LibriVox: Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 015

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxH.G. Wells has two tales in this collection. The New Accelerator features a fascinating depiction of the invention of what sounds a lot like an amphetamine (though technically they had already been invented a dozen years earlier). It will also remind Star Trek fans of the episode called Wink of an Eye.

The other story by Wells here is The Crystal Egg which is set in a pawn shop in London. It’s likely one of the first tales featuring a kind of CCTV television technology.

The Philip K. Dick story called Beyond Lies The Wub is one of the best Dick short stories printed. It makes for excellent repeated listening. Gregg Margarite does a great job with it too.

As Long As You Wish is not new to this collection but I mention it because it is a bit tricky – remember to pay close attention to the beginning so as to help you understand the ending.

LibriVox - Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 015Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 015
By various; Read by various
10 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx 3 Hours 40 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi with varying punctuation and case) is a broad genre of fiction that often involves sociological and technical speculations based on current or future science or technology. This is a reader-selected collection of short stories that entered the US public domain when their copyright was not renewed.

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/short-science-fiction-collection-015.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

LibriVox Science Fiction - As Long As You Wish by John O'KeefeAs Long As You Wish
By John O’Keefe; Read by Wally Reed
1 |MP3| – Approx. 11 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
If, somehow, you get trapped in a circular time system . . . how long is the circumference of an infinitely retraced circle? From Astounding Science Fiction, June, 1955.

LibriVox - Beyond Lies The Wub by Philip K. DickBeyond Lies The Wub
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 16 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
The slovenly wub might well have said: Many men talk like philosophers and live like fools. From Planet Stories July 1952.


LibriVox - The Crystal Egg by H.G. WellsThe Crystal Egg
By H.G. Wells; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 40 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
The story tells of a shop owner, named Mr. Cave, who finds a strange crystal egg that serves as a window into the planet Mars. Written in the same year in which The War of the Worlds was being serialized. This story is often considered a prequel to The War of the Worlds, though there is no clear foreshadowing of the events that transpire in the novel.

LibriVox - Hard Guy by H.B. CarletonHard Guy
By H.B. Carelton; Read by Bookman
1 |MP3| – Approx. 7 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
There will be fine, glittering, streamlined automobiles in 2000 A.D. Possibly they will run themselves while the driver sits back with an old-fashioned in his hands. Perhaps they will carry folks down the highways at ninety miles an hour in perfect safety. But picking up a hitch-hiker will still be as dangerous as it is today. First published in Amazing Stories November 1942, later reprinted in Amazing Stories April 1956.

Amazing Stories December 1960I’m A Stranger Here Myself
By Mack Reynolds; Read by William Haseltine
1 |MP3| – Approx. 11 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
One can’t be too cautious about the people one meets in Tangier. They’re all weirdies of one kind or another. Me? Oh, From Amazing Stories, December 1960.

LibriVox - The New Accelerator by H.G. WellsThe New Accelerator
By H.G. Wells; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
A friend of H.G. Wells is on the verge of making a scientific breakthrough which promises to revolutionise human life – so the two friends decide to road-test the new drug – with exciting but dangerous consequences.

LibriVox - The Radiant Shell by Paul ErnstThe Radiant Shell
By Paul Ernst; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 52 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
The man on the metal plate was vanishing. From Astounding Stories January 1932.


Astounding Stories November 1932A Scientist Rises
By D.W. Hall; Read by Epistomolus
1 |MP3| – Approx. 18 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
All gazed, transfixed, at the vast form that towered above them. From the November 1932 issue of Astounding Stories.


LibriVox - Vanishing Point by C.C. BeckVanishing Point
By C.C. Beck; Read by Bellona Times
1 |MP3| – Approx. 12 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
In perspective, theoretically the vanishing point is at infinity, and therefore unattainable. But reality is different; vanishment occurs a lot sooner than theory suggests .. From Astounding Science Fiction July 1959.

LibriVox - Viewpoint by Randall GarrettViewpoint
By Randall Garrett; Read by Ray Smith
1 |MP3| – Approx. 22 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: May 4th, 2009
A fearsome thing is a thing you’re afraid of—and it has nothing whatever to do with whether others are afraid, nor with whether it is in fact dangerous. It’s your view of the matter that counts! From Astounding Science Fiction January 1960.

Posted by Jesse Willis

BBC Radio 3: Bring Me The Head of Philip K. Dick

SFFaudio Online Audio

BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3 has just aired Bring Me The Head of Philip K. Dick. Here’s the summary:

BBC Radio 3 - Bring Me The Head Of Philip K. Dick“Gregory Whitehead’s dark, surreal and satirical drama, set in contemporary America, centres on a deadly futuristic weapon in the shape of the android head of science-fiction writer Philip K Dick. Invented by a shadowy research unit inside the Pentagon, the head – which believes it actually is Dick himself – is wreaking havoc on society and must be stopped before it finds its body.”

Credits:
Cryptica Scriptura …… Elizabeth Aspenlieder
Cathy Nebula …… Karen Beaumont
Reverend Darkleigh …… George Bergen
Nancy Robinson …… Hilary Deely
Philip Dooley …… Richard Jackson
Tiffany Splenda …… Karen Lee
The Potato Man …… Jon Swan
Perky Pat …… Anne Undeland
The Patriot …… Gregory Whitehead
Written, produced and directed by Gregory Whitehead.
Music by Laura Wiens and Nick Zammuto.
Poem by Jon Swan

[via TOTAL DICK HEAD]

UPDATE:

So over the past few days I’ve been playing with a cool piece of new software called RADIO DOWNLOADER, it’s a bit tricky to figure out (perhaps because it looks so uncomplicated) but the software works!! It brought me Bring Me The Head of Philip K. Dick – I love that!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals from Blackstone Audio

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

The Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Vol. 1The 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, Vol. 2The 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 PournelleInferno
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!

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.
 
 
The Sum of All Men by David FarlandThe Runelords: The Sum of All Men
By David Farland; Read by Ray Porter
17 CDs – 20.4 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433226946

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.
 
 
Sherlock Holmes TheatreSir 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 PodcastThe 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

New Releases – Poe, CBC Audio, Richard K. Morgan, Full Cast, S.M. Stirling, + MUCH MORE!

New Releases

Has it really been so long since we had a New Releases post? By the massive size of this one our last must have been a few light years back!

Audible Frontiers:

Audible Frontiers - Starship: Rebel, Book 4 by Mike ResickStarship: Rebel
By Mike Resnick; Read by Jonathan Davis
Audible Download – 8 Hours 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 16th 2008
The date is 1968 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now. The Republic, dominated by the human race, is in the midst of an all-out war with the Teroni Federation. Almost a year has passed since the events of Starship: Mercenary. Captain Wilson Cole now commands a fleet of almost fifty ships, and he has become the single greatest military force on the Inner Frontier. With one exception. The Republic still comes and goes as it pleases, taking what it wants, conscripting men, and extorting taxes, even though the Frontier worlds receive nothing in exchange. And, of course, the government still wants Wilson Cole and the starship Theodore Roosevelt. He has no interest in confronting such an overwhelming force, and constantly steers clear of them. Then an incident occurs that changes everything, and Cole declares war on the Republic. Outnumbered and always outgunned, his fleet is no match for the Republic’s millions of military vessels, even after he forges alliances with the warlords he previously hunted down. It’s a hopeless cause…but that’s just what Wilson Cole and the Teddy R. are best at.

The Ophiuchi Hotline
By John Varley; Read by Gabra Zackman
Audible Download – 7 Hours 55 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 2008

Coyote: A Novel of Interstellar Exploration
By Allen Steele; Read by Peter Ganim, Allen Steele, Therese Plummer
Audible Download – 17 hours and 36 minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 2008

Coyote Frontier: A Novel of Interstellar Exploration
By Allen Steele; Read by Peter Ganim, Allen Steele, Therese Plummer
Audible Download – 17 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 2008

Coyote Rising: A Novel of Interstellar Revolution
By Allen Steele; Read by Peter Ganim, Allen Steele, Therese Plummer
Audible Download – 17 Hours 32 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 2008

Galaxy Blues
By Allen Steele; Read by Mark Vietor
Audible Download – 10 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 2008

After the Downfall
By Harry Turtledove; Read by Eric Michael Summerer
Audible Download – 17 Hours 55 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: September 2008

AudioBookCase:

The man with the foreboding voice takes on Stevenson’s most foreboding work…

AUDIOBOOKCASE - The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis StevensonThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde
By Robert Louis Stevenson; Read by Wayne June
3 CDs – [UNABRIDGED?]
Publisher: AudioBookCase
Published: December 2008?
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, (1886), has inspired analysis from a multiplicity of points-of-view, variously lauding it as a classic case study of good and evil, an examination of 19th century morals and psychological states, an inquiry into the essence of personality, personality disorder, and the nature of addiction. Of the work Stevenson himself said: “I send you herewith a Gothic gnome, interesting I think, and he came out of a deep mine, where he guards the fountain of tears.” And elsewhere: “Jekyll is a dreadful thing, I own, but the only thing I feel dreadful about is this damned old business of the war in the members. This time it came out; I hope it will stay in, in future.” Stevenson’s amiable style sets up an engaging personal rapport, sharing with the reader an enthusiasm and sense of wonder that remains today as rationale for the approbation of generations of admiring devotees worldwide.

Blackstone Audio:

Read by Michael Madsen, Sandra Oh, Edward Herrmann, and more (Blackstone commisioned this work done by the Hollywood Theater of the Ear)…

Blackstone Audio - The Maltese Falcon (Audio Drama)The Maltese Falcon
Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett; Performed by a full cast
3 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 3.1 Hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781433252495 (cd), 9781433252501 (mp3-cd)
The Maltese Falcon first appeared in the pages of Black Mask magazine in 1929. Almost immediately it was acknowledged as not only a great crime novel but an enduring masterpiece of American fiction. Sam Spade, its protagonist, is the archetypal tough, cynical P.I., “able,” as his creator explained, “to take care of himself in any situation, able to get the best of anybody he comes in contact with, whether criminal, innocent by-stander or client.” And what a client! – the irresistible and treacherous femme fatale Brigid O’Shaughnessy.

Believing the book’s vividly drawn characters and memorable dialogue cry out for theatrical treatment, Blackstone Audio commissioned this faithful dramatization by the award-winning Hollywood Theater of the Ear, in which a brilliant cast brings to life all the excitement and suspense of Hammett’s original in the playhouse of the mind.

The literary equivalent of taking deliriants in church…

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Tom Weiner
6 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 6.8 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: September 2008
Not too long from now, when exiles from a blistering Earth huddle miserably in Martian colonies, the only things that make life bearable are the drugs. Can-D “translates” those who take it into the bodies of Barbie-like dolls. Now there’s competition: a substance called Chew-Z, marketed under the slogan “God promises eternal life. We can deliver it.” The question is: What kind of eternity? And who—or what—is the deliverer?

Sounding rather comic, and mainstream…

The Ghost In Love
By Jonathan Carroll; Read by Ray Porter
8 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 9.3 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: September 2008
Just after a man falls in the snow and hits his head on a stone curb, a ghost arrives to take his soul to the afterlife. But something strange occurs: the man doesn’t die. Flabbergasted, the ghost appeals to his boss for further direction and is instructed to stay with the man until the strange “problem” is worked out. But things get complicated when the ghost falls madly, deeply in love with the man’s girlfriend. Soon afterward, the man discovers he did not die when he was supposed to because, for the first time, human beings have decided to take back their fates from the gods.

Book 2 in Card’s SF version of the book of Mormon…

The Call Of Earth (Homecoming: Book 2)
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Stefan Rudnicki
9 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 10.5 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: September 2008
For millennia, the planet Harmony has been protected by the Oversoul, an artificial intelligence programmed to prevent thoughts of war and conquest from threatening the fragile remnant of Earth’s peoples. But as the Oversoul’s systems have begun to fail, a great warrior has arisen to challenge its bans. Using forbidden technology, the ambitious and ruthless General Moozh has won control of an army and is aiming it at the city of Basilica.

This sounds bizarre, interesting, and rather Russian…

The Sacred Book Of The Werewolf
By Victor Pelevin; Read by Cassandra Campbell
10 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 11.7 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: September 2008
A. Huli, beautiful and curiously foxlike, has the appearance of a luscious fourteen-year-old girl, the mind of a sly Buddhist monk, and an endearing habit of name-dropping all the famous people she’s met over the past 2,000 years. She works as a classy prostitute in Moscow’s premier hotels, until one client goes inexplicably and fatally berserk at the sight of her and she has to leave in a hurry. Forced to advertise on the Internet, she comes to the attention of an intelligence officer who also happens to be a werewolf.

CBC Audio:

It is pricey at $54.95 CDN, but, it’s got never before heard content, and 7 full CDs of radio drama goodness!

CBC Audio - Canadia: 2056 Season 2 Director’s Cut by Matt WattsCanadia: 2056 (Season 2 Directors Cut)
7 CDs – RADIO DRAMA
Publisher: CBC Audio
Published: December 2008
Product ID: ERART00259
Volume 2 of this entertaining sci-fi comedy series, written by one of Canada’s best-loved comedy writers, Matt Watts. The United States has launched an armada to destroy an alien threat. Canada sends the nation’s only publicly-funded spacecraft, The Canadia – a ship with a single purpose – to plunge the Americans’ toilets. Includes episodes 11-24.

Full Cast Audio:

Book 3 in the Unicorn Chronicles series…

Dark Whispers: Unicorn Chronicles
By Bruce Coville; Multi-cast narration
10 CDs – Approx. 10.25 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Published: September 2008
Listen to a sample |MP3|
As the unicorns of Luster prepare for an invasion led by their ancient enemy, Beloved, a troubling new clue to the dangers they face is discovered in an ancient scroll. As a result, the queen must send her granddaughter—the human girl Cara Dianna Hunter—to the Valley of the Centaurs, in quest of an ancient story that may hold the key to survival for all of Luster.

Graphic Audio:

Outlanders: Grailstone Gambit
By James Axler; Performed by a full cast
CDs – 6 hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: GraphicAudio
Published: September 2008

Superman: The Never-Ending Battle
By Roger Stern; Performed by a full cast
CDs – 6 hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: GraphicAudio
Published: September 2008

Recorded Books:

One of three Beart audibooks coming to Recorded Book’s new Sci-Fi imprint…

Undertow
By Elizabeth Bear; Read by Timothy Reynolds
9 CDs – 11.25 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: September 2008
ISBN: 9781436119566
André Deschênes wants to escape his life as a hired assassin. He hopes to learn the art of conjuring, manipulating the odds of people’s lives. But a revolution is brewing in the city of Novo Haven, where an alien race is finally gaining ground, demanding they be treated as citizens. And before André moves on, he has a contract to fulfill.

For all your gaelic-nipponese needs look no farther than…

End Of The World Blues
By Jon Courtenay Grimwood; Read by James Yaegashi
12 CDs – 13.25 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: September 2008
ISBN: 9781436147781
Iraqi war vet and part owner of an Irish pub in Tokyo, Kit Nouveau gave up on life a long time ago. But then his life is saved by a runaway, and Kit’s past might be the only thing that can save him from impending disaster.

The first in a series…

Greywalker
By Kat Richardson; Read by Mia Barron
10 CDs – 12.25 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: September 2008
ISBN: 9781436124492
Seattle P.I. Harper Blaine is viciously attacked and murdered—but after exactly two minutes, somehow she returns to life. Now she’s seeing strange things all around her—dark visions from the shadow world—and living a normal life may no longer be possible no matter how hard she tries.

From the author who is also a book critic…

Nova Swing
By M. John Harrison; Read by Jim Frangione
8 CDs – 9.5 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: September 2008
ISBN: 9781436124515
In this sci-fi noir, the physics-defying Saudade Event Site is a place to find strange landscapes and seemingly impossible physical phenomena—perfect for tourism. Into this environment comes Vic Serotonin, a “travel agent” whose newest client is a mysterious woman with a hidden agenda.

Asaro’s first audiobook for Recorded Books (several previous novels were published at Blackstone)…

The Ruby Dice
By Catherine Asaro; Read by Suzanne Toren
14 CDs – 17 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: September 2008
ISBN: 9781436135245
War between the Eubian Concord and the Skolians has devastated the galaxy before. Now another epic clash is brewing, and the leaders of both empires might be powerless to stop it. Further complicating matters, both men hide shocking secrets that could spell their doom.

Tantor Media:

Morgan does Fantasy! I’m there…

The Steel Remains
By Richard K. Morgan; Read by Simon Vance
13 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 16 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: January 2009
EAN: 9781400109630 (cd), 9781400159635 (mp3-cd)
Epic fantasy is worked over in classic Richard K. Morgan style, producing this unique combination of noir themes and savage action involving characters you wouldn’t want to meet but will love to follow.

An older World Fantasy Award winning novel from Tantor Media…

Replay
By Ken Grimwood; Read by William Dufris
10 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 12 Hours 30 Minutes UNABRIDGED
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781400110100 (cd), 9781400160105 (mp3-cd)
A time-travel classic in the tradition of Jack Finney’s Time and Again, Ken Grimwood’s acclaimed novel Replay asks the pro-vocative question: “What if you could live your life over again, knowing the mistakes you’d made before?”

You want alternate history? Bam!

The United States Of Atlantis (Book Two in the Atlantis Trilogy)
By Harry Turtledove; Read by Todd McLaren
13 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 16 hrs 30 min – Unabridged
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: December 2008
ISBN: 9781400107834 (cd), 9781400157839 (mp3-cd)
In the second book of the Atlantis trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Harry
Turtledove continues to rewrite the history of the world with the existence of an
eighth continent: Atlantis.

I knew that dog was really a ghost…

Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong (Reopening the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles)
By Pierre Bayard; Read by John Lee
4 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 4 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: December 2008
ISBN: 9781400109838 (cd), 9781400159833 (mp3-cd)
Eliminate the impossible, Sherlock Holmes said, and whatever is left must be the solution. But, as Pierre Bayard finds in this dazzling reinvestigation of The Hound of the Baskervilles, sometimes the master missed his mark. Using the last thoughts of the murder victim as his key, Bayard unravels the case, leading the reader to the astonishing conclusion that Holmes—and, in fact, Arthur Conan Doyle—got things all wrong: The killer is not at all who they said it was. Part intellectual entertainment, part love letter to crime novels, and part crime novel in itself, Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong turns one of our most beloved stories delightfully on its head. Examining the many facets of the case and illuminating the bizarre interstices between Doyle’s fiction and the real world, Bayard demonstrates a whole new way of reading mysteries: a kind of “detective criticism” that allows readers to outsmart not only the criminals in the stories we love but also the heroes—and sometimes even the writers.

These two novels will effect the masses who’ve played the videogame…

Mass Effect: Revelation (#1 in the Mass Effect Series)
By Drew Karpyshyn; Read by David Colacci
7 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 9 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781400110056 (cds), 9781400160051 (mp3-cd)
From the New York Times bestselling author Drew Karpyshyn comes the thrilling first
official novel based on the BioWare video game Mass Effect.

Mass Effect – Ascension (#2 in the Mass Effect Series)
By Drew Karpyshyn; Read by David Colacci
8 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 9 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: December 2008
ISBN: 9781400110049 (cd), 9781400160044 (mp3-cd)
It’s humankind versus a race of machines bent on harvesting organic life in this second official novel based on the BioWare video game.

Originally released by Durkin Hayes abridged, here’s the first unabridged version of this non-Dune Frank Herbert novel…

Tantor Media Science Fiction Audiobook - The White Plague by Frank HerbertThe White Plague
By Frank Herbert; Read by Scott Brick
16 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 20 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 12/08/2008
ISBN: 9781400105656 (cd), 9781400155651 (mp3-cd)
The White Plague, a marvelous and terrifyingly plausible blend of fiction and visionary theme, tells of one man who is pushed over the edge of sanity by the senseless murder of his family and who, reappearing several months later as the so-called Madman, unleashes a terrible plague upon the human race—one that zeros in, unerringly and fatally, on women.

Wer’re wild and wooly about this one…

Tantor Media Alternate History Audiobook - The Breath Of God by Harry TurtledoveThe Breath Of God
By Harry Turtledove; Read by William Dufris
12 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 15 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 12/23/2008
ISBN: 9781400107841 (cd), 9781400157846 (mp3-cd)
Harry Turtledove, New York Times bestselling author of Opening Atlantis, presents more adventure in a Bronze Age that never was in this sequel to Beyond the Gap.

New series… merc chick with sword? SOLD!

Magic Bites (#1 in the Kate Daniels series)
By Ilona Andrews; Read by Renée Raudman
8 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 9 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: December 2008
ISBN: 9781400110308 (cd), 9781400160303 (mp3-cd)
Mercenary Kate Daniels cleans up urban problems of a paranormal kind. But her latest prey, a pack of undead warriors, presents her greatest challenge.

A paperbook, now audiobook, from the pre-World Of Warcraft era. The first Warcraft audiobook…

Warcraft, Book One – Day Of The Dragon
By Richard A. Knaak; Read by Dick Hill
9 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 11 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 01/01/2009
ISBN: 9781400109869 (cd), 9781400159864 (mp3-cd)
An original tale of magic, warfare, and heroism based on the bestselling, awardwinning
electronic game from Blizzard Entertainment.

40 hours? Seriously? 40 hours? Seriously?

Pandora’s Star
By Peter F. Hamilton; Read by John Lee
32 CDs or 4 MP3-CDs – 40 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Audio
Published: 11/17/2008
ISBN: 9781400107643 (cd), 9781400157648 (mp3-cd)
Set in the twenty-fourth century, this epic novel of a human-extraterrestrial war
engineered by an unknown omniscient being is by the bestselling author of The
Reality Dysfunction and Fallen Dragon.

Against The Tide Of Years (#2 in the Nantucket series)
By S.M. Stirling; Read by Todd McLaren
17 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 20 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Media
Published: 11/17/2008
ISBN: 9781400106806 (cd), 9781400156801 (mp3-cd)
George R. R. Martin hailed S. M. Stirling’s bestselling novel Island in the Sea of Time as “an utterly engaging account of what happens when the isle of Nantucket is whisked back into the Bronze Age.” Now the adventure continues with Against the Tide of Years. Book two in the Island in the Sea of Time trilogy

On The Oceans Of Eternity (Book #3 in the Nantucket series)
By S.M. Stirling; Read by Todd McLaren
23 CDs or 3 MP3-Cds – 28 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: January 2009
EAN: 9781400106813 (cd), 9781400156818 (mp3-cd)
Award-winning science fiction author Harry Turtledove hailed Island in the Sea of Time as “one of the best time travel/alternative history stories I’ve ever read,” and Jane Lindskold called Against the Tide of Years “another exciting and explosive tale.” Now the adventures of the Nantucket islanders lost in the time of the Bronze Age continues with On the Oceans of Eternity.

The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change (#5 in the Emberverse series)
By S.M. Stirling; Read by Todd McLaren
15 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 18.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: September 2008
EAN: 9781400106820 (cd), 9781400156825 (mp3-cd)
Rudi MacKenzie continues his trek across the land that was once the United States of America. His destination: Nantucket, where he hopes to learn the truth behind the Change that rendered technology across the globe inoperable. During his travels, Rudi forges ties with new allies in the continuing war against the Prophet, who teaches his followers that God has punished humanity by destroying technological civilization. And one fanatical officer in the Sword of the Prophet has been dispatched on a mission: to stop Rudi from reaching his destination by any means necessary.

Crusade (Destroyermen: Book 2)
By Taylor Anderson; Read by William Dufris
12 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 15 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781400108077 (cd), 9781400158072 (mp3-cd)
The second novel in the Destroyermen trilogy finds the crew of the USS Walker in
alliance with the peaceful Lemurians against the warlike Grik when another, more
familiar foe joins in the fray. Book two in the Destroyermen trilogy.

Kushiel’s Scion
By Jacqueline Carey; Read by Simon Vance
22 CDs or 3 MP3-CDs – 28 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781400109524 (cd), 9781400159529 (mp3-cd)
National bestselling author Carey opens a new trilogy set in the same extraordinary
world as her extended New York Times bestseller, Kushiel’s Avatar.

Sunshine
By Robin McKinley; Read by Laural Merlington
13 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 16 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781400110087 (cd), 9781400160082 (mp3-cd)
In her first novel for adults. the Newbery Medalist and bestselling author pens an exciting, beautifully written, erotic addition to the popular vampire genre.

Embrace The Night
By Karen Chance; Read by Cynthia Holloway
13 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 16 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781400108190 (cd), 9781400158195 (mp3-cd)
In this third entry in the popular Cassandra Palmer series, Cassie is forced to travel back in time to retrieve an ancient book of spells—although doing so could spell disaster for the world.

Trading In Danger (#1 in the Vatta’s War Series)
By Elizabeth Moon; Read by Cynthia Holloway
11 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 14 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
EAN: 9781400108275 (cd), 9781400158270 (mp3-cd)
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
The first of the acclaimed Vatta’s War books, the exciting military science fiction series that features a swashbuckling spaceship-captain heroine who mixes commerce with combat.

Marque And Reprisal (#2 in the Vatta’s War Series)
By Elizabeth Moon; Read by Cynthia Holloway
11 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – 13 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781400108282 (cd), 9781400158287 (mp3-cd)
This action-packed sequel to Trading in Danger is the second installment in Nebula Award-winning author Moon’s military science fiction series featuring Kylara Vatta, who must save her family from ruin.

Valor’s Choice (Book One in the Confederation Series)
By Tanya Huff; Read by Marguerite Gavin
10 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – 12 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: November 2008
ISBN: 9781400109920 (cd), 9781400159925 (mp3-cd)
Listen to a sample MP3
In the distant future, humans and several other races have been granted membership in the Confederation—at a price. They must act as soldier/protectors of the far more civilized races who have long since turned away from war.

Posted by Jesse Willis

UCSD: LTWL 124 Science Fiction (a university course on SF)

SFFaudio Online Audio

QUICK! grab this podcast and its MP3s before they’re gone forever!

LTWL 124 (a first year course in the “Literatures of the World” department) is available now, but not for long. The University of California San Diego, which put out this course, takes its podcasts down shortly after a semester ends. Also note, all the files in this feed are completely unedited – this means there are long silences (often an hour of longer) and some files are a completely empty 2 hour block of silence. But, don’t let this deter you. Soldier on, start with lecture 2 (as it is the first file with content).

UCSD Department Of LiteratureLTWL 124 – Science Fiction (Literatures of the World)
Professor Stephen Potts
18 Lectures – Approx. 24 Hours [UNIVERSITY LECTURES]
University: UCSD
Semester: Fall 2008

Syllabus:

Introduction: A History of the Future.
Science Fiction: Origins to Golden Age
The Weird World of PKD: Ubik by Philip K. Dick
SF History: The New Wave
New Wave SF:The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Hard Science Fiction: Timescape by Gregory Benford
SF Onscreen: 1900-1970s
SF Onscreen: After Star Wars
Guest Lecture: David Brin
Cyberpunk. Neuromancer by William Gibson
Guest Lecture: Vernor Vinge
The Graphic Novel. Reading: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Conclusions

Podcast feed:

http://podcast.ucsd.edu/podcasts/rss.aspx?PodcastId=270

[via The DIY Scholar blog]

Posted by Jesse Willis