Tag: Mary Robinette Kowal

Review of Middle Woman by Orson Scott Card

SFFaudio Review

Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show Audio Bonus - Middle WomanMiddle Woman
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Mary Robinette Kowal
1 MP3 File – 9 Minutes 57 Seconds [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show
Published: March 2006
Themes: / Fantasy / Fable / Dragons / 3 Wishes /Immortality /

This is the second “Audio Bonus” from Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show online magazine, the plan appears to be to offer one bonus MP3 story per issue. Cool!

Orson Scott Card’s short fiction is connected to people in ways that other speculative fiction often isn’t. Realistic character psychology always takes the lead over scenarios, but his scenarios always test his characters’ psychologies – it makes for a special completeness rarely found in Speculative Fiction. Combine this with a refinement of prose, where every word is perfectly placed, and you get a little piece of magic in every OSC story. In this case, “Middle Woman” is a fable style fiction, another variation of that old saw “the three wishes”. Originally published under OSC’s pseudonym “Byron Walley”, it takes the idea of moderation, something almost always absent from fables, and runs with it. It reminded me of a kinder, gentler version of Robert Bloch’s classic That Hellbound Train. Interestingly, it also offers a more restive solution to W.W. Jacobs’ The Monkey’s Paw. The setting is Eastern, and given the “middle” of the title I suspect it is working in the ‘middle kingdom’ style of storytelling. Whether I’m right about that or not you’ll have to check it out yourself to decide.

Quite short, only 9 minutes, this is ably read by Mary Robinette Kowal who manipulates her voice in all the right ways to lend classic fairy tale reading to this modern fable. In addition to being a terrific narrator, Kowal is a professional puppeteer who also moonlights as speculative fiction author. “Middle Woman” is the Audio Bonus found in Issue Two of the online magazine Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show.

DISCLAIMER: Mary Robinette Kowal, when not reading stories aloud is an SFFaudio reviewer.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The second issue of Orson Scott Card’s Intergala…

SFFaudio News

The second issue of Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show will feature a bonus audio mp3 version of Middle Woman a short Science Fiction Fantasy which was written by OSC in 1981. It’ll run nearly 10 Minutes and will be read by our very own Mary Robinette Kowal. Congrats go to both Mary and the subscribers of OSC’s IGMS magazine! This’ll be another must buy!

Posted by Jesse Willis

There are points in my day when I want a treat, a …

SFFaudio Online Audio

There are points in my day when I want a treat, a small snack or a little bit of delight. Ian Creasey has a collection of audio bon-bons on his website which brought a smile to my face. His humor is wry and often contains a bit of twist at the end as in his short story, Death and Taxes. (Imagine a government tax program which believes that it is God.) Not all of the shorts are conventional stories, so if you favor works with plot, skip straight to The Long Shrink. Otherwise, you might enjoy listening in to the news story about Reality 2.0 The only one that missed its mark for me was Night Shift on the Support Line, which, alas, was a little bit too long to sustain the humor.

Each story is read by the author, a man whose creamily, smooth voice reminds me a bit of the Guide in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. An impression which is heightened by the reverberation in the recordings.

So, when you need a quick audio fix, drop by Mr. Creasey’s site and listen to one of these short, shorts.

posted by Mary-Robinette