Five Free Favourites #1

Inspired by the idea that most visitors don’t dip into our 5 years worth of archives, here’s a new feature:

…in which we’ll post about five different audio favourites. I’d be willing to bet any of these 5 will make your ears happy. In fact, I’m so confident you’ll like them I’ve already started thinking about another five more. And, I’ll be soliciting contributors to put together similar lists of their own. Here’s my first batch…

1.
Night On Mispec Moor
By Larry Niven; Read by Warren James
Intro |MP3| Part 1 |MP3|, Part 2 |MP3| – [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: Hour25Online.com
Created: October 31, 2001
Larry Niven isn’t just the master of Hard SF, he’s also the master of Hard Fantasy and Horror! This story is a story which includes all three. It’s about an “outworld mercenary” who finds himself a lone survivor of his routed army. After fleeing into a moor, his pursuers suddenly stop, they dare not follow him into “Mispec” at night. This is a creepy, clever and very memorable short story. The sound quality isn’t ideal, but you’ll certainly enjoy the content.

2.
Infidel
By Roger Gregg; Performed by a Full Cast
4 MP3s – [RADIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: The Sonic Society
Podcast: April 2007
Sonic Society #62 (Infidel part 1 of 4) |MP3|
Sonic Society #63 (Infidel part 2 of 4) |MP3|
Sonic Society #64 (Infidel part 3 of 4) |MP3|
Sonic Society #65 (Infidel part 4 of 4) |MP3|
Though it’s probably easier classified as “historical” I’d call it a Horror from History. Crazy Dog Audio Theatre’s Infidel fictionalizes the very real events of the 5th Crusade (1217-1221 ad) in this transformative audio dramatization. Sir Hugh of Beauvais and his brother Sir Philip are knights. They’ve enlisted themselves in the fifth campaign to free the holy lands. This is modern audio drama at its finest. It’s also available in a CD set which you can get HERE.

3.
The Pyramid of Amirah
By James Patrick Kelly; Read By James Patrick Kelly
1 |MP3| – 18 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Jim Kelly’s Free Reads
Published: June 28th 2008
Surrounded by boxes of goody-goody bars, her only food, Amirah lives alone in what was once her parent’s house. Its her home now, and she’s honoured to become a pyramid girl. During the day she vacuums up the limestone dust that drifts down onto every flat surface, at night she leaves the lights on all the time, even when she sleeps. As the years pass the light bulbs start to burn out one-by-one and Amirah wonders if the meaning of her living entombment will ever come. This is a live recorded version, I’m highly moved by this enigmatic “Fantasy.” This is one is extremely powerful. I think about it often.

4.
The Merchant And The Alchemists Gate
By Ted Chiang; Read by James Campanella
1 |MP3| – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: StarShipSofa
Podcast: 2008
Time travel, Ted Chiang, and a terrific narrator. These three combine into an absolutely unmissable listen. A wonderful SF novelette it conjures a 1,001 Nights-like atmosphere with a By His Bootstraps story-logic.

5.
Tk’tk’tk
By David D. Levine; Read by Paul Tevis
1 |MP3| – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Escape Pod
Podcast: May 18th 2006
I’ve heard Episode 54 of Escape Pod maybe a half dozen times and I’m still very impressed with it. I’m convinced Levine’s tale will become an enduring SF classic. It takes a very Jack Vance like situation, some truly alien aliens, and throws a human everyman into their society – it demonstrates a couple of real world psychological phenomenons – and all the while it is highly entertaining. Can you really ask for more than that?

What Five Free Favourites would you recommend?

Posted by Jesse Willis