audiobook – Page 110

LibriVox: At The Back Of The North Wind by George MacDonald

SFFaudio Online Audio

It’s kind of a shame that this LibriVox edition of At The Back Of The North Wind is not wholly narrated by Meredith Hughes. She only reads the first three chapters. They are wonderfully narrated.

I happened across this audiobook whilst researching a stack of old hardcovers that I inherited from my grandmother. I must have read it at some point as the story is entirely familiar. But now, looking at it with adult eyes, the ideological argument it makes seems more quaint than persuasive. See, At The Back Of The North Wind is a theodicean Fantasy. It uses the personification of the “North Wind” to explain why evil exists in the world. As such it belongs on the bookshelf between two of C.S. Lewis’ books, The Problem Of Pain and The Lion,The Witch And The Wardrobe.

If you’re looking to get into some late 19th allegorical Fantasy, you probably couldn’t do much better than this wholesome story of what is essentially a gray witch and the good little boy she takes on a series of adventures.

Here’s the color plate from my paperbook edition (it depicts the Diamond, the little boy protagonist, and the North Wind (in the guise of a little girl):

From the 1956 Junior Deluxe Editions - At The Back Of The North Wind by George MacDonald - Illustrated by Colleen Browning

At The Back Of The North Wind
By George MacDonald; Read by various
38 Zipped MP3 Files – Approx. 8 Hours 57 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: March 24, 2007
Diamond the little boy sleeps in the hayloft above the stall of Diamond the horse. The loft is snug but drafty, and after plugging a hole in the wall one night, Diamond is scolded by the beautiful Lady North Wind for closing her “window” into his room. Thus begins their friendship. Spirited away by the North Wind, Diamond embarks on a series of adventures both near to and far from his home. His pure heart and his simple, loving spirit guide him as he journeys to the back of the North Wind and home again. Originally serialized in 1868, beginning with the first issue of “Good Words For The Young” magazine.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/at-the-back-of-the-north-wind-by-george-macdonald.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: The Knights Of Arthur by Frederik Pohl

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVox This is a fun post apocalyptic Science Fiction story that takes a truly preposterous situation and plays it straight.

Two shipmates, late of the U.S. Navy submarine Sea Sprite, stop off in New York. They’re waiting for someone to arrive, but when she turns up things go sideways, for she should be a he, and she ain’t no he. To make matters worse she wants to buy one of the sailors from the other!

As a bonus, especially for fans of Mad Magazine, be sure to check out the fun Don Martin illustrations in the text edition available over on Gutenberg.org.

The Knights Of Arthur
By Frederik Pohl; Read by Gregg Margarite
2 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 1 Hour 32 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: July 1, 2010
With one suitcase as his domain, Arthur was desperately in need of armed henchmen … for his keys to a kingdom were typewriter keys! From Galaxy Science Fiction January 1958.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/4456

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to Betty M. and Bart de Leeuw]

Posted by Jesse Willis

AudiobookSync.com: 18 FREE Audiobooks (2 per week over the summer)

SFFaudio Online Audio

OverDrive Media Console

Here’s a promotion that, if you’ve got a Mac or Windows machine, and are in the mood to jump through a couple of hoops, you’re sure to appreciate. And, you can start at it right now.

Starting today there are two FREE MP3 audiobooks available, per week, throughout the summer. This comes courtesy of a new website called AudiobookSync.com.

To get the audiobooks you must download the “Overdrive Media Console.” Then you’ll have to give your name and an email address. It’s a bit of a muddle on the site itself, but after clicking around for five minutes or so I think I’ve got the process completely streamlined in my notes below.

First, if you don’t have it already, you’ll need to download the OverDrive Media Console
MAC |HERE|
Windows |HERE|

After it is installed you’ll need to go to the…

First Download page |HERE| to fill in your details

and then, after that’s started, go to the…

Second Download page |HERE| and repeat the process.

Be sure to take careful note where the files are set to download to. Mine defaulted to a folder called:

“\My Media\MP3 Audiobooks\”

There’s also a promise of more audiobooks, week by week, throughout the month of July. And at least some of them are definitely worth getting!

Here’s the complete release schedule:

Available July 1 – July 7
The Angel Experiment by James Patterson [ABRIDGED]
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley [UNABRIDGED]

Available July 8 – July 14
Over the End Line by Alfred C. Martino
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

Available July 15 – July 21
Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Available July 22 – July 28
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Available July 29 – August 4
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Available August 5 – August 11
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Available August 12 – August 18
Beastly by Alex Flinn
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Available August 19 – August 25
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Available August 26 – September 1
Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Posted by Jesse Willis

FREE @ Audible.com: The Sacrifice by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

SFFaudio Online Audio

FREE, right now, to Audible.com account holders, the first book in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “The Fey” series!

The Sacrifice: The Fey, Book 1
By Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Read by David DeSantos
Audible Download – Approx. 26 Hours 14 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: June 22, 2010
Legendary for their bloodlust, sorcery, and fierce, dark beauty, the Fey have swept across three continents and never face defeat. But now, in defiance of their Black King, the warrior-prince Rugar and his fearless daughter, Jewel, have marshaled an invasion farce to meet its ultimate challenge: Blue Isle, glistening beyond impregnable rocks and raging waters. A people of simplicity and faith, untainted by intrigue, enchantment, or war, the Blue Islanders have never before been invaded. But their young prince, Nicholas, dreams of battle and will rally his countrymen against the onslaught of the Fey, even as the Islanders discover a deadly, undreamed-of power of their own. So begins a conflict that must ultimately destroy one race or the other – or both.

[via Audible’s Twitter feed]

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Heidi by Johanna Spyri

SFFaudio Online Audio

I’m not sure Heidi can be properly classified as an “adventure” novel. But it sure has one adventurous little girl as it’s star! PLUS, Kara Shallenberg’ narration is TRULY OUTSTANDING! She’s got what sounds like an authentic pronunciation for all those Swiss place-names. And, be sure to check out the gorgeously illustrated edition on Gutenberg.org! Here’s an illustration from the edition that my great grand parents gave to my uncle Paul on August 2nd, 1955. It was his birthday present and he had just turned 8 years old.

Heidi
By Johanna Spyri; Translated by Elizabeth P. Stork; Read by Kara Shallenberg
23 Zipped MP3 Files – Approx. 9 Hours 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 8, 2006
Hear Heidi if you’ve ever longed to see the Swiss mountain slopes. This story transports the listener from the fine air and freedom of the mountaintop to the confines of Frankfurt, back to the peaks again, bounding in flowered fields with goats at your heels and sky utterly surrounding you.

We meet Heidi when she is 5, led up the mountain by her aunt who has raised the orphan but must leave now for a position in Frankfurt. In a mountain cottage overlooking the valley is Heidi’s grandfather, and there with him the girl’s sweet, free nature expands with the vista. The author’s voice is straightforward, and so is our reader’s, with the child’s wonder, devotion, and sometimes humorous good intentions. When Heidi is taken from the mountains and nearly doesn’t make it back again, the most humorous as well as most heart-wringing scenes occur. All she learns during her absence from the mountain she brings back as seeds that will grow to benefit everyone around her.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/heidi-by-johanna-spyri-solo.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Red Nails by Robert E. Howard

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVox This may be the best treat in the month of June! Check out this wonderful reading of the original 1936 CONAN novella, Red Nails, by my friend Gregg Margarite! Read what Robert E. Howard wrote about it, as he was writing it:

“‘You see, girl [Howard was writing to Novalyne Price], when a civilization begins to decay and die, the only thing men or women think about is the gratification of their body’s desires. They become preoccupied with sex. It colors their laws, their religion — every aspect of their lives.[…]’Girl, I’m working on a yarn like that now –a Conan yarn. Listen to me. When you have a dying civilization, the normal, accepted life style ain’t strong enough to satisfy the damned insatiable appetites of the courtesans and, finally, of all the people. They turn to Lesbianism and things like that to satisfy their desires…I am going to call it The Red Flame of Passion.'”

We call it Red Nails!

I broke out my copies of Savage Tales #2 and Conan Saga #9 in order to illustrate some of the terrific art that Robert E. Howard’s last Conan story has generated. Here are some of additional materials from the original publication too. First up, it’s desribed as:”One of the strangest stories ever written—the tale of a barbarian adventurer, a woman pirate, and a weird roofed city inhabited by the most peculiar race of men ever spawned”Then the editorial staff of Weird Tales had this to say:

“Nearly four years ago, WEIRD TALES published a story called The Phoenix On The Sword, built around a barbarian adventurer named Conan, who had become king of a country by sheer force of valor and brute strength. The author of that story was Robert E. Howard, who was already a favorite with the readers of this magazine for his stories of Solomon Kane, the dour English Puritan and redresser of wrongs. The stories about Conan were speedily acclaimed by our readers, and the barbarian’s weird adventures became immensely popular. The story presented herewith is one of the most powerful and eery weird tales yet written about Conan. We commend this story to you, for we know you will enjoy it through and through.”

And, after you begin listening, be sure to compare the three scenes from the story I’ve matched up.

Red Nails
By Robert E.Howard; Read by Gregg Margarite
5 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 3 Hours 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 19, 2010
Text Source: Gutenberg.org |HTML|
Conan the Cimmerian pursues the beautiful and deadly pirate Valeria after she kills a Stygian only to find himself cornered by a dragon. Apparently this dragon doesn’t know who he’s messing with. The pair then encounters the city of Xuchotl with its warring factions and ancient secrets. Swordplay and sorcery ensue. – Red Nails is Howard’s final Conan story. First published in the July, August, September and October 1936 issues of Weird Tales magazine.