KFAI’s Sound Affects to air 4 "Alien Worlds" Sci-Fi Radio Dramas

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Alien WorldsJerry Stearns, host of the long running modern radio drama show Sound Affects: A Radio Playground will be airing four episodes of the Alien Worlds, a science fiction radio drama series, on KFAI-FM over the next four months. The first will be this Saturday, Sept. 23rd. That program will also include an exclusive interview with the producer of Alien Worlds, Lee Hanson.

Alien Worlds series first aired between 1979 and 1980 on commercial radio. Some of the episodes were written by J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, the City Of Dreams and The Adventures Of Apocalypse Al (though not any of the four set to be broadcast on Sound Affects). Each of the four programs will be streamed live at 10pm on Saturday (and of course broadcast in the Minneapolis/St. Paul. region), and each show will be archived on the KFAI website for two weeks after the broadcast. Here’s all the details on how to listen, and when each of the programs will be aired:

Sound Affects: A Radio PlaygroundSound Affects: A Radio Playground
Hosted by Jerry Stearns
4 Broadcasts: [RADIO SHOW]
Broadcaster: KFAI, 90.3 FM and 106.7 FM, in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Broadcast: 9:30-10:30 PM, Sundays (Central Time)

September 23, 2007 – Alien Worlds “The Paralax Deception” + Interview
October 28, 2007 – Alien Worlds “The Kilohertz War”
December 2, 2007 – Alien Worlds “Time Clash”
January 13, 2008 – Alien Worlds “The Seeds of Time”

And, as always, FREE APOCALYPSE AL!

Brian Aldiss story broadcast on BBC Radio 7

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BBC 7's The 7th DimensionAired on the weekend, BBC Radio 7, has the first of two parts of an abridged reading of Brian Aldiss’ Nebula Award winning 1965 novelette, Man In His Time. It was was adapted for radio to celebrate his 80th birthday, and is introduced by Aldiss himself. The story is about an interplanetary astronaut, who upon return home is flummoxed to discover that he experiences everything around him on Earth as 3.3077 minutes into everyone else’s future.

Man In His Time by Brian AldissMan In His Time
By Brian Aldiss; Read by Jamie Glover
2 Broadcasts – Approx 60 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday Sep 16 & Sunday Sept 23 2007

Use the BBC Player’s ‘listen again’ service to hear part 1 which is online now – and listen for part 2 on this coming Sunday.

Spider Robinson starts a podcast

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Spider Robinson Speaks PodcastThe Spider Robinson Speaks Podcast is up and running. The official site reads:

“Spider has entered into the world of podcasting! After the success of his audiobook recordings for Blackstone Audio, Spider has decided to record a weekly podcast, giving his fans the chance to hear his words directly from his own lips. The podcast series will begin with readings of eight Thrillin’ at the MacMillan essays written for the HR MacMillan Space Centre [that’s a cool astronomy place here in Vancouver]”

Get Part 1 |MP3| “LET’S START WASTING MONEY IN SPACE” direct or subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://www.spiderrobinson.com/iTunes_feed.xml

[via BoingBoing]

Review of Tears of the Tin God

Science Fiction Audiobook Review

Science Fiction Audio Drama - Tears of the Tin God by T. Ray GordonTears Of The Tin God
By T. Ray Gordon; Narrated by Richard Sellers and a Full Cast
1 CD – 80 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Apex Audio Theatre
Published: 2007
UPC: 701376158028
Themes: / Science fiction / Alien Artifact / Space travel /

If I were allowed only two words to review this audio drama, I would choose these: Harmless junk. But if I had to shave my word count, I wouldn’t know where to cut. Tears Of The Tin God is not a terrible audio drama. The sound and sound effects are fine, but the script is plagued by over-explanation of the familiar (as in: “…she frowned, making a face…”), juxtaposed with under-explanation of the novel. A few of the science fictional ideas are unconvincing, and the ending feels rushed and emotionally unsatisfying. Still, the enthusiastic production and the short running time make it kinda likable.

The plot is provocative, if not stunningly original: Seven future astronauts have been sent across space to investigate some immense alien artifacts on a planet called Borne 7. Upon landing on the surface of the largest artifact, one of the astronauts is ingested by it, becoming an integral part of a being with god-like power and knowledge. But are its intentions good or evil, alien or human?

The same concept is explored by Michael Crichton, sans space suits, in his novel Sphere. That one isn’t great, either, but it is superior to this one in the quality of its prose, the depth of its explanations, and the delicious thrill of its sustained tension. Tears Of The Tin God won’t take years off your life, but it kills an hour you might miss later.

Posted by Kurt Dietz

Guardian newspaper releases FREE fantasy audiobook in MP3

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Guardian UnlimitedThe Guardian, a U.K. newspaper with a liberal attitude, has completed the podcasting of a young adult fantasy audiobook narrated by Sir Ian McKellen (movie fans may know him as “Gandalf” from The Lord of The Rings movies). First released in 2005, this novel is the first in a series called “Chronicles of Ancient Darkness.” Fourteen weeks of podcasting (at one part per week) and the book is now complete, unfortunately the podcast feed no longer contains the early parts of the book so instead of just giving you the podcast feed we’ve gathered up all the individual files. Details follow…

Young Adult Fantasy Audiobook - Wolf Brother by Michelle PaverWolf Brother
By Michelle Paver; Read by Ian McKellen
14 MP3s – 6 Hours 25 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio / Guardian Unlimited
Published: 2005
Six Thousand Years Ago. Evil Stalks the land. Only twelve-year-old Torak and his wolf-cub companion can defeat it. Their journey together takes them through deep forests, across giant glaciers, and into dangers they never imagined.

|Part 01 MP3|Part 02 MP3|Part 03 MP3|Part 04 MP3|Part 05 MP3|Part 06 MP3|
|Part 07 MP3|Part 08 MP3|Part 09 MP3|Part 10 MP3|Part 11 MP3|Part 12 MP3|
|Part 13 MP3|Part 14 MP3|

[thanks to Moriond for the info]