February 2012
31 posts
Audible.com 24-hour 2-for-1 sale
Starting this morning and lasting until Thursday March 1 at 11 AM Eastern Time (US), Audible.com is promoting a 2-for-1 sale. This is one of the “special shopping cart” mini-site sales, and there is a tab for both Fantasy and (separately!) for Sci-Fi titles, though some titles of sf interest lurk on the Fiction, Young Adult, and other tabs as well. The titles include books from Fforde,...
10 tags
Release Week: TC McCarthy's Exogene, Michael...
February goes out with quite a splash, with T. C. McCarthy’s Exogene: The Subterrene Trilogy, Book 2, Michael Swanwick’s Dancing with Bears: A Darger and Surplus Novel, Sergey and Marina Dyachenko’s The Scar, and Elizabeth Hand’s Available Dark.
EXOGENE: Read by Bahni Turpin for Blackstone Audio and released concurrently with the mass market and e-book from Orbit,...
A brief summary of Saladin Ahmed's "Throne of the...
Raseed: Oh no, she's hot! But I must adhere to the rules of my Order, which dictate that staring at a woman (or eating nice food, resting for more than a few hours at a time, and just generally having fun) is sinful! HONOUR!!11!!
Zamia: Oh no, he's hot! But I must focus on avenging my tribe and ignoring hotass guys in the process! HONOUR!!11!!
Adoulla: What, you kids still haven't made out yet?
Raseed: . . .
Zamia: . . .
Adoulla: DAMN KIDS THESE DAYS.
2 tags
1 tag
Feature Friday: Open Letter to Audible: a DRM-free...
Dear Audible,
I love you guys. You’ve brought nearly 700 science fiction and fantasy books to audio, 43 so far this year, and we’re not even done with February yet. (And that’s just Audible Frontiers alone, not counting Audible, Inc. or Neil Gaiman Presents, or Brilliance Audio, or even just the beginnings of what you’re doing with ACX.) I love the narrator features and...
Arcfinity: Arc 1.1: The Future Always Wins. Out... →
arcfinity:
OUT NOW
For iPads and iPhones For Kindle For Android devices, Windows and Mac computers As a collectible print edition
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL: Welcome to the future Simon Ings and Sumit Paul-Choudhury FORWARD: The object of posterity’s scorn (+) Bruce Sterling SHORT STORY:…
I’ve been anticipating this a long while, but… am very sad to see the price for the print...
5 tags
Release Week: Eric Flint's 1632, Elizabeth Moon's...
Since, though apparently I missed the memo, TC McCarthy’s Exogene is set for a March 1 release instead of coming out today as I’d mistakenly thought, the big audiobook release this week is 1632: Ring of Fire, Book 1 By Eric Flint, Narrated by George Guidall for Recorded Books:
Published in print by Baen in 2000, 1632 became a bestseller and spawned a bestselling series of alternate...
The 2012 Audies finalists have been announced,...
Via Audiobooker, a Booklist blog, the 2012 Audies Finalists have been announced. Here are some of the titles I thought my readers here would find the most interesting, with links:
FANTASY
The Automatic Detective, by A. Lee Martinez, Narrated by Marc Vietor, Audible, Inc.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor, Narrated by Khristine Hvam, Hachette Audio
The Land of Laughs, by Jonathan...
Feature Friday: The regional digital divide cuts...
Most times, as a reader and listener in the US, I don’t have to worry much about regional rights when it comes to the books I want to read, the films I want to watch, and so on. But as I find myself following the field more and more closely, those exceptions, generally UK and Australia (and sometimes Canadian!) titles which haven’t (yet?) made it to the US begin to gnaw at me.
Last...
The Guilded Earlobe reviews John Brunner's Stand... →
“Quick Thoughts: Despite my struggles and the fact that it took me nearly half the audiobook to get a grip on the overall narrative, I am glad that I finally fully experienced Brunner’s strange, troubling but beautiful novel. This is a book that is hard for me to recommend, because it takes a lot of investment by the reader/listener, but if you’re game, I’ll definitely cheer you on.”
Audiobook release day: John Carter in 'A Princess...
Although I swear I saw Tanith Lee’s Delusion’s Master, read by Susan Duerden no less, show up momentarily today, another title hit Audible’s shelves this evening and seems to have stuck: John Carter in ‘A Princess of Mars’: Barsoom Series, Book 1 By Edgar Rice Burroughs, Narrated by Scott Brick for Tantor Audio:
While it’s the 7th production of A Princess of...
6 tags
Audiobook review: Viriconium by M. John Harrison,...
Last month the blog welcomed contributor Dave Thompson with his review of Tim Powers’s The Stress of Her Regard, read by Simon Vance. Today he returns with another review, setting his ears on Viriconium by M. John Harrison, read by Vance for Neil Gaiman Presents:
Review by Dave Thompson: “A Not As Young Man’s Return Journey to Viriconium”
I have been to Viriconium once...
1 tag
Release Week: Stephen King's The Stand; Reese,...
Coming in at nearly 48 hours, the big title this audiobook release week is The Stand By Stephen King, narrated by Grover Gardner for Random House Audio:
Not only is the recording unabridged, it’s the “complete and uncut” version of King’s classic post-apocalyptic tale, “includ[ing] more than 500 pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that...
Steampunk'd : Audible.com "asked Mark Hodder,... →
Includes a little 4-paragraph answer from Hodder, along with a selection of 15 audiobook titles, including Hodder’s Burton and Swinburne series, along with Boneshaker, The Dream of Perpetual Motion: A Novel, The Difference Engine, Infernal Devices, and more:
The Coode Street Podcast (Jonathan Strahan and... →
“This week we invited award-winning actor, broadcaster, editor and writer Ellen Kushner to join us to discuss the excellent audiobook adaptation of her novel Swordspoint, which was recently released by Audible, her thoughts on the rise of audiobooks, and her many other projects.”
1 tag
SF/F for Dog-Lovers?
Listening to Kevin Hearne’s Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 1 this weekend two things struck me. First, that narrator Luke Daniels, whom I enjoyed on the first two volumes of the Wild Cards series and have spotted as the voice behind a Red Bull radio spot, really is darn near a soundalike for Nick Podehl, the voice of Patrick Rothfuss’s KingKiller Chronicles. (Side note:...
Problem
harpermedia:
charmedchancer:
Do I want to buy “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac? or “The Great Gasby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald?
Both.
(It’s possible we may have a slight bias, but they’re both great recordings)
One vote for the excellent Tom Parker narration of On the Road. Though I’ve heard good things about Harper’s production, too. :)
The Guilded Earlobe gives an "A" to Saladin... →
“Quick Thought: Throne of the Crescent Moon is the rare fantasy that seems to do everything right in an accessible, highly readable way. This book will thrill fantasy fans, and make them long to discover even more about Saladin Ahmed’s intriguing world. Even better, this is the type of accessible fantasy that I would have no trouble recommending to people whether they are fans of the genre...
Audible.com week-long $4.95 sale on first books in...
Ending Feb 14, Audible.com has unveiled a $4.95 sale for first books in a series. Making things easier on sf/f fans is that this time, the sale does have a dedicated sf/f category. Making things harder is that there are still 85 audiobooks in the category! So, here are the titles which most catch my eye:
The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1 by Patrick Rothfuss Narrated by Nick...
The Guilded Earlobe reviews Wild Cards Vol. 2:... →
3 tags
Release Week: Throne of the Crescent Moon by...
My most anticipated release of a packed week in audiobooks is Throne of the Crescent Moon By Saladin Ahmed, Narrated by Phil Gigante for Brilliance Audio [IndieBound MP3-CD link | iTunes Audiobook link]:
Published concurrent with the DAW hardcover, Ahmed’s debut is a welcome new voice in fantasy. Beginning with a short, dark prologue of torture which introduces us to a powerful, evil...
1 tag
Currently listening to: The Hum and the Shiver by...
Finished up Mr g: a novel about the creation by Alan Lightman (very glad I didn’t give up on it after the first few chapters), and went onto the next review copy that Blackstone Audio sent me. (The sidebar is a bit too much of a pain to update all the time, I think it’s still showing the Gibson essay collection…) Hoping to finish The Hum and the Shiver in time to start on Saladin...
neil-gaiman:
Mr Gaiman and Mr Hodgman continue...
The Guilded Earlobe continues its "Welcome to the... →
Feature Friday: Locus Magazine's 2011 recommended...
One of my more favorite resources in the sf/f world is the yearly recommended reading list from Locus Magazine. Well, their list looking back at 2011has just been published, and I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the list and see which books have audiobooks available and which do not (yet?) along with (maybe!) some commentary:
The first bit of commentary is: if you were looking...
4 tags
Audiobook news: Dina Pearlman to narrate Tobias S....
Audible Frontiers let me know that narrator Dina Pearlman (Clementine: A Novel of the Clockwork Century, Ombria in Shadow, Polgara the Sorceress, and the Kris Longknife, Anna Strong, Vampire for Hire, and Weather Warden series, among other credits) will be narrating Tobias S. Buckell’s Arctic Rising, to be released concurrently with the Tor hardcover on Feb. 28:
“Global warming has...
1 tag
1 tag
Listening report: January 2012
On the heels of three audiobooks in the last bit of December (The Thirteen Hallows by Michael Scott and Colette Freedman, Earthbound by Joe Haldeman, and The Lost Gate: Mithermages, Book 1 by Orson Scott Card) I listened to six audiobooks this month; not too bad. It’s more than I had planned for, but several of them are quite short, and none of them are 30-hour epics:
AUDIOBOOKS...
Audiobook release day: The Dread by Gail Z. Margin...
I have resisted doing many of these off-Tuesday release posts, but this one is a biggie for me: The Dread: Fallen Kings Cycle, Book 2 By Gail Z. Martin, Narrated by Kirby Heyborne for Tantor Audio:
“The Dread, Book Two of the Fallen Kings Cycle, picks up the adventures of Tris, Jonmarc, and the Winter Kingdoms gang immediately after the events in The Sworn. Summoner-King Tris Drayke takes...
1 tag
Release Week: Lost and Found, When Worlds Collide
A fairly quiet release week to end January, with the most interesting titles for me being previously released books.
The first is Lost and Found: The Taken Trilogy, Book 1 By Alan Dean Foster, Narrated by Oliver Wyman for Audible, Inc.:
Originally published in 2004 by Del Rey: “Not so long ago Marcus Walker was just another young commodities trader in Chicago, working hard and playing...