New Release – The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley

New Releases

The Status Civilization by Robert SheckleyThe Status Civilization
By Robert Sheckley; Read by Mark Douglas Nelson
5.5 hrs. – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonder Audio
Availiable at Audible and iTunes

LibriVox: Out Of Time’s Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs

SFFaudio Online Audio

LibriVoxPaul Williams of the Librivox admin team writes in to say:

Just wanted to clue all of you over at SFFAudio in that Ralph Snelson has completed Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Caspak series over at Librivox. He completed Out of Time’s Abyss on September 16.

Duly noted and detailed below Paul, thanks!

The entire series is now complete, all read by one guy! Huzzah!

Book one is |HERE|
Book two is |HERE|
Book three is here…

LibriVox Science Fiction - Out Of Time’s Abyss by Edgar Rice BurroughsOut Of Time’s Abyss
By Edgar Rice Burroughs; Read by Ralph Snelson
5 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 3 Hours 43 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: September 2008
Out of Time’s Abyss is a science fiction novel, the third of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Caspak” trilogy. In this conclusion, the mysteries of the lost world’s unique biological systems are revealed.

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/out-of-times-abyss-by-edgar-rice-burroughs.xml

This was a triumph.
I’m making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Steven Gould short story Shade @ Tor.com

SFFaudio Online Audio

Tor.comTor.com has a new Steven Gould short story set in his Jumper universe. Whatever you thought of the movie (I rate it as a solid meh+ myself), the first two novels are very solid reads. The second, Reflex |READ OUR REVIEW|, was available in audio previously, the first, still hasn’t been audiobooked. Get yourself hooked by trying a little taste for free…


Tor.com Audiobook - Shade by Steven GouldShade
By Steven Gould; Read by Steven Gould ?
1 |MP3| – Approx. 31 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tor.com
Published: August 2008

[via Dragon Page Cover To Cover]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Forgotten Classics: The Wonder Stick by Stanton A. Coblentz

SFFaudio Online Audio

Forgotten ClassicsI was cheering up a young friend of mine by showing her video of Weird Al’s White and Nerdy the other day. It worked. Afterward, in explaining who Weird Al was, I described the character he played in the movie UHF. I said:

“He’s a sort of guy everybody thinks is a loser – incredibly passionate about his interests. In other words, he’s a nerd like me.”

My young friend then sez: “You know you’re a loser?” and then she laughed.

It was funny.

After the convulsions died down, I said: “I know that some people think of me that way.”

I explained that I know I’m a nerd. That I wear the nerd badge with pride. I like, and always have liked Weird Al and the whole ’embrace your inner nerd’ mentality he exemplifies. Which brings me to The Wonder Stick:

Julie D., of Forgotten Classics podcast (and a contributor to SFFaudio), has just wrapped up the final installment of her wonderful reading of The Wonder Stick by Stanton A. Coblentz. It was Coblentz’s first novel. You can kind of tell it his first novel, much of the dialogue is rather simplistic, especially with crowds of cavemen speaking like a Greek chorus (but then again, cavemen probably weren’t super eloquent). I get the sense that kids will really dig this adventure. Had I read it, when Julie had (in junior high school or high school), I’d have probably have enjoyed it even more than I did.

The Wonder Stick is the story of Ru, a young caveman who’s an outsider. Ru is scorned by his community despite his superior intellect, insight and cunning. In the end Ru triumphs, and gets the respect he so rightly deserves. It’s really the story of the original triumph of the nerds.

What The Wonder Stick doesn’t quite have is the modern ethos of the nerds (it is also absent from the W&N video), namely: We don’t need the respect of the non-nerds. We have our own community. So, to my young friend, and to all you nerds, I highly recommend downloading…

Forgotten Classics presents… Stanton A. Coblentz’s The Wonder StickThe Wonder Stick
By Stanton A. Coblentz; Read by Julie D.
Podcast – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Forgotten Classics
Podcast: May – September 2008
A prehistorical science fiction novel that does everything but invent the wheel. The “wonder-stick” of the title, is a real invention which provided an unparalleled quantum leap in human technology.

|MP3| Chapters 1 – 2 |MP3| Chapters 3 – 5
|MP3| Chapters 6 – 7 |MP3| Chapters 8 – 10
|MP3| Chapters 11 – 12 |MP3| Chapters 13 -15
|MP3| Chapter 16 |MP3| Chapters 17
|MP3| Chapters 18 – 19 |MP3| Chapters 20 – 21
|MP3| Chapters 22 – 24 |MP3| Chapter 25 – 26 & Conclusion

and then watching…

Posted by Jesse Willis

CANADIA: 2056 coming to CD

SFFaudio News

Canadia: 2056Good news for radio drama fans! Greg DeClute, a producer at CBC Radio One, informs me that:

“…the second season of Canadia will be released on CD in time for Christmas. The CBC will start taking
pre-orders on November 17. People can order it from the Canadia site or
from the CBC shop.”

Greg is referring of course to the second season of CANADIA: 2056, which aired earlier this year on CBC Radio One stations across Canada. Season one, by the way, is already available in a 5 CD set.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

SFFaudio Review

Science Fiction Audiobook - Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules VerneJourney to the Center of the Earth
By Jules Verne; Read by Simon Prebble
7 CDs – 7.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781433243806
Themes: / Science Fiction / Classic / Geology / Dinosaurs /

In listening to Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, I was struck by how much modern films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and National Treasure owe to this book. Although it was written way back in 1864, while the War Between the States was in full swing and the earth was a very different place, in many ways its thoroughly modern, at home alongside recent sci-fi novels like John Crichton’s Jurassic Park.

In summary, Journey to the Center of the Earth is a fast-paced and lively pseudo science/exploration story that manages to be mostly interesting and entertaining. Unfortunately, it also crosses over into unbelievable territory about three-quarters of the way through and ends with a classic deux-ex-machina, but I found I can live with it.

Journey to the Center of the Earth takes aim at the theory that the earth grows hotter the nearer that you travel to its center. Verne posits the idea that the earth’s core is inhabitable and houses massive cavities, caverns so huge that you cannot see their roof. At its center is a sea large enough that you can travel across its and lose sight of land all around. Science has of course since proven this idea impossible, but it makes for a fun story if you divorce it from reality.

Journey to the Center of Earth has a compelling opening that reminded me of The DaVinci Code–Professor Liedenbrock and his nephew Axel, the heroes of the story, find a coded note written in runes within the pages of an Icelandic saga. They puzzle through it and discover that it is a note written by Arne Saknussemm describing a passage he has found to the center of the earth. The opening is located in the interior of a dormant volcano in Iceland. Liedenbrock and Axel recruit an Icelandic guide and the three men embark on their journey.

I found Verne’s descriptions of overland and sea travel to Iceland interesting, and the first scenes of the descent fascinating. Verne vividly portrays the vast depths and terrifying downward drops of the volcano draft, and creates excitement and dread in two sequences in which Axel gets lost in the inky blackness and the three men nearly die of thirst.

Unfortunately I thought that the tale started to unravel once the men near the earth’s center, which contains ice age creatures, dinosaurs, and even early men. If the story didn’t literally jump a shark it certainly started to lose me once Liedenbrock and Axel’s small boat passes very nearly over an Ichthyosaurus. I was also puzzled with the abrupt ending–Liedenbrock and Axel gain great fame from their expedition, while others treat their claims with skepticism. But, inexplicably, no one ever bothers to re-trace their footsteps and verify their claims.

Still, you could do worse than pass the time by giving it the book a listen. It’s also skillfully read by English-accented, professorial-sounding narrator Simon Prebble.

Posted by Brian Murphy