Blackstone Audio – Page 43

Review of The Curse Of Chalion By Lois McMaster Bujold

The Curse Of Chalion
By Lois McMaster Bujold; Read by Lloyd James
15 CDs – Approx 19.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2004
ISBN: 0786185988
Themes: / Fantasy / High Fantasy / Court Intrigue / Politics / Religion / Magic / Romance /

Lord Cazaril has been, in turn, courtier, castle-warder, and captain; now he is but a crippled ex-galley slave seeking nothing more than a menial job in the kitchens of the Dowager Provincara, the noble patroness of his youth. But Cazaril finds himself promoted to the exalted and dangerous position of tutor to Iselle, the beautiful, fiery sister of the heir to Chalion’s throne.

Cazaril was a lord and a soldier of Chalion, but that was before he was sold into slavery. Years later, having been freed by chance of war, it is a broken Cazaril, a traumatized shell of his former proud self, who walks away. He’s learned the lessons of a slave, to expect nothing and hope for little. So when this cowed former lord
begs for a place in minor noble’s household he is surprised to be appointed not to simple kitchen duties but instead as tutor to a young princess of the realm. From the start of The Curse Of Chalion our sympathies are with Lord Cazaril. Not only is he a figure of tremendous suffering, but his situation is made still worse by the fact that he has smarts enough to know just how far he’s fallen. But the rub comes more from the fact that his sudden appointment will doubtless draw the attention of those who betrayed him to the life of a slave and who may seek to more permanently dispose of him. Not only must Cazaril educate the young princess, he must also somehow stave off the powerful forces in league against him while breaking an ancient curse placed upon his charge, the heir to Chalion’s throne. His new responsibilities requires nothing less.

Lois McMaster Bujold is best known for her Miles Vorkosigan science fiction novels, which if you haven’t read them are space opera at their most operatic. What Bujold did there for space opera then, she now does here for fantasy with The Curse Of Chalion, the start of a whole new fantasy series. And what a challenge it is! She’s built an entirely new world with the very best kind of magic – magic with rules and consequences. And this thing has backstory too. Chalion is not just some neo-Tolkien rip off, that uses the tropes you’ve come to expect in order to tell some slight variation on an old and tired tale. Quite the contrary, it is a fully fleshed out fantasy setting with a fascinating and well thought out religion that plays a central role in the unfolding of the story. Also of note is an unexpected mention of one character’s homosexuality – while it plays little role in the plot proper it is a refreshing touch that symbolizes the modern and realistic approach Bujold taken in constructing her world. Chalion is chock full of motivated and interesting characters, classic political machinations, two genuine romances, surprising plot twists and everyone’s favorite theme, betrayal. This is the equivalent of a seven-course meal for any audiobook listener – and it isn’t even too long compared to most fantasy novels published these days.

I truly enjoyed this tale. It is really good stuff and that is mostly due, I think, to Bujold working with some really fascinating ideas, not the least of which is one scene which postulates a way to reconcile the idea of both human free will and the will of the gods – determinacy – that pesky problem of fate. Even better is that it isn’t one that I’d heard of before – heady cool stuff! The few sins Bujold commits are minor and might be virtues in many listener’s ears – there are a just a few places where the pace flagged and the action sequences were few and brief – though they really are more realistic than we have come to expect with fantasy. The Curse Of Chalion is likely to become one of the most beloved of medieval fantasy novels of the early 21st century. This story has genuine surprises, its own internal logic, and intelligent, thoughtful characters who are genuinely fun to hang out with. I really liked it!

Blackstone Audiobooks has made The Curse Of Chalion available in several formats: A 13 cassette, (retail or library packaged) audiobook, a 15 CD (retail or library packaged) audiobook and 2-disc CD-MP3 set. We review here the CD version and this is the first Blackstone Audio CD set I’ve ever tired. I’d always preferred the cassette format in the past but I’m really pleased with the simplicity of Blackstone’s design and track spacing. The library set, pictured above comes in the attractive and durable plastic case, with a full color paper insert cover. The cover art here is inspired by the hardcover’s original art, and though they are similar I think the Blackstone’s version is even more attractive! Reader Lloyd James does a marvelous job with the exposition; he gives many regional accents to the numerous characters and plays the three main female characters with three slightly variant falsettos – no small feat. I can honestly say, fans of both Bujold and original fantasy tales can rejoice, The Curse Of Chalion and this Blackstone Audiobook are everything you’ve been looking for!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Martian Time-Slip By Philip K. Dick

Martian Time-Slip
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Tom Parker
6 Cassettes – 9 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
ISBN: 0786113529
Date Published: 1998
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mars / Politics / Time-travel / Mental Illness / Aliens / Philosophy /

On the arid colony of Mars the only thing more precious than water may be a ten-year-old schizophrenic boy named Manfred Steiner. For although the UN has slated “anomalous” children for deportation and destruction, other people–especially Supreme Goodmember Arnie Kott of the Water Workers’ Union -suspect that Manfred’s disorder may be a window into the future.

While the Mars of our reality is a fascinating planet in its own right, the Mars of fiction is far more accessible, and nearly as alien! Ray Bradbury’s Mars was a walk through the pastoral and allegorical mind of Bradbury’s youth. Edgar Rice Burrough’s Mars, a fantasyland where many buckles were swashed and princesses were saved. But Philip K. Dick’s Mars is the strangest of them all, a place where everyday reality is malleable and where political corruption continues as it does on Earth. Martian Time-Slip, as read exceedingly well by Tom Parker, is a poignant and utterly fascinating journey both across the newly colonized Martian landscape and through the lives of its varied central characters. A journey not to be missed, I have no doubt that eventually the real colonists on the real Mars will be reading Philip K. Dick’s Martian Time-Slip – and a few of them may even be listening to Parker’s excellent performance of this amazing novel.

More and more it seems you can count on Blackstone Audio to pick a great book, match it with an appropriate narrator and follow through with high production values. Martian Time-Slip just adds to this reputation. It comes in a library style clamshell binding with a cool cover featuring the original art from the paperback release. And to top it all off this superb production includes every single word in the book, including the teaser back cover. There is little else to say except: Martian Time-Slip, highly recommended!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Here’s a quick survey of new Science Fiction and F…

New Releases

Here’s a quick survey of new Science Fiction and Fantasy audiobook releases:

Blackstone Audio

Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card, read by Stefan Rudnicki, Unabridged

Stefan Rudnicki reads this deeply affecting novel by Orson Scott Card. It’s a great novel, and in Rudnicki’s hands it will be treated well.

Ringworld’s Children by Larry Niven, read by Barrett Whitener, Unabridged

Another novel from Larry Niven! Definitely a welcome sight. I’ve heard Barrett Whitener read several books, and have enjoyed him very much. This release is a darned good excuse to revisit the whole series. Blackstone also carries the first Ringworld novel, read by Patrick Cullen.

Recorded Books

Horizon Storms by Kevin J. Anderson, read by George Guidall, Unabridged

This is Book 3 of Anderson’s The Saga of the Seven Suns. In a way, it’s like a fantasy epic series only in a science fiction setting. I’ve heard Book 2 and Guidall is wonderful with this (and pretty much all other) material.

Audio Renaissance

The Dragon’s Son by Margaret Weis, read by Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir, Unabridged

This is a sequel to Weis’ first solo effort, Mistress of Dragons, which was a good audiobook. In these, there is a powerful Dragon Parliament which has agreed to keep their hands out of human affairs, but someone of dragon kind has broken that oath. Let the hunt begin!

Dune: The Battle of Corrin by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, read by Scott Brick, Unabridged

Kevin Anderson is a busy man! I haven’t followed the Dune prequels, but this is the last of the second prequel trilogy, and Scott Brick is an excellent reader.

All of the books above, except for Lost Boys and Horizon Storms, are also available on-line at Audible.com.

I wish you all good listening!

I will compile a similar new-release list for post monthly – if you have a release you’d like me to mention, please contact me here.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Mystic Warrior by Tracy and Laura Hickman

Mystic Warrior
By Tracy and Laura Hickman; Read by Lloyd James
12 CDs – Approx 15 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2004
ISBN: 0786186860
Themes: / Epic fantasy / Dreams / Magic / Dragons /

Thrice upon a time there was a world that was three worlds; one place that was three places; one history that was told in three sagas all at the same time. Thrice upon a time the gods foresaw a time when three worlds would become one; when the children of their creation would face the binding of the worlds.

Thus begins Book One of The Bronze Canticles: Mystic Warrior by Tracy and Laura Hickman. Fans of Hickman’s work should be extremely pleased with this audiobook. Lloyd James does a fantastic job performing, really embracing the epic fantasy and giving it an energy and depth on par with the finest narrators in the business.

This book is the first volume of a fantasy series in which the Human world, the Goblin world, and the Faery world are being slowly drawn together. The main human character is Galen Arvad, who experiences the drawing together of the worlds through dreams, as do couterparts in the other two worlds. Unfortunately, Galen’s world views these dreams as lunacy, and they seek to put such people to death. Galen does his best to avoid this while discovering the reasons behind all the trouble.

There are scenes from all three worlds in the book, each one interesting in its own right. There are swords, dragons, dwarves, and magic wrapped in an interesting story peopled with good characters. Matched with Lloyd James’ first-rate narration, this is a winner for fans of epic fantasy.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Protector By Larry Niven

Protector
By Larry Niven; read by Mark Sherman
5 cassettes – 7.5 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2003
ISBN: 0786123907
Themes: / Science Fiction / Aliens / Interplanetary Travel / Solar-System Civilization / Asteroid Belt / Mars / Evolution / Genetics / Biology / Ballistic Physics /

Phssthpok the Pak had been traveling for most of his thirty-two thousand years. His mission was to save, develop, and protect the group of Pak breeders sent out into space some two and a half million years before. Brennan was a Belter, the product of a fiercely independent, somewhat anarchic society living in, on, and around an outer asteroid belt. The Belters were rebels, one and all, and Brennan was a smuggler. The Belt worlds had been tracking the Pak ship for days, and Brennan figured to meet that ship first. He was never seen again, at least not by those alive at the time.

Humanity has become an interplanetary species; Luna, Mars, Mercury, the Asteroid Belt and the gas giants of Sol are the playground of mankind. But it wasn’t meant to be that way… an alien race from near the galactic core has set its sights on Earth and the cargo it brings will bear some really strange fruit.

Protector is absolutely bursting with awesome SF ideas, and the twists on them, everything from a precursor to Richard Dawkin’s “Selfish Gene Theory”, to realistic spaceship ballistics and sexual politics. Niven himself has been a giant in the SF field since the early 1970s, of the many living authors who still haven’t been bestowed with the honorific “Grand Master,” Niven is the most deserving. Protector was first published in 1973, and is a part of Niven’s ongoing “Known Space” series, one of the foremost continuing visions of the future by an SF author. Like Robert A. Heinlein’s Future History series, the Known Space novels and stories follow the expansion of humans into the galaxy. And Protector is perhaps the best of the Known Space novels, it offers some of the hardest of the Hard SF ever written, something Larry Niven has a particular talent for, and it’s a great story, both unpredictable and fun! But I can’t stress enough just how good this novel is, the plot is unpredictable but relentlessly logical and enthralling at the same time, even better this novel like Richard Matheson’s classic I Am Legend, has a deep psychological and philosophical impact on the reader, and it also has a similar twist ending. It’s simply fantastic!

Reader Mark Sherman appears to have prepared well for what really could have been a very difficult reading. Larry Niven gave the alien names a real alien sound – I had no idea how to pronounce names like “Phssthpok”, but Mark Sherman does a great job in putting voice to it and numerous other unpronounceable words. Blackstone Audiobooks’s production is super smooth, sound quality is terrific, the cassettes come packaged in the awesome library style clamshell case and the original cover art is simply amazing to behold. For those who prefer other formats, Blackstone has also released Protector in two other media types, a 6 CD set or a single MP3-CD. Whatever format you choose you must choose one as this production of Larry Niven’s Protector is nigh unto perfect.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Callahan Chronicals by Spider Robinson

The Callahan Chronicals
By Spider Robinson; read by Barrett Whitener
12 cassettes – 18 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2003
ISBN: 0786124601
Themes: / Science Fiction / Telepathy / Empathy / Callahan’s Place / Extraterrestrials / Time Travel

There is nothing which has been contrived by man by which so much happiness has been produced as by a good tavern or inn. — Samuel Johnson

With that quote begins Spider Robinson’s omnibus collection of short stories entitled The Callahan Chronicals. Included in this audiobook are the collections Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon, Time Travelers Strictly Cash, and Callahan’s Secret. Time Travelers is not included complete – in the original paperback, some non-Callahan stories appeared that are not collected here.

The stories center around a bunch of very good folks that spend quite a bit of time at Callahan’s Place, a bar owned and tended by Mike Callahan. In the author’s words, Callahan’s is “an environment in which shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased, and the puns really suck.” It’s a place that a person can bring his or her troubles, and find people that are willing to listen – and believe. A typical story finds the patrons enjoying each other’s company (often tossing horrible puns at each other) when someone enters and tells his or her story. This person is changed by the experience of sharing his or her troubles.

Some of the stories are marginally science fiction, but most involve some kind of science fiction idea engendered in one of the characters. Telepaths, time travellers, extra-terrestrials, and even Spider Robinson himself are among the bar’s visitors. Robinson is able to reach an emotional depth not often seen in science fiction. Each story is touching in its own way, and they often reach peaks of joy and depths of pain, all within minutes of audio. In short, these stories pack an emotional punch. I found them difficult to listen to one after the other, as a person can only feel so much. They would be better heard individually, with a bit of time to digest and reflect in-between. I plan to revisit them in this way – they are worth listening to again, and are worth the pause.

Barrett Whitener is exceptional here. He understands the material and adds just the right touch in nearly every story. No easy task with these touching stories. A job very well done.

At the beginning of the audio, there are three introductions. The first is titled “Backward”, written by Spider Robinson for the entire volume. Next is “Spider Robinson: The SF Writer as Empath” by Ben Bova, which provides a look into the life of an editor as he describes Spider’s first sale to Analog. Then comes a forward written by Robinson for the original version of Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon. All of them were interesting, and I’m glad Blackstone left them in there.

I was disappointed only by the fact that there are no breaks between these stories. The final sentence of a story is read, immediately followed by the title of the next, and straight on till morning. I would have appreciated some kind of break there.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson