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LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Stories Vol. 19

SFFaudio Online Audio

It seems LibriVox has started adding a few more credits to its collections starting with this volume. Besides the narrators, this collection was created by the following LibriVox volunteers:

Book Coordinator: Gregg Margarite
Dedicated Proof-Listener: julicarter
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Lucy Burgoyne

Stories new to this collection include:

Stopover by William Gerken. This is a well written but annoying story. It is one of better parapsychology short stories, but that isn’t saying much. John W. Campbell was absolutely obsessed with paraspychological ESP bunk – it makes for very repetitive reading. This story’s setting, in a post-apocalyptic USA, is vivid – and the characters are emotionally realistic -too bad about the ESP crap. Bellona Times, the narrator, has a few missteps in this one – including the reading “psi talents” as “pee-ess-eye talents.”

Something Will Turn Up by David Mason. The beatnik/hippy repairman, and his dialogue, in this tale are a real hoot. It’s more a Fantasy tale than an SF one, but its got a beatnik TV repairman so I’m still happy. Read by Bellona Times again without any serious flaws but with a few little ones here and there. Times snaps his fingers and whistles – which to me is a narrator double no-no. There’s also a word or two improperly read, notably “reversed” read as “reverse.”

The Sargasso Of Space by Edmond Hamilton. This is a fast paced space opera (and mystery) about an interplanetary spacecraft that’s run out of gas. Gregg Margarite continues to kick ass as a narrator. He’s no vocal chameleon but he’s just a few tweaks away from being a pro sounding narrator. He seems to choose some of the better stories too. I think he’s super cool. Maybe he’ll be my friend? That’d be cool.

Short Science Fiction Stories Vol. 19
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 4 Hours 41 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
Science Fiction is speculative literature that generally explores the consequences of ideas which are roughly consistent with nature and scientific method, but are not facts of the author’s contemporary world. The stories often represent philosophical thought experiments presented in entertaining ways. Protagonists typically “think” rather than “shoot” their way out of problems, but the definition is flexible because there are no limits on an author’s imagination. The reader-selected stories presented here were written prior to 1962 and became US public domain texts when their copyrights expired.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-19.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

All Cats are Gray
By Andre Norton; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
An odd story, made up of oddly assorted elements that include a man, a woman, a black cat, a treasure—and an invisible being that had to be seen to be believed. – Under normal conditions a whole person has a decided advantage over a handicapped one. But out in deep space the normal may be reversed—for humans at any rate. First published using Norton’s Andrew North pseudonym in Fantastic Universe Science Fiction, August–September 1953.

Beyond Lies The Wub
By Phillip K. Dick; Read by Tom Hackett
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
The slovenly wub might well have said: Many men talk like philosophers and live like fools. From Planet Stories July 1952.

The Gallery
By Rog Phillips; Read by Ted Ryan
– [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
Wherever he went Arthur felt the power behind the lens. – Aunt Matilda needed him desperately, but when he arrived she did not want him and neither did anyone else in his home town. From Amazing Stories January 1959.

The Happy Unfortunate
By Robert Silverberg; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 39 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
Dekker, back from space, found great physical changes in the people of Earth; changes that would have horrified him five years before. But now, he wanted to be like the rest—even if he had to lose an eye and both ears to do it. From Amazing Stories December 1957.

The Man Who Saw The Future
By Edmond Hamilton; Read by Xanderphilips
1 |MP3| – Approx. [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
“Jean de Marselait, Inquisitor Extraordinary of the King of France, raised his head from the parchments that littered the crude desk at which he sat. His glance shifted along the long stone-walled, torchlit room to the file of mail-clad soldiers who stood like steel statues by its door. A word from him and two of them sprang forward.” First published in Amazing Stories, October 1930. Later reprinted in the February 1961 issue of Amazing Stories.

A Matter Of Proportion
By Anne Walker; Read by Dale A. Bade
1 |MP3| – Approx. 37 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
In order to make a man stop, you must convince him that it’s impossible to go on. Some people, though, just can’t be convinced. From Astounding Science Fiction August 1959.

Sargasso Of Space
By Edmond Hamilton; Read by Greg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 50 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
She was floating along the wreck-pack’s edge. Helpless, doomed, into the graveyard of space floats the wrecked freighter Pallas. From Astounding Stories September 1931.

Something Will Turn Up
By David Mason; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 17 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
Err … maybe it had to do with this being a non-Parity universe, perhaps? Some things can’t be simply inverted, after all… From Analog February 1963.

Stopover
By William Gerken; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 23 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
What will the world be like, the day after Tomorrow, for the lonely ones who will have talents that others will half fear, half envy? William Gerken describes this strange world in which young and old will have to find new values and pursue new dreams, as they search for the answer… From Fantastic Universe September 1957.

Toy Shop
By Harry Harrison; Read by Xanderphillips
1 |MP3| – Approx. 10 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 23, 2009
The gadget was strictly, beyond any question, a toy. Not a real, workable device. Except for the way it could work under a man’s mental skin… From Analog April 1962.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Neil Gaiman blogs about reading (audio) books

SFFaudio News

Neil Gaiman, who reads most of the audio versions of his books himself, (and I can testify for his amazing skills as a performer from having seen him live in London last November) shares some thoughts and advice on how to best books aloud. Interesting post and potentially useful for all the aspiring audio book narrators out there.

Check it out on Neil Gaiman’s blog

Posted by Carsten Schmitt

BBC Radio 4: Chronicles Of Ait and The First Men In The Moon

SFFaudio Online Audio

Thanks to Roy and an “advance copy” of the latest Radio Times we’ve got the skinny on a couple cool programs airing on BBC Radio 4 next week!

First up, in the Book At Bedtime slot…

The First Men In The Moon
By H.G. Wells; Read by Tim Pigott-Smith
5 Parts – Approx. 75 Minutes [ABRDIGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 / Book At Bedtime
Broadcast: July 20th – 24th @ 22:45-23:00
An impoverished businessman, Mr. Bedford, and an eccentric scientist, Dr. Cavor,journey to the moon only to find it already inhabited by an extraterrestrial species called “Selenites.” A similar 5 part Book At Bedtime reading was done by Tom Baker back in July 1999.

And in the Afternoon Play slot…

Chronicles Of Ait
By Michael Butt; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 45 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 / Afternoon Play
Broadcast: July 22nd @ 14:15-15:00
A psychologist investigates a young girl’s claims to second sight. Butt is a veteran radio dramatist with many dozens of radio plays to his credit.

[Thanks Roy!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

SFFaudio Review

The Hunger Games
By Suzanne Collins; Read by Carolyn McCormick
Audible Download – 11 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Scholastic Audio
Published: 2009
Provider: Audible.com
Themes: / Science Fiction / Global Warming / Reality Television / Government / Oppression / Survival / YA /

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by 12 outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

The thing that impressed me the most about this book is how unpredictable it was. I have never listened to anything like it. Every time I expected a certain thing to happen it almost always happened the exact opposite.

The reader of The Hunger Games, Carolyn McCormick, was a very good reader, better than most I have listened to. Her ability to not only read the words, but put so much emotion into them was astounding.

The story is told from Katniss Everdeen’s point of view. Katniss lives in the twelfth district of a country which used to be North America, however due to multiple circumstances is now a country called Panem.

Long before Katniss was born, the districts rebelled against the capital, the capital eventually won. They subdued twelve of the districts and the thirteenth they completely obliterated. This is how the hunger games came about. The capital created the hunger games as a way to show the districts that they are still in control. To me this seems to be a kind of dictatorship.

When this story takes place Katniss is sixteen years old. She is fatherless and being the oldest, she provides food for her family. Since she and her family live on the very edge of District Twelve, which is called the Seam, she and her friend Gail regularly venture out into the wilderness to hunt for food. Katniss is excellent with a bow, and fairly handy with a knife.

To select the participants in each year’s Hunger Games, they have what is called The Reaping. The Reaping is when a representative from the capital comes to the district and calls two names, a boy and a girl. At this particular Reaping, Katniss’s little sister Prim, whom she loves above all else in the world, is called. Katniss volunteers to take Prim’s place, and is taken into the battle that is expected to cost her her life.

The author expertly wove action, tragedy, romance, and suspense all into one book. The book on many occasions had every one of my muscles tensing up because I was scared for Katniss, or it had me crying because of so many bad things happening. It called almost every emotion to come fourth while I listened.

The only thing that disappointed me about this book was the ending. It was a good ending, but it was a sort of cliffhanger. I wanted more, the spot that it left off was very unsatisfactory to me. However this does not damage my opinion of the book very much. I am hoping desperately for a sequel. Five stars all the way.

Posted by DanielsonKid (Age 14)

LibriVox: Stories Of King Arthur’s Knights Told To The Children by Mary MacGregor

SFFaudio Online Audio

New at LibriVox for kids of all ages (especially those who like crossbows and catapults)…

Stories Of King Arthur’s Knights Told To The Children
By Mary MacGregor; Read by Joy Chan
7 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 1 Hour 53 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: July 8, 2009
“More than four hundred years ago there lived a diligent man called Sir Thomas Malory, who wrote in English words many of the beautiful Welsh tales about King Arthur’s Knights, that the people of Wales loved so well. All the stories in this little book were found in Malory’s big book, except ‘Geraint and Enid.’ But it, too, is one of the old Welsh tales that tell of the brave knights and fair ladies of King Arthur’s court. Many times, since Sir Thomas Malory wrote his book, have these stories been told again to old and young, but perhaps never before have they been told to the children so simply as in this little book.”

Too see all the pictures associated with this book look HERE.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/stories-of-king-arthurs-knights-told-to-the-children-by-mary-macgregor.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals: Blake’s 7, Alan E. Nourse, John W. Campbell

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

Recent arrivals in the Canadian offices of SFFaudio include a two-in-one MP3-CD from the USA…

Star Surgeon / The Black Star Passes
By Alan E. Nourse and John W. Campbell; Read by Scott D. Farquhar
1 MP3-CD – Approx. 12 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: ScottVox
Published: 2009
Two original SFFaudio Challenge titles, The Black Star Passes and Star Surgeon, are now available on a single mp3 data disc. Both audiobooks are slightly remastered versions of the audio files which are still available for free download at Podiobooks.com and LibriVox. So this data disc version is for folks that want to save some download time. It comes in DVD style packaging and also includes a little 8 page booklet with information about both books, biographies of the authors, and a chapter/filename index. Asking price is $10.

And from the U.K. the first three episodes of the prequel audio dramas set in the Blake’s 7 universe…

Blake’s 7 – When Vila Met Gan (Vol. 1.1)
By Ben Aaronovitch; Performed by a full cast
1 CD – Approx. 50 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: B7 Media
Published: October 2008
ISBN: 9781906577056
Michael Keating reprises his most popular role as the cowardly thief, Vila Restal, the only character to appear in all 52 episodes of the original Blake’s 7 TV series. The new audio incarnation of Olag Gan played by Owen Aaronovitch also stars. (BLAKE’S 7 – THE EARLY YEARS Vol 1.1) is a prequel exploring the origins of key B7 characters prior to them meeting rebel leader, Roj Blake. This, the first of these prequel stories When Vila met Gan was written by lead writer, Ben Aaronovitch. It explores the history and enduring friendship between Gan and Vila, two of the most unlikely rebels to take up arms against the Federation.

Blake’s 7 – Point Of No Return and Eye Of The Machine (Vol. 1.2 & 1.3)
By Ben Aaronovitch and James Swallow; Performed by a full cast
2 CDs – Approx. 70 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: B7 Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781906577063
Second of the first season of prequel stories on 2 CDs, starring Colin Salmon, Keeley Hawkes, Craig Kelly, Peter Guinness, Jake Maskall, and featuring Geoffrey Palmer.

Point Of No Return (Episode 2) – The right hand of Supreme Commander Servalan, Travis (Craig Kelly) is the relentless security officer dedicated to hunting down the dissident Roj Blake… but what choices made him the man he became? London, 2230. On the eve of a tense election that will send shockwaves throughout the Federation, Major Stefan Travis finds his liberty unexpectedly cancelled and a new assignment thrust upon him. A key political opponent of the government, Carl Varon (Peter Guinness), has been arrested, accused of hate crimes and incitement to violence, but a trail of murder and conspiracy leads Travis to doubt the truth presented to him. When the deadly threat of a terrorist atrocity looms, how far will he go to prevent the deaths of millions of people? Written by James Swallow, directed by Andrew Mark Sewell.

Eye Of The Machine (Episode 3) – The University of Oxford in the year 2230, and the campus is a hotbed of student protest as Roj Blake’s Freedom Party seeks to sweep away a century of corrupt rule. Kerr Avon (Colin Salmon), a young man from the frontier, brilliant, ambitious and naïve, has arrived to make his mark on the future. Working with Professor Ensor (Geoffrey Palmer), the Federation’s eminent cyberneticist, Avon has no intention of getting involved in politics – – he may be naïve, but he isn’t stupid. But, when he meets activist Anna Grant (Keeley Hawes), all bets are off…. Written by Ben Aaronovitch, directed by Andrew Mark Sewell.

Posted by Jesse Willis