Author: Scott D.

Reviews Editor, SFFaudio

The finalists for this year’s Audie Awards were an…

The finalists for this year’s Audie Awards were announced on Feb. 23rd. Here are some genre-related nominees:

The finalists for the SCIENCE FICTION award are:

The Callahan Chronicles

Written by: Spider Robinson

Read by: Barrett Whitener

Blackstone Audiobooks

Darwin’s Children

Written by: Greg Bear

Read by: Scott Brick

Books on Tape, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Dune: The Machine Crusade

Written by: Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Read by: Scott Brick

Audio Renaissance, A Division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, and Books on Tape, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Monstrous Regiment

Written by: Terry Pratchett

Read by: Stephen Briggs

Harper Audio

Still Life With Crows

Written by: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Read by: Rene Auberjonois

Time Warner AudioBooks

Among the nominees for CHILDREN’S TITLES FOR AGES 8+ is:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Written by: J.K. Rowling

Read by: Jim Dale

Listening Library

Phoenix also shows up in the PACKAGE DESIGN category, and as a nomination for Jim Dale for SOLO NARRATION – MALE. George Guidall is up for the same award for Don Quixote from Recorded Books, and Campbell Scott for Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake.

And in the AUDIO DRAMA category:

The Chronicles of Narnia

Written by: C. S. Lewis

Performed by a Full Cast

Focus on the Family

which also appears in the PACKAGE DESIGN and ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION categories.

See all the nominees at the Audio Publisher’s Association website. The winners will be selected on June 4 at the Audie Awards, a black-tie event at the Harold Washington Public Library Center in Chicago.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

I spent Thursday at Life, the Universe, and Everyt…

SFFaudio News

I spent Thursday at Life, the Universe, and Everything XXII, the 22nd annual science fiction symposium held at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. While there, I got to see a live broadcast of the weekly science fiction talk show I-SCI-FI.

I-SCI-FI is broadcast live on Thursday nights from 7-9pm Mountain time. I liken the listening experience to meeting up with some good friends once a week and talking science fiction. The show’s main focus is media (television and movies), but they also include interviews with science fiction and fantasy authors.

Shown in the picture is the I-SCI-FI crew: from left to right is engineer Brady, HariKarrie, Captain T’Rex, and Jedi Joe.

On Thursday, I-SCI-FI interviewed Sam Longoria, the media Guest of Honor at the symposium. They then interviewed fantasy author Victoria Strauss via telephone about her new book, The Burning Land. Last, they played an interview with Star Wars novelist Timothy Zahn, which had been recorded a week earlier at a local Barnes and Noble. In between, they had a trivia contest both for the live audience and the online audience. It was great fun. Be sure to try them out!

NOTE: While you listen to I-SCI-FI live, visit the chat room! If I’m in there, my username is MrScott.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Roger Gregg of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has recentl…


Roger Gregg of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has recently posted two fabulous interviews:

First up is an interview of Dirk Maggs, audio theatre producer. He’s produced many audio plays and has won awards for An American Werewolf in London (I have GOT to find a copy of that one) and Superman: Doomsday and Beyond. Some of the topics discussed: audio theatre scripts, audio theatre actors, and the production process. Dirk’s latest show is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase, which will broadcast soon on BBC Radio 4. The interview has many pictures from that production.

Second, an interview of Paul Deeley, the sound engineer on the Hitchhiker production. Deeley has worked closely with Dirk Maggs on a number of projects. Gregg interviews Deeley on the technical aspects of production – again, there are many cool pictures throughout, taken while recording Hitchhiker’s Guide.

Both of these interviews are full of great information about audio theatre. Check out all the other Crazy Dog interviews here.

More on Roger Gregg soon – in the pipeline is his hilarious Big Big Space production, available from ZBS.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Happy New Year! I’ve been experiencing a growin…

SFFaudio Online Audio

Happy New Year!

I’ve been experiencing a growing appreciation for audio drama – I’ve always liked them, but lately I’ve been enjoying a renewed enthusiasm for the medium. Here are several good links to check out:

The Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has a list of the “greatest productions conceived specifically for audio” called The Masterpiece Gallery. Find it here.

The folks who bring us the Mark Time Award have a Science Fiction Audio Hall of Fame. Find it here.

A great place to buy Audio Drama is ZBS, the home of Meatball Fulton of Ruby fame.

Yuri Rasovsky, audio dramatist extraordinaire, has a website full of good stuff. Find it here. Some items of interest include an online text called The Well-Tempered Audio Dramatist: Producing Audio Plays in the 21st Century, reprints of some excellent Yurika! essays from Audiofile Magazine, and a list of his currently available productions.

And here is an essay by Yuri Rasovsky on the Audiofile magazine website called Audio Drama Today, which includes his “Audio Drama A-List” – ten accessible, enjoyable audio dramas.

Enjoy!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson