Gregg Margarite is an up and coming narrator over on LibriVox.org. He recorded stories for five of the LibriVox “Short Science Fiction” collections as well as soloing on the Collected Public Domain Works Of Stanley G. Weinbaum! But it is his latest project that I suspect will be his most popular narration. Here’s how he describes it:
“Deathworld is the first in a series of novels begun in 1960 and originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine. It’s the story of Jason dinAlt a professional gambler with psionic skills who finds himself on Pyrrus the deadliest planet to be colonized by humanity. Violent weather, active tectonics, heavy gravity, abundant predators, and a hostile splinter group of colonists is only the beginning of Jason’s quest to learn the truth about Pyrrus.”
Deathworld
By Harry Harrison; Read by Gregg Margarite
28 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 5 Hours 23 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: April 2009
Some planet in the galaxy must—by definition—be the toughest, meanest, nastiest of all. If Pyrrus wasn’t it … it was an awfully good approximation! First published in Astounding Science Fiction magazine’s January, February and March 1960 issues.
Podcast feed:
http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/deathworld-by-harry-harrison.xml
iTunes 1-click |SUBSCRIBE|
Posted by Jesse Willis
This is fantastic! Deathworld was one of the first books I read as a kid. I am so excited to listen to this. So far, after the first two files, the reading and sound quality are great. Thanks for passing this on Jesse. More importantly, thanks for taking the time to read and produce this Gregg.
One more thought…
Hard to believe that this work is actually in the public domain. Weird.
Going to listen to a few chapters today. :)
I can’t wait until the rest of the books come into the public domain so they can be added to the Librivox catalog as well.
Anyone know offhand when that will be?
Cameron, that’s a good question.
The short answer is NOT SOON.
Current copyright laws differ in each country. So let’s talk about US copyright law.
Titles first published in or before 1963 are possibly in the public domain.
Anything after 1963 is probably not PD.
All the DEATHWORLD sequel novels were published after 1963 so they aren’t likely to be PD for several more decades at the earliest.
We may be talking the late 21st or early 22nd century.
That doesn’t preclude some commercial publisher doing them, or Harry Harrison granting permission for a non-commercial version. But after all is said and done we almost assuredly won’t see and DEATHWORLD sequels on LibriVox any time soon.
Deathworld II is in the public domain and on Librivox on iTunes
Indeed it is:
http://www.sffaudio.com/?p=15472