Richard Matheson – Page 11

New Arrivals- Richard Matheson, Card & Brooks

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

This first one has me chompin’ on the bit!

I Am Legend
By Richard Matheson; Read by Robertson Dean and Yuri Rasovsky
10 CD, 11 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433203299

In Matheson’s vampire classic I Am Legend, a plague has decimated the world, and transformed the unfortunate survivors into blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Robert Neville is the last living man on earth. Every other man, woman, and child has become a vampire, hungry for Neville’s blood. By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn. How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?
This recording also includes a sampling of other horror stories by Richard Matheson, some comic, all scary: “Buried Talents,” “The Near Departed,” “Prey,” “Witch War,” “Dance of the Dead,” “Dress of White Silk,” “Mad House,” “The Funeral,” “From Shadowed Places,” and “Person to Person.”

Heartfire; Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 5
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Full Cast
10 CD, 12 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433207730

Peggy is a Torch, able to see the fire burning in each person’s heart. She can follow the paths of each person’s future, and know each person’s most intimate secrets. From the moment of Alvin Maker’s birth, when the Unmaker first strove to kill him, she has protected him. Now they are married, and Peggy is a part of Alvin’s heart as well as his life. But Alvin’s destiny has taken them on separate journeys. Alvin has gone north into New England, where knacks are considered witchcraft and their use is punished with death. Peggy has been drawn south, to the British Crown Colonies and the court of King Arthur Stuart in exile. For she has seen a terrible future bloom in the heartfires of every person in America, a future of war and destruction. One slender path exists that leads through the bloodshed, and it is Peggy’s quest to set the world on the path to peace.

Genesis of Shannara; Elves of Cintra, Book 2
By Terry Brooks; Read by Phil Gigante
12 CD, Approx. 14 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brillance Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781423322658

Across the ruined landscape that is America – hopelessly poisoned, plague-ridden, burned, and besieged by demon armies bent on exterminating all mortal life – two pilgrims have been summoned to serve the embattled cause of good. Logan Tom has journeyed to desolate Seattle to protect a ragged band of street urchins and the being known as the gypsy morph, who is both mortal and magical, and destined to save mankind unless he is destroyed. Likewise, Angel Perez has her own quest, one that will take her from the wreckage of Los Angeles to a distant, secret place untouched by the horrors of the nationwide blight – a place where the race of Elves has dwelled since before man existed. But close behind these lone Knights of the Word swarm the ravening forces of the Void.

As the menacing thunder of war drums heralds the arrival of the demons and their brutal minions in Seattle, the young survivors who call themselves the Ghosts are forced to brave the dangerous world of gangs, mutants, and worse to escape the invasion. And Logan Tom must infiltrate a refugee compound to rescue Hawk, the leader of the street urchins, who has yet to learn the truth about who and what he is. Meanwhile, Angel Perez has joined an equally urgent mission: to find the Ellcrys, a fabled talisman crucial to protecting the Elven realm against an influx of unspeakable evil from the dread dimension known as the Forbidding. But Angel and her Elven allies must beware – for a demon spy, with a monstrous creature at its command, walks among them.

posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

BBC7 and The 7th Dimension have Matheson’s Duel again!

Online Audio

BBC Radio 7 always has a slew of good Speculative Fiction in its daily 7th Dimension slot and another nicety is that they often rebroadcast an old show. That’s the case this week with a reading that was specially commissioned last year by BBC7 to celebrate the 80th birthday the legendary Richard Matheson. Here is yet another chance to experience one of his most enigmatic and ominous tales: Duel. Also coming are an abridged reading of Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (get an unabridged reading HERE) and a interestingly described BBC Radio 4 drama that was first broadcast in 1998, Paradise Lost In Cyberspace…

Duel
By Richard Matheson; Read by Nathan Osgood
Radio 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.”

Metamorphosis
By Franz Kafka; Read by Benedict Cumberbatch
Radio Broadcast -Approx. 30 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Sunday at 6.30pm and 12.30am
“Franz Kafka’s acclaimed novel sees Gregor Samsa awake one morning to find he has turned into a grotesque insect. His family initially react with horror, which slowly gives way to revulsion, then hideous indifference, as Gregor is left to fester in his room and begins to adapt to his new state which his family find so hard to accept. First published in 1912.”

Paradise Lost In Cyberspace
By Colin Swash; Perfomed by a full cast
Radio Broadcasts -Approx. 30 Minute Segments [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Weekdays starting from Tuesday at 6pm and midnight
“Set in a future world of genetics and cloning where living beyond the age of seventy is prohibited. George Smith is enjoying his 69th birthday when a Central Admin error convinces everyone he’s a year older than he actually is, and his time to die arrives a year too early.”

NOTE: Those outside the UK can get all of the above using the BBC7 Listen Again service for up to 6 days following the broadcasts.

posted by Jesse Willis

BBC7’s The 7th Dimension re-airs I Am Legend

BBC7’s The Seventh Dimension is rebroadcasting their unabridged reading of Richard Matheson’s classic 1954 novel I Am Legend! This mournful tale combines Science Fiction, Horror and Noir. It is, simply put, awesome.

When Robert Neville finds he is immune to the plague that has decimated the Earth’s population, he encounters unimaginable evil as he searches for a cure.

The reading starts Thursday January 11th 2007 at 6.30pm UK time. With a repeat at 12:30am that evening. Look for following episodes for the next eight weekday evenings. The narrator is Angus MacInnes, you may recognize his voice as that of Gold Leader from the original Star Wars movie. [LISTEN TO A CLIP]

posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson

SFFaudio Review

The Incredible Shrinking Man
By Richard Matheson; Read by Yuri Rasovsky
1 MP3 disc, 7 CDs, 6 cassettes – 8 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 0786178515(MP3), 0786175761(CD), 0786137924 (cassettes)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Atomic Radiation / Illness / Transcendence / Miniaturization / Horror

Scott Carey is a man suffering from a freak accident during which he was exposed to radiation dust and pesticides. He begins to slowly shrink. He finds not only the physical challenges of getting smaller but the social as well. In fact it is in this social arena where must of the intensity of the book comes from.

Scott Carey has a good life with his beautiful wife, Lou. When he begins to shrink tension between him and his wife grows, and their relationship begins to change. Although we feel sympathy for Scott’s plight, we don’t necessarily like him. He’s one pissed-off little guy. Ultimately this is a story of impotence. Not just sexually but for all aspects of his life. He can no longer satisfy his wife sexually (even though he still has his sex drive). He cannot meet his family’s economic needs except by selling his story to tabloid-styled newspapers. And he has a daughter that he has to fear because she may crush him just by playing with him.

Yuri Rasovsky does a great job on the audiobook. In an early dialogue scene with Scott and his wife Lou, the character voices sounded very much the same. My first response was that Yuri didn’t differentiate between characters much. On second reflection, I realized this was intentional. Later in the book as Scott is shrinking, he begins to sound like a little boy when talking with his wife. This helps create the vulnerable and impotent stature of Scott, making him less of a man. It was no accident that Matheson used “Lou” as a nickname for Scott’s wife, Louise. It demeans Scott’s masculinity even more.

Richard Matheson is a wonderfully expressive author, drawing emotion out with every turn. Granted, they are mostly dark emotions.

Matheson also adapted this novel to a screenplay for the classic movie. I watched the movie right after finishing the audiobook to see how a master adapts his own work to screen. It’s an experience I strongly recommend. Some of the most powerful scenes in the book do not make it into the movie. There’s a gang of youths that beat Scott. There’s the drunken child molester that picks up Scott hitchhiking and mistakes him for a boy.

And there are scenes that work better in the movie than in the book. These are the action scenes when Scott is fighting cats and spiders. Those scenes in the book become tedious because they take so long to explain.

But the book surpasses the movie again with an ending that is more poignantly transcendent.

Posted by The Time Traveler

Saturday 18th of February 2006 sees the BBC Radi…

Online Audio

Saturday 18th of February 2006 sees the BBC Radio 7 doing a special broadcast in honour of Richard Matheson’s upcoming 80th birthday. Along with a specially recorded interview with the man himself is a bonus unabridged reading of Duel, his short story classic inspired by a real-life experience.

Duel
By Richard Matheson; Read by Nathan Osgood
Approx 20 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / 7th Dimension
Broadcast: February 18th 2006, repeated February 19th 2006

“A huge truck plays deadly games with an innocent motorist. “

NOTE: Those outside the UK can use the BBC7 Listen Again service to catch it for 6 days following the broadcast.

posted by Jesse Willis

Two BRAND NEW specially commissioned programs …

The 7th Dimension

Two BRAND NEW specially commissioned programs start airing on BBC 7‘s The 7th Dimension this weekend. First is Jefferson 37 an original radio drama series. Second, is I Am Legend, which looks like an UNABRIDGED reading of the fantabulous Richard Matheson novel. Of the latter, there are differening reports on its number of instalments either 9 or 10 half-hours. Super sweet either way! Here are the details of both:

Jefferson 37
By Jenny Stephens; Directed by Peter Leslie Wild
4 Part Serial – Approx 120 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Saturday Jan 21st 2006
Starring: David Birrell, Alison Carney, Oliver Hembrough and Dharmesh Patel
“A gripping thriller, set in the near future, and explores the idea of clones being created specifically to provide body parts to those who can afford it.”

I Am Legend
By Richard Matheson; Read by Angus McInnes
9 or 10 Part Reading – approx 5 Hours [UNABRIDGED?]
Broadcaster: BBC 7 / The 7th Dimension
Broadcast: Mon-Fri 6pm and 12 midnight Jan 23 – Feb 3 2006 (?)
“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

posted by Jesse Willis