Here are the new releases for August! Antibodies …

New Releases

Here are the new releases for August!

Antibodies
By Charles Stross
Read by Shondra Marie and Jared Doreck
Infinivox, Unabridged
Stross won the Hugo this year for his novella “The Concrete Jungle”. It’s great to see some of his stories released on audio.

A Cold War
By Charles Stross
Read by Jared Doreck
Infinivox, Unabridged

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein II: City of Night
By Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman
Read by John Bedford Lloyd
Books on Tape, Unabridged

Ender’s Shadow
By Orson Scott Card
Read by Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, and cast
Audio Renaissance, Unabridged
This is the first time Ender’s Shadow has been released in unabridged format.

Hart’s Hope
By Orson Scott Card
Read by Stefan Rudnicki
Blackstone Audio, Unabridged

Hideaway
By Dean Koontz
Read by Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan
Brilliance Audio, Unabridged

Lobsters
By Charles Stross
Read by Shondra Marie and Jared Doreck
Infinivox, Unabridged

Lord of Chaos
By Robert Jordan
Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer
Audio Renaissance, Unabridged
Volume 6 of Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.

Magic Time: Ghostlands
By Marc Scott Zicree and Robert Charles Wilson
Read by Lloyd James
Blackstone Audio, Unabridged

The Shining
By Stephen King
Read by Campbell Scott
Simon and Schuster Audio, Unabridged
The first audio release of The Shining.

The Territory
By Bradley Denton
Read by Jared Doreck
Infinivox, Unabridged

If you have New Releases that you’d like to see posted here, let us know!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction

SFFaudio Online Audio

I just stumbled across a very nice resource – Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction is a television show based in Arlington, VA. They have interviewed a number of science fiction authors, and they have archives going back to 2003 so you can listen to (or watch – each interview is available in MP3 audio format or compressed video format) at your leisure.

The following interviews are currently available: Orson Scott Card, Lois McMaster Bujold, Connie Willis, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Wrede, Elizabeth Massie, Laura Anne Gilman, Susanna Clarke, Jasper Fforde, China Miéville, Cortney Skinner, Kim Stanley Robinson, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Tamora Pierce, Nalo Hopkinson, Jack Williamson, Terry Pratchett, Karl Kofoed, Margaret Weis, Laurell K. Hamilton, Garth Nix, Roger MacBride Allen, Donna Andrews, Catherine Asaro, Robert Jordan, Will Ludwigsen, and Mindy Klasky.

Click here for their archives!

Here are the New Releases for December! AUDIO R…

New Releases

Here are the New Releases for December!

AUDIO RENAISSANCE

The Dragon Reborn, Book Three of The Wheel of Time

By Robert Jordan, Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

Unabridged

The Shadow Rising, Book Four of The Wheel of Time

By Robert Jordan, Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

Unabridged

I’ve listened to Book 2 of this massive (and massively popular) epic fantasy. I enjoyed it, but not so much that I would be eager for all ten (currently) volumes. I do know that Kate Reading and Michael Kramer did a wonderful job with the material, and can be expected to do so again.

Jesse:

Absolutely, Michael Kramer is a truly excellent reader.

Crystal City, Book Six of Alvin Maker

By Orson Scott Card, Read by Stefan Rudnicki, M.E. Willis, and cast

Unabridged

Ender’s Game: Special 20th Anniversary Edition

By Orson Scott Card, Read by Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, and cast

Unabridged

Ah, Orson Scott Card. Audio Renaissance is re-releasing some of Fantastic Audio’s old titles, and this version of Ender’s Game is one of the most heard in my collection. I read Crystal City in print and enjoyed it, so the place your bets that the audio is going to be good too, since it’s in the safe hands of Stefan Rudnicki and cast.

Jesse:

That 20th anniversary one may actually make me read an Orson Scott Card novel. I like his short stories but I somehow never read Ender’s Game back in the 1980s.

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BLACKSTONE AUDIO

Citizen of the Galaxy

By Robert A. Heinlein, Read by Lloyd James

Click here for a sample

Unabridged

Who is this Heinlein guy, anyway? :)

Jesse:

Blackstone has made my wish come true! Lloyd James is the definitive voice of Heinlein on Audio and Citizen of the Galaxy is one of Heinlein’s best juvenile novels (juvenile as in starring a teenager not juvenile as in peurile)and the story concept is so fresh and new as to be singularily unreproduced to this day. I remember enjoying the heck out of it when I read it in paperback I expect it will be as good if not better on audio. The original cover art on this one looks amazing too by the way. This will surely be among the best audiobooks released in 2005. Thanks so much Blackstone!

Magic Time: Angelfire

By Marc Scott Zicree and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Read by a full cast

Click here for a sample

Unabridged

This is volume 2 of a new fantasy series that I don’t have a full grasp on yet. I just starting listening to this volume last night, and am hoping it makes sense without hearing volume one, which is also available from Blackstone Audio.

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BOOKS ON TAPE

Fahrenheit 451

By Ray Bradbury, Read by Scott Brick

Unabridged

Fahrenheit 451 read by Scott Brick? Gotta get my hands on a copy of that. Books on Tape is still going through come changes over there – their website says that they won’t be resuming comsumer sales until January 3rd, 2005. I checked Audible.com for this title and it wasn’t there.

Jesse:

I believe BOT has released this title previously with a different narrator but I copuld be wrong. I think this Scott Brick version probably become the definitive edition. I thought that Harper Audio’s version from a couple of years ago, with Ray Bradbury narrating would be it, but I was disappointed in Bradbury’s reading. He’s an excellent author, and 451 is his most enduring novel but his performance didnt

enhance it at all. Scott Brick may bring a freshness that Bradbury couldnt muster.

The Runes of the Earth

By Stephen R. Donaldson, Read by Scott Brick

Unabridged

The return of Thomas Covenant! I have not read any of Stephen Donaldson’s books, so I can’t say anything there, but Scott Brick is a top narrator.

Jesse:

Nice title! Donaldson is almost as merciless with his tortured characters as is George R.R. Martin but I wish they’d release the original novel in the series first. I hate starting in the middle.

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CRAZY DOG AUDIO THEATRE

Diabolic Playhouse

By Roger Gregg, Performed by a full cast

Audio Drama

Roger Gregg and all the lunatics at Crazy Dog Audio Theatre have released a very nice looking MP3-CD containing all 6 episodes of their Diabolic Playhouse drama series, which broadcast on Ireland’s RTE Radio 1 earlier this year. The product is available at their site (based in Ireland) or at the ZBS website if you’re in the USA.

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HARPER AUDIO

The Wee Free Men

By Terry Pratchett, Read by Stephen Briggs

Unabridged

Another Discworld novel from Terry Pratchett!

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PAPERBACK DIGITAL

Reflex

By Steven Gould, Read by Christine Marshall and William Dufris

Unabridged

Nightmares on Congress Street – Part 4

By Rocky Coast Radio Theatre

Audio drama

Paperback Digital cruises along, with two more new releases. Their products are available for download on their own site or on Fictionwise. Hardcopies are available at Amazon.com or at Paperback Digital itself.

Jesse:

I’ve never heard of Gould nor his novel but with the Marshall and Dufris team working together it might be worth a blind buy.

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RECORDED BOOKS

State of Fear

By Michael Crichton, Read by George Wilson

Unabridged

Michael Crichton has stirring up some scientific controversy with this one. If I understand correctly, the environmentalists in this one are the bad guys.

Jesse:

I’ve liked Crichton’s early work, but have been tuning out since Jurassic Park.

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Happy Holidays, everyone! And thanks for reading SFFAudio.

Audio Renaissance (http://www.audiorenaissance.com…

New Releases

Audio Renaissance (http://www.audiorenaissance.com) has announced its new releases for Winter 2005, and it looks like they are taking over some of the Fantastic Audio titles. These are all CD only releases, no cassettes at all, and every single one is completely unabridged. The titles announced include the three “Asteroids Wars” novels by Ben Bova with what appears to be dual narration. In either case, its great to see unabridged novels becoming the new accepted standard. Personally I’m not too upset at the limited format release, if it comes down to a choice between CDs and cassettes, these days I’d choose CDs, as they are more portable to the increasingly populare MP3 audiobook format.

The titles announced include the three “Asteroids Wars” novels by Ben Bova (a subset of the Grand Tour series):

The Precipice
By Ben Bova – Read by Scott Brick and Amanda Karr
10 CDs – Approx. 12 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Published: February 2005
ISBN: 1593974906
The first novel of the Asteroid Wars. Once, Dan Randolph was one of the richest men on Earth. Now the planet is spiraling into environmental disaster, with floods and earthquakes destroying the lives of millions. Martin Humphries, fabulously wealthy heir of the Humphries Trust, also knows that space-based industry is the way of the future. But unlike Randolph he does not care if Earth perishes in the process. As Randolph-accompanied by two brilliant women astronauts-flies out to the Asteroid Belt aboard a fusion-propelled spacecraft, Humphries makes his move. The future of mankind lies in Randolph’s hands.

The Rock Rats
By Ben Bova – Read by Ira Klaffey and Amanda Karr
9 CDs – Approx. 10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Published: February 2005
ISBN: 1593974922
The second novel of the Asteroid Wars. Visionary space industrialist Dan Randolph is dead-but his protégé, pilot Pancho Barnes, now sits on the board of his conglomerate. She has her work cut out for her-for Randolph’s rival, Martin Humphries, still wants to control Astro and still wants to drive independent asteroid miners like Lars Fuchs out of business. Humphries wants revenge against Pancho-and, most of all, he wants his old flame, Amanda, who has become Lars Fuchs’s wife. Before it ends, many will die-and many will achieve more than they ever dreamed was possible.

The Silent War
By Ben Bova – Read by Christian Noble and Amanda Karr
11 CDs – Approx. 13 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Published: February 2005
ISBN: 159397504X
The third novel of the Asteroid Wars. When corporations go to war, standard business practice goes out the window. Astro Corporation is led by indomitable Texan Pancho Lane, Humphries Space Systems by the rich and ruthless Martin Humphries, and their fight is over nothing less than resources of the Asteroid Belt itself. Fighting escalates and the lines between commerce and politics, boardroom and bedroom, blur-and the keys to victory will include physics, nanotechnology, and cold hard cash. It’s a breakneck finale that can end only in earth’s salvation-or the annihilation of all that humankind has ever accomplished in space.

And the newest volume in the ongoing Ender Wiggin Saga:

Shadow Of The Giant
By Orson Scott Card; Read by TBA (To Be Announced)
9 CDs – Approx. 11 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Published: March 2005
ISBN: 1593974965
Bean, once the smallest student at the Battle School, and Ender Wiggins’ right hand, has grown to be a power on Earth. He served the Hegemon as strategist and general in the terrible wars that followed Ender’s defeat of the alien empire attacking Earth. Now he wishes for a safe place to build a family-something he has never known-but there is nowhere on Earth that does not harbor his enemies-old enemies from the days in Ender’s Jeesh, new enemies from the wars on Earth. To find security, Bean and Petra must once again follow in Ender’s footsteps. They must leave Earth behind, in the control of the Hegemon, and look to the stars.

Also forthcoming, book five in The Wheel Of Time series:

The Fires Of Heaven
By Robert Jordan; Read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer
32 CDs – Approx. 39 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Published: April 2005
ISBN: 1559276062
Robert Jordan again plunges us into his extraordinarily rich, totally unforgettable world: …Into the forbidden city of Rhuidean, where Rand al’Thor, now the Dragon Reborn, must conceal his present endeavor from all about him, even Egwene and Moiraine….Into the Amyrlin’s study in the White Tower, where Amyrlin, Flaida do Avriny a ‘Roihan, is weaving new plans. …Into the luxurious hidden chamber where the Forsaken Rahvin is meeting withthree of his fellows to ensure their ultimate victory over the Dragon….Into the Queen’s court in Caemlyn, where Morgase is curiously in thrall to the handsome Lord Gaebril. For once the Dragon walks the land, the fires of Heaven fall where they will, until all men’s lives are ablaze. And in Shayol Ghul, the Dark One stirs…

Any listeners interested in pre-ordering any of these titles can join the SFFAUDIO Yahoo! Group where an exclusive 25% discount will be offered to members in early November 2004!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Books on Tape was purchased a couple of years ago …

SFFaudio News

Books on Tape was purchased a couple of years ago by Random House. Last week, they decided to close the rental division of the company. Most of the unabridged titles that have been produced during that time were available in retail editions on the Random House Audio imprint – I expect that will continue to be the case. Questions abound regarding their backlist, which includes books by Isaac Asimov, Robert Jordan, Frank Herbert, and Terry Brooks.

Right now, the company is selling their used rental copies at rental prices – that is, whatever they charged to rent a title is now the purchase price. While supplies last, as they say.

Posted by Jesse Willis

KUSP radio broadcasting out of Santa Cruz, Califor…

SFFaudio Online Audio

KUSP radio broadcasting out of Santa Cruz, California has a plethora of science fiction and fantasy author audio interviews available.

Interviewed by Rick Kleffel:

Alastair Reynolds – His webpageInterview

Chuck Palahniuk – His webpageInterview 1Interview 2

Jonathan Carroll – His webpageInterview

Robert Jordan – His webpageInterview

Carter Scholz – Interview

Cory Doctorow – His webpageInterview

Alan Dutschman – His webpageInterview

Ira Sher – Interview

Margaret Weis – Her webpageInterview

Christopher Moore – His webpageInterview

Douglas Coupland – His webpageInterview

Dan Simmons – His webpageInterview

Terry Goodkind – His webpageInterview

Mary Roach – Interview

James Barclay – His webpageInterview

Charles de Lint – His webpageInterview

Terry Pratchett – His webpageInterview

John Shirley – His webpageInterview

Posted by Jesse Willis