audiobook – Page 176

SFFaudio’s Make An Audiobook Win An Audiobook Challenge (#1) NEWS!

SFFaudio Update

Whoa… retro! Yes we’d almsot completely forgot about our First SFFaudio Challenge.

When I first thought up the idea I didn’t think it’d generate much interest – it was just an idea – maybe somebody would do one or two. Boy, was I wrong! Wonderfully wrong!

Six audiobooks from the first challenge were completed within a year of the announcement. And since we’ve long since run out of prizes I figured we’d run out of challengers too, especially considering we’ve got the All New 2nd Annual SFFaudio Challenge to consider. But, I’m pleased to say I was wrong.

Scott D. Farquhar from Prometheus Radio Theatre (and Star Surgeon fame) has written in to claim The Black Star Passes by John W. Campbell. This is one of the titles from in our first SFFaudio Challenge!

Scott released Star Surgeon through both LibriVox.org and Podiobooks.com. This time, Scott thinks he’s going to release The Black Star Passes through Podiobooks.com alone. Which I think is absolutely terrific. Podiobooks.com’s system will allow people who appreciate Scott’s narration to drop a dime or three in his virtual hat, as it were. 3/4’ths of every dime will end up in Scott’s hands, which means that he might be inclined to make even more audiobooks for us! Woot!

Look for the first few chapters of The Black Star Passes to show up on Podiobooks.com in the near future.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7’s The Seventh Dimension has a Arthur C. Clarke short story Summertime On Icarus

SFFaudio Online Audio

On Friday BBC7’s The 7th Dimension will rebroadcast an UNABRIDGED reading of Arthur C. Clarke’s short story Summertime On Icarus. This hard-sf tale, first broadcast in 2005, was first published in Vogue magazine’s June 1960, as “The Hottest Piece of Real Estate in the Solar System.”

Everything had been carefully planned, years in advance, as part of the International Astrophysical Decade. Here was a unique opportunity for a research ship to get within a mere seventeen million miles of the sun, protected from it’s fury by a two-mile-thick shield of rock and iron. In the shadow of Icarus, the ship could ride safely round the central fire which warmed all the planets, and upon which the existence of all life depended.

Summertime On Icarus
By Arthur C. Clarke; Read by Tim Pigott-Smith
1 Broadcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Friday November 30th 2007 @ 6:30pm and 12:30am (UK time)

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Releases

New Releases Science Fiction Audiobook - Escape Route by Peter F. Hamilton Escape Route
By Peter F. Hamilton; Read by Jared Doreck
– 2 hours and 35 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: 2007
The starship Lady Macbeth encounters a long-abandoned alien spacecraft, with its escape route still intact – but leading where? If the crew claims salvage rights, the technology inside could make them wealthy enough to buy planets. But first they need to make sure it’s as empty as it seems.
Listen to an |MP3| sample.

This one is a follow up to the “Infinite Crisis” series from DC Comics…

52 – Part 1 (of 2)
By Greg Cox; Based on the DC Comics series; Performed by a full cast
6 CDs, 1 MP3-CD, or WMA Download – Approx. 6 hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Graphic Audio
Published: December 2007
ISBN: 1599503689
A year without Superman. A year without Batman. A year without Wonder Woman. But not a year without heroes… Earth’s most revered heroes have vanished. In their absence, the cities of Metropolis and Gotham have fallen prey to the machinations of super-villains and the criminal activities of Intergang. Booster Gold, a hero from the future, has stepped into Superman’s boots only to find them too big to fill, especially when rival hero Supernova arrives on the scene. Recruited by the mysterious crime fighter known as the Question, detective Renee Montoya investigates an even more mysterious vigilante prowling the streets: Batwoman. These and other veteran and rookie heroes around the world must unite against a vast conspiracy of evil about to usurp control of the Earth once and for all… (Part 1 of 2)

The first book in the Doc Smith’s “Skylark” series…

The Skylark Of Space
By E.E. Doc Smith; Read by Reed McColm
Audible Download, CDs, Tapes or MP3-CD – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Books In Motion
Published: November 2007
ISBN: various
The Skylark of Space is the first and one of the best space operas ever written. Breezy dialogue, romantic intrigue, fallible heroes, and complicated villains infuse humanity and believability into a conflict of galactic proportions.

Two Neil Gaiman titles that somehow flew-in under the radar…

Interworld
By Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves; Read by Christopher Evan Welch
CDs – 5 Hours 40 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: June 2007
ISBN: 0061254606
“Nationally best–selling, award–winning author Neil Gaiman teams up with Emmy Award–winning screenwriter Michael Reaves for an exciting science fiction tale of teenagers saving many universes from evil. Fourteen–year–old Joey Harker always had a terrible sense of direction–one day he gets lost in his own town and finds himself in another version, where there’s a family and a school almost like his. When an older version of himself tracks Joey down, Joey learns that he’s a Walker–one who can travel between dimensions–and that an army of different versions of himself is battling the two evils that want to conquer all the worlds. Joey finds himself in a battle against the forces of magic and science that could destroy him–and all the others like him.”

M Is For Magic
By Neil Gaiman; Read by Neil Gaiman
CDs – 5 Hours 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: June 2007
ISBN: 0061254592
“Stories to delight, enchant, and surprise you. Bestselling author and master storyteller Neil Gaiman here presents a breathtaking collection of tales that may chill or amuse readers—but always embrace the unexpected. Collection includes: The Case Of The Four And Twenty Blackbirds, Troll Bridge, Don’t Ask Jack, How To Sell The Ponti Bridge, October In The Chair, Chivalry, The Price, How To Talk To Girls At Parties, Sunbird, The Witch’s Headstone, Instructions.”

This one, from infrequent SFF provider Highbridge Audio, has one of the best titles ever…

Soon I Will Be Invincible
By Austin Grossman; Read by Coleen Marlo and Paul Boehmer
CDs – 10 Hours 18 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Published: June 2007
ISBN: 1598870963
Listen to an |MP3| sample.
Doctor Impossible—evil genius, mad scientist, diabolical time-traveler, wannabe world dominator—has just broken out of prison�again. He�s tried to take over the world in every conceivable way: doomsday devices (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological), armies (robot, insect, dinosaur, fungus, fish), mass mind control, even a corporate conquest (Impossible Industries LLC). Each time, he has been foiled. This time, it’s going to be different.

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 001

OnlineAudio

Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 001
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3s – 5.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: November 17, 2007
“Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi with varying punctuation and case) is a broad genre of fiction that often involves sociological and technical speculations based on current or future science or technology. This is a reader-selected collection of short stories originally published between 1931 and 1963, that entered the US public domain when their copyright was not renewed.”

Get the individual stories:

1 . The 4D Doodler
By Graph Waldeyer; Read by Elanor
1 |MP3| – Approx 34 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
First published in the July 1941 issue of Comet magazine

2. Bread Overhead*
By Fritz Leiber; Read by Mark F. Smith
1 |MP3| – Approx. 38 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
*There is also a variant reading of the same story by another LibriVox reader HERE.

3. Image Of The Gods
By Alan E. Nourse; Read by Jodi Krangle
1 |MP3| – Approx. 36 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
First published in Orbit magazine’s September 1954 issue.

4. Martian V. F. W.
By G. L. Vandenburg; Read by Qhali
1 |MP3| – Approx. 14 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
From Amazing Science Fiction Stories May 1959.

5. One Shot
By James Blish; Read by Reynard T. Fox
1 |MP3| – Approx. 33 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
“You can do a great deal if you have enough data, and enough time to compute on it, by logical methods. But given the situation that neither data nor time is adequate, and an answer must be produced… what do you do?”

6.
Out Around Rigel
By Robert H. Wilson; Read by Anton
1 |MP3| – Approx. 43 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
“An astounding chronicle of two Lunarians’ conquest of time and interstellar space.”

7. Pygmalion’s Spectacles
By Stanley G. Weinbaum; Read by Chrystal Layton
1 |MP3| – Approx. 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

8. The Repairman*
By Harry Harrison; Read by Anton
1 |MP3| – 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
*There is another reading of this tale HERE.

9. Toy Shop
By Harry Harrison; Read by Cori Samuel
1 |MP3| -12 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

10.
Warning From The Stars
By Ron Cocking; Read by Rowdy Delany
1 |MP3| – Approx. 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
The box read: TO BE OPENED ONLY BY: Dr. Richard Forster, Assistant Director, Air Force Special Research Center, Petersport, Md. CAUTION: Open not later than 24 hours after receipt. DO NOT OPEN in atmosphere less than equivalent of 65,000 feet
above M.S.L.

Or get the whole collection via the unique podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-vol-001-by-various.xml

Posted by Jesse Willis

Subterranean Press’ Fall 2007 mag has Promises To Keep by Charles de Lint

SFFaudio Online Audio

Subterranean Press, which produces the “Subterranean Online” magazine, the Fall 2007 issue includes another free audiobook! Colour me impressed. This isn’t the first time the prestige paperbook press has released free audio versions of their wares. There was Wax by Elizabeth Bear, Rude Mechanicals by Kage Baker and The Sagan Diaries John Scalzi. I’m just wondering when full fledged audiobook lineup will appear in the Subterranean catalogue.

Promises To Keep
By Charles de Lint; Read by Yanni Kuznia
7 MP3s – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Published: Fall 2007

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox Short Horror Story Collection #2 – out now

sffaudio online audio

With two stories by H. P. Lovecraft and a Solomon Kane story by Robert Howard, there was no way that I could resist this latest LibriVox offering. Tales of horror and stories of the weird by the masters at the bargain price of $0.00.

Horror Story Collection 2
10 MP3 files – 2 hours 39 minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: November 15th, 2007

“An occasional collection of 10 horror stories by various readers. We aim to unsettle you a little, to cut through the pink cushion of illusion that shields you from the horrible realities of life. Here are the walking dead, the fetid pools of slime, the howls in the night that you thought you had confined to your more unpleasant dreams.”

1. A Ghoul’s Accountant
By Stephen Crane; Read by Julie Bynum
1 |MP3| Approx. 6 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

2. Ex Oblivione
By Howard Phillips Lovecraft; Read by Maxim Lenyadin
1 |MP3| – Approx. 7 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

3. The Picture In The House
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by: Glen Hallstrom
1 |MP3| – Approx. 20.5 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

4. Rattle of Bones
By Robert E. Howard; Read by Paul Siegel
1 |MP3| – Approx. 14.5 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

5. The Raven
By Edgar Allen Poe; Read by: Zoe Earley
1 |MP3| – Approx. 8 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

6. The Soul of the Great Bell
By Lafcadio Hearn; Read by Paul Sze
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

7. The Story of Mimi Nashi Hoichi
By Lafcadio Hearne; Read by Mark Nelson
1 |MP3| – Approx. 24 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

8. The Tell-Tale Heart
By Edgar Allen Poe; Read by Sharontzu
1 |MP3| – Approx. 17 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

9. The Spider
By Hans Heinz Ewers; Read by DrWombat
1 |MP3| – Approx. 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

10. The Thing at Ghent
By Honore de Balzac; Read by Julie Bynum
1 |MP3| – Approx 4 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

Get the complete audiobook in a big zipped file [zip], or use the
podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/horror-story-collection-002.xml

Posted by Dave Tackett.