Scott D. – Page 59

Review of Star Trek: Vulcan’s Soul Book 3: Epiphany by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz

SFFaudio Review

Star Trek: Vulcan’s Soul Book 3: Epiphany
By Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz; Read by Richard Poe
10 CDs – 12 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9731419315176
Themes: / Science Fiction / Star Trek / Vulcans / Romulans /

For a long time, Star Trek on audio was limited to the excellent yet abridged productions published by Simon and Schuster Audio. The Simon and Schuster recordings are packed with music and sound effects, but Recorded Books has published this trilogy of unabridged Trek novels (this is the third) in their single narrator style.

Die-hard Trekkers will find the whole trilogy interesting, as it explains in detail the origins of the Remans, which were introduced in the film Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). It also tells the story of Spock and Saavik, a romance that has been explored in Star Trek novels, but not on the screen, though Captain Jean-Luc Picard mentions attending Spock’s marriage ceremony in the Next Generation episode, “Unification”. He doesn’t mention who Spock married in that episode, but Sherman and Shwartz included the ceremony in their previous novel (which is not part of this trilogy) entitled Vulcan’s Heart.

The trilogy as a whole follows two connected storylines; one from the distant past, and one in the “present”. In the past, the story follows the family of the Vulcan Karatek as they leave Vulcan and travel across the stars to find a new world to colonize. In the “present”, which is set after the Dominion War but before Star Trek: Nemesis, Spock diplomatically deals with the Watraii, a race with grievances against the Romulan Star Empire.

In this book, Karatek’s family and other Vulcan exiles are imprisoned on Remus, indentured to hard labor mining the various ores the inhabitants of Romulus need. The present thread finds the crew of the Enterprise-E fighting Commander Tomalak and the Romulans as they try to find the origins of the invading Watraii and their claims on an artifact that predates the Romulan sundering from Vulcan at the time of Surak.

Richard Poe once again does an excellent job, voicing the various characters of the story; not imitating the actors, but mimicking their speech patterns. He even voices the women well. This is an excellent series of books for those Trekkers who like reading about Star Trek history.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson and Scott A.

Review of Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce

SFFaudio Review

Melting Stones
By Tamora Pierce; Read by Grace Kelly and the Full Cast Audio family
8 CDs – 8.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9481394180051
Themes: / Fantasy / Young Adult / Magic / Earth / Volcano /

I’m always excited when a new audiobook from Full Cast Audio comes across my desk, but this one was special, because the book doesn’t even exist in print at this time. Nope – this is an audio exclusive, folks! Tamora Pierce wrote this book with the Full Cast Audio family in mind, and it’s a wonderful audiobook.

The book’s main character is Evvy (a short form for Evumeimei), a young girl who is a stone mage. The book begins with her traveling on a boat, which is a difficult thing for a stone mage, because the separation between her and the rocky ground where here magic is effective is too great. She is accompanied Luvo, a heart of a mountain, who has very powerful magic, and a water mage named Dedicate Myrrhtide. The group ends up on an island called Starns Island after being drawn there by earth movement felt when the water was shallow enough. From there the adventure really kicks in, as the small band of mages try to calm the moving earth.

The audiobook is done in the distinctive Full Cast Audio style – it’s unabridged, but read by a full cast. I fear sounding like a parrot, but every review I write of a Full Cast Audio audiobook needs to convey the absolute quality of the audio experience that you get with one of these books. Full Cast Audio consistently enhances the text they are performing. Their audiobooks are unique, and a joy to hear.

Melting Stones is no exception. Grace Kelly performs Evvy, and therefore has the main narrating duties, since the book is told from Evvy’s point of view. Tamora Pierce gave Grace much to work with, and work with it she does. She offers a captivating and believable performance as the plucky young stone mage. Surrounding her is a large cast that, without exception, performs well. Seamless editing makes it all work together, giving us another excellent piece of work from Full Cast Audio.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Recent Arrivals from Random House Audio

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

This pair of Random House Audio titles just in, including Infected by podcaster extraordinaire Scott Sigler!

Infected
By Scott Sigler; Read by Scott Sigler
9 CDs – 12 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9780739328859

Across America a mysterious disease is turning ordinary people into raving, paranoid murderers who inflict brutal horrors on strangers, themselves, and even their own families.

Working under the government’s shroud of secrecy, CIA operative Dew Phillips crisscrosses the country trying in vain to capture a live victim. With only decomposing corpses for clues, CDC epidemiologist Margaret Montoya races to analyze the science behind this deadly contagion. She discovers that these killers all have one thing in common – they’ve been contaminated by a bioengineered parasite, shaped by a complexity far beyond the limits of known science.

Meanwhile Perry Dawsey – a hulking former football star now resigned to life as a cubicle-bound desk jockey – awakens one morning to find several mysterious welts growing on his body. Soon Perry finds himself acting and thinking strangely, hearing voices . . . he is infected.

The fate of the human race may well depend on the bloody war Perry must wage with his own body, because the parasites want something from him, something that goes beyond mere murder.

The Crystal Skull
By Manda Scott; Read by Susan Duerden
5 CDs – 6.5 hours – [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9780739328859

In a spellbinding blend of history, myth, and science, bestselling novelist Manda Scott unleashes a thriller that sweeps from the secrets of the Mayans to the court of a sixteenth-century queen to a shattering end-times prophecy.

“It’s a lump of rock, Stella; nothing more. No stone is worth dying for.”

Except it’s not just a lump of rock. It’s a blue crystal skull made by the Maya to save the world from ruin; a sapphire so perfect, so powerful that for centuries men have killed to own or destroy it.

Ancient prophecies say that if the thirteen skulls already in existence are not reunited, the world will end on December 21, 2012. Cedric Owen, the skull’s last Keeper, died so that it might keep its secret for the next four centuries. Now Stella Cody has found it, and someone has already tried to kill her. Like Owen, she’s being hunted—but by whom?

Desperate to unravel the mystery of the crystal skull, Stella must decode Cedric Owen’s coded writings, sketches and ciphers no scholar has been able to unravel. What she discovers is astounding: a shocking secret prophecy…and the staggering puzzle of four terrifying creatures, thirteen precious stones, and what will happen if Cedric Owen’s crystal skull falls into the wrong hands. But time is against Stella. She has only days—hours—left to uncover the only secret that may yet save the world.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold

SFFaudio Review

Mirror Dance
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Grover Gardner
15 CDs – about 18 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433205699
Themes: / Science fiction / Space travel / Cloning / Military /

Mirror Dance may be many things, but it is primarily the story of a clone named Mark Vorkosigan and his struggle to discover his own identity. To find himself, he must come to grips with his tortured upbringing, his harrowing training to become a spy and assassin, and the long shadow of the man he was cloned from — a diminutive, homely, yet fiercely inspiring man named Miles Vorkosigan. In the process, he plans a daring infiltration that devolves into pitched battle on an enemy planet, all laid out with action, tactical clarity, and emotional impact that puts some so-called “military SF” I’ve heard to cowering shame. But that’s not all for Mark. He must also find his way through courtly intrigue, survive an uneasy adoption by Miles’s parents, perform some deft detective work, haltingly begin an unlikely little romance, and endure psychologically horrific torture.

Grover Gardner provides the voice that leads us on this tortuous journey. Giving distinct personalities to a pair of genetically identical protagonists is a tall order, yet between Bujold’s words and Gardner’s nuanced performance, the two lead characters remain effortlessly distinct. What’s more, the secondary characters are portrayed with the same care. It is hard to imagine a better reading of this material.

But is there really any doubt about the outcome of these crises? The liner notes are as comforting as a quick look at the final chapter: This book is part of a larger series with the same characters. I read that to mean there would be little chance the author would kill off a vital cash cow.

I know, I know, the demands of the publishing industry have made series works the lifeblood of genre fiction. I’m sure they bring in lots of new SF readers and maybe even some good books here and there, but what do we sacrifice in the process? In this book, it is any palpable sense of suspense or purposeful haste in the proceedings. In general, I think it is risky, new ideas that challenge and expand our concept of what SF and fiction can do. Are the larger sales numbers really worth the cost?

That doesn’t mean this book is a waste of time. The characters are well explored, the situations are thought provoking, and the tone ranges from disarmingly tender to chillingly perverted. You will care about Miles, Mark, their family, and their friends. You will hate their enemies. But at the same time, the sometimes languid pacing and the foreknowledge of the outcome will not make listening to this book an urgent necessity. Bujold can think, she can plot, and she can definitely write. But this book will leave you wishing she’d used all that talent to write something a little bolder.

Posted by Kurt Dietz

Recent Arrivals from Full Cast Audio

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Check out these excellent titles, recently in from Full Cast Audio! If you haven’t heard a Full Cast Audio title, I urge you to give one a try. You won’t be disappointed!

Book of a Thousand Days
By Shannon Hale; Read by Chelsea Mixon and the Full Cast Family
6 CDs – 7.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781934180228

When Lady Saren defies her father’s command to marry the vicious Lord Khasar, she is sealed in a tower with only her serving maid, Dashti, for company. In their cramped, dark space, Dahti pours her thoughts into a daily journal while pitiless solitude engulfs them.

At first, Dashti is optimistic. They have food aplenty, candles for light, and even a visit from Lady Saren’s true love, Khan Tegus – though he can only call to them from outside their walls. But Saren is ill of mind, the outside world is changing, and their circumstances soon grow desperate. And even if they do escape, they must still face the eerie malice of Lord Khasar. To survive, Dashti and Saren forge a bond of devotion and deception that will test them to their limits.

Enna Burning
By Shannon Hale; Read by Cynthia Bishop and the Full Cast Family
8 CDs – 8.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781934180198

This spine tingling companion to The Goose Girl is as wildly imaginative as its predecessor. Romantic, wise, unexpectedly dark in places, it has already developed a passionate following among Shannon Hale’s fans.

Click here for our review of The Goose Girl.

Skybreaker
By Kenneth Oppel; Read by David Kelly and the Full Cast Family
10 CDs – 11.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781934180150

High in the sky, far above the normal lanes of travel, drifts a ghost ship carrying unbelievable treasure. Matt Cruise, hero of the wildly popular Airborn (an SFFaudio Essential, find the review here), is on the trail of that treasure, with the help of his charming society friend Kate de Vries and a mysterious gypsy girl named Nadira. With them flies Hal Slater, roguish captain of a boldly designed Skybreaker aircraft that can reach heights previously undreamed of.

But between Matt and his destination stand ruthless pirates, and an even more ruthless businessman. And what Matt’s crew will find when they finally do reach the Hyperion is far more valuable, far more exciting, and far more dangerous than they ever imagined.

Wolf-Speaker: The Immortals Book II
By Tamora Pierce; Read by Tamora Pierce and the Full Cast Family
8 CDs – 8 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781934180365

The second novel in Tammy’s beloved Immortals Quartet pulls Daine into new adventures, and reveals more about the special nature of her magic. Great characters, piles of magic, and breath-taking adventure. You’re gonna love it!

Click here for our review of Book I, Wild Magic

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Canadia: 2056 – Season One

SFFaudio Review

Canadia: 2056: Season 1
By Matt Watts; Perfomed by a full cast
5 CDs – Approx. 5 Hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: CBC Audio
Published: January 21, 2008
Product ID: ERART00217
Themes: / Science Fiction / Humor / Canada / War / Toilets / Audio Drama / CBC /

This entertaining sci-fi comedy series is written by one of Canada’s best-loved comedy writers, Matt Watts. The United States has launched an armada to destroy an alien threat. Canada sends the nation’s only publicly-funded spacecraft, The Canadia – a ship with a single purpose – to plunge the Americans’ toilets.

There are lots of audio dramas out here on the internet, but if you want to hear a professional piece of work that will make you laugh out loud, you should give Canadia 2056 300 minutes of your time. Matt Watts and the entire cast and crew of Canadia 2056 have created something special. The show is an absolute gem.

The Canadia of the series is a Canadian spaceship that has been sent to war with a United States fleet, which in turn has been sent to perform a pre-emptive strike on a planet called Ipampilash. Midshipman Max Anderson is the only American member of the crew, and his relations with all of the Canadians is central to the comedy of the show. I’m not a Canadian, so I’m certain that I’m missing the deeper meaning of some of the jokes, but the scripts are crafted and performed in such a way that I really didn’t feel I was missing out.

An example of this occurs in the very first episode. The captain of the Canadia (hilariously performed by Paul O’Sullivan) is choosing a voice for the computer. He goes through a few, then settles on a gravelly female voice. I found the scene funny without knowing what I was told later – the voice selected was Shauna MacDonald, who is known as the Promo Girl in Canada. Apparently, her voice was heard all the time on CBC, and the debate between the folks that wanted her off the air and the folks who wanted her to stay made her famous. (I’d have wanted her to stay, by the way. I adore her voice.)

Max Anderson (played by series writer Matt Watts) makes an interesting representative of the United States. He’s cowardly, geeky, selfish, and his mother is an admiral in the US fleet. He feels his way around the crew, and finds his place among them eventually. Holly Lewis was captivating as Amanda Lewis, the engineer that Max spends the most time with. There’s a lot of tension between the two, and it’s wonderfully played.

I could sit here and start listing my favorite moments, but it’s suffice to say that I loved these shows enough that I listened more than once. There’s a short list of audio drama that’s really excellent, and even a shorter list of comedic audio drama that’s really excellent. Canadia 2056: Season One is one of those, and I urge you to give it a listen. It’s cruckin’ fanatastic!

Season Two of Canadia: 2056 starts next week on CBC Radio! It looks like the first airing will be at 11:00pm, Wednesday, March 19th. Click here to keep your eye on the CBC Radio schedule.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson