New Release – A Sheckley Trilogy

New Releases

A new release from my favorite Audiobook publisher Wonder Audio.  Okay, you got me.  I’m the publisher, so of course it’s my favorite.  But did you know we don’t review Wonder Audio titles at SFFaudio.com.  Conflict of interest and all that, since I’m an editor here.  But you know if I did review one, it would really rock ;)

A Sheckley TrilogyA Sheckley Trilogy: Three Classic Tales of Science Fiction
By Robert Sheckley; Read by Mark Douglas Nelson
2 hrs. – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonder Audio
Availiable at Audible and iTunes

Robert Sheckley, master of the science-fiction short-story form, created numerous tales of dark humor. He had an entertaining gift for looking at society with a warped mirror, enabling us to see ourselves in a clearer reflection.

Keep Your Shape” is from the perspective of an alien race with the unseemly ability to change shape. In “The Seventh Victim“, murder is legal and sanctioned by society, and the gunman’s victim is a beautiful woman. And when a spaceship filled with diverse alien life forms is stranded without a star drive, they only have one chance of getting home again. That chance is with a “Specialist” from Earth.

These three works were originally published in Galaxy and The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy in 1953.

New Releases – John Scalzi, Murray Leinster, Robert Sheckley, H. Beam Piper

New Releases

Audible has just posted a new title from WonderAudio.com (WOOHOO!)… And it’s a two for one – two classic tales from the Dean of Science Fiction – Murray Leinster.

‘Sam, This Is You’ and ‘The Other Now’ by Murray Leinster“Sam, This Is You” and “The Other Now”
By Murray Leinster; Read by Mac Kelly
Audible Download – 65 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonder Audio / Audible
Published: March 2008
“Sam, This Is You” is a humorous look at Sam, a telephone lineman and inventor. Sam’s invented a device to talk to himself back in time. Unfortunately, Sam’s main interest is courting Rosie, and his love life is being sabotaged by his worst enemy – his future self. “The Other Now” is a poignant love story. When Jimmy Patterson loses his beloved wife, Jane, in a car accident, he believes he begins to get messages from her. Can their love be enough to reunite them?

The next release, a three story collection, includes a terrific tale by Robert Sheckley. I’ve even used The Monsters in the classroom, it showcases one of the very deeply central ideas of Science Fiction in a incisive and funny POV shift – the other two, I look forward to as well as they offer the same, tales told from the alien perspective…

A Is For AlienA is For Alien
By Robert Sheckley, Miriam Allen DeFord & Evelyn E. Smith; Read by Pat Bottino, Sam Mowry & Candace Platt
Audible Download – 67 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonder Audio / Audible
Published: March 2008
In these three tales, you’ll experience stories from an alien perspective:
In “The Apotheosis of Ki“, by Miriam Allen DeFord, Ki, a primitive savage, encounters a spaceman. Can the two cultures communicate? In “Captain’s Mate“, by Evelyn E. Smith, we hear the tribulations of a crustacean-like alien who is captain of an all-human crew. The trouble begins as the ship drops out of hyperspace. They’re stranded a million miles from anywhere and the captain is acting strangely, even by her own standards. What passes for a moral is turned upside down in “Monsters“, by Robert Sheckley. Different rules of morality create havoc when a spaceship full of humans lands.

Equally as exciting is the follow up to John Scalzi’s SFFaudio essentially designated Old Man’s War

Science Fiction Audiobook - The Ghost Brigades by John ScalziThe Ghost Brigades
By John Scalzi; Read by William Dufris
Audible Download – 10 Hours 28 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Macmillan Audio / Audible.com
Published: March 2008
The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF’s toughest operations. They’re young, they’re fast and strong, and they’re totally without normal human qualms. For the universe is a dangerous place for humanity – and it’s about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF’s biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF most find out why Boutin did what he did.

From the pages of Astounding Science Fiction (February and March 1955 issues), Podiobooks.com and Nathan Lowell comes the latest title in The Second Annual SFFaudio Challenge

Science Fiction podiobook - Time Crime by H. Beam PiperTime Crime
By H. Beam Piper; Read by Nathan Lowell
Podiobook – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Podiobooks.com
Published: March 2008
“The Paratime Police had a real headache this time! Tracing one man in a population of millions is easy—compared to finding one gang hiding out on one of billions of probability lines! This story from 1955 has rocket ships, time travel, slaves, post-hypnotic suggestions, drugged citizens, and a complete disregard for human rights. And those are the good guys. As a look back in time at “classic” science fiction, it’s an interesting snapshot of a time when tobacco was common, sexism was unconscious, and female characters were a long way from Lara Croft.”

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Here Today …Gone to Tomorrow edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin Greenberg

SFFaudio Audiobook Review

Science Fiction Audiobook - Here Today ... Gone TomorrowHere Today …Gone Tomorrow (Asimov’s All Time Favorite Time Travel Stories)
Edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin Greenberg; Read by various
4 Cassettes – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Dercum Audio
Published: 1998
ISBN: 1556562586 [out of print]
Themes: /Science Fiction /Time travel /Anthology /

Stories: “Try and Change the Past” by Fritz Leiber, read by Bill Fantini; “A Loint of Paw” by Isaac Asimov, read by Bill Fantini; “The Long Remembering” by Poul Anderson, read by Nelson Runger; “There Is A Wolf In My Time Machine” by Larry Niven, read by Bill Fantini; “The Light Of Other Days” by Bob Shaw, read by Nelson Runger; “The Kings Wishes” by Robert Sheckley, read by Nelson Runger; “The Little Black Bag” by C.M. Kornbluth, read by Ann Wilcox.

Old school. That’s what this collection of time travel stories is, with all the blessings and baggage that implies. The stories concern mainly white men, with women appearing mostly as henpecking baffles for their claustrophobic concerns, and, in general, the voices presenting the stories are brusque and hairy-chested, like those from a third grade filmstrip on pool safety (and if that simile has any resonance for you, then I think you appreciate what I mean by “old school”). A female voice does narrate C.M. Kornbluth’s “The Little Black Bag”, but the story is so piquant with elitism and misogyny, it might as well be read by a Victorian-era Harvard College president.

The cover claims the stories were hand selected by Isaac Asimov from his own personal library, and the photo shows the great one with his trademark facial fur and engaging grin in front of a tall shelf packed with his own works.* Happily, his own works do appear in this collection, but only in the delightful – a word to describe almost anything Asimov uttered aloud – introduction he delivers himself, and the brief, forgettable story “A Loint Of Paw” which he does not.

The list of authors is impressive. The stories, however, while enjoyable, are neither essential nor groundbreaking. The best of them, and the only one to offer even a glimpse of the wistful ache that is the primary motivation for the idea of time travel, is Bob Shaw’s “The Light Of Other Days.” I was caught off guard after the relatively bland intellectual exercises of the forgoing stories because this one starts out looking similarly simple and heartless, yet builds to a subtle and profoundly moving finish.

As a whole, this is a decent collection, but not one I’d risk any injury rushing out to acquire. If it falls in your lap, or if you are a rabid fan of old school SF, I’d give it a listen. Otherwise, I think you could easily find something more satisfying to fill your ears with.

[editor’s note – the cover depicted above does not match Kurt’s description. Kurt’s scan of his copy of this audiobook was not available at the time of this post]

Posted by Kurt Dietz

StarShipSofa Podcast covers James Tripree Jr.

SFFaudio Online Audio

Starship Sofa PodcastStarshipSofa , the terrific U.K. podcast that specializes in Science Fiction authors has one heck of a show there. The hosts, Tony and Ciaran, have an especially crackin’ show this week, one that I am truly chuffed to tell you about. On offer today is a show on James Tiptree Jr. (AKA Alice Sheldon), a writer who lived a very extraordinary life. As the boys say, she “blazed across the Science Fiction skies” with her short stories of the 1970s. And stay tuned for her shocking ending!

Download the show direct |MP3| or subscribe to the feed:

And don’t forget to revisit their earlier subjects:

Show # 1: Classic Author: Alfred Bester |MP3|
Show # 2: Classic Author: John Brunner |MP3|
Show # 3: Classic Author: Algis Budrys |MP3|
Show # 4: Classic Author: Cordwainer Smith |MP3|
Show # 5: Classic Author: Stanislaw Lem |MP3|
Show # 6: Classic Film: Dark Star |MP3|
Show # 7: Classic Author: Philip K. Dick (Part 1) |MP3|
Show # 8: Classic Author: Philip K. Dick (Part 2) |MP3|
Show # 9: Classic Author: Philip K. Dick (Part 3) |MP3|
Show # 10: Classic Film: Capricorn One |MP3|
Show # 11: Classic Author: Henry Kuttner |MP3|
Show # 12: Classic Author: Robert Silverberg |MP3|
Show # 13: Classic Author: Joe Haldeman |MP3|
Show # 14: Classic Author: L. Ron Hubbard |MP3|
Show # 15: Classic Author: Harlan Ellison |MP3|
Show # 16: Classic Author: Douglas Adams (Part 1) |MP3|
Show # 17: Classic Author: Douglas Adams (Part 2) |MP3|
Show # 18: Classic Author: Robert Sheckley |MP3|
Show # 19: Classic Author: Roger Zelazny |MP3|
Show # 20: Classic Author: Iian M. Banks |MP3|
Show # 21: Classic Author: Ursula K. LeGuin |MP3|
Show # 22: Christmas Special Part 1 |MP3| & 2 |MP3|
Show # 23: Email Show |MP3|

Project Gutenberg has UNABRIDGED Robert Sheckley!

Online Audio

Great gods! Project Gutenberg has a complete reading of a Robert Sheckley novellete, Bad Medicine! This gem was first published under the Sheckley pseudonym “Finn O’Donnevan” appearing in Galaxy Magazine’s July 1956 issue. The name “Finn O’Donnevan” was used because Galaxy already had another short story in that same issue by Sheckley and the magazines worried about such things back then. Bad Medicine is a prototypical Sheckleyian story and that’s really saying something. The man wrote more than 400 stories in all! His work is tinged with dark, absurdist humor, and I enjoy the heck out of it. I don’t know who does this reading, but its good enough for FREE! You’ll love it…

Online Audiobook - Bad Medicine by Robert SheckleyBad Medicine
By Robert Sheckley; Read by ???
1 MP3 File – 35 Minutes 38 Seconds [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Gutenberg.org
Published: 2005
“On May 2, 2103, Elwood Caswell walked rapidly down Broadway with a loaded revolver hidden in his coat pocket. He didn’t want to use the weapon, but feared he might anyhow. This was a justifiable assumption, for Caswell was a homicidal maniac.”

A FREE Philip K. Dick Audiobook Kicks Off A New Audiobook Company

Online Audio

Online Audio - Wonder AudiobooksWonder Audiobooks is the BRAND NEW audiobook company owned by the SFFaudio reviewer known as The Time Traveler. To promote his new site and his upcoming first release Wonder Audio has released a free audiobook! In the past other companies have given away audiobooks as promotions as well, but I’ve never seen a better title by a better author given away for free for such a promotion – this one is truly a stunner folks, a previously unrecorded Philip K. Dick story, Dick’s first published short story in fact, complete, unabridged and read by a professional narrator in a studio setting … best of all it is 100% FREE! This is truly an SFFaudio listener’s dream come true!

Beyond Lies The Wub by Philip K. DickBeyond Lies The Wub
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Mac Kelly
1 MP3 File – 17 Minutes 40 Seconds [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonder Audiobooks
Published: June 2006
Themes: / Science Fiction / Aliens / Colonialism / Interplanetary Travel /Mars /

The arrogant Captain Franco and his crew of earthmen land on Mars to take on provisions – there they purchase a half ton pig-like creature called a “wub.” They think it a meat animal but when Franco starts to discuss exactly how to butcher the creature the Wub protests! The Wub is not as intellectually starved as it at first appears – indeed the classics, especially Homer’s Odyssey are of special interest to the wub – which makes it doubly ironic that the humans aboard Franco’s ship didn’t remember about what the dread goddess Circe did to Odysseus’ poor crew…

Folks, Beyond Lies The Wub will be just one story in an exclusive short fiction collection called Among The Aliens coming soon from Wonder Audiobooks. Other stories included in the collection will be:

Green Patches by Isaac Asimov
Lover When You’re Near Me by Richard Matheson
Anthropological Notes by Murray Leinster
Arena by Fredric Brown
The Monsters by Robert Sheckley
The Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum
The Hanging Stranger by Philip K. Dick
The Wind People by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Captains Mate by Evelyn E. Smith
The Devil On Salvation Bluff by Jack Vance

All these and an as yet unnamed short story by Alfred Bester will come in a 6 CD set!

WOO HOO!

by Jesse