powerful immortals living secretly among us. Across centuries and continents, they have battled for supremacy-and Macallan must suddenly grapple with a mysterious and lethal virus, a covert government organization aware of the immortals-and her own family’s connection to both. In order to save herself and the immortals, Macallan must learn to use a key hidden within her own DNA. But a deadly secret has been kept deep in the bottom of the ocean for over a thousand years that could threaten not just the immortals, but all of mankind.

My comments on the site and episode 1:

1. Flash is bad. LeviathanChronicles.com required install of Flash 9.0 on both Internet Explorer and Firefox. That said, the Flash animation is well done (making the show look slick). But, that is much less important than content. I imagine in future visits having to sit through all that animation again would piss me off.

2. The show sounds interesting. It is a hybrid of audio drama and narration. It might work. Some of the dialogue seems one pass away from complete – most though sounds pretty good. At least some of the sound effects are familiar, maybe a little too familiar for my tastes. Music seems good so far.

3. The plot is intriguing, I really do want to know where it is going. There might be too much techno-jargon.

4. No podcast feed on the podcast page is bad. I found the podcast via an iTunes search.

5. The links on the “latest news” page don’t work.

6. No price for future shows makes me hesitant about listening to more than the first episode. I want to know I can afford to get addicted.

7. The downloads are in MP3, but the podcast isn’t. The podcast show should have an MP3 option, not just M4A.

8. The site needs an RSS feed.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Cory Doctorow loves the Little Fuzzy audiobook

SFFaudio News

Science Fiction Audiobook - Little Fuzzy by H. Beam PiperCory Doctorow posted this to BoingBoing.net today:

I just finished listening to the Audio Realms audio edition of H Beam Piper’s classic science fiction novel Little Fuzzy and fell in love with the book all over again. Little Fuzzy was the first book I ever bought for myself: it was on my first trip to Bakka, the world’s oldest surviving science fiction bookstore, at the age of nine or ten. Tanya Huff — now a bestselling writer in her own right — was working that day and I asked her for some recommendations. She marched me back to the used section of the store and took down a copy of Little Fuzzy, promising that I’d love it.

I did.

Little Fuzzy is Piper’s masterpiece, a tight, neat science fiction story that epitomizes the golden age of sf. It concerns a prospector on a distant world who discovers a potentially sentient aboriginal race (the “Fuzzies), and his ensuing fight — fists, lawyers and even guns — to get them recognized as sentient beings. Along the way, Piper explores the nature of colonial economies, the deepest questions of consciousness and intelligence, paternalism and self-determination, and the nature of the rule of law. All in a package that a nine-year-old will find riveting and delightful.

The Audio Realms 5-CD unabridged recording just won Publishers Weekly’s annual Fantasy Audiobook of the Year award (why “fantasy” I’m not sure), and it’s easy to see why. Brian Holsopple’s reading brings the characters — warm, human, flawed and passionate — to life. The editing is not exactly perfect (there’s a couple of pickup lines that Holsopple recorded that are left in, which is a little distracting), but the story is every bit as wonderful as I remember it, and the reading is a great match.

Little Fuzzy is in the public domain, so there’s both a free ebook and a free recording available of the text. And for the record, I got Tanya Huff’s job at Bakka when she retired to write full time.

[via BoingBoing.net]

Posted by Jesse Willis

CBC Radio will broadcast and podcast Robert J. Sawyer’s Rollback

SFFaudio News

CBC Radio One - Between The Covers podcastRobert J. Sawyer has a contract in hand from CBC Radio One’s Between The Covers program. BTC will broadcasting Robert J. Sawyer’s novel ROLLBACK! I asked Heather Brown, a producer at Between The Covers for more details on the distribution method and she had this to say:

“Yes, we will be podcasting as well as broadcasting Robert J. Sawyer’s novel ROLLBACK. At the moment there is no firm date for the broadcast/podcast although it won’t be presented until much later this year and perhaps not til early next year. The book will be abridged somewhat but Mr. Sawyer will be a full participant in those choices.”

That’s very cool! I’ve long enjoyed Between The Covers, but it was their broadcast of Connie Willis’ Bellwether that cemented my love of this long running CBC Radio show. We’ll keep you updated on the broadcast and podcasting dates for this.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Kevin J. Anderson @ audible.com: “From My Ear to the Keyboard” an essay about audiobooks

SFFaudio News
Kevin J. Anderson @ Audible.com
the Sci-fi Guest Editor over at Audible.com this month is Kevin J. Anderson. For that position he’s written an essay entitled “From My Ear to the Keyboard” which is about his relationship with audiobooks. Here are a few choice lines:

…

I have read fine literary masterpieces that simply don’t do well in an audio format. The sentences are too burdensome, the metaphors too heavy to grasp without straining, the self-referential convolutions too tortured for any listener to make heads or tails of the plot. Unfortunately, I tried to read Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment as an audiobook.

On the other hand, I listened to Larry McMurtry’s magnificent Lonesome Dove, an indescribably amazing and engaging book that seemed to go on for an infinite number of cassettes that consumed months and months of commutes to work. The conversational tone, the folksy narrator, and the clear and compelling writing swept me along so that I felt I was actually there in the Old West. This, too, is the way I’ve read most of the thrillers by Dean Koontz, the science fiction of Orson Scott Card. And I’ve recently reread Frank Herbert’s Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune, books that I have read many times already, but the spoken performance adds an entirely new character to these familiar classics.

Coincidentally, telling stories aloud—writing them by speaking the words instead of typing them—is my preferred method of creation. I have written most of my hundred or so published novels while on long walks with tape recorder in hand. I like to sink down into the story, become so immersed in what’s happening that I forget about the actual words; I forget about the mechanics of preserving my thoughts. I simply think up the sentences and dialog—and talk. It’s as if I’m telling you, the reader, the story that is playing so vividly in my head.

…

To read the whole essay, and Anderson’s picks, check it out HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis