Review of Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

SFFaudio Review

Science Fiction Audiobooks - Enders Game by Orson Scott CardEnder’s Game
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle De Cuir, David Birney and others
10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Fantastic Audio
Published: 2002
ISBN: 1574535145 (Cassette) – 1574535366 (Audio CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military / Space / Youth / Politics / Aliens /

Science Fiction Audiobooks - Enders Game by Orson Scott CardSpeaker for the Dead
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle De Cuir, David Birney, Scott Brick, and others
14 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Fantastic Audio
Published: 2002
ISBN: 1574535153 (Cassette) – 1574535609 (Audio CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military / Space / Politics / Alien races / Religion /

Orson Scott Card wrote a pair of novels in the 1980’s that swept both the Hugo and Nebula Best Novel awards two years in a row (1986 and 1987 Hugo, 1985 and 1986 Nebula). These two novels are Ender’s Game and its sequel, Speaker for the Dead.

These books were released previously in abridged editions, which can still be found out there, but these Fantastic Audio unabridged editions completely eclipse those in both quality and content. They are multi-voice recordings, but not of the type where several actors take parts and speak for certain characters. Instead, the narrator changes with point-of-view changes in the novel, which occur chapter to chapter. I found this extremely effective with these novels. These unabridged editions also contain material read by Orson Scott Card, explaining the origins of the novels.

Ender’s Game takes place after a war between Earth and a race of aliens called “The Buggers” by most of humanity. Earth was saved during that war by the decisions of a brilliant military man named Mazer Rackham. The powers that be on Earth decide that the Buggers are definitely going to return, and immediately start searching for the next military genius. Ender Wiggin, 6 years old, is a boy they think might be the one.

Speaker for the Dead is a completely different kind of novel, both in subject matter and tone. Ender Wiggin is now a bit older, but still reeling from events in the previous novel. He visits a planet named Lusitania, where mysteries abound among the indigenous alien race on the planet and one particular family that studies them.

Both of these audiobooks are first-rate. The narrators do an excellent job telling the stories, which translate very well into unabridged audio. Though tastes certainly vary, Ender’s Game is consistently mentioned as one of the finest works of science fiction, and this audio version is an excellent way to experience it, or re-experience it.

Both of these audiobooks are available on audio cassette, audio CD, or for download at Audible.com.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Airing on BBC7’s wonderful program The 7th Dim…

SFFaudio Online Audio

Airing on BBC7‘s wonderful program The 7th Dimension:

The Fall Of The House Of Usher

[Episode 1 of 2, rptd at midnight]

By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by Sean Barratt

STREAMING AUDIO – Approx. 30 Minutes – Stereo – [UNABRIDGED]

Airs: Thu 25 Sep, 18:00 – 18:30 GMT, (Repeats Friday, 26 Sep, 00:00 – 00:30 GMT)

Poe’s chilling short story about a family’s descent into madness.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher

[Episode 2 of 2, rptd at midnight]

By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by Sean Barratt

STREAMING AUDIO – Approx. 30 Minutes – Stereo – [UNABRIDGED]

Airs: Fri 26 Sep, 18:00 – 18:30 GMT, (Repeats Sat 27 Sep 00:00 – 00:30GMT)

Poe’s chilling short story about a family’s descent into madness.

Posted by Jesse Willis

SFFAudio is back online… thanks for visiting! …

SFFaudio News

SFFAudio is back online… thanks for visiting!

A few items of interest:

Locus Online has an interesting article by Jeff Berkwits on science fiction and fantasy songwriters – find it here.

Jesse points us to the XM Theater of the Mind, an XM radio station.

The science fiction world, of which audio is a part, is abuzz discussing this article by Spider Robinson, in which he questions the direction of Hard SF.

Enjoy! It’s great to be back.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

And now, a short intermission… Due to some ot…

SFFaudio News

And now, a short intermission…

Due to some other obligations (i.e. my day job), I’ll be out of town the week of Sep. 7th. SFFaudio will be back on Sep. 15th with some new posts.

Some of the things we’re working on – a comprehensive list of audio editions of Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy award-winning fiction, reviews of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead on unabridged audio, and Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age, also on unabridged audio.

Back soon!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Congratulations Hugo winners! The Hugo Awards f…

SFFaudio News

Congratulations Hugo winners!

The Hugo Awards for best science fiction works in 2002 were presented Saturday, August 30 at the 61th World Science Fiction Convention, Torcon 3, in Toronto, Ontario.

Best Novel: Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer (Analog 1-4/02; Tor)

Best Novella: Coraline by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)

Best Novelette: “Slow Life” by Michael Swanwick (Analog 12/02)

Best Short Story Category: “Falling Onto Mars” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Analog 7-8/02)

Best Related Book: Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril, Judith Merril and Emily Pohl-Weary

Best Dramatic Presentation: “Conversations With Dead People” (20th Century Fox Television/Mutant Enemy Inc.)Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form Category: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line Cinema)

Best Professional Editor: Gardner Dozois

Best Professional Artist: Bob Eggleton

Best Semiprozine: Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Jennifer A. Hall, and Kirsten Gong-Wong

Best Fanzine: Mimosa edited by Rich and Nicki Lynch

Best Fan Writer: Dave Langford

Best Fan Artist: Sue Mason

On audio, Gaiman’s Coraline, read by the author, is available from Harper Audio and Swanwick’s “Slow Life” is included in Audible.com‘s The Best of Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine 2002.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

Science Fiction Audiobooks - The Andromeda Strain by Michael CrichtonThe Andromeda Strain
By Michael Crichton; Read by Chris Noth
2 Cassettes – 3 Hours [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 1993
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mystery / Disease / Disaster / Scientist / Medical /

A top secret research satellite falls to Earth near a small town in Arizona. Hours later a recovery team discovers that something  has killed off the town’s entire population except for an old man and a new-born baby, statistically the most likely age groups to succumb to any normal disease. In anticipation of such an event a team of microbiologists assembles in a top-secret, underground laboratory in the Nevada desert. This laboratory was designed to handle an accidental introduction of virulent organisms into Earth’s atmosphere and ecological systems. The team begins to study the survivors and the “toxic” satellite and discovers several black/green patches of deadly bacteria that they have code-named: The Andromeda Strain.

First Published in 1969, The Andromeda Strain is one of Crichton’s best science fiction tales and a terrific scientific mystery story! As the microbiology team races against the clock, trying to figure out the toxic effect of the alien infection, the US government contemplates a nuclear cauterization of the infected crash site. But when The Andromeda Strain mutates it begins to eat through plastic lab suits and rubber gaskets protecting the scientists and the population from escaping toxins. Its a real thriller of a story, and was successfully turned into a great feature film directed by Crichton himself.

This fine novel is only available as an abridgement, and this is unfortunate. The missing portions actually improve the novel to a very large degree because the novel is written in the style of a non-fiction report of events. The original text includes, images, citations, timelines and references, their absence is a disservice to the remaining story. Chris Noth, most famous for his role on the NBC television series Law And Order, reads with a rich and compelling voice. But Noth does merely a satisfactory reading, he makes good attempts with the scientific jargon replete throughout the novel, but they are often mispronounced. Added to this is his lack of range for the voices. Given more audiobook experience Noth will probably become a good reader, in this audiobook however, his performance is merely satisfactory. All in all well worth a listen, but I sincerely hope an unabridged edition is released.

posted by Jesse Willis