PRI’s Selected Shorts: Beyond Lies The Wub by Philip K. Dick

SFFaudio Online Audio

Public Radio International’s Selected ShortsPublic Radio International’s Selected Shorts (an event at New York’s Symphony Space, in which actors read classic and new short fiction before a live audience) recently had Art Spiegelman (comic book auteur) and Françoise Mouly (art editor of The New Yorker) pick some short stories for a series of live readings. One of them was Philip K. Dick’s Beyond Lies the Wub! Spiegleman introduces the tale. It’s interesting to hear this familiar and excellent tale read live. Narrator Denis O’Hare doesn’t perform it as a regular audiobook narrator would, but it’s kind of fun to hear a different take on it. Compare this version to the excellent Wonder Audio version.

Beyond Lies The Wub
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Denis O’Hare
1 |MP3|* – Approx. 22 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Broadcaster: PRI / Selected Shorts
Broadcast: April 13, 2008
*The story runs from 13:54-35:05

Here’s the podcast feed:


http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510202

[Thanks Esther!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Infected by Scott Sigler

SFFaudio Review

Infected by Scott SiglerInfected
By Scott Sigler; Read by Scott Sigler
9 CDs – 12 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9780739328859
Themes: / Horror / Science Fiction / Mystery / Bio Chemical / Self Mutilation / Scott Sigler / Podcast

Maybe you’ve been away on vacation. Maybe you’re new here. Maybe you fell asleep 100 years ago and you’re just waking up. Maybe you’ve been locked inside your house with a pair of chicken scissors. Who knows? But, if you are a fan of audiobooks and audio fiction and DON’T know about Scott Sigler, you’ve been missing out.

So, for those of you who don’t know who Scott Sigler is, he started out as a rogue novelist that decided to record his own novels and distribute them for free, over the internet, as podcasts, to build an audience for his writing. And my, oh my how it has worked! Who would have ever thought that you could make money, or at least get yourself a big time publishing deal with a major company just by giving your stuff away for free? For those of you who, like me, have been following his rise, you’ll be happy to hear that our little Scott Sigler is all grown up now. He’s out of diapers and he’s using his “big boy” voice.

The basic premise of Infected is this: Some strange virus, disease, or biological weapon is turning normal people in to stark raving lunatics. This mysterious disease, whatever it is, causes its victim to become paranoid, psychotic, and just a little more than grumpy. There’s suspense, gore, disturbing self mutilation and of course, lots and lots of violence. But, as you may well know, adult themes and disturbing images only work if they are used to serve as a backdrop to great writing. Infected is most certainly well written and that’s why it is a good listening experience from beginning to end.

CIA operative Dew Phillips is burdened with the task of figuring out what this thing is and why it causes such behavior from its victims. Even with the help of CDC Epidemiologist Margaret Montoya, he does not know much about the disease. Because of its nature, all infected victims have been found dead. The investigation takes them from city to city, hoping to catch a live host.

Then there’s our “host” Perry Dawsey. He’s a gigantic former college football player, with a slight twinge towards problems of an anger management nature. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to take you on a wonderful ride of beautifully written “gross”. Perry is a man who has struggled for years to control his anger and you begin to feel for him as you witness his downward spiral in to violence. You may find yourself fighting for Perry the perfectly crafted underdog. Normally you wouldn’t consider such a hugely athletic man as an “underdog”. But, in Infected, his strength is literally his weakness.

I first heard Infected in its original form as a free audio podcast. When I sat down to listen to this professionally produced and released unabridged recording, I thought I was about to take a trip in to a wonderfully relaxing nostalgia. But, I was wrong. From the first page, the book has been completely re-worked, tightened, tweaked, improved upon, and added to. Infected is as fit as a boxer getting ready to fight for the title belt and every page, chapter, and verse has a polished feel that resonates with the listener. There is also new material, previously unreleased, including twenty-two pages that you won’t even find in hardcover book.

For fans of Sigler’s podcast, you will be happy to hear that he narrated the entire book himself. It comes complete with elements that you don’t normally find in a big budget release, such as voices and a mild amount of sound effects that help the recording spring to life. Yet the entire thing feels like his podcast. I kept expecting him to come in and say, “That’s all the story I’ve got for you this week…” but he never did. Not until the end, almost twelve gruesome hours later.

The sound quality is very good. There are no flubs, exterior sounds, or flaws. It not only sounds good, but Scott Sigler has actually never sounded better. That’s a lot to be said for someone who jokingly claims to have been doing this perfectly for over eighteen years now.

I realized when I first pressed “play” on this audiobook that I had never actually listened to anything written by Scott Sigler in one extended sitting. I had been consuming his fiction, just like every other person out there, one week at a time, for just a few minutes at a time. I am happy to report that he is not like one of those annoying friends that you enjoy only in small doses. I started listening to Infected, and even though I already had a good idea of what the story and characters were going to be, I just kept listening all the way through to the end. The writing is solid and the plot twists and character arcs are all perfectly juxtaposed. You can never relax or let your guard down because there is something even worse coming to get you from just around the corner.

So, if you’re in to a little romantic comedy where all is well at the end and everyone loves each other, Infected is not for you. But, if you are looking for something that is page burningly well written with great characters, violence gore, a dash of self mutilation and some chicken scissors thrown in for good measure, definitely give Infected a shot. I’m sure Scott Sigler would thank you personally, but he’s locked in his closet right now recording his next great hit, which he is still giving away for free, every week. Well, almost every week. It isn’t exactly clockwork.

Posted by Michael Bekemeyer of the Scatterpod podcast.

The Canadia: 2056 Unofficial Podcast is here!

SFFaudio Online Audio

“Let me hear the first one again”
-Commander Margot Fabreaux, first officer, HMCSS Canadia

Canadia: 2056 Unofficial PodcastI have some kruckin’ good news! All our wishes have finally been fulfilled, and somebody up there (in orbit) likes us! The Zombie Astronaut, the proprietor of the ghoulishly great OTR and audio drama website (and his own Frequency Of Fear podcast) has set up an “unofficial Canadia: 2056 podcast” feed! This follows in the tradition of other unofficial podcast feeds for other CBC Radio shows like Wiretap and The Age Of Persuasion.

ZA, who is orbiting high above the earth in his Zombie Space Station, plans on podcasting one episode of the program daily until he’s caught up with the radio broadcasts! Episode 18 of Canadia: 2056 airs on all CBC Radio One stations this week.

Subscribe to the unofficial podcast via this feed:

http://thezombieastronaut.com/podcasts-only/rss2.aspx

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Halo: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten

SFFaudio Review

Science Fiction audiobook - Halo Contact HarvestHalo: Contact Harvest
By Joseph Staten; Read by Holter Graham and Jen Taylor
10 CDs – 11 hrs [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Published: 2008
ISBN: 9781427202499
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military / Tactics / Gaming / Aliens /

This is how it began… It is the year 2524. Harvest is a peaceful, prosperous farming colony on the very edge of human-controlled space. But we have trespassed on holy ground–strayed into the path of an aggressive alien empire known as the Covenant. What begins as a chance encounter between an alien privateer and a human freighter catapults mankind into a struggle for its very existence. But humanity is also locked in a bitter civil war known as the Insurrection. So the survival of Harvest’s citizens falls to a squad of battle-weary UNSC Marines and their inexperienced colonial militia trainees.In this unlikely group of heroes, one stands above the rest…a young Marine staff sergeant named Avery Johnson.

Before I move into this review, I need to say a couple of things. One, I am not a fan of the Military SF sub-genre. I don’t hate it, but a few weapon descriptions go a long way for me. Two, I am not a gamer, though the first time I saw Halo 3 on the Xbox 360, it made me want to sell my Wii.

Now that you know that I can say that Halo: Contact Harvest was almost exactly what I expected it to be. There is a whole lot of automatic weapons fire by a whole lot of soldiers who say things like “look sharp!”, “give me some cover!”, and “lock and load!”. There is plenty of futuristic weaponry discussed and model numbers of vehicles tossed about. If that’s the kind of thing you enjoy, here it is!

My impression now, having played a bit of Halo 3 at a friend’s house and having heard this book, is that story plays a large role in the game. Like good writers, the game makers (the author, Joseph Staten, is one of that team) imagined and wrote a great deal, then spawned the game from that, leaving most of the story untold, because, let’s face it, the gamers want to blow things up, not watch a movie. Yet the story does make the game much more interesting and gives it a surprising (to me) depth. This novel is a way to tell some of the backstory to those interested, and since the hardcover spent a few weeks on the bestseller list, there is obviously plenty of interest.

In the first Halo game, humans are already at war with aliens that are called “The Covenant”. This novel is a prequel to that game, and it describes the start of the conflict between The Covenant and humans. The story is told from two points of view – the humans (led by Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson), and the aliens. The humans have claimed a world called Harvest as their own, but the aliens object because the surface is covered with artifacts made by the “Forerunners”, an extinct race that the aliens worship. Bullets fly. But to stop there is to not give the story credit, because there are some good things in there, including a revelation that the aliens want to suppress because their very beliefs are threatened.

Overall, this is a good audiobook, because the main narrator (Holter Graham) is excellent, and the writing isn’t bad either. The emphasis on military jargon is something that turns me off, but that’s just me. I suspect that military SF fans will like this audiobook a great deal, and I’m pleased to have heard it myself, if only to learn of story’s significant place in the gaming market.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Forgotten Classics presents… Stanton A. Coblentz’s The Wonder Stick

SFFaudio Online Audio

Forgotten ClassicsJulie D. is the proprietor of Forgotten Classics; it’s one of my favorite podcasts. And that is rather strange thing to say as Julie and I really don’t seem to have much in common. She’s Catholic, has a big family, a husband, and kids in high school and university. She’s into knitting (or at least knitting podcasts) and cookbooks. Many of her blog posts and podcasts talk about what I’d call the pleasures of ‘hearth’ and ‘home.’ None of that’s really my bag, not at all. But on the other hand she’s into podcasts, SF and has an abiding love of old books. All that shows in every single podcast. Julie reads her “Forgotten Classics” with warmth, confidence and clarity. It’s always a pleasure to receive one of her podcasts in my podcatcher. Part of this is her passion for the books themselves, another part of it is that all the books she reads from have been ones unfamiliar to me – I like to be surprised. Her latest project is one just such, namely Stanton A. Coblentz’s first novel The Wonder Stick. I first read a Coblentz story in the Blackstone Audio collection called A Galaxy Trilogy (Volume I). That novel came from the tail end of Coblentz’s carreer. Julie’s recorded chapters 1 and 2 of The Wonder Stick, Coblentz’s first book, and I’m eager to hear the rest of it. Check it and Forgotten Classics out…

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 2008 – ????
Variously described around the net as “a cave-man story” and “a prehistorical” my attention was piqued when I realized this was an out and out Science Fiction story, that “wonder-stick” of the title, it performs what could playfully be called the original spooky action at a distance.

Have a listen to the Forgotten Classics promo |MP3| and then subscribe for the podcast feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/forgottenclassics

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth by H.G. Wells

SFFaudio Online Audio

Complete, unabridged, and with a single narrator! What more could you ask? Perhaps only being able to get it for free. Friends, all your wishes are granted for here it is. The latest LibriVox audiobook to catch my eye is a classic H.G. Wells novel…

The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth by H.G. WellsThe Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth
By H.G. Wells; Read by Alex C. Telander
12 Zipped MP3s or Podcast – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: April 2008
Two stuffy English scientists, always looking to further their scientific knowledge, create a substance called Herakleophorbia, which in its fourth incarnation – known as Herakleophorbia IV – has the special ability of making things increase greatly in size. As the scientists begin experimentation on some chicks, the substance is misused by some “country folk” who don’t take it seriously and soon Herakleophorbia IV is running rampant throughout England and then across the globe, creating giant plants and animals that wreak havoc on the land and then the people. Then the first giant babies are revealed and for the first time humanity has to contend with the existence of a new race of giant people. How humanity deals with this shocking new creation is revealed in The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth.

Subscribe to the podcast via the feed:

RSS FEED FOR The Food Of The Gods And How It Came To Earth

Posted by Jesse Willis