adventure – Page 24

Author Focus – F. Paul Wilson

SFFaudio Author Focus

F. Paul Wilson is an award-winning author of dozens of novels and more than a hundred short stories. While he considers himself a “Thriller writer” his storytelling spans many genres. Wilson’s books cover everything: Horror, Adventure, medical thrillers, and of course Science Fiction and Fantasy too. He is most famous as the author of the popular “Repairman Jack” series. Wilson has had a fair number of his tales produced to audiobooks, but quite a few of them are out of print. Here’s the complete listing:

The Keep
By F. Paul Wilson; Read by Michael Prichard
10 Cassettes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Books On Tape
Published: 1983 (OUT OF PRINT)
ISBN: 073660846X
In the spring of 1941, a message is received from a German Army commander stationed in a remote castle high in the Transylvanian Alps: “Something is murdering my men.” An SS extermination squad is sent to destroy the enemy, presumed by the military to be partisans.

The Touch
By F. Paul Wilson; Read by ?????
? Cassettes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Books On Tape
Published: 1986/1987/1988 ? (OUT OF PRINT)
ISBN: 9998438845 / 5557087567
After twelve years of practicing medicine, Dr. Alan Bulmer develops a supernatural ability to heal, but the miraculous power carries a potentially lethal price.

The Select
By F. Paul Wilson; Read by Elizabeth Shue
2 Cassettes – Approx. 3 Hours [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audioworks
Published: 1994 (OUT OF PRINT)
ISBN: 0671883186
Quinn Cleary is smart, idealistic and poor. She’s been accepted at The Ingraham, a prestigious medical school, where a select few receive the finest education free of charge. But something is terribly wrong at The Ingraham. Quinn notices subtle changes in the bright, hand-picked students. Then she stumbles upon the silent, staring patients in locked Ward C.

Mirage
By F. Paul Wilson and Matthew J. Costello; Read by ????
2 Cassettes – Approx. 3 Hours [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Soundelux Audio Publishing
Publisher: 1996 (Out of print)
ISBN: 1559352396
A team of doctors creates a virtual reality scanner that allows them to enter a person’s memory and watch it via videocasette recorder. Neuropsychologist Julie Gordon decides to use the device to enter the mind of her twin sister, Samantha, who has lapsed into a coma in Paris. Julie’s looking for the neural pathway that is blocking Samantha’s mind, but in the process of probing Samantha’s memory, Julie makes shocking discoveries about the fire that killed their parents.*INCLUDES: “An exclusive author interview.”

Derelict
By F. Paul Wilson and M.J. Costello; Performed by a full cast
RealAudio – [INTERACTIVE AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: The Sci-Fi Channel / Seeing Ear Theatre
Published: 1997 (NOW TAKEN OFFLINE)
A mining crew found it floating on the outer reaches of the asteroid belt. When they saw what it was, they called the marines. Now an exploration team has entered the floating hulk of a ship… abandoned, lifeless. Or so they think.

Conspiracies
By F. Paul Wilson; Read by F. Paul Wilson
1 CD – [UNABRIDGED SELECTION]
Publisher: WyrdSisterS ProductionS / Gauntlet Press
Published: 1999?
The audio CD of F. Paul Wilson reading a dramatization of a scene from his novel Conspiracies.

Midnight Mass And Other Great Vampire Stories
Edited by Martin H. Greenberg; Read by various narrators
4 Cassettes – 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Dove Audio / Phoenix Audio / Audible.com
Published: 1999 / 2002
ISBN: 0787119040, 1590402456
“From the horrifying to the humorous, some of today’s finest authors share stories about one of mankind’s oldest imagined evils, the vampire.”
Includes:
“Bite Me Not, or Fleur de Fur” by Tanith Lee
“Food Chain” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
“Moonlight in Vermont” by Esther Freisner
“Madeleine” by Barbara Hambly
“Victims” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Seat Partner” by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
“Midnight Mass” (a novella) by F. Paul Wilson (read by Theodore Bikel)

Masque
By F. Paul Wilson and M.J. Costello; Read by Michael Prichard
9 Cassettes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Books On Tape
Published: 2000
ISBN: 0736655980
Tristan is the perfect spy. He’s a “mime,” an artificially created and cloned human who’s metamorphic DNA can be programmed to transform him into a “masque” – a perfect genetic copy of anyone. Mimes can be turned into anyone their corporate city-state owners want, until the stress of assuming masques causes a meltdown.

Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All Night
Edited by James Patterson; Read by various readers
? CDs or ? MP3 CDs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1423321758 (CDs) or 1423321774 (MP3-CD)
This hefty collection contains just one short story by F. Paul Wilson

Dark Voices VOL. 6: Sex Slaves Of The Dragon Tong
By F. Paul Wilson; Read by F. Paul Wilson
Chapbook and 1 CD – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Borderlands Press
Published: June 2007
ISBN: 188032590X
A short story paying homage to the pulp era.

Bloodline
By F. Paul Wilson; Read by
? CDs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publisher: October 2007
ISBN: 1423346041
It starts off simply enough. (Doesn’t it always?) Jack has been on hiatus since the tragic events in Harbingers. With his beloved Gia’s encouragement he dips his toe back into the fix-it pool.

Interviews:

Free Talk Live |MP3|

Book Expo Podcast |MP3|

Without Your Head |WMA|

Pod Of Horror |MP3|

posted by Jesse Willis

Decoder Ring Theatre reaches farther with Deck Gibson

SFFaudio Online Audio

Decoder Ring Theatre SUMMER SHOWCASE continues with an all new two episode series about a manly space adventurer named Deck Gibson. I got an advance listen of this show, and it lives up to the stupendous quality Decoder Ring is becoming so well known for. The series is called:

“Deck Gibson – Far Reach Commander”

Both shows are written by Matt Wallace, the Parsec Award-winning writer and creator of The Failed Cities Monologues which first podcast through Variant Frequencies. The cast is, as always, made up of the talented actors and actresses from the Decoder Ring Theatre stable.

Deck Gibson Far Reach Commander

The first show is available now…

“Deck Gibson And The Star Dust Dancers” |MP3|

And in two week’s you’ll be able to hear the second adventure “Deck Gibson And The Last Squadron Fighter”!

Subscribe to the podcast feed to insure prompt delivery:

http://decoderring.libsyn.com/rss

posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Sky People by S.M. Stirling

SFFaudio Audiobook Review

The Sky People
By S.M. Stirling; Read by Todd McLaren
1 MP3-CD or 9 CDs – Approx. 10.5 Hrs [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 140015345X (MP3-CD), 9781400103454 (CDs)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Alternate History / Adventure / Venus / Dinosaurs / Neanderthals / Airships / Cold War / Pulp /

CRACK!

He swayed back against the recoil and worked the bolt with a quick flick of his first three fingers. A body exploded out of the patch of tall grass he’d aimed at. It was a biped, about his own size and covered in yellow-green feathers except for a crest of crimson plumes that snapped out in reflex as the lizard body writhed in death. The jump put it a good twelve feet into the air; a good deal of its length was the powerful digitigrade legs, both with a great sickle-shaped claw held up against the hock. That flashed out in equally automatic reflex as the vicious predator struck out in one last attempt to disembowel whatever had hurt it. A steam-engine hiss escaped the long fanged mouth, scarlet-purple within, and a spray of blood came with it from the lungs shredded by the powerful expanding bullet.

“Raptor pack!” Marc shouted to the herdsman.

The Sky People fits into that alternate history sub-genre of SF but not in the usual way. Generally, alternate history tales follow the events of the real world with one event changed in the past that creates a different outcome and changes history from that point forward. This may be the South winning the Civil War or Mary, Queen of Scots, becoming the Queen of England. The departing point for this novel took place approximately 200 million years ago. But it didn’t occur so much on our own planet but on Venus and Mars. This means this alternate Earth’s history doesn’t change until the U.S. and Soviet Union start exploring interplanetary space.

The prologue features the landing of an American rocket ship on Venus in 1962. The planet’s surface appears as a lush jungle – then running into view of the film camera is an exotic and beautiful scantily fur-clad female with her clan’s people.

The novel proper then begins 22 years later in 1988. The Cold War has changed from an arms race into a competitive interplanetary space race to explore and stake their claims on Venus and Mars. Marc Vitrac, a citizen of Jamestown, the U.S.-Commonwealth scientific colony, welcomes the newly arrived rocket passengers. Their mode of transportation from the landing site to Jamestown is on the back of dinosaurs through the jungle lushness of Venus.

Meanwhile, on the nearby Venusian continent, the Soviet bloc has set up their own scientific outpost. When one of their shuttle crash lands in the relative vicinity of Jamestown, a rescue party is put together to search for survivors. They travel via airship, and it does not fair well against the natural hostile environment. What’s more, there is a saboteur among the blimp’s crew.

The story grows more intriguing as Marc Vitrac and the stranded party of the airship meet with a clan of primitive humans. The two parties join forces to face off against a tribe of armed Neanderthals!

As you might imagine, this novel reads as a love letter to the early pulp master, Edgar Rice Burroughs. But it’s no mere pastiche of the creator of Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, and most pertinently, Carson of Venus. Stirling uses hard science justifications for his world building. And there’s also more of an emphasis on cultural diversity that you’d expect from a novel written in the 21st century. Sterling is a capable writer, whether it is a turning of a phrase or a description of lush imagery, he’s able to handle it all without getting too far from the gloriously pulpy action. Burroughs is often mentioned in the book as being a major influence on the many of the denizens of the scientific colony.

What exactly happened those 200 million years ago isn’t exactly clear. Why is the planet’s evolution so closely tied to that of Earth’s? The reigning hypothesis in The Sky People is that aliens seeded the planets nearest Earth. There are mysteries here that are to be answered over the length of the trilogy.

Todd McLaren handles the dialects deftly without overemphasizing the accents. Some novels are well-suited to be adapted to audiobook, as if they were written for that treatment. The Sky People is one of these, it makes an ideal audiobook. The large ranch of characters with multi-cultural backgrounds enables Todd McLaren to apply his talent for dialect and keeping the listening experience fresh and varied. Sterling also writes with sounds effects—meaning, he literally writes “Unnnngg-OOOK!” for a bellowing dinosaur, so it’s like the story has the sound effects built in, which McLaren gets to vocalize.

The Sky People is a rare pleasure—well-written, thrill-ride excitement, fun characters, lush settings, and all wrapped-up in a wonderful vocal performance. This is the first novel in a projected trilogy. I sincerely hope that Tantor Audio, with the talents of Todd McLaren, publishes the complete series.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

Decoder Ring Theatre’s Summer Showcase begins next weekend

SFFaudio News

Decoder Ring Theatre's Summer Showcase

One week from today a bold new tradition begins! Gregg Taylor and his stupendous crew of audio dramatists begin podcasting their Decoder Ring Theatre SUMMER SHOWCASE. Every 2nd Saturday throughout the summer will see a brand new Decoder Ring production. Here’s the Summer Series rundown:

June 16: The Magic of the Movies by Tim Prasil (suspense)
June 30: The Crasher by Tim Prasil (suspense)
July 14: Deck Gibson and the Stardust Dancers by Matt Wallace (space adventure)
July 28: Deck Gibson and the Last Squadron Fighter by Matt Wallace (space adventure)
Aug 11: I.D. 0 by Gregg Taylor (sci-fi noir)
Aug 25: Slick Bracer and the Giant Nap by Eric Deckers (comedy-mystery)

Even though only three of these shows are SFFaudio related I’ll be listening to each and every one! Gregg and crew are creating unbeatable audio drama year round. And, if you’re not already a fan of either The Red Panda or Black Jack Justice be sure to have a peek at the new Wikipedia entry for Decoder Ring too.

posted by Jesse Willis

Who Knows What Evil Lurks In the Hearts Of Men? Doc Savage!

SFFaudio Online Audio

Okay, before you click anything, first note, Mark Butler has placed an important disclaimer on his website, Mark’s Place, about these readings:

THESE BOOKS ARE COPYRIGHTED AND THESE FILES MAY NOT BE LISTENED TO WITHOUT FIRST BEING PURCHASED IN PRINT FORM. BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW YOU AGREE THAT YOU ARE A LEGAL OWNER OF A VERSION OF THESE BOOKS.

For those poor saps who haven’t already got ’em, paperbook or pulpmag copies of both of these out of print beauties can often be found on either eBay or Abebooks.com.

First up is, Doc Savage: Birds Of Death, which was originally published in Doc Savage Magazine‘s October 1941 issue. It follows The Man Of Bronze and his associates as they “battle strange yellow canaries whose mere song can kill a man and then bring him back to life!” This pulpy romp takes you from the streets of New York to the deepest darkest jungles.

Narrator, and Savage enthusiast, Mark Butler sez:

“I read this book into the microphone, trying to give the proper emphasis to the words and convey the feelings being written about. I’m not very good with different voices so the various characters sound a lot alike. But the story shines through my attempts. I’ve also added a lot of sound effects. Its not an ‘audio adaptation’ but I think it really enhances the audio.”

Doc Savage: The Birds Of Death
By Kenneth Robeson (AKA Lester Dent); Read by Mark Butler
14 MP3 Files – Approx. 3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Source: Mark’s Place
Posted: 2004
Doc’s musical accomplishments are almost as well known as his scientific genius – but even he can’t match the peculiar talent of the strange yellow canaries whose sweet music is the song of death!

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

A similar description accompanies, The Living Shadow, this is a single narrator reading that includes sound effects. First published in 1931, in hearing it you’ll be hearing the original Shadow character, in his first ever story! It’s difficult to imagine that this character has spanned more than 75 years of spicy tales that can …”cloud men’s minds”… hmmm, what was I saying?

The Shadow: The Living Shadow
By Maxwell Grant (AKA Walter B. Gibson); Read by Mark Butler
38 MP3 Files – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Source: Mark’s Place
Posted: 2006
“The Living Shadow is the first Shadow novel. It sets the tone for all of the stories to follow. The Shadow recruits Harry Vincent and we learn with Harry about the Shadow’s remarkable organization and methods. The story is full of mystery as Harry gradually learns the real truth behind the Laidlow murder and the missing diamonds.”

MP3s:
|Introduction|
|01|02|03|04|05|06|07|08|09|10|
|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|
|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|29|30|
|31|32|33|34|35|36|37|

Thanks so much Mark!

posted by Jesse Willis

The Adventure Hear Podcast – Lets you Hear Adventures!

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Adventure Hear podcast’s and its host Jamie Monroe goal is to “share and expand the exciting world of Audio Drama and Audio Books.” Each episode brings you a new or classic audio drama or audiobook. Also on tap are reviews, interviews, news, commentary and a “unique behind the scenes look at what goes into producing audio drama and audio books.” Have a look at their first half-dozen shows listed below…

Episode 1: Children Of The Gods – [AUDIO DRAMA] |MP3|

Episode 2: “The Watchbird” (from Come Let Me Whisper) by Russell L. Burt [AUDIOBOOK] |MP3|

Episode 3: Star Wars: Nothing Changes – [AUDIO DRAMA] & an interview with Russell L. Burt |MP3|

Episode 4: The Room – [AUDIO DRAMA] |MP3|

Episode 5: Broken Sea‘s Grog & Gryphon – Episode 1 – [AUDIO DRAMA] |MP3|

Episode 6: An interview with Bill Hollweg creator of Grog & Gryphon and a chapter of Mur Lafferty‘s podiobook Heaven|MP3|

A couple of notes:

#1. If you’ve already heard the Come Let Me Whisper podiobook be sure to listen to second episode show just to hear what the host thinks about “What’s Wrong With Audio Drama Today.” Then head back in time to read my thoughts on that same topic (our most controversial post of 2006).

#2. If you’re unsure where to start with the above shows, I recommend Episode 5 which features the first episode of – Grog & Gryphon. It’s not just the name of a show, its also the name of the tavern located out on the edge of the civilized lands. Listeners are invited to grab a tankard of ale, sit back and listen to heroic tales of yore. Plus, it has a crackerjack opening song by the soon-to-be-massive Brobdingnagian Bards!

Subscribe to the Adventure Hear podcast by plugging this feed into your podcatcher:

http://adventurehear.mypodcast.com/rss.xml

posted by Jesse Willis