fantasy – Page 84

Review of Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

SFFaudio Review

Enna Burning
By Shannon Hale; Read by Cynthia Bishop and the Full Cast Family
8 CDs – 8.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781934180198
Themes: / Fantasy / YA / Magic / Fairy Tale /

First, I have to say that I LOVE Full Cast Audio. They always do family-friendly books and they are always unabridged. They do an excellent job.

Enna Burning is the sequel to Goose Girl, Shannon Hale’s novelization of the classic fairy tale (also on audiobook by Full Cast Audio). However, you do not need to read/listen to Goose Girl to enjoy Enna Burning”. Hale does an excellent job of giving just enough background to ensure that the reader knows what is going on.

The story is well paced and full of action. The cast of actors does a great job of keeping the feel of the book and keeping the listener’s attention.

Izzy, the “goose girl”, is now princess and her friend, Enna, has gone home to the forest to take care of her dying mother. Enna’s mother dies before the book starts, but she is still in the forest, taking care of her older brother, Leifer. Leifer finds a long-hidden piece of vellum that teaches him to magically work fire. He struggles to control this power as it slowly consumes him. Finally, he uses his power to save their country of Bayern from the invading country to the South, but the fire destroys him.

Enna’s curiosity gets the better of her, and she, too, reads the vellum, telling herself she won’t ever follow the path her brother chose. But her need to help Izzy and save Bayern from being destroyed soon cause her to take a path not of her choosing.

The story is well paced and entertaining. It is written for the Middle Grade/Young Adult market, but is a great story for all ages. I highly recommend both the book and the audiobook.

Posted by Charlene C. Harmon

Robert E. Howard’s Queen Of The Black Coast as a FREE AUDIO DRAMA

SFFaudio Online Audio

AUDIO DRAMA - Robert E. Howard’s Queen Of The Black Coast

Broken Sea Audio Productions, the folks who brought you such original audio dramas as Jake Sampson: Monster Hunter and Grog and Gryphon, have finished adapting their audio dramatization of Robert E. Howard’s Queen Of The Black Coast. Now, the true age of Conan can begin!

Queen Of The Black Coast by Robert E. Howard AUDIO DRAMA Queen Of The Black Coast
Adapted from the story by Robert E. Howard
Performed by a full cast
Podcast – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: Broken Sea Audio Productions
Podcast: June 2008 – ????

Episode #1: |MP3|

Into the seaport town Messantia, of the southern Hyborian kingdom of ARGUS, the road of Kings led the twenty four year old Cimmerian barbarian- CONAN. Having gotten crossways with the local justice system over a friend of his and the death of a guardsman, Conan took the law into his own hands with his mighty broadsword. The guardsmen were not pleased by his northern Cimmerian ideas of justice, so CONAN “borrowed” a horse from the courts and fled looking for a ship. The mercenary ship- The ARGUS, just so happened to be putting out to sea as CONAN thundered down the pier having just stormed through the market- guardsmen hot on his trail. Will the ship’s captain, TITO, allow the Cimmerian passage, or will the guardsmen fill his back full or arrows first? And what of the legendary She-Devil Pirate Queen of the Black Coast? Join the adventure and find out- BY CROM!

Subscribe via the podcast feed for BSAP’s Conan audio:

http://brokensea.com/conan/?feed=podcast

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Communion Of The Saint by Alan David Justice

SFFaudio Review

The Communion of the Saint
By Alan David Justice; Read by Alan David Justice
17 MP3 Files – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Podiobooks
Published: 2008
Themes: / Fantasy / Magical Realism / Catholicism / Ghosts / Time Travel / Paranormal /

Justice has given us an excellent novel that tells the story of historian, Clio Griffin, who begins to fear that she has inherited her mother’s insanity when she arrives in England for a job interview and begins hearing voices and having visions. Clio is being spoken to by St. Alban who was martyred nearby. As the story unfolds, Clio begins to experience the past and present in dizzying succession. She experiences the past through the eyes of people who lived through history that is not as sanitized as one might think from the history books. In the present Clio comes across a wide variety of reactions from such diverse people as the local mystic who sees nothing out of the ordinary in hearing from a saint, the priest who is envious of her visions, the newspaperman who just wants a good story, and the sexton who has possibly made a literal deal with the devil. The sexton’s seeming obsession with Clio provides the mystery and threat and is the one real thing about which we do not have to wonder. He is out to get her.

Justice has an excellent grip on the portrayal of the modern mind when faith is brought up and he shows the gamut of reactions while also giving us a gripping story. We are pulled through the story by our own involvement and questions. Is Clio really time traveling or is she losing her reason? Where did the plague victim come from who appears suddenly in her home? Will the sexton take his revenge upon her or will he be thwarted? This is a fascinating story about a thoroughly modern person who must come to grips with an ancient saint who is telling her that faith is real and she has a role in both receiving that faith and passing it on to others.

Author Alan David Justice reads the book with just the right amount of detachment to reflect Clio’s disbelief in her experiences. Justice’s wry inflections acquaint us quickly with Clio’s cynicism almost before we hear the words and yet he also manages to keep the pace quick enough that we are left hanging on each episode of the book. Hopefully, this is not the last we will hear (or read) from this author.

Listen to the author read it on Podiobooks.

Posted by Julie D.

Maria Lectrix podcasts: The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft

SFFaudio Online Audio

I seem to easily fall for Catholic podcasters of the female persuasion. For evidence of this witness the recent addition of Julie D. (of the Forgotten Classics podcast) to the SFFaudio staff. More evidence comes in the form of my many missives about Maureen O’Brien (AKA Maria Lectrix). Maureen’s been podcasting SF, Fantasy, and Horror for even longer than Julie! The last project of hers that attracted my capricious ears was her unabridged reading of Despoilers Of The Golden Empire by Randall Garrett (read all about that awesome podcast audiobook HERE). But Maureen’s latest project will likely garner even more attention, if only for the name attached to it! Maureen writes:

“The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath isn’t much like a typical Lovecraft story. It starts with a scene that’s pretty, not soul-shattering, eerie, or rugous and tentacular. But Lovecraftian elements (the Other Gods from Outside) are present, the main character is also the hero of other stories, the cats of Ulthar make their presence felt, and so forth. You get a lot of Dunsany-inspired writing (and sly side-remarks), too; but this isn’t a story that Dunsany really would have told. (Especially not the friendly and heroic cat parts).”

The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Maureen O’Brien
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Maria Lectrix
Podcast: May 2008 – ????
Randolph Carter dreams three times of a majestic sunset city, but each time he is abruptly snatched away before he can see it up close. When he prays to the gods of dream to reveal the whereabouts of the phantasmal city, they do not answer. Undaunted, Carter resolves to go to Kadath, where the gods live, to beseech them in person. However, no one has ever been to Kadath and none even knows how to get there. In dream, Randolph Carter descends “the seventy steps to the cavern of flame” and speaks of his plan to the priests Nasht and Kaman-Thah, whose temple borders the Dreamlands. The priests warn Carter of the great danger of his quest.

Part one is already in the podcast feed, no word on when it’ll wrap up, but you can keep apprised by subscribing to the podcast via this feed:

http://marialectrix.wordpress.com/feed

Posted by Jesse Willis

Audible.com PRESS RELEASE details: More CLASSIC SFF is coming

SFFaudio News

Mere days after we brought you the stories of Audible’s new big Science Fiction and Fantasy audiobook push, we received an official press release with plenty of details you’ll dig! Here are the new facts:

“…We [Audible.com] are also making a concerted effort to bring all-time classics to the listening audience. The Hugo-winning THE BIG TIME by Fritz Leiber is already in the store. Roger Zelazny’s LORD OF LIGHT and THIS IMMORTAL are currently in production. So, too, is Fritz Leiber’s entire LANKHMAR series, featuring Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. And there are more classics to come.”

And this…

“Very soon, we’ll be introducing the first set of titles we’re producing in partnership with HarperCollins’ Eos line: the ACORNA’S CHILDREN series by Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough; STAR STRIKE, the first book in Ian Douglas’ INHERITANCE trilogy; BAD MONKEYS by Matt Ruff, and HUNTER’S RUN by George RR Martin, Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham.

Also, via our ongoing partnership with Harlequin, we’ve been producing more and more fantasy & paranormal romance titles, by Maria V. Snyder, C. E. Murphy, and others.”

And there’s still more:

“In the near future, we’ll also be bringing a number of great series into audio by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, David Eddings, Dave Duncan, and more.”

Further…

“Also each month, we’ll have an exclusive guest essay by a leading SF&F writer. This column will also serve to highlight a list of titles available at Audible. It will also give us an opportunity to promote titles by the guest columnist. Our lead-off columnist is Ben Bova. In the coming months, our Guest Editors will include Robert J. Sawyer, Kevin J. Anderson, and more.”

And that’s the long and the short of the new information. A lot of people hate DRM with a passion of a burning sun (I’m one of them), and so hearing that so many choice titles are going to be made available exclusively on Audible (which is totally into DRM) is a mixed blessing. The good news is that most every, if not every title on Audible.com is able to be burned to CD.

Clear your schedules folks, we’ve got lots of listening to do!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

SFFaudio Review

Fool Moon: Book Two of the Dresden Files
By Jim Butcher; Read by James Marsters
1 MP3 Disc or 8 CDs – Approx. 10.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Buzzy Multimedia
Published: 2003
ISBN: 9780965725583
Themes: / Fantasy / Mystery / Magic / Private Detective / Wizard / Noir /

The fantastically grey world of Wizard Harry Dresden is back in this, the second book of the series. Harry Dresden is still a private investigator who has special supernatural powers that people who believe in him would call being a Wizard. Those who do not believe in such things might call him a fake. This coupled with the fact that Dresden still has the ability to get himself in to the deepest and darkest of trouble makes for a equally fun and entertaining read.

Fool Moon takes place less than a year after the climax of Storm Front (Dresden, Book 1). As the title suggests, Fool Moon spends much of its time dealing with supernatural creatures of the night known to us as Werewolves. And as it turns out there is a lot I did not know about werewolves. There are many different ways to become one and there are many different versions of them as well. So, even if you are not an expert in werewolves, don’t worry, because neither is our hero, Mr. Dresden.

For two months, when the moon is full, certain people have been dying horribly gruesome deaths and Dresden finally gets a call from his friend and main source of income, Detective Murphy. She’s the head of the city’s special investigations and leans on Harry whenever the mystery has a twinge of the unexplainable. When Dresden gets the call from her, he jumps at the chance to pay the bills and put some food on the table. The moon is full for four nights and that’s all the time they have to solve the murders. As they start to connect the pieces to the puzzle, they both begin to realize that they are not prepared for what is about to happen.

The details and story are dark and horrifying. Dresden is the consummate intuitive detective, acting on things that he isn’t quite sure about, but just has a solid hunch or gut feeling. His sage-like wisdom often leads him in the right direction, but also leaves him asking the question, “Now what?” These intuitions are what I like best about Harry. His wizardry is more than just using magic. It’s more like an innate ability to look at any given situation from a different perspective.

It always gets him in to trouble, not because he is wrong, but because he is right about so many things. You might find yourself pitying the poor wizard as he follows his nose and heart in to trouble. He gets beaten to a pulp more than once and I was wondering how much more could he take? Trust me, Harry Dresden gets pushed to the physical and mental limits in this story and the depths he visits, both magically and psychologically, are sure to get your heart pumping. The thought “don’t go there” crept in to my mind more than once. The Harry Dresden “hat tricks” will put a smile on your face and keep you asking for more.

I like the way Dresden is written, always telling the tale in a first person. It sucks you in to Dresden’s brain. It’s from his perspective, which isn’t always correct. But, you’re in it with him. Dresden often makes decisions based on his point of view or the facts that he has at the time, like we all do and some times. It’s just not every day that we are all making life or death decisions on how to best defeat a violent, man eating beast, like Harry does in this book.

The first person narrative is perfect for the audio book outlet. In fact, it’s almost as if these words were meant to be spoken out loud. The text is not too proper and not too relaxed either. Just right. The book is narrated stunningly well, once again by James Marsters, AKA Spike of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. He’s able to capture the essence of the character, moment by moment. He immortalizes the wit, sarcasm, and underdogedness of Dresden in a single paragraph, all while sounding incredibly relaxed. It’s just another telling of a story straight from the guy it happened to.

Fool Moon is not unlike the previous production of Storm Front. In some places the audio production is flawed. There are periodical flubs by the reader, things that could be easily edited out of the soundtrack to bring the quality of the production in to the same level as the writing and performing. You can also hear the faint sounds of page turns and other pesky undesirables that only pull you out of the story that Jim Butcher and James Marsters are working so hard to keep you sucked in to. I have spoken about this before and will resist the urge to go on another tirade about the virtues of audible storytelling and the need for quality to assure the listener’s total absorption in to the world that they are listening to. So, I will only say that it is a little upsetting, because these are simple problems that even podcasters, such as J.C Hutchins and Scott Sigler, with their homegrown recordings have figured out how to avoid. Why not the professionals at Buzzy?

But, all criticism aside, if you are a fan of audio books and a fan of Harry Dresden, the flaws and inconsistencies in this production of Jim Butcher’s wonderful concoction Fool Moon are few and far between. The world he has created grows richer and deeper with every word. The story starts strong on page one and continues on full force until the end. That’s said of Harry Dresden, as well. He is growing as a person and a wizard and I am looking forward to listening to the next installment of the Dresden books. And with eight more of them published, including the newly released Small Favor, I am sure to have many, many more hours of Dresden to spark my imagination and to keep me wishing I had some of those tricks up my sleeve.

Posted by Michael Bekemeyer of the Scatterpod podcast.