Alan E Nourse’s Star Surgeon claimed in our CHALLENGE!

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Meta SFFaudio - SFFaudio Contest - Make audiobook win an audiobookScott D. Farquhar from Prometheus Radio Theatre has written in to claim Star Surgeon by Alan E. Nourse, one of the titles from our first SFFaudio Make An Audiobook Challenge! Scott is aiming to finish it by the end of February, he says it should be completed by March at the very latest!

Here’s the original 1959 bookjacket copy to get you intrigued:

When Dal Timgar, of all in his medical class, was denied assignment to a general practice patrol ship going out from Hospital Earth to serve the medical needs of the Galactic Confederation, it seemed to him that his eight years of study in the great medical center of the galaxy had ended in failure. He had worked hard and stood at the head of his class, but Dal was different from his medical colleagues in one important way. Born on a planet of a distant star, he was the first son of an alien race to attempt to become a qualified physician of Hospital Earth. Dr. Thorvold Arnquist, a power in Earth’s medical council, is determined that Dal Timgar shall have an equal chance with his Earth-born classmates to prove his skill as a physician and to earn his rank as Star Surgeon. He succeeds in getting Dal assigned, under protest, to the patrol ship Lancet, where Dal is faced with the full responsibilities of a patrol physician as well as the hostility of some of his crewmates. As the Lancet responds to calls of all kinds on planets of distant and unknown star systems, Dal’s skill and judgment as a surgeon are tested to the utmost. But it is not until he is confronted with a dreadful decision, which he alone must make, that Dal faces the final test–a test that will determine once and for all whether he is ever to become a Star Surgeon.

And here is our, now traditional, inspirational art:Audiobook - Star Surgeon by Alan E. Nourse

I’m really looking forward to hearing this one Scott!

StarShipSofa Podcast on Neil Gaiman

SFFaudio Online Audio

Starship Sofa PodcastStarShipSofa, has an unflinching look at fantasy mesmerist Neil Gaiman. The two part examination began last week and concludes Sunday with part 2. The hosts, Tony C. Smith and Ciaran O’Caroll have done their homework, digging up facts that illuminate the writings of the man in black.

Download the Neil Gaiman show Part 1 |MP3| and Part 2 |MP3|. Or subscribe to the feed for automated retrieval:

http://starshipsofa.libsyn.com/rss

As a point of interest – we’ve added StarshipSofa host Tony Smith to SFFaudio staff! Two of Tony’s reviews have already posted and we’re expecting more soon. Welcome aboard Tony!

Scatterpod presents The Dead Light District

SFFaudio Online Audio

{Podcast / Scatterpod}Scatterpod is umbrella podcast of a variety of audio projects from the creative mind of Michael Bekemeyer. An ongoing genre-blurring serial (Horror, Fantasy and SF) called The Dead Light District is now up to episode 12. I recently ask Michael to tell me about the series. This is what he had to say:

At first ScatterPod was going to be a place for me to be able to do any kind of podcast I wanted to do. I opted for a podcast where I could experiment and try things to see if they worked for me, or if they would interest other people as well. So, that’s where the name came from, ScatterPod, like scatterbrained. You know, all over the place.

But out of the idea for trying new and different things, I decided to podcast some original fiction. So, then came The Dead Light District. I am a filmmaker and predominantly spend most of my time writing screenplays. But, sometimes the trek between film projects is a a lengthy one and I wanted to write smaller, more narrative type short stories, if anything, just to keep the writing muscle in shape. Sort of like a weekly writing assignment. It’s great bouncing ideas about with my wife, Michelle. She has some great input on the show.

What came out was like nothing I had ever written before and I turned out to be a lot of fun writing these dark speculative tales about this sad place where strange and unexplainable things always seem to happen. I started out with what eventually became Chapter 1 and went from there. After a couple chapters, I had season one pretty much mapped out and am starting to map out season two right now. I try to make the presentation of the chapters a little more experimental as well. I don’t like doing the same thing over and over and over again. So, I started out fixing that by having some guest readers from podcasts I admire and from friends of mine that I thought might have an interesting spin on the a chapter. I’m still planning some of those, but mostly the chapters will be in my voice.

Overall ScatterPod and The Dead Light District are extremely satisfying to create and produce and we hope that people are having as much fun listening to them as we are working on them.

You can subscribe to the Scatterpod and The Dead Light District by pasting this line in your favorite podcatching device:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/scatterpod

And for iTunes

Jack Mangan interviews John Shirley

SFFaudio Online Audio

Online Audio - Jack Mangan's Deadpan PodcastJack Mangan’s cult variety show Jack Mangan’s Deadpan has a two-podcast spanning interview with Speculative Fiction author John Shirley. Shirley’s latest novel The Other End gets discussed. The idea of which is Shirley’s fictional indcitment of the seemingly endless Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins Left Behind series. Tune in for the interview, stay for the deadpan.

Download Part 1 |MP3| and Part 2 |MP3| (Podcasts number 41 and 42) to hear the complete interview.

Subscribe, and stay hip, with this feed:

http://www.jackmangan.com/podcast.xml

The Time Traveler Show #12 Spawning Ground by Lester del Rey

SFFaudio Online Audio

Podcast - The Time Traveler ShowThe Time Traveler Show podcast #12 is up and ready for download. It features an author who we’re going to be hearing a lot of fiction from over the coming months, namely SFWA grand master Lester del Rey. The story is called Spawning Ground, it first appeared in the pages of “If” magazine (the September 1961 issue).

del Rey started near the beginning, in the pulp magazines during the 1930s. Along with Robert A. Heinlein, he pioneered the “juvenile” novels that became so popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His name is probably best known because of his own SF imprint at Ballantine, del Rey Books.

The Time Traveler Show’s reading is by the English narrator (he’s an author and podcaster too) Paul S. Jenkins. Check out this gorgeous art that goes with it!

The Time Traveler Show Podcast - Spawning Ground by Lester del Rey
To read the complete show notes for podcast #11 click HERE or download the show MP3 directly by clicking HERE.

To keep the show automatically downloading, subscribe to the podcast feed:

http://www.timetravelershow.com/shows/feed.xml

Review of The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

SFFaudio Audiobook Review

Science Fiction Audiobook - Fluted Girl by Paolo BacigalupiThe Fluted Girl
By Paolo Bacigalupi ; Read by Shodra Marie
1 CD – 62 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1884612369
Themes: / Science Fiction / Technology / Society / Politics /

The Fluted Girl huddled in the darkness clutching Steven’s final gift in her small pale hands. Madam Balarie would be looking for her. The servants would be sniffing through the castle like feral dogs.

Everything is possible in Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Fluted Girl. All you ever wanted is here but it all has a price, and often the physical cost is just way to steep. Cell knitters, Revitia treatments and stolen body parts, halt, stop, and improve all manner of the human body. And the goal here… simply to improve one’s social standing in Bacigalupi’s decadent future world. Enter into this world of capitalistic dreams, twin girls. With a lifetime of treatments behind them they are now ready to take to the stage as human flutes in a performance that should delight everyone. That is, everyone except the twins.

From the moment Shondra Marie’s voice submerses you into this world you are dreading the final outcome. With Marie’s voice and Bacigalupi’s guidance you are unable to leave this story until the final outcome has been spoken. This is a tale that lingers…well after the hour is up and it is well advised to re-play this one, just to catch all the hints and tricks Bacigalupi uses to make this such a moving tale. Infinivox has unearthed an exceptional gem of a story here in The Fluted Girl and with their production they’ve polished it to a fine diamond. Well done. Listen to this story if only to see the opulent world that Paolo Bacigalupi’s has created but once you’re there… you’re in until the end… that I promise.

[Editor’s note: Infinivox is now offering an MP3 download for The Fluted Girl and 6 other recently released audiobooks – and they’re even DISCOUNTED!]