Blackstone Audio – Page 34

New Arrivals – PKD, Bujold, Bova, and more

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

A big box of goodness from Blackstone Audio today! One title, includes a previously released title, the full length novel Martian Time-Slip (although this is a new recording with a new narrator) and a new short story The Golden Man, which is the basis for the new film Next.

A Galaxy Trilogy: Star Ways, Druids’ World, and The Day the World Stopped
By Poul Anderson, George H. Smith & Stanton A. Coblentz; Read by Tom Weiner
12 CD, 1 MP3CD, 12 cassettes; 13.5 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433202255 (CD), 9781433202261 (MP3CD), 9781433202247 (cassettes)

Long before Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, or Isaac Asimov, there was an earlier generation of dreamers and writers who defined the science-fiction genre, in what today is affectionately known as the pulp era. Heralding back to the early television days of Flash Gordon and the earlier tales of Jules Verne, Bram Stoker, and H. G. Wells, these great science-fiction writers of the 1950s and 1960s included among their ranks such icons as Poul Anderson and the prolific Robert Silverberg, who would write some of the hippest genre literature of its era. Now you can experience this unique moment in genre literature with three exciting, imaginative short novellas from some of the pioneers of pulp science fiction.

Martian Time-Slip & The Golden Man
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Grover Gardner
8 CDs, 1 MP3CD, 7 Cassettes; 9.5 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433200663 (CDs), 9781433200694 (MP3CD), 9781433200670 (cassettes)

–Martian Time-Slip:
On the arid colony of Mars, the only thing more precious than water may be a ten-year-old schizophrenic boy named Manfred Steiner. Although the UN has slated “anomalous” children for deportation and destruction, some suspect that Manfred’s disorder may be a window into the future. But what sort of future? In Martian Time-Slip, Dick uses power politics and extraterrestrial real-estate scams, adultery, and murder to penetrate the mysteries of being and time.
–The Golden Man:
In the post-nuclear America, monstrous mutants roam freely. A government agency, the DCA, is formed to rid the world of mutants. But there is one of the new species that is not a monster: eighteen-year-old Cris Johnson. He is a perfect specimen of young manhood, an icon of masculine beauty. He is the golden man. But the DCA’s fear that he might mate and produce a new race of golden men with survival skills far superior to ordinary men makes his destruction paramount.

Komaar: A Miles Vorkosigan Adventure
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Grover Gardner
10 CDs, 1 MP3CD, 9 cassettes; 12.5 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433202582 (CD), 9781433202599 (MP3-CD), 9781433202575 (cassettes)

Komarr could be a garden with a thousand more years’ work, or an uninhabitable wasteland if the terraforming fails. Now, the solar mirror vital to the terraforming of the conquered planet has been shattered by a ship hurtling off course. The Emperor of Barrayar sends his newest imperial auditor, Lord Miles Vorkosigan, to find out why. The choice is not a popular one on Komarr, where a betrayal a generation before drenched the name of Vorkosigan in blood. Thus, the Komarrans surrounding Miles could be loyal subjects, potential hostages, innocent victims, or rebels ready for revenge. Lies within lies, treachery within treachery, Miles is caught in a race against time to stop a plot that could exile him from Barrayar forever. His burning hope lies in an unexpected ally, one with wounds as deep and honor as beleaguered as his own.

Voyagers II: The Alien Within
By Ben Bova; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
11 CDs, 1 MP3CD, 9 Cassettes 13 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433202346 (CD), 9781433202353 (MP3CD), 9781433202339 (cassettes)

When Keith Stoner awoke, he found himself in a world changed almost beyond recognition. Eighteen years before, Stoner had been the American member of a joint U.S.-Soviet mission to capture an alien ship. The Soviets had to pull out, but Stoner persisted, and while on the strange ship, he fell into suspended animation.Jo Camerata, the ambitious young student who fell in love with Stoner, is now head of Vanguard Industries, which has recovered the alien ship. As a result, her company is now in control of its vast new technology and the fortune it reaps—and in control of Keith Stoner. What Camerata doesn’t know, however, is that someone else has been awake, someone who dwells within Stoner’s mind. The alien presence that has kept Stoner alive all this time is now free and intends to explore our world, letting nothing stand in its way.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

Review of Rocket Ship Galileo by Robert A. Heinlein

SFFaudio Audiobook Review

Rocket Ship Galileo
By Robert A. Heinlein; Read by Spider Robinson
5 CDs, 4 Cassettes or 1 MP3-CD – 5.5 hrs [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9780786162765 (CDs), 9780786147892 (cassettes), 9780786172092(MP3-CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Young Adult / Space Travel / Rocket Science / Espionage / Moon /

Ross Jenkins, Art Mueller, and Morrie Abrams are not your average high school students. While other kids are cruising around in their cars playing ball, this trio, known as the Galileo Club, is experimenting with rocket fuels and preparing for their future education at technical colleges.

Robert Heinlein created something new when he started writing his “juvenile” SF novels. He wasn’t the first person to write what publishers would categorize as Young Adult SF but he was the first respected SF author to do so. Not only did it not harm his reputation, it actually enhanced it. Some of these, like Citizen of the Galaxy, The Star Beast, and The Rolling Stones still stand as some of his best books and are considered classics.

His first juvenile, from 1947, was Rocketship Galileo. It’s a tale of three young fellows that have their own amateur rocketry club. When one of their rocket experiments go awry with an explosion, they find that one of the boys’ uncles was injured on the grounds. The injured man is Doctor Donald Morris Cargraves. He’s a scientist with his own background in atomic propulsion. With true do-it-yourself ethos, Cargraves recruits the boys to build their own rocket to the moon. There are incidents of sabotage, which creates the mystery of who is responsible for the sabotage.

Eventually the boys with Cargraves in tow head to the moon. On occasion the story seems to stop for a science lesson. Once they reach the moon, they learn they are not alone. I’ll leave the nature of the co-habitants to the listener. I will say the answer that lies behind the sabotage attempts are less than satisfactory. What seems dated and implausible today was likely just as implausible in 1947 when the book was written. Although this novel is not the best of Heinlein’s juveniles, it is still an enjoyable ride with an optimistic future for mankind.

The book is narrated by SF author Spider Robinson. Spider is a gifted narrator with a flair for voice characterizations. His natural narrator’s voice seems a bit nasally at times, but he still conveys ease, and his pacing is unhurried.

This is not the first paring of Robert Heinlein with Spider Robinson. Spider recently coauthored a book with Mr. Heinlein called Variable Star. Using notes and an unfinished outline, Spider Robinson was chosen by Heinlein’s estate to complete it. The story is said to be reminiscent of one of the master’s juvenile novels circa 1955. The good news doesn’t end there. Robinson was tapped by Blackstone Audio to narrate the audiobook for Variable Star, which has just been released.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show podcast

Review of The Prestige by Christopher Priest

SFFaudio Audiobook Review

The Prestige
By Christopher Priest; Read by Simon Vance
10 CDs – 12 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 0786168412
Themes: / Science Fiction / Magic / Magicians / 19th Century / Electricity / World Fantasy Award /

It’s difficult to say how long it’s been since I’ve been so enthralled with an audiobook as I was with this unabridged version of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Prestige. In very few words, the production was excellent. Simon Vance narrated, and since the story is primarily told through journal entries of the two main characters, he was basically called upon to portray these two dark, intricate magicians. He unreservedly succeeded – his performance was stellar. Because of his subtle care, the surprises of the novel were enhanced by his reading. And there are many surprises.

The main characters are late 19th century stage magicians (or “prestidigitators”, as they call themselves) named Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier. They perform in London, but at the height of each magician’s popularity, they tour America and Europe. But not together. No, these two guys are mortal enemies, out to better the other by whatever means necessary. Each one in turn performs a trick on stage that seems impossible to the other, and their personal quests are rooted in finding out how the other does it, and then to perform it better.

The novel is filled with fascinating detail about these magicians and their tricks. But even more interesting are the journals themselves. It becomes quickly apparent that the journal writers are not reliable. Christopher Priest was masterful in the way he made sure that the journal writers were speaking squarely from their own point of view, which was not always technically true; rather, like journal writers everywhere, they would write something about their own motives that justified events to themselves. The result is an intricate web that is slowly unraveled throughout the book. It’s an audiobook that merits a second listen; knowing what I know now, having finished, a second listen would reveal the breadcrumbs I missed along the way. I suspect I left several on the trail.

Also prominent is Priest’s portrayal of life in the 19th century. The values, the language, and the daily life of the characters all feel accurate, though I am no 19th century historian. The world’s reaction to the advent of electricity is a fascinating example. I couldn’t help but to think of modern parallels with the advent of the internet.

At first glance, this novel is fantasy. It even won the World Fantasy Award in 1996. But is this a fantasy novel? It really isn’t. Yes, there are magicians here, but they are stage magicians. As such, their tricks have perfectly reasonable explanations. Each of the main characters do specific remarkable things, but the reasons given for the way these things work are not magical, but scientific. More, I will not say, because this is a novel to be discovered for yourself, not to be read about. After I finished the book, I watched the recent film version. Be assured that there are enough major differences that a listen to this book will be a different (though similar) and very worthwhile experience – worthwhile enough to be the latest addition to SFFaudio’s Essential List.

Audio Sample: LINK

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

New Arrivals – Full Cast Audio, Blackstone Audio & Brilliance Audio titles

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

We’ve got some new arrivals that took a circuitous route to our door.

The Will of the Empress
By Tamora Pierce; Read by Full Cast
14 CDs, Approx. 15.5 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781933322391

From the website:
Tamora Pierce returns to the world of Circle of Magic for this smashing novel that brings the four young mages back together as teens. Suspense! Court intrigue! Romance! Fights! All the things that you love about Tammy’s books are here in abundance.

March Upcountry: Book 1 of the Prince Roger Series
By David Weber and John Ringo; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
2 MP3CDs, 14 CDs, or 12 cassettes; Approx. 17.5 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0786178523(MP3 discs); 078617577X(CDs), 0786137932 (cassettes)

“The dynamic duo of Weber and Ringo continue Prince Roger McClintock’s adventures, which are coming to constitute a military SF classic.”—Booklist

From the back cover:
The royal brat is in trouble.

Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang MacClintock was young, handsome, athletic, an excellent dresser, and third in line for the Throne of Man. So why wouldn’t anyone at Court trust him? It wasn’t surprising that he became spoiled, self-centered, and petulant. After all, what else did he have to do with his life?

But that was before his mother the empress packed him off to a backwater planet, a saboteur tried to blow up his ship, and he found himself shipwrecked on the planet Marduk, with jungles full of damnbeasts, killerpillars, carnivorous plants, and barbarian hordes with really bad dispositions. Now all Roger has to do is hike halfway around the planet, capture a spaceport from the Bad Guys, commandeer a starship, and then go home.

March to the Stars: Book 3 of the Prince Roger Series
By David Weber and John Ringo; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
2 MP3CDs or 14 CDs; Approx. 17.5 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 9780786172603(MP3 discs); 9780786163410(CDs)

From the back cover:
Since his attempted assassination, which marooned him with his bodyguards on the hostile planet Marduk with its unending series of adventures, Prince Roger McClintock has evolved from a spoiled, petulant heir into a true leader of humans and aliens alike.

Road of the Patriarch
By R.A. Salvatore; Read by David Colacci
11 CDs; Approx. 13 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 9781423316404

From the back cover:
THE ASSASSIN — A cold and emotionless killer for whom every soul has a price, even his own, embarks on a path to find out just how high that price can be.

THE MERCENARY — A dark elf of limitless guile dares to challenge a king, and carve for himself a place in the inhospitable World Above.

ILNEZHARATA and TAZMIKELL — A are ancient dragons of great power, accustomed to easily manipulating the humans around them. But not all humans are so easily led. When they pushed Entreri and Jarlaxle into the heart of the Bloodstone Lands, not even they could have imagined the strength of the human assassin’s resolve, or the limitless expanse of the drow mercenary’s ambition.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

Blackstone Audiobooks buys the audio rights for 8 Philip K. Dick books!

News

The latest issue of Locus The Magazine Of The Science Fiction and Fantasy Field (the hardcopy edition) has a story of interest:

“Audio rights to Philip K. Dick’s The Man In The High Castle, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, Ubik, Valis, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Dr. Bloodmoney, and two untitled story collections went to Haila Williams at Blackstone Audio via Russell Galen.”

Thanks to Scott D. Danielson for this find!

posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals – Bujold, Card, Wells and Haggard

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

The Blackstone titles are new releases. The Tantor titles are backlist titles that we requested.

Memory
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Grover Gardner
MP3 Disc or 12 CDs, Approx. 14.5 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433201158(MP3 disc); 9781433201141(CDs)

From the back cover:
Dying is easy. Coming back to life is hard. At least that’s what Miles Vorkosigan thinks, and he should know, having done both once already.
Thanks to his quick-thinking staff and incredible artistry from a medical specialist, Miles’s first death won’t be his last. But it does take some recovery, a fact he has been reluctant to admit. When he makes the mistake of returning too soon to military duty, he finds himself summoned home to face the Barrayaran security chief, Simon Illyan. But Miles’s worst nightmares about Simon Illyan are nothing compared to Illyan’s own nightmares. Under suspicion himself, Miles must seek out the answers to Ilyan’s nightmares or see the inevitable destruction of Imperial Security and, with it, the Empire.

Seventh Son: Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 1
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Scott Brick and others
MP3 Disc or 8 CDs, Approx. 9 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433200960(MP3 disc); 9781433200953(CDs)

From the back cover:
From the author of the award-winning Ender’s Game comes the unforgettable story of young Alvin Maker, the seventh son of a seventh son.

Born into an alternative frontier America where life is hard and folk magic is real, Alvin is gifted with power, but he must learn to use his gift wisely. Dark forces are arrayed against Alvin, and only a young girl with second sight can protect him.

The World Set Free
By H.G. Wells; Read by Shelly Frasier
MP3 Disc or 6 CDs, Approx. 6.5 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 2002
ISBN: 1400150108 (MP3 disc); 1400100100(CDs)

From the back cover:
In this thought-provoking masterpiece, H.G. Wells predicts the inventions that will inadvertently lead to mass destruction, forcing the world to “start over”. You will see many similarities between H.G. Wells’ new world and today’s world due to the recent technological revolution. This stimulating novel will leave you wondering if and when the remaining predictions will come to pass!

Eric Brighteyes
By H. Rider Haggard; Read by Shelly Frasier
MP3 Disc or 9 CDs, Approx. 11 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 2001
ISBN: 1400150280 (MP3 disc); 1400100283(CDs)

From the back cover:
This deftly crafted Viking tale depicts the terror, tragedy and vanity of life. The ill fated lovers, Eric and “Gudruda the Fair”, fall victim to the jealous Swanhild’s sorcery. Eric and his ‘thrall’ must overcome treachery, bloodthirsty foes, the open sea and blizzards as he battles to win his beloved Gudruda. Will the star-crossed lovers triumph over the fate of the Norns and the spite of Swanhild?

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show