LibriVox – Page 34

LibriVox: The Green Rust by Edgar Wallace

Aural Noir: Online Audio

LibriVox Don W. Jenkins, a San Diegan, may not be the ideal narrative match for this 1919 English murder mystery/Science Fiction novel, but he’s competent enough for the price, 100% FREE! The novel itself isn’t going to break any heads open with its sheer awesomeness either – but The Green Rust is a competent reading of a competent early twentieth century murder mystery (that’s also got some SF elements in it). Plus, it’s got some great vocabulary, a fairly compelling mystery at the center of it (who would kill a man on his deathbed?), the occasional dollop of hilarious dialogue (“Drunk or sober he is a man! Drunk or sober he is a man!” and “she’s as dumb as an oyster”) as well as some quaint technology on display (home gas meters run by coins).

The Green Rust
By Edgar Wallace; Read by Don W. Jenkins
32 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 8 Hours 2 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 31, 2011
A millionaire is taken suddenly ill, and sensing his mortality, he asks his attorney to do him one last favor—to find and secretly watch over his missing niece, the daughter of his profligate deceased sister. This niece at the appropriate time would become heir to his millions. However, the millionaire is mysteriously murdered, stabbed to death in his sick bed. Oliva Cresswell, the unsuspecting niece, has been a cashier in a large West End store for five years when she meets a Mr. Beale, a self-described wheat merchant, is attacked in her flat and rescued by this Mr. Beale, is offered a job as his confidential secretary, refuses him, is unexplainably sacked and finds herself in need of his offer. The mysteries multiply and deepen as the story proceeds.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/5391

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to Dawn Larsen and Availle]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Luke’s Creative Podcast – Luke Burrage’s discussion with Gregg Margarite

SFFaudio Online Audio

My friend Luke Burrage (best known from the Science Fiction Book Review Podcast) is one of the most creative people I know. Which is why I was so disappointed when I heard what he’d titled his new podcast about creativity.

He called it, get this, Luke’s Creative Podcast.

I think he could have vastly improved upon the title by, at least, adding in some irony. He could have called it Luke’s Creatively Titled Podcast!

Worse, Luke has described Luke’s Creative Podcast as “Discussions about making cool stuff and doing cool things.” I teach my students that they should avoid the use of the words “stuff” and “things” in their writing as they are such non-specific and unevocative words. But I suppose an exception can for be made here, for Luke. If you’re as universally creative as Luke (he’s a juggler, author, photographer, musician, podcaster, YouTuber and probably a half dozen more things), those two words “things” and “stuff” are the only words that could cover all the cool stuff he’d like to talk about.

The show’s format is also, I think, stolen at least a bit from SFFaudio’s own. Luke doesn’t “interview” his guests he has discussions. And I think that was the right choice too.

But seriously, I’ve been listening to Luke’s Creative Podcast and have decided that the latest show was the perfect one to mention here. See, in show #6 Luke talks to another of my super-creative friends, Gregg Margarite. Gregg is the LibriVox.org and iambik audio narrator who is an occasional guest on SFFaudio Podcast readalongs. Sez luke:

Gregg Margarite is creative in many different fields, and so am I. We didn’t get into the specifics of any creative field, but had a great discussion about being someone trying to make their way in a world that likes to put people in boxes.

The podcast episode, |MP3|, is accompanied over on Luke’s site with some SFFaudio Podcast style shownotes. Luke has creatively stolen that style from us. It looks, and reads, great!

Podcast feed:

http://www.lukeburrage.com/creative/feed/podcast

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Free Listens review: Fantomas by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre

Fantômas by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre

Source: LibriVox (zipped mp3s or M4B)
Length: 10 hrs, 11 min
Reader: Alan Winterrowd

The book: Literature is full of great detectives; less so with great criminals. The criminal masterminds that take center stage in novels are often either effeminate plotters or crooks-with-a-heart-of-gold types. Fantômas is the rare criminal genius with the brawn and cold-heartedness to carry out gruesome murders, yet the charm to seduce a princess as he robs her. Close on his heels is the detective Juve of the Paris police, a master of disguise with the intelligence to almost, but not quite, catch up with Fantômas.

In France, Fantômas stars in over 40 books by Allain and Souvestre; the authors’ system of working together on the plot, then dividing the writing of the chapters led to this astounding productivity. Fantômas’s criminal exploits and his pursuit by Juve make for an entertaining read, but the characters do not have the brilliance of Sherlock Holmes nor the humor of Arsene Lupin. Although the characters are not so deep, the plot twists so much that even when I thought I knew the identity of Fantômas, there were still several more surprises. Fantômas belongs in the middle ground between the pulps and the great classics of the crime genre.

Rating: 7 / 10

Reader: Allan Winterrowd has a strong American baritone that does not distract from the story. He varies his tone slightly for the various characters, without going so far as to perform voices. As far as I could tell, he pronounces the French place-names correctly, though I’m no expert in French. Winterrowd speaks in a steady pace that allows the listener to keep up. The recording itself is well-done and clear.

posted by Seth

Tantor Media: FREE AUDIOBOOK: The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Aural Noir: Online Audio

Tantor Media is releasing another new limited time FREE MP3 audiobook download. Despite what it looks like on the cover (apparently Sherlock Holmes had a Macbook Air) The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes is an all original, un-remixed, collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, first collected in 1894.

You will need to have an account with Tantor Media, and to login to it. Start by clicking HERE. Accounts are free and do not require a credit card. The free audiobook should be available through the end of June 2011. I know some folks have had difficulty figuring out how to either “log in” or “create an account.” You must have an account and be logged in to get to the download. It is a two step process as illustrated below.

Step 1: Create An Account And Log In

First Create An Account Or Log In

Step 2: After Signing In, You Get Your Download Link

After Signing In Get Your Download Link

As usual there was a bit of trouble the first couple of times I downloaded the zipped file, but it now works and downloads. You will, of course, also need to unzip the MP3s once the download completes.

The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Read by Simon Prebble
11 Zipped MP3 Files – Approx. 8 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: March 2010
Sample: |MP3|
|ETEXT|
The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes are overshadowed by the event with which they close—the meeting of the great detective and Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime. When The Final Problem was first published, the struggle between Holmes and his arch nemesis, seemingly to the death, left many readers desolate at the loss of Holmes, but it also led to his immortality as a literary figure. The stories that precede it included two narratives from Holmes himself—on a mutiny at sea and a treasure hunt in a Sussex country house—as well as a meeting with his brilliant brother Mycroft.

Stories included: Silver Blaze, The Yellow Face, The Stock-Broker’s Clerk, The ‘Gloria Scott’, The Musgrave Ritual, The Reigate Puzzle, The Crooked Man, The Resident Patient, The Greek Interpreter, The Naval Treaty, and The Final Problem.

I should also point out that like most publications of this collection in the USA, over that last 117 years, this collection omits The Adventure Of The Cardboard Box for what Wikipedia indicates are reasons of morality.

If you’re not quite so squeamish The Adventure Of The Cardboard Box is available through LibriVox as two MP3 Files (Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|). |ETEXT|

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: King Of The Khyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVox King Of The Khyber Rifles is an war and espionage novel by one of Robert E. Howard’s favourite writers. Described as “fantastic” (in the literary sense), perhaps because of the inclusion of a fair amount of Theosophy amongst all it’s action and intrigue.

I kind of like Brett W. Downey’s narration too. His rendering of the text sounds very 1920s to me and his voice seems designed to say stuff like: “the kid’s got a lot of moxie I tell you.”

The King Of The Khyber Rifles
By Talbot Mundy; Read by Brett W. Downey
18 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 9 Hours 57 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 12, 2010
Athelstan King is a British Secret Agent stationed in India at the beginning of WWI. He is attached to the Khyber Rifles regiment as a cover, but his real job is to prevent a holy war. “To stop a holy war single-handed would be rather like stopping the wind–possibly easy enough, if one knew the way.” King is ordered to work with a mysterious and powerful Eastern woman, Yasmini. Can King afford to trust her? Can he afford not to? First published in Everybody’s Magazine May 1916 to January 1917.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/4127

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Here’s the Talbot Mundy biography from the Classics Illustrated edition of King Of The Khyber Rifles:

Classics Illustrated's Talbot Mundy biography

[via TriciaG and Annise]

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: The Black Star by Johnston McCulley

Aural Noir: Online Audio

LibriVox Today Johnston McCulley is probably best known as the creator of Zorro. But in his own day McCulley had several success in pulp fiction. The Black Star was among his first repeating characters – the titular character being a masked burglar with a massive ego and a five pointed signautre.

Proof listener “Betty M.” says that the titular Black Star reminds her of “the Scarlet Pimpernel, only the Black Star is a scoundrel” – after listening to the first chapter he sounds like a demented supervillain to me – he breaks-in to private residences and pastes black stars all over people’s headboards and dressing tables!!?!?!

The Wikipedia entry on Black Star describes him thusly:

Black Star was what was once termed a “gentleman criminal”, in that he does not commit murder, nor does he permit any of his gang to kill anyone, not even the police or his arch enemy Roger Verbeck. He does not threaten women, always keeps his word, and is invariably courteous, nor does he deal with narcotics in any of his stories. He is always seen in a black cloak and a black hood on which is embossed a jet black star. The Black Star and his gang used “vapor bombs” and “vapor guns” which rendered their victims instantly unconscious, a technique which pre-dated the Green Hornet’s gas gun by several decades.

That still sounds a lot more Lex Luthor, than Raffles, to me.

The Black Star
By Johnston McCulley; Read by Roger Melin
36 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 8 Hours 7 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 17, 2011
The Black Star was a master criminal who took great care to never be identifiable, always wore a mask so nobody knew what he looked like, rarely spoke to keep his voice from being recognized, and the only mark left at the scenes of the crimes which he and his gang committed were small black stars which were tacked as a sign of their presence, and an occasional sarcastic note to signify his presence and responsibility. Even those who worked for him knew nothing of him, all of which were making his crimes virtually unsolvable. The police were at a complete loss as to his identity and at a method of stopping his criminal activities. He seemed to have the perfect strategic setup and all advantages were in his favor. He even somehow knew where the wealthy kept their jewels and money, and knew when they would remove valuable items from their safes and deposit boxes. Thus Roger Verbeck decided to take on the case of the Black Star using his own methodology. The Black Star will keep you guessing from beginning to end, just as he kept the police and Verbeck guessing.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/rss/5440

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to Betty M. and David Lawrence]

Posted by Jesse Willis