LibriVox: Mr. Spaceship by Philip K. Dick

SFFaudio Online Audio

The short story, Mr. Spaceship by Philip K. Dick, is about Philip Kramen and Commander Gross, two characters that are trying to end a war. To do it these agents have to build a ship guided by something intelligent so they can defeat the “yuks” (enemy aliens that are trying to invade Earth). Kramen and Gross determine that the ship should be guided by a disembodied human brain!

To this end they recruit Professor Thomas, a very aged man confined to his bed. The brain removal is a success, and Thomas gains control of the ship.

The story’s premise is similar, remarkably similar, to the later published tale, The Ship Who Sang. The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey was published in the April 1961 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction – eight years after Mr. Spaceship was published.

I think Mr. Spaceship is one of the most interesting Philip K. Dick works that I’ve read. Mr. Spaceship is a very well organized story that was planned out step by step. The writing was very clear, giving us the main problem, and how the characters were going to solve it. I definitely recommend Mr. Spaceship to readers who like science fiction stories.

Mr. Spaceship by Philip K. Dick

LibriVoxMr. Spaceship
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 1 Hour 11 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 27, 2010
|ETEXT|
A human brain-controlled spacecraft would mean mechanical perfection. This was accomplished, and something unforeseen: a strange entity called — Mr. Spaceship. First published in Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy, January 1953.

Here is a |PDF| made from scans of the original publication in Imagination.

Posted by Andrew Kang

Kansas Historical Society: The Bender Knife (a podcast about the Bloody Benders of Kansas)

Aural Noir: Online Audio

KSHS Cool Things PodcastIn research for another story I came across a cool podcast along the lines of BBC Radio 4’s The History Of The World In 100 Objects. Except that instead of it being a history of the planet it’s just the history of Kansas. The first epsiode of the KSHS’ Cool Things podcast to strike me (out of my chair, through the floor, and then into a shallow grave in a nearby field) was an episode on “The Bender Knife”. Here’s the setup:

Two men settled a claim near the town of Cherryvale in southeastern Kansas in 1870. John Bender, Sr., and John Bender, Jr., built a one-room timber cabin with a trap door that led to a stone cellar. Once the lodging was complete, the Bender men sent for the rest of the family, a mother and a daughter, both named Kate. The family outfitted the house with furniture and supplies, and hung a canvas curtain to divide it into two rooms. The Benders turned the front half into an inn and grocery store where travelers on the nearby Osage Trail could find rest, supplies, and a warm meal. Ma and Kate planted a garden and small orchard near the house. By all appearances, the Benders were like most area settlers: a family of German descent who came west for a fresh start.

Business at the Bender inn would have been brisk. The southeast corner of Kansas had recently opened to white settlers, and men regularly arrived with money to purchase land and livestock. This available cash made the area a dangerous place to travel. Settlers were easy prey for robbers, and it was not uncommon for people to go missing. No one took note of people looking for their family members. This changed when locals started disappearing.

You can read the full story HERE.

Bender Knife

|MP3|

And here’s the Wikipedia entry on the Bloody Benders.

Also check out their “Space Age Stove” episode (featuring a very cool Frigidaire Custom Imperial Flair stove).

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #160 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Red Nails by Robert E. Howard

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #160 – Jesse, Tamahome, and Brian Murphy (of The Silver Key and Black Gate) talk about Red Nails by Robert E. Howard (read by Gregg Margarite for LibriVox). The audiobook runs 3 Hours 21 minutes and the discussion begins after that.

Talked about on today’s show:
Comics, the comic adaptation of Red Nails, Conan Saga, Savage Tales, Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Storyteller, Wolverine, the REH Comics Yahoo! Group, Beyond The Black River, Tower Of The Elephant, Karl Edward Wagner, Queen Of The Black Coast, grimness, pirates, torture, lesbianism, happy endings, “so much for that decades old gang war”, it’s Red Nails is like a Tom Baker Doctor Who serial, haunted city, a feud culture, Tolkemec’s laser, “if it bleeds we can kill it”, Conan the chauvinist, Valeria kicks ass, is the story told from Valeria’s POV?, it begins like a mystery, the “dragon” is a dinosaur (sort of), Techotl, writer shorthand, Star Trek (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield), Techotl is Gollum-like, Red Nails as a gang war, why didn’t they all get rickets and starve, Howard was the original locavore, a roofed city vs. a domed city, Hatfields vs. McCoys, the black pillar of vengeance, ConanRedNails.com, HBO can do no wrong, copyright vs. trademark, Dark Horse’s Chronicles Of Conan #4, colour and colouring, Howard as a stylist, Book X of The Odyssey, The Land of the Lotus Eaters, The Dark Man: The Journal Of Robert E. Howard Studies, using digital copies to research (control-f), Aztec, Toltecs, cannibalism, Jack London, Harold Lamb, William Morris, J.R.R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, sword and sorcery, horror, The Black Stone, Worms Of The Earth by Robert E. Howard, Tantor Media’s tantalizing collection Bran Mak Morn: The Last King, condemn Howard’s racism praise his writing, Orson Scott Card, Al Harron of The Blog That Time Forgot, Apparition In The Prize Ring by Robert E. Howard, Ace Jessel, Solomon Kane, what will we do after?, just an average weekend with laser beams, the gonzo ending of Red Nails, BrokenSea’s The Queen Of The Black Coast audio drama, Bill Hollweg, legal trouble, Sherlock Holmes, Disney’s John Carter vs. Dynamite Entertainment‘s Warlord Of Mars.

Red Nails - interior fold out art by Ken Kelly

Red Nails - Ending - art by Barry Windsor-Smith

Red Nails by Robert E. Howard

Red Nails illustration by Margaret Brundage from Weird Tales, July 1936

Red Nails illustration by Harold S. De Lay from Weird Tales, July 1936

Red Nails illustration by Harold S. De Lay from Weird Tales, August September 1936

Red Nails illustration by Harold S. De Lay from Weird Tales, October 1936

Red Nails by Robert E. Howard - illustration by George Barr

Red Nails - illustration by George Barr

George Barr ILLUSTRATION for Red Nails

Valeria by Geoffrey Isherwood (in the style of Barry Windsor Smith)

Red Nails - illustrated by Gregory Manchess

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Mountain Man by Robert E. Howard

Aural Noir: Online Audio

Robert E. Howard’s Breckinridge Elkins stories are humorous tall tales about a mighty naive but mighty muscled country boy. This one, the very first, starts off a little like Winnie The Pooh, but fear not, all Howard’s usual themes are in there. There’s a bit of a difference though, even though you’ve got a barbaric he-man battling civilized folk the story differs from a CONAN tale in that it’s set in the then contemporary world (1934) and also because it’s told in first person by an unreliable narrator.

The audiobook’s narrator, RK Wilcox, on the other hand, is a very reliable narrator, as you’ll hear in this solid reading of Mountain Man.

Mountain Man by Robert E. Howard

LibriVoxMountain Man
By Robert E. Howard; Read by RK Wilcox
1 |MP3| – Approx. 35 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 25, 2008
|ETEXT|
Introducing the famous Breckinridge Elkins of Hardrock County, suh-the first and foremost What-a-Man of 1934! He was raised on b’ar meat and panther milk – and strong men hunt a hideout when it’s his night to howl! First published in Action Stories, March-April 1934.

Here’s a |PDF| from the original publication in Action Stories.

Posted by Jesse Willis

National Endowment for the Arts: Big Read: A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

SFFaudio Online Audio

National Endowment for the Arts: Big ReadThe National Endowment for the Arts presents a complied interview piece on Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard Of Earthsea.

Contributors include Michael Chabon, Kelly Link, Orson Scott Card, Walter Mosley, R.L. Stine and Le Guin herself!

|MP3|

Subscribe via the podcast feed:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/neabigread

Posted by Jesse Willis

City Of Dreams: The Damned Are Playing At Godzilla Tonight on YouTube

SFFaudio News

SEEING EAR THEATRE - J. Michael Straczynski's City Of Dreams

You’ve heard rumors of the City of Dreams. It’s existence has been officially denied, although unconfirmed reports have placed it beneath the ruins of Machu Pichu in South America. Others say it’s in Arkham, Massachusetts, or hidden in a secret network of tunnels under Moscow.

But we’re here to tell you the truth. Do you want to know where the City of Dreams is?

It’s on YouTube! Yes, the wondrous Twilight Zone-esque series written by J. Michael Straczynski and produced as a part of The Seeing Ear Theatre is available on YouTube. Here’s the first episode:

Episode 1 – The Damned Are Playing At Godzilla Tonight

Part 1 of 3:

Part 2 of 3:

Part 3 of 3:

The dark, ominous tale of the bigoted owner of a small nightclub in the City of Dreams who faces a new sound, and a band that just won’t quit…on either side of the grave.

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Cast:
Steve Buscemi
Kevin Conway
Christopher Burns
Kevin Daniels
Beth Glover
J.R. Horne
Ezra Knight

[via J. Michael Straczynski’s Twitter feed]

Posted by Jesse Willis