Talked about on today’s show: Wonder Publishing, Brain Plucker, Science Fiction Oral History Association, Forgotten Classics, listening to audiobooks at double speed on the iPhone, Sansa Clip, Tantor Media‘s audiobook version of City Of Dragons by Kelli Stanley, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Catholics should get noir, the Kelli Stanley Wikipedia entry, noir, hard-boiled crime fiction, smoking, 1940, San Fransisco, murder mystery, private detective, Chinatown, Miranda Corbie (the hero of City Of Dragons), Julie’s Happy Catholic blog post about City Of Dragons, modern editing (or the egregious lack thereof), historical fiction, Luke Burrage’s review of A Game Of Thrones, Samuel Shellabarger, Captain From Castile, “Chesterfields really satisfy!”, chick lit, PTSD, page 201, Territory by Emma Bull, They Can Only Hang You Once by Dashiell Hammett, movies vs. novels, page 3, The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (our next readalong), using the font and the text on the page to help tell the story, racism, the Yellow Peril, is a female private investigation realistic for 1940?, backstory, the Pinkerton agency, b-girls and escorts, the Spanish Civil War, Donald E. Westlake, Travis McGee, John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, Hostage For A Hood by Lionel White, Gold Medal paperback originals, Noir Masters: An Anthology, iPad, Wonder ebooks on iPad, Death Pulls A Doublecross by Lawrence Block, Blackstone Audio, Jim Thompson, Nothing More Than Murder, Forever After, Midnight Blue by Ross Macdonald, The Imaginary Blonde, you can’t have a noir series, The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson, Sam Spade, James M. Cain, Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Mildred Peirce, Chinatown, worst ending ever, best ending ever, most depressing ending ever, Sunset Boulevard, Mickey Spillane, Perry Mason, Richard S. Prather, Shell Scott, Lew Archer, Harper (1966) starring Paul Newman.
When I compiled this list of the latest new releases from Tantor Media I discovered that there was a very companionable video for nearly every one.
First up is City Of Dragons, a book we’ve decided we’re going to be doing a readalong for. That is a bunch of podcasty bloggy friends will (hopefully) read and/or be listening to this book/audiobook for discussion on an upcoming SFFaudio Podcast! An exciting prospect eh?
City Of Dragons
By Kelli Stanley; Read by Cynthia Holloway
11 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 13 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: April 5, 2010
ISBN: 9781400116645 (cd), 9781400166640 (mp3-cd) February, 1940. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three-day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a thirty-three-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice—whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor’s shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic, she shakes down the city—her city—seeking the truth.
Here’s a science audiobook that’s got Scott pretty excited. Myself I thought the question of whether we are alone in the universe was answered rather definitely by that Charlie Sheen/Ron Silver documentary called The Arrival…
The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence
By Paul Davies; Read by George K. Wilson
9 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 10 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: April 13, 2010
ISBN: 9781400115518 (cd), 9781400165513 (mp3-cd) Fifty years ago, a young astronomer named Frank Drake pointed a radio telescope at nearby stars in the hope of picking up a signal from an alien civilization. Thus began one of the boldest scientific projects in history, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). But after a half century of scanning the skies, astronomers have little to report but an eerie silence—eerie because many scientists are convinced that the universe is teeming with life. The problem, argues leading physicist and astrobiologist Paul Davies, is that we’ve been looking in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and in the wrong way. Davies should know. For more than three decades, he has been closely involved with SETI and now chairs the SETI Post-Detection Taskgroup, charged with deciding what to do if we’re confronted with evidence of alien intelligence. In this extraordinary book, he shows how SETI has lost its edge, then offers a new and exciting road map for the future. Davies believes that our search so far has been overly anthropocentric: we tend to assume an alien species will look, think, and behave like us. He argues that we need to be far more expansive in our efforts, and in this book he completely redefines the search, challenging existing ideas of what form an alien intelligence might take, how it might try to communicate with us, and how we should respond if we ever do make contact. A provocative and mind-expanding journey, The Eerie Silence will thrill fans of science and science fiction alike.
Here’s a new twist on an War Of The Rats (which was turned into a movie called Enemy At The Gates)…
Beautiful Assassin
By Michael White; Read by Anne Flosnik
14 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 18 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: March 30, 2010
ISBN: 9781400114306 (cd), 9781400164301 (mp3-cd) Sevastopol, 1942. As the might of the German army threatens to engulf the Soviet Union, a brave, young Red Army sniper named Tat’yana Levchenko becomes a national hero. But who is this beautiful assassin? To the Soviets, she is a refined poet and weapon of destruction with three hundred enemy kills to her name—a dedicated soldier whose skill and courage have rallied a motherland on the brink of despair. To the Americans, she is a Red Communist with movie-star good looks who is championed by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt—a reminder of Soviet suffering and a symbol of the vital need to defeat the Nazis. Invited to the United States at the behest of the White House, Tat’yana sets off on a whirlwind tour with the first lady. Amid the curious crowds, rumors begin to swirl that Tat’yana is a spy, a pawn of politicians and propagandists battling for power and control. But before suspicions can be confirmed, the Soviet soldier vanishes. It will be more than fifty years before a resourceful correspondent uncovers the truth and the full story of the beautiful assassin is finally told.
I’m a huge fan of Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe. This new edition features the talented Simon Prebble, who I’ve really enjoyed listening to since I first heard his reading of The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton. This new edition of Ivanhoe, as with many of Tantor Media public domain sourced audiobooks, features a eBook of the full novel as well.
Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott; Read by Simon Prebble
15 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 18. Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: March 30, 2010
ISBN: 9781400116065 (cd), 9781400166060 (mp3-cd) The epitome of the chivalric novel, Ivanhoe sweeps listeners into Medieval England and the lives of a memorable cast of characters. Ivanhoe, a trusted ally of Richard the Lion Hearted, returns from the Crusades to reclaim the inheritance his father denied him. Rebecca, a vibrant, beautiful Jewish woman, is defended by Ivanhoe against a charge of witchcraft—but it is Lady Rowena who is Ivanhoe’s true love. The wicked Prince John plots to usurp England’s throne, but two of the most popular heroes in all of English literature—Richard the Lion Hearted and the well-loved, famous outlaw Robin Hoo—team up to defeat the Normans and regain the castle. The success of this novel lies with Sir Walter Scott’s skillful blend of historic reality, chivalric romance, and high adventure.
Methinks the teen doth protest too much!
I Am Not A Serial Killer (Book 1 in the John Cleaver series)
By Dan Wells; Read by John Allen Nelson
6 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 7 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: March 30, 2010
ISBN: 9781400115792 (cd), 9781400165797 (mp3-cd) John works in his family’s mortuary and has an obsession with serial killers. He wants to be a good person but fears he is a sociopath, and for years he has suppressed his dark side through a strict system of rules designed to mimic “normal” behavior. Then a demon begins stalking his small town and killing people one by one, and John is forced to give in to his darker nature in order to save them. As he struggles to understand the demon and find a way to kill it, his own mind begins to unravel until he fears he may never regain control. Faced with the reality that he is, perhaps, more monstrous than the monster he is fighting, John must make a final stand against the horrors of both the demon and himself.
Beowulf
By anonymous; Read by Rosalyn Landor
3 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 3 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: March 29, 2010
ISBN: 9781400115990 (cd), 9781400165995 (mp3-cd) When sleep was at its deepest, night at its blackest, up from the mist-filled marsh came Grendel stalking… Thus begins the battle between good and evil, for lying in wait and anxious to challenge the ogre Grendel is a young man, strong-willed and fire-hearted. This man is Beowulf, whose heroic dragon-slaying deeds were sung in the courts of Anglo-Saxon England more than a thousand years ago. Beowulf is our only native English heroic epic. In the figure of Beowulf, the Scandinavian warrior, and his struggles against monsters, the unknown author depicts the life and outlook of a pagan age. The poem is a subtle blending of themes—the conflict of good and evil, and an examination of heroism. Its skillful arrangement of incidents and use of contrast and parallel show it to be the product of a highly sophisticated culture.
This new collection of Robert E. Howard Horror fiction includes more than one story that freaked me out when I read them in paperback. Howard is of course best known for famous character Conan of Cimmeria. But some of his best writing was in the horror genre. One story, Pigeons From Hell, was adapted for television for an episode of an anthology series called Thiller (hosted by Boris Karloff). Like most of Howard’s work, it translates well, when in capable hands.
The Horror Stories Of Robert E. Howard
By Robert E. Howard; Read by Robertson Dean
19 Audio CDs or 2 MP3-CD – Approx. 24 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: March 30, 2010
ISBN: 9781400112296 (cd), 9781400162291 (mp3-cd) Robert E. Howard, renowned creator of Conan the barbarian, was also a master at conjuring tales of hair-raising horror. In a career spanning only twelve years, Howard wrote more than a hundred stories, with his most celebrated work appearing in Weird Tales, the preeminent pulp magazine of the era. In this collection of Howard’s greatest horror tales, some of the author’s best-known characters—Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and sailor Steve Costigan among them—roam the forbidding locales of Howard’s fevered imagination, from the swamps and bayous of the Deep South to the fiend-haunted woods outside Paris to remote jungles in Africa. Included in this collection is Howard’s masterpiece “Pigeons From Hell,” a tale of two travelers who stumble upon the ruins of a Southern plantation—and into the maw of its fatal secret. In “Black Canaan,” even the best warrior has little chance of taking down the evil voodoo man with unholy powers—and none at all against his wily mistress, the diabolical High Priestess of Damballah. Also included is the classic revenge nightmare “Worms Of The Earth” as well as “The Cairn On The Headland.”
Journey To The Center Of The Earth
By Jules Verne; Read by Ed Sala
9 CDs or 1 MP3-CD – Approx. 10 Hours 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Media
Published: March 30, 2010 An eccentric geology professor acquires an old book and finds an ancient parchment hidden within its pages. On it is a coded message that reveals directions to a secret passageway that leads deep within the earth’s interior. The professor immediately sets off on a daring journey to Iceland, where he and his companions enter into an extinct volcano and make their way to the center of the earth. They soon find a strange underground world where the laws of science are turned upside down. They discover huge caverns, luminous rocks, a subterranean sea, primitive forests, and fearsome prehistoric creatures that time had forgot. The travelers encounter one stirring adventure after another as they explore deep within the bowels of the earth.
Based on the big RPG Fantasy game I didn’t play last year Dragon Age: Origins…
Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne (Book 1 in the Dragon Age series)
By David Gaider; Read by Stephen Hoye
11 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 13 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Published: Tantor Media
Published: March 23, 2010
ISBN: 9781400116218 (cd), 9781400166213 (mp3-cd) After his mother, the beloved Rebel Queen, is betrayed and murdered by her own faithless lords, young Maric becomes the leader of a rebel army attempting to free his nation from the control of a foreign tyrant. His countrymen live in fear; his commanders consider him untested; and his only allies are Loghain, a brash young outlaw who saved his life, and Rowan, the beautiful warrior maiden promised to him since birth. Surrounded by spies and traitors, Maric must find a way to not only survive but achieve his ultimate destiny: Ferelden’s freedom and the return of his line to the stolen throne.
Despite its having William Dufris as a narrator, and its having airships, I’m still not 100% convinced I want to listen to…
The Dream Of Perpetual Motion
By Dexter Palmer; Read by William Dufris
11 CDs or 2 MP3-CDs – Approx. 14 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: March 16, 2010
ISBN: 9781400114962 (cd), 9781400164967 (mp3-cd) Imprisoned aboard a zeppelin that floats above a city reminiscent of those of the classic films Metropolis and Brazil, the greeting card writer Harold Winslow is composing his memoirs. His companions are the only woman he has ever loved, who has gone insane, and the cryogenically frozen body of her father, the devilish genius who drove her mad. The tale of Harold’s decades-long thwarted love is also one in which he watches technology transform his childhood home from a mere burgeoning metropolis to a waking dream, in which the well-heeled have mechanical men for servants, deserted islands can exist within skyscrapers, and the worlds of fairy tales can be built from scratch. And as he heads toward a final, desperate confrontation with the mad inventor, he discovers that he is an unwitting participant in the creation of the greatest invention of them all—the perpetual motion machine.
Here is a terrific find for fans of mystery and crime tales! Hosted by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine‘s editor, Janet Hutchings, comes a new podcast the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast! It features:
“Monthly readings and dramatizations of stories by the world’s leading writers of suspense chosen from the magazine’s archives. The full range of the genre is represented in these riveting audio renditions, from the drawing-room mystery to urban noir—including police procedurals, private-eye tales, psychological suspense, and locked-room and impossible-crime stories.”
I’ve been listening to these for hours today. The audio dramatizations are actually pretty good. The short stories tend to be very solid too (and are mostly read by their authors). Sound quality varies though and sometimes the recording level volume is set far too low. Additionally, the proof-listening is occasionally very shoddy (with repeated lines remaining unedited). The latest episode (#7) has three stories all based on the same newspaper article. The results are mixed, but I really like the idea of stories based around a story seed like that. In fact, it reminds me of something John Joseph Adams and David Barr Kirtley were talking about in a recent Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. They mentioned the John W. Cambpell story seed that lead to the writing of Isaac Asimov’s Nightfall and Robert A. Heinlein’s Orphans Of The Sky. Two SF stories that are both very different and very terrific.
My favourite Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast episode so far is #5, Dear Doctor Watson, a Steve Hockensmith short story. Its a kind of Sherlockian pastiche set in the Victorian West. It’s protagonist a kind of amateur Sherlock Watson team that’s only half-hampered by being illiterate and in Montana. Dear Doctor Watson is both fun and well read by two narrators.
I truly hope to see the “Ganelon” stories by James Powell and the “Black Widowers” tales by Isaac Asimov showing up in future episodes. They’re the absolute tops!
Episode 1: Cut! Cut! Cut!
Based on a story by Ellery Queen; Adapted by Ed Bogas; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 12 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcast: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast
Podcast: August 2009 Ellery Queen receives a phone call from a murder victim in this clever play involving a witness of another species. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine September 1956 issue.
Episode 2: Groundwork
Based on the story by Neil Schofield; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 25 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast
Podcast: September 2009 A nosy neighbor alerts police to suspicious digging in the garden next-door—and she isn’t the only one to get an unexpected comeuppance. First published in EQMM in November 2001.
Episode 3: The Talking Dead
By Melodie Johnson Howe; Read by Melodie Johnson Howe
1 |MP3| – Approx. 27 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast
Podcast: October 2009 A TV writer goes missing, leaving her show’s star without a script and opening up a perfect scenario for murder. In this fourth installment in her series of Diana Poole mysteries, former Hollywood actress Melodie Johnson Howe takes a penetrating look at the off-stage life of a TV idol. First published in EQMM June 2003.
Episode 4: A Lump Of Sugar
Adapted from a story by Ellery Queen; Adapted by Ed Bogas; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 9 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcast: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast
Podcast: December 2009 Ellery Queen returns in a case involving a cryptic dying message. First published in EQMM in February, 1953. The story later appeared under the titles Murder In The Park and The Mystery Of The 3 Dawn Riders.
Episode 5: Dear Doctor Watson
By Steve Hockensmith; Read by Steve Hockensmith and Mike Willtrout
1 |MP3| – Approx. 36 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast
Podcast: December 2009 A pair of Old West cowboys try to prove they’re worthy of joining a detective agency by retrieving an incriminating letter. But things are not all they appear to be in Missoula, Montana, circa 1890… First published in the February 2007 issue of EQMM.
Episode 6: The Problem Of The Locked Caboose
Based on the story by by Edward D. Hoch; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 27 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcast: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast
Podcast: January 2010 The solving of so-called “impossible crimes” is the hallmark of Edward D. Hoch’s series character Dr. Sam Hawthorne. In this episode, the New England country doctor is on board a night train when a body is discovered in its locked caboose. First published in EQMM in May, 1976.
Episode 7: Say That Again, The Old Story and Wheeze
By Peter Lovesey, Liza Cody, Michael Z. Lewin; Read by Peter Lovesey, Liza Cody, Michael Z. Lewin
1 |MP3| – Approx. 73 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcast: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast
Podcast: February 2010 Three stories (Say That Again by Peter Lovesey, The Old Story by Liza Cody, and Wheeze by Michael Z. Lewin) that take their lead from a single newspaper article provide an entertaining look at how a common creative impetus can take the imaginations of different writers in wonderfully different directions. Includes a short interview with the authors, all leading writers of suspense, recorded at the 2009 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention.
The coming week on BBC Radio 7 is chock full of must listen content. These are all re-runs so you’ve probably heard at least one or two of them before. Myself, I’m most excited about hearing Anton Lesser’s reading of the Wells story. I’ve only known his work in one series, that FALCO radio drama series I’m always telling everyone about. Also, this 1970s by Wally K. Daly “Scream” series could be good. I’ll check it out, as this week sees its first two (of three) stories airing. Likely next week will see the rebroadcast of the final chapter. So which of these draws your interest?
The Little Sister
Based on the novel by Raymond Chandler; Performed by a full cast
1 Broadcast – Approx. 90 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Saturday at 1pm and 1am The search for a missing man deepens into an investigation of several brutal murders. Philip Marlowe’s enquiries take him to a Hollywood film set where he wonders which of the suspects is putting on the best performance. Ed Bishop stars as Raymond Chandler’s quick-witted, sharp-talking private eye in a 1977 production dramatised by Bill Morrison and produced by John Tydeman.
Before The Screaming Begins
By Wally K. Daly; Performed by a full cast
3 Broadcasts – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Monday to Wednesday at 6pm and Midnight When Tom Harris is abducted by aliens whilst celebrating his wedding anniversary, the police are understandably sceptical of his wife’s account. But the disappearances continue. Stars
Hannah Gordon, James Laurenson, Patrick Troughton, Jennifer Piercey and Robert Trotter, First broadcast in 1978.
The Silent Scream
By Wally K. Daly; Performed by a full cast
2 Broadcast – [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Thursday and Friday at 6pm and Midnight James Laurenson returns as Tom Harris in the sequel to Before The Screaming Begins. The threat from the aliens increases. First broadcast in 1979. Martin Jenkins production co-stars Hannah Gordon, Donald Hewlett and Colin Douglas.
Fantastic Journeys: The Door In The Wall
By H.G. Wells; Read by Anton Lesser
1 Broadcast – [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Saturday at 6.30 pm and 00.30am On the eve of great success in public life, Lionel Wallace is troubled by the vision of a lost childhood paradise behind a mysterious door in a wall. Will he concentrate on his career – or succumb to the temptation to pursue this vanished world? First heard earlier this year (2009). The first of a five part series of short stories.
Duel By Richard Matheson; Read by Nathan Osgood 1 Broadcast – Approx 20 Minutes [UNABRIDGED] Broadcaster: BBC 7 / 7th Dimension Broadcast: Saturday at 6.30pm and 12.30am “Driving to San Francisco, a businessman finds himself the victim of a deadly game being played by the driver of a huge, mysterious truck. Later to become Steven Spielberg’s classic 1971 film.” Previously broadcast in 2006 and 2007.
I Am Legend
By Richard Matheson; Read by Angus McInnes
9 Broadcasts – approx 5 Hours [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Monday to Friday at 6.30pm and 00.30am “Taking place in New York, it’s a tale of vampires and a man immune to the plague that has decimated most of the population.” Adapted by Scott Stainton Miller.Produced by Eilidh McCreadie. Previously broadcast in 2006 and 2007.
Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption
By Stephen King; Read by Clarke Peters
5 Broadcasts – [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 7
Broadcast: Monday to Friday at 1.30pm, 8.30pm and 1.30am In a brutal American prison, wrongly-convicted Andy Dufresne develops an ingenious method of survival – and conceives an even more resourceful plan of escape. This was the story that inspired the film The Shawshank Redemption.
“A crime thriller with a voodoo twist, from the creator of Fu Manchu.”
Is this the first great summer audiobook from LibriVox? I think it may very well be. Just image listening to this tale in on a summer evening, a tall glass of cold beverage in hand, the sun setting, the bats flying out of their belfries. So cool.
Bat Wing
By Sax Rohmer; Read by Mark Douglas Nelson 12 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 9 Hours 14 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 12, 2009 Private detective Paul Harley investigates a mysterious case involving voodoo, vampirism, and macabre murder in the heart of London. The first book in the Paul Harley series, written by Sax Rohmer, author of The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. Originally published in 1921.
The SFFaudio Podcast #062 – Scott and Jesse talk to author Kelli Stanley about her novel City Of Dragons!
