The SFFaudio Podcast #127 – READALONG: Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #127 – Jesse, Scott, Tamahome, and Prof. Eric S. Rabkin discuss Vernor Vinge’s Rainbows End (no apostrophe).

Talked about on today’s show:
“Welcome to our belief circle”, pronouncing “Vinge”, why Eric picked the book, how to appreciate it, Jesse: “I’m not super impressed”, the Neuromancer connection, Robert Gu (the grouchy poet), The Rabbit, mind control, “affiliances”, this book is happy, “it’s a noir book (Neuromancer)”, the nature of Rabbit, the book is told in free indirect style (vs 3rd person limited vs 3rd person omniscient) (I guess “3rd person limited omniscient” is a contradiction), Sherlock Holmes, POV of Rabbit, a missing MacGuffin, we spoil both Neuromancer and Rainbows End, the book’s other inspirations, Alice In Wonderland, projected realities (belief circles), Vinge: “a very mellow extrapolation”, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress (huh?), Mike the computer, the Jewish doxie of shim sung, Jesse: “I’m liking it more”, the original novella Fast Times At Fairmont High, Bob And Carol And Ted And Alice (sexy!), The Bear Came Over The Mountain by Alice Munro, nursing homes, “a proto-typical mainstream story”, no one likes Robert Gu, Rollback by Robert Sawyer, Vinge’s writing strengths, “big steaming mounds of infodump”, Faulkner’s Light In August, Away From Her (film of Munro story), let’s hear it for Canada, Dune, “The Doomsday Machine” (Star Trek), Saberhagen’s Berserkers, “destruction of the past for the future”, libraryoem = human genome, “tempest in a teapot”, the Geisel Library is named after Dr. Seuss, biological vs technical, “visceral”, The Space Merchants, Terry Pratchett, “DRM’d to the bone”, is it a dystopia?, reach out and touch someone, the word “apostrophe” in poetry, “that’s an extra cuteness”, the absent transitive like “do you ride?”, How do you write good science fiction?, Robert A. Heinlein, Virtual Light, Google Goggles app, Layers app, A Christmas Carol, The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain, “the snake of knowledge”, Eric takes notes when he reads, taking notes in an audio book (the Audible app can, Eric), ebook vs paper book, search skills, letmegooglethatforyou.com, Eric’s computer has all the answers, The Diamond Age, politics, Winston Blount, Miri, growth, Xiu Xiang, “Rainbows End is a pot of gold”, a heavenly minefield, rebirth, The City And The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke.

doomsday machine

Posted by Tamahome

The SFFaudio Podcast #045

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #045 – Jesse and Scott are joined by the ghost of Xmas future as they talk about audiobooks, video games, audio drama and lots more. Jesse even reveals an earth shattering bit of trivia about Vincent Price (you’ll never guess it) and what he thinks is clearly “the greatest joke ever.”

Talked about on today’s show:
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Drood by Dan Simmons, The Terror, James Powell, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, The Black Whatever by James Powell, Richard Stark, NPR, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore (as done in the style of Earnest Hemingway), The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman |READ OUR REVIEW|, Joe Haldeman to be named a Grand Master of Science Fiction, The Best Cigarette by Billy Collins, iTunes U, The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein, Vincent Price, Paul K. Willis (Jesse’s uncle), Rumors And Boarders, Vancouver is the American Science Fiction TV mecca, Arctic exploration, the Northwest Passage, The Illustrated History Of British Columbia by Terry Reksten, Sir Francis Drake‘s secret mission, Queen Elizabeth I, Juan de Fuca, Captain James Cook, Captain George Vancouver, Patrick O’Brian meets Edgar Allan Poe and J.M.W. Turner, Simon Vance, recent arrivals, audio drama, The H.P. Lovecraft Radio Hour Vol. 1, LovecraftRadio.com, The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, Dagon, Blackstone Audio, Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold, Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold |READ OUR REVIEW|, The Reader’s Chair, Audible.com, Dean Koontz, Hideaway by Dean Koontz, our DEAN KOONTZ AUTHOR PAGE, Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz, Jay O. Sanders, The Day After Tomorrow, Rogue Berzerker by Fred Saberhagen, The Adventure Of The Metal Murderer, time travel, Sherlock Holmes, Wings Out Of Shadow, DH Audio, Manfred von Richthofen, Hermann Göring, Paul Michael Garcia, Berzerker Fury, Empire Of The East by Fred Saberhagen |READ OUR REVIEW|, Willie Wonka!, Penguin Audio, Fire by Kristin Cashore, Full Cast Audio, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Macmillan Audio, Hidden Empire by Orson Scott Card, Shadow Complex, side-scrolling video games, Peter David, the attempt to boycott Orson Scott Card’s video games, casual gamers vs. hard core gamers, Fallout 3, Medal Of Honor, DRM, copyfight, They’re Made Of Meat by Terry Bisson (adapted by FredOSphere), Seeing Ear Theatre, J. Michael Straczynski’s City Of Dreams (available via ThePirateBay.org), Towing Jehovah by James Morrow, Luke Burrage‘s Science Fiction Book Review Podcast (reviewing Anathem by Neal Stephenson), William Dufris, Sci Fi Song’s The Ballad Of Wilson Cole, Mike Resnick’s Starship series, FREE Ringworld by Larry Niven, Grover Gardner IS Tom Parker, New Releases, Audible Frontiers, William Gibson, Burning Chrome, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Jonathan Davis, All Tomorrow’s Parties, The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word For World Is Forest, Book Of The Road, The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag by Robert A. Heinlein , The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham, The Chrysalids, David Weber‘s Honor Harrington series, The Plague Of The Dead by Z.A Recht, a zombie plague that makes people: calm, reasonable, rational and peaceful?, Macmillian Audio, A Deepness In the Sky by Vernor Vinge, the Blake’s 7 Audio Adventures series is now on Audible.com!, space opera, social Science Fiction, Robin Hood, Babylon 5, Brave New World, 1984, Memoirs From A Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem, Terry Gilliam, Twelve Monkeys, Philip K. Dick, Franz Kafka, Tantor Media, The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin, Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein, deep exploration of ideas in fiction, Todd McLaren, Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan |READ OUR REVIEW|, the Prometheus Award, libertarianism, Collapse by Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs And Steel, Easter Island, Hawaii, Montana, Greenland, ecosystems, The Teaching Company, World War II: A Military and Social History by Thomas Childers, A Military History of WWII by Trevor Nevitt Dupuy Col. U.S. Army, Ret., Italian Frogmen in WWII, Benito Mussolini.

Vincent Price with Paul K. Willis on the set of The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein

Posted by Jesse Willis

UCSD: LTWL 124 Science Fiction (a university course on SF)

SFFaudio Online Audio

QUICK! grab this podcast and its MP3s before they’re gone forever!

LTWL 124 (a first year course in the “Literatures of the World” department) is available now, but not for long. The University of California San Diego, which put out this course, takes its podcasts down shortly after a semester ends. Also note, all the files in this feed are completely unedited – this means there are long silences (often an hour of longer) and some files are a completely empty 2 hour block of silence. But, don’t let this deter you. Soldier on, start with lecture 2 (as it is the first file with content).

UCSD Department Of LiteratureLTWL 124 – Science Fiction (Literatures of the World)
Professor Stephen Potts
18 Lectures – Approx. 24 Hours [UNIVERSITY LECTURES]
University: UCSD
Semester: Fall 2008

Syllabus:

Introduction: A History of the Future.
Science Fiction: Origins to Golden Age
The Weird World of PKD: Ubik by Philip K. Dick
SF History: The New Wave
New Wave SF:The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Hard Science Fiction: Timescape by Gregory Benford
SF Onscreen: 1900-1970s
SF Onscreen: After Star Wars
Guest Lecture: David Brin
Cyberpunk. Neuromancer by William Gibson
Guest Lecture: Vernor Vinge
The Graphic Novel. Reading: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Conclusions

Podcast feed:

http://podcast.ucsd.edu/podcasts/rss.aspx?PodcastId=270

[via The DIY Scholar blog]

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Releases – from Audible Frontiers

New Releases

Audible FrontiersSteve Feldberg, the man behind the awesome AUDIBLE FRONTIERS line over on Audible.com has detailed the new AF releases for December. Sez Feldberg:

“I’m especially excited by our multi-voice production on HYPERION, which utilizes five different narrators. If you’re familiar with the book’s structure – akin to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – you’ll know that it lends itself to a number of distinct voices.”

I think that’s awesome too. Personally though I’m glad too that Book 4 in the Starship series is on this list!

Available now:

Audible Frontiers - Shadow Bridge by Gregory FrostShadowbridge
By Gregory Frost
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 2008
Includes an exclusive introduction by the author.




Audible Frontiers - Lord Tophet by Gregory FrostLord Tophet (book 2 in the Shadow Bridge Series)
By Gregory Frost
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 2008
Includes an exclusive introduction by the author.




Audible Frontiers - The Speed Of Dark by Elizabeth MoonThe Speed of Dark
By Elizabeth Moon
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 2008
A Nebula Award Winning Novel!




Audible Frontiers - Fast Times At Fairmont High by Vernor VingeFast Times at Fairmont High
By Vernor Vinge
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 2008
A Nebula Award Winning Novella!




Audible Frontiers - Forty Signs Of Rain by Kim Stanley RobinsonForty Signs of Rain (book 1 in the “Science in the Capital” trilogy
By Kim Stanley Robinson
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 2008
Includes an exclusive introduction by the author!




Audible Frontiers - Fifty Degrees Below by Kim Stanley RobinsonFifty Degrees Below (book 2 in the “Science in the Capital” trilogy
By Kim Stanley Robinson
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 2008
Includes an exclusive introduction by the author!




Audible Frontiers - Sixty Days And Counting by Kim Stanley RobinsonSixty Days And Counting (book 3 in the “Science in the Capital” trilogy
By Kim Stanley Robinson
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 2008
Includes an exclusive introduction by the author!




COMING SOON:

Starship: Rebel
By Mike Resnick
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 16th 2008
*A simultaneous release with the book; includes an exclusive introduction by the author!

Hyperion
By Dan Simmons
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 23rd 2008
A Hugo Award Winning Novel!

The Fall Of Hyperion
By Dan Simmons
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: December 23rd 2008
A Hugo and Nebula Nominated Novel!

Posted by Jesse Willis

Vernor Vinge interview and reads on Time Traveler Show

SFFaudio Online Audio
Time Traveler Show #27Recorded live at Penguicon 6.0 on April 20th, 2008. The Time Traveler talks to Vernor Vinge about his novel Rainbows End, the Singularity, and Arthur C. Clarke. Vernor also reads his short story “A Dry Martini”.

TTS #27 –
Shownotes
MP3

There are three other recordings posted at the Time Traveler Show blog/shownotes from Penguicon 6.0:

Has Science Fiction Lost Its Mainstream Cultural Relevance?
[John Scalzi, Jeff deLuzio]
MP3

Guerrilla Marketing — The Art of Self-Promotion
[The Time Traveler, Daniel J. Hogan, Michael “Freon” Andaluz]
MP3

Podcasting
[Chris Miller, Rich Elswick, The Time Traveler, Thomas “cmdln” Gideon]
MP3

Posted by The Time Traveler of the Time Traveler Show

The Time Traveler Show has the ULTIMATE Sir Arthur C. Clarke Podcast

SFFaudio Online Audio

Podcast - The Time Traveler ShowThe latest Time Traveler Show podcast is a MUST LISTEN.

The whole show is a tribute to the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke. This is a podcast to beat all podcasts, with the prime attraction being an unabridged reading of “The Hammer of God” by Arthur C. Clarke!

This story appeared in the Audio Literature collection The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke. On top of that there’s an interview with the narrator, Scott Brick, who has also written the screenplay for the upcoming Rendezvous with Rama movie. Likewise interviewed is Dean McCreary, the production designer for the film. Also on board, audiobook narrator and producer, Stefan Rudnicki, Vernor Vinge and a rare recording of the man himself! Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s 1965 Hugo ceremonies speech entitles “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Learned to Love Stanley Kubrick.”

The Time Traveler Show #26 - The Hammer Of God by Arthur C. ClarkeThe Hammer Of God
By Arthur C. Clarke; Read by Scott Brick and Gabrielle de Cuir
1 |MP3| – [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: The Time Traveler show
Podcast: April 25th 2008
Kali is the asteroid that will hit earth. Captain Robert Singh is commanding Goliath, the spaceship that will be fitted to Kali to deflect it from earth impact course.

Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:

http://www.timetravelershow.com/shows/feed.xml

Posted by Jesse Willis