Larry Niven – Page 22

The SFFaudio Podcast #026

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #026 – Jesse and Scott argue about how long books should be, talk about audiobooks, audio panels, Audible’s new audio format (higher quality). We also ask the questions:

“If Stephen King was your dad and reading you a bedtime story, would you ever get to sleep?” and “Why does Epic Fantasy have to be so long?”

Talked about on today’s show:
Science Fiction Symposium @ BYU, Writing Excuses podcast, Brandon Sanderson, I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, The Immortals by Tracy Hickman, The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame Vol. 1, Elantris |READ OUR REVIEW|, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., David Farland, Eric James Stone, James Dashner, Orson Scott Card, Audible’s new Enhanced Audio Format, Blackstone Audio‘s forthcomings: new Harlan Ellison (and old), Stir Of Echoes by Richard Matheson, Passage by Connie Willis, Bellwether by Connie Willis, CBC Radio Between The Covers, Wake by Robert J. Sawyer, Battlestar Galactica, the Story Speiler podcast, And All The Earth A Grave by C.C. MacApp, The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill |2 FREE STORIES|, Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill, On Writing by Stephen King, Telling Lies For Fun And Profit by Lawrence Block, Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle |READ OUR REVIEW|, Escape From Hell, Wikipedia is full of spoilers, Exit Door Leads In by Philip K. Dick [is full of swearing], The Most Brilliant Sci-Fi Mind on Any Planet: Philip K. Dick |PDF|, Starship Rebel by Mike Resnick |READ OUR REVIEW|, and a 5 sound review of Babylon 5, A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin, Wild Cards would make good audio, HBO’s True Blood, is it all ‘too much conversation, not enough sword?’

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

SFFaudio Review

Inferno
By Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle; Read by Tom Weiner
5 CDs – 5.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433259050
Themes: / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Bangsian Fantasy / Religion / Literature / Evil /

After being thrown out the window of his luxury apartment, science fiction writer Allen Carpentier wakes to find himself at the gates of hell. Feeling he’s landed in a great opportunity for a book, he attempts to follow Dante’s road map. Determined to meet Satan himself, Carpentier treks through the Nine Layers of Hell, led by Benito Mussolini, and encounters countless mental and physical tortures. As he struggles to escape, he’s taken through new, puzzling, and outlandish versions of sin—recast for the present day.

I don’t like that the book’s copywriter has spoiled the revelation of Benito’s last name. I figure most people would figure it out PDQ anyway, but it’s not actually revealed until more than half way through this novel. This is a rather interesting book, I’d heard about the title a few times over the years, along with the mention that Niven/Pounelle had written it, but had never actually got my hands on a copy until this year. It’s rather fitting that it’s been re-released now with all the hubub about religion vs. atheism going on. But the timing on the re-release probably has more to do with the imminent (like now) release of the sequel, Escape From Hell.

The Allen Carpentier character is, I assume, an analogue of Niven/Pounelle, an SF writer of the Hard variety. Carpentier is one of those folks who likes all those Fantasy ghouls and goblins to be either nailed down under a microscope for proper cataloging or poofed away in puffs of neuro-psychological explanation. Basically, a guy like me. When Carpentier finds himself alive, or at least not dead, after falling from a balcony, trapped in a place that resembles Dante Alighieri’s Inferno he insists the place is an “Inferno-land”, a kind of twisted Disneyland, created by something he mentally marks down as “Big Juju” (possibly an immensely powerful alien) rather than “God.” As a book it does stand well on its own, but leaves the ultimate revelations off-pages – something the sequel is pretty much going to have to address if it’s gonna be a satisfying sequel. This book however offers an effective and nuanced rumination on the nature of evil. I found myself sympathizing with the injustices Carpentier sees perpetrated throughout “Inferno-land” – sure a lot of the residents are highly contemptible, selfish, short sighted, and maybe even evil – but is any bad act enough to garner naught but eternal torture? That “Big Juju” character has just gone too far!

Tom Weiner delivers another terrific reading, providing vocal shading and accents for each character in the novel. It’s an even handed delivery, straddling the knife edge between the comedic possibility and the main character’s skeptical POV. Allen Carpentier often talks to himself, mentally checking his sanity as his highly skeptical eyes confront the pervasive reality of a manifest hell.

A Map of HELL (from the 1976 paperbook of Inferno):

Map Of Hell

Cover for Galaxy, October 1975 - Illusted by Richard Pini and Wendy Pini (INFERNO by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle)

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals from Blackstone Audio

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

The Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 1
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Various
7 CDs – 8 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433228223

Philip K. Dick stories! Contents: “Autofac”, “Progeny”, “The Exit Door Leads In”, “A Little Something for Us Tempnauts”, “The Last of the Masters”, “The Preserving Machine”, “Novelty Act”, “The War with the Fnools”, and “The Electric Ant”.

The Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 2
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Various
7 CDs – Approx. 8 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433228308

MORE Philip K. Dick stories! Contents: “Colony”, “Upon the Dull Earth”, “The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford”, “Faith of Our Fathers”, “The Days of Perky Pat”, “The Variable Man”, and “I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon”.

Inferno
By Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle; Read by Tom Weiner
5 CDs – 5.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433259050

Author in hell!

I read this one in print a long while back – a great epic fantasy.

David Farland’s acclaimed Runelords series introduces a world where the social structure is based upon the magical exchange of “endowments” such as stamina, grace, and wit. The Runelords are those who receive these endowments from their vassals, becoming superhuman in exchange for the responsibility of caring those they have deprived of strength, or beauty, or sight.

Young Prince Gaborn of Mystarria is traveling in disguise on a journey to ask for the hand of the lovely Princess Iome of Sylvarresta. Armed with his gifts of strength and perception, the prince and his bodyguard stop at a local tavern, where they spot a pair of assassins who have their sights set on Princess Iome’s father. As they race to warn the king, they realize that more than the royal family is at risk—the very fate of the Earth is in jeopardy.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Theatre
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Gillette, and Yuri Rasovsky; Performed by a full cast
5 CDs – 5.5 hours – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 9781433279916

Audio drama extraordinaire!

Blackstone Audiobooks is pleased to present the first audio recordings ever of the only two Holmes plays written by his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These new, specially commissioned productions of the Hollywood Theater of the Ear star Audie Award-winning readers Martin Jarvis as Sherlock Holmes and Kristoffer Tabori as Dr. Watson.

In Sherlock Holmes, the Napoleon of Crime, Professor Moriarity plots with would-be blackmailers to have Holmes killed. And the normally love-proof Holmes falls for an exceptional woman. The play was co-authored by the American matinee idol William Gillette, who played the title sleuth. A smash hit from the beginning, the play remained in Gillette’s repertoire until he retired more than thirty years after its premiere.

What is the secret of the shocking death of poor Enid’s sister? What did she mean by her dying words, “the speckled band”? What danger does Enid face from the brutal Dr. Rylott? Only Holmes can scope out the answer and save the helpless girl from certain death. Sir Arthur adapted The Speckled Band (1910) from his own short story of that name. A stage success on three continents, the play hasn’t received a professional revival in eighty-four years.

When Holmes turns fifty, he retires and becomes a beekeeper, creating a crisis for his friend Watson, whose income derives from the Holmes stories he contributes to the Strand magazine. Further, the Doctor owes money to mobsters who want either their cash or his blood. The surprising upshot is, as the headlines proclaim, a Ghastly Double Murder in Famed Detective’s Flat, a one-act comedy by producer-director Yuri Rasovsky, here receiving its audiobook premiere.

Besides winning the prestigious Audie Award, this audiobook won the 2006 Communicator Award for Art/Culture, an international award that recognizes recognizing creative excellence in communications.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

The SFFaudio Podcast #018

Podcast

The SFFaudio Podcast #018 – a podcast about audiobooks, audio drama, History and most of all mutiny! This is mutiny mister!

Talked about on today’s show:
One way to get around DRM (swapping iPods), Blackstone Audio arrivals, The Selected Stories Of Philip K. Dick Volume 1, The Selected Stories Of Philip K. Dick Volume 2, X-Minus One: Colony, The Days Of Perky Pat, Alpha, Catherine Asaro, Inferno, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, New Releases, Starship: Rebel, Mike Resnick, Allen Steele, Coyote, Wayne June, The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, audio drama of The Maltese Falcon, Yuri Rasovsky, The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch, The Sacred Book Of The Werewolf, Victor Pelevin, Canadia: 2056 – Season 2, Matt Watts, Steve The First, Steve The Second, sez Scott: ‘Matt Watt’s stuff is way better than Red Dwarf‘, Matt Watt’s blog entry on Canadia: 2056, Nova Swing, M. John Harrison, Tantor Media, The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan, Replay, Ken Grimwood, Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: Reopening the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles, Pierre Bayard, Pandora’s Star, Peter F. Hamilton, The DIY Scholar Blog, Stephen Pott’s UCSD Literature Of The World course on Science Fiction, LibriVox’s release of Uller Uprising, H. Beam Piper, the Sepoy Mutiny, 1984, George Orwell, what’s wrong with writers today (their works are not inspired by History), Mike Resnick’s the exception to this rule.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Orson Scott Card Selects #6 – Sirens Of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

SFFaudio Online Audio

Orson Scott Card’s October essay is available over on Audible.com. His subject this month is Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Sirens Of Titan!

“The job that science fiction is supposed to make us rethink reality, make us live in a different universe”

You can check it out on the site itself, or simply listen direct |MP3|. Sirens Of Titan is literary fiction using SF set-dressing – Card promises we’ll love it, even when we hate it.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Orson Scott Card Selects #5 – Protector by Larry Niven

SFFaudio Online Audio

Orson Scott Card’s September essay is available over on Audible.com. His subject this month is Larry Niven’s Protector!

“Larry Niven spews out incredible ideas the way other writers spew out commas and periods”

You can check it out on the site itself, or simply listen direct |MP3|. Protector isn’t just one of Larry Niven’s finest novels, it is one of the finest novels in all of SF. Check out our review of the audiobook version HERE.

Posted by Jesse Willis