James Bond – Page 4

Blackstone Audio’s $5 audiobook sale – STUNNING DEALS

SFFaudio News

Can anyone resist Blackstone Audio’s just announced $5.00 clearance sale?

This comes not a month after they announced their $9.99 overstock sale!

$5 for an audiobook.

That’s the deal of the year people!

Admittedly, not all of the available titles in this sale are unabridged, but they mostly are. There are a dozen SFF titles, plenty of crime, mystery and noir as well as a shelfload of history audiobooks. There are even a couple of audio dramas in there.

Here’s just a smattering of what excited me:

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; read by Ben Kingsley
THE AENEID by Virgil; read by Frederick Davidson
BABYLON BABIES by Maurice G. Dantec; read by Joe Barrett
THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London; read by Ethan Hawke
CASINO ROYALE by Ian Fleming; read by Simon Vance
CHRISTOPHER’S GHOSTS by Charles McCarry; read by Stefan Rudnicki
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT by Mark Twain; read by Carl Reiner
CRIMINAL PARADISE by Steven M. Thomas; read by Patrick Lawlor
THE DEAL by Peter Lefcourt; read by William H. Macy
DEATH MATCH by Lincoln Child; read by Barrett Whitener |READ OUR REVIEW|
DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA by Miguel de Cervantes; read by Robert Whitfield
EVIL, INC. by Glenn Kaplan; read by Glenn Kaplan
THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX by Elleston Trevor; read by Grover Gardner
FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley; read by Julie Harris
FRANKENSTEIN, OR THE MODERN PROMETHEUS by Mary Shelley; read by Simon Templeman, Anthony Heald, and Stefan Rudnicki
HOW TO SURVIVE A ROBOT UPRISING by Daniel H. Wilson; read by Stefan Rudnicki |READ OUR REVIEW|
HUCK FINN AND TOM SAWYER AMONG THE INDIANS by Mark Twain and Lee Nelson; read by Grover Gardner
I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson; read by Robertson Dean |READ OUR REVIEW|
I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves; read by Frederick Davidson
THE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS by Jack Finney; read by Kristoffer Tabori
IT’S SUPERMAN! by Tom De Haven; read by Scott Brick
JAMES BOND BOXED SET by Ian Fleming; read by Simon Vance
KING KONG by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper; novelization by Delos W. Lovelace; read by Stefan Rudnicki |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE by Richard Condon; read by Christopher Hurt
THE MARTIAN CHILD by David Gerrold; read by Scott Brick
MARTIAN TIME-SLIP AND THE GOLDEN MAN by Philip K. Dick; read by Grover Gardner
MILDRED PIERCE by James M. Cain; read by Christine Williams
MYSTIC WARRIOR by Tracy and Laura Hickman; read by Lloyd James
PETER PAN by J.M. Barrie; read by Roe Kendall
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde; read by Simon Vance
THE PRESTIGE by Christopher Priest; read by Simon Vance
QUANTUM OF SOLACE by Ian Fleming; read by Simon Vance
RINGWORLD’S CHILDREN by Larry Niven; read by Barrett Whitener |READ OUR REVIEW|
ROCKET SHIP GALILEO by Robert A Heinlein; read by Spider Robinson |READ OUR REVIEW|
SUPERMAN RETURNS by Marv Wolfman; read by Scott Brick |READ OUR REVIEW|
SWEENEY TODD AND THE STRING OF PEARLS by Yuri Rasovsky; read by a full cast
TARZAN OF THE APES by Edgar Rice Burroughs; read by Ben Kingsley
THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE by David Hajdu; read by Stefan Rudnicki
THERMOPYLAE by Paul Cartledge; read by John Lee
THE THREE MUSKETEERS by Alexandre Dumas; read by Michael York
THE TIME MACHINE by H.G. Wells; read by Ben Kingsley
THE TRIAL by Franz Kafka; read by Geoffrey Howard
UTOPIA by Sir Thomas More; read by James Adams
V FOR VENDETTA by Steve Moore; read by Simon Vance |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS by H.G. Wells; read by Christopher Hurt
WHERE’S MY JETPACK? by Daniel H. Wilson; read by Stefan Rudnicki |READ OUR REVIEW|
THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE by Don Winslow; read by Dennis Boutsikaris
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO NARNIA by Jonathan Rogers; read by Brian Emerson

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC R2 / RA.cc: The Hunt For Sexton Blake

Aural Noir: Online Audio

Here’s a reminder that tonight sees the beginning of The Adventures Of Sexton Blake in a six week run on BBC Radio 2. But if you’re still not sure who this Blake bloke is, I’ve got the solution. Using my amazing skills of research (RadioArchive.cc) I’ve uncovered a July 28th, 2009 documentary about this Sexton Blake character. It’s called The Hunt For Sexton Blake and runs a full hour. Interested parties can find the well seeded torrent for it through RadioArchive.cc. It’s filed in the “factual” section there. Here’s the description:

Who exactly is Sexton Blake? People under the age of 45 might ask that question, but anyone older is likely to have read one of the 4000 stories by over 200 authors, or seen the films, the stage adaptations, the many TV shows, or listened to his adventures on radio.

Sexton Blake is one of the most famous and long-lived fictional detectives and adventurers of all time, who battled opium smugglers, bandit chiefs and the Kaiser. In his heyday he was more widely read than Sherlock Holmes – enjoyed by working people all over the British Empire – and whilst Holmes features in very few stories, Blake appeared in thousands.

In this hour long profile and exploration of Blake’s impact, David Quantick talks to author Michael Moorcock, who used to edit the Sexton Blake Library; Jack Adrian a former writer; and comic book illustrator Kevin O’Neil, who co-created The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and other heroes.

That Blake didn’t have the same critical recognition, could be attributed to the fact the stories were published in cheap magazines, rather than in proper books. Or because the writers themselves didn’t move in the right circles, to make friends and influence people. While Ian Fleming had been to Eton and Sandhurst, the Blake authors were a rag tag bunch of eccentrics, whose own lives were worked into the tales. Michael Moorcock tells David that the Blake writers were puzzled at how James Bond was liked by critics, when the early novels were badly plotted and featured cartoon-like villains hiding in volcanoes.

David also hears about the Blake author who vanished under mysterious circumstances. The writer’s wife sent in his remaining Blake manuscripts without saying he’d disappeared, and then passed off her new partner’s work as that of her dead husband. It wouldn’t take Sexton Blake to tell you there was something fishy going on there!

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #027

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #027 – Jesse and Scott are joined by Rick Jackson (The Time Traveler). Today we talk about new audiobooks, the ongoing CONAN situation, and libraries. Should libraries be renting Zunes to patrons?

Talked about on today’s show:
Ted Chiang, Eclipse 2, Blackstone Audio, The Green Hills Of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein, Apollo 8, Brotherhood Of The Wolf by David Farland, Bellewether by Connie Willis, Corsair by Clive Cussler, James Bond is fantasy?, Quantum Of Solace, Sahara, coming from Wonder Audio… The Fabulous Clipjoint by Frederic Brown, Tantor Media doing Robert E. Howard audiobooks, Conan Properties International versus Broken Sea Audio, New Zealand’s new copyright legislation, reductio ad absurdum, copyrights and trademarks, Clark Ashton Smith, downloading audiobooks through libraries, WMA format, Overdrive vs. NetLibrary, PC Gamer Podcast – ‘X-Box 360, Wii and Playstation 3 are giant DRM keys’, libraries rent DVDs?, ‘government shouldn’t be doing what business can do’.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Circus 13 Productions – An Audio Drama Collective

SFFaudio Online Audio

Circus 13 Productions is a new amateur audio drama co-operative offering original and Fan-Fic shows. The group appears to be modeled on the successful Pendant Productions and Darker Projects audio theater groups, offering a mix of Fan-Fic and original series voiced by amateur actors. A difference I’ve noticed in their X-Men series Circus 13 makes extensive use of narration.

Shows with episodes out already include:

Assault A pair of thieves, decide to break into A.T.L.A.S. Labs, the most high-tech laboratories in the world, to steal some “toys” so they can sell them and live like kings the rest of their lives.

Quest For The Passion Stone A young man discovers he is the third incarnation of an already twice dead hero of a secret world called the Underhollow. It exists alongside, and sometimes in the “real” world.

Truck A bounty hunter traveling through time and space in order to track down the worst of the worst.

Circus 13 Presents An anthology series.

X-Men: Days of Future, Past! An adaptation of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s comics tale.

James Bond: Casino Royale Bond is on a mission to neutralize a lethal, high-rolling Russian operative called simply ‘Le Chiffre’.

Also in the works are two more Fan-Fic shows: Doctor Who and Iron Man!

All programs can be downloaded from the website in MP3 format. So far, there’s only one podcast feed (for Assault):

http://circus13productions.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

posted by Jesse Willis

Pendant Productions now has six different audio …

Online Audio

Pendant Productions now has six different audio drama series on offer. I count five of them as definitely able to pique SFFaudio reader interest. The sixth is a James Bond one and as such almost qualifies as fantasy, right?

Pendant’s series are created by a dedicated crew of authors, actors and fans. They are making audio dramas in a radio serial style first produced in the 1930s and 1940s. I think they are doing some amazing work, I hope you’ll check them out!

Here are the details on each series:

Superman: The Last Son Of Krypton
The “Man of Steel” with those mild manners gets the star treatment in this ongoing monthly serial adventure based on the modern incarnation of the character in DC Comics.

Wonder Woman: Champion of Theysciria
The Amazon princess returns in this ongoing monthly serial adventure based on the modern incarnation of the character in DC Comics.

Batman: Ace Of Detectives
An ongoing monthly serial adventure based on the modern incarnation of Batman found in DC Comics. Alfred, Robin and the Bat himself battle criminals in Gotham.

James Bond: To The End
This is a limited series based on the character created by Ian Fleming. James Bond is of course a suave secret service agent for the British government. Part 6 of this limited series is already in the can, you can subscribe to the podcast using this feed:

Star Trek: Defiant
Set aboard the USS Defiant, last seen in Star Trek Deep Space Nine, this is a fan created Star Trek adventure with a whole new cast and cew! Chock full of the Star Trek Federation space ship sound effects – lots of bleeping and blooping – also found here is a well written, familial show. Lots of fun.

The Dixie Stenberg and Brassy Battalion Adventure Theater
The only all original series from Pendant so far, this is a light hearted “aerial adventure drama” inspired by such shows as Captain Midnight, Hop Harrigan, Adventures by Morse and Speed Gibson. The Dixie Stenberg and Brassy Battalion Adventure Theater is brought to you in part by Umket Industries.

posted by Jesse Willis