New on Escape Pod: Peter Watts – The Things (The Thing from the alien’s point of view, Hugo nominated). I was gonna read this in Strahan’s Best of. Saw it on Sfsignal’s Free Stuff. Originally from Clarkesworld, narrated by Kate Baker.
I remember liking the old black and white ‘The Thing‘ movie, just for the banter.
By the way, Jesse posted this story when it came out on Clarkesworld.
Posted by Tamahome
The 14th annual Mark Time Awards and Ogle Awards, presented at Convergence 2011, June 30th, in Bloomington, MN, are from “a wider range of countries than ever before.” Both awards are juried. The Mark Time Award is for distinguished achievement in Science Fiction audio theater production. The Ogle Award is presented for Fantasy and Horror audio theater production. The awards presentation will take place at Convergence 2011, June 30th, 2011 in Bloomington, MN. Six of the eight producers are scheduled to be in attendance as well as three of the five judges.
Mark Time Award:
GOLD
The Truth: Moon Graffiti
Written & Produced by Jonathan Mitchell
New York, NY
SILVER
The Cleansed, Pilot Episode
FinalRune Productions
Written & Produced by Fred Greenhalgh
Alfred, ME
HONORABLE MENTIONS
1918
Aural Stage
Written by Richard Lovejoy
Producers, Matthew Boudreau, Samantha Mason
Buffalo, NY
Brad Lansky And The Anti-Starc
Protophonic
Written by J.D. Venne
Producer, Dieter Zimmermann
Cape Town, South Africa
Ogle Award:
GOLD
Whoever Wishes
Tekdiff
Written & Produced by Cayenne Chris Conroy
Minneapolis, MN
SILVER
We’re Alive, Chapter 17, “There Might Be Others”
Zombiepodcast
Written by Kc Wayland
Producers, Kc Wayland, Shane Salk
Orange, CA
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Soul Survivor
Sonic Society
Written & Produced by Jack. J. Ward
Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada
The Witch Hunter Chronicles
Audio-epics
Written and Produced by Domien de Groot
Deurne, Belgium
Posted by Jesse Willis
The Adjustment Bureau (aka Adjustment Team)
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Phil Gigante
1 CD – Approx. 1 Hour [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: March 4, 2011
ISBN: 9781441894694
Sample |MP3|
Themes: / Science Fiction / Horror / Freezing Time / Adventure /
The Adjustment Bureau is a major motion picture based on Philip K. Dick’s classic paranoid story, The Adjustment Team. This is the short story, The Adjustment Team, which asks the question – Do we control our destiny, or do unseen forces manipulate us? Ed Fletcher is a real estate agent with a normal life, until one day he leaves the house for work a few minutes later than he should have. He arrives at a terrifying, grey, ash world. Ed rushes home and tells his wife, Ruth, who goes back to the office with him. When they return, everything is normal. But he soon realizes people and objects have subtly changed. Panic-stricken, he runs to a public phone to warn the police, only to have the phone booth ascend heavenward with Fletcher inside…
The short story Adjustment Team, was written by Philip K. Dick in 1953 and published in 1954. This story makes us re-consider why any chain of events happens. Is it we who construct our destinies or is there an agency that controls us? Dick, as illustrated in the story, suggests that beings of high mentality control the world. Also, there is a group of men who control time and make sure everything is working as they intend. They are called “The Adjustment Team.”
The main character in the story is Ed. He is a business man working for the Douglas and Blake Company. One day, a clerk from “The Adjustment Team,” was supposed to interrupt Ed’s chain of events – to make him arrive at his work before the team starts controlling that area called “Sector T310.” However, the clerk fails and makes a timing mistake. This eventually leads Ed to arrive at his company on time, and he sees “The Adjustment Team.” And, for the first time in his life Ed sees something that people shouldn’t ever see.
Phil Gigante narrated this short story with a strong voice, making the book more interesting than I had expected. His accent is American, with a low tone. At least a couple of short stories, by Dick, contain dogs that talk. A talking dog can be found in this story as well. In fact, Gigante narrated it as as a lazy hound. I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who loves Dick.
Posted by Jay
Robert E. Howard sold The Thing On The Roof, a thirteen page horror story, to Weird Tales for $40. It is one of his Cthulhu Mythos Tales. As such it is set within the universe created by H.P. Lovecraft. I think I first encountered it in David Drake’s 1986 Baen Book Cthulhu: The Mythos And Kindred Horrors. But, after looking through my Robert E. Howard paperbacks collection I note that it was also hidden within my 1976 Zebra edition of Pigeons From Hell, edited by Glenn Lord . Can you believe The Thing On The Roof wasn’t listed on the table of contents?!?!
Was that supposed to be funny? An easter egg?
Strangely, The Thing On The Roof features a book collector who’s after a book that doesn’t have all of its contents either. Or maybe this mystery is indicative of something just a little more sinister. I’m seeing more odd parallels here. See, my avocation has been book collecting ever since I visited the Yucatan! And there’s a creepy stone object I got while down in Mexico – maybe it’s cursed?
Wait, who is that clomping on my apartment door? I better finish this post before I answer it.
To sum up, The Thing On The Roof is available, complete and unabridged, over on the Cthulhu Podcast. It is read by FNH, who also recorded The Insidious Doctor Fu Manchu awhile back. Highly recommended:
The Thing On The Roof
By Robert E. Howard; Read by FNH
1 |MP3| – Approx. 22 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Cthulhu Podcast
Podcast: May 15, 2011
|ETEXT|
An archaeologists, and book collector, is asked by an old rival to find a copy of the obscure first edition of Friedrich Wilheim von Junzt’s Nameless Cults. He may live to regret the favour. First published in the February 1932 issue of Weird Tales.
Podcast feed:
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/cthulhupodcast
Also, check out the excellent Roy Thomas adaptation done for Marvel Comics’ Chamber Of Chills issue #3 back in 1972 (available at the Diversions Of The Groovy Kind blog):
Posted by Jesse Willis
The SFFaudio Podcast #109 – a complete and unabridged reading of The Hanging Stranger by Philip K. Dick. First up, the complete story from Wonder Audio, followed by a discussion of it with Jesse, Scott, and Tamahome.
Talked about on today’s show:
Wonder Audio, Philip K. Dick, The Twilight Zone, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein, what is the Philip K. Dick way, empathy, a lack of empathy, paranoia, Science Fiction or Fantasy?, definitely a horror story, not a lot of technology, aliens, other dimensions, Lovecraftian!, who is the titular stranger?, Byron Sonne, Bradley Manning, The Invasion, what’s the purpose of controlling the humans?, Passengers by Robert Silverberg, The Hidden, Men In Black, gods, scary picture of Beelzebub, The Walking Dead, third person – deep penetration vs. omniscient, Fair Game by Philip K. Dick (SFFaudio Podcast #097), To Serve Man by Damon Knight, honeypot, would be cool: a TV series with a new PKD story every week, The Ray Bradbury Theater, H.G. Wells, The Star by H.G. Wells, next week: Dream Park by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, Next A Good Story Is Hard To Find podcast: Stories Of Your Life by Ted Chiang, Fallen is brown!, Elias Koteas
Posted by Jesse Willis
A Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft
Source: Voices in the Dark (Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 )
Length: 2.6 hours
Reader: Sean Puckett
The book: While on a architectural tour of New England, a man visits the isolated port of Innsmouth. Locals from neighboring towns view the place with suspicion and treat the odd-looking Innsmouth natives with disgust. While there, he hears rumors of strange goings-on and investigates further. His investigations turn up more than he expects.
This is a dark and frightening tale that also causes some unease when it comes to digging beneath the surface as a modern-day reader. Lovecraft is obviously drawing upon pre-War racist attitudes and fears of miscegenation in his portrayal of the Innsmouth people. He shows mistrust of non-Western people and their “demonic” religions. Though thematically distasteful, this novella is probably my favorite H.P. Lovecraft story, though I can’t say I’ve read Lovecraft’s entire oeuvre.
Rating: 8/10
The reader: Puckett narrates this story in a melancholy tone that fits well with the mood. For characters like Zadoc, he drops into a believable-enough dialect. He has a few repeats of phrases and there is some background noise, but otherwise this is a good recording.
Posted by Seth
