While the release week for Tuesday August 14 is a bit quiet for concurrent new releases — again it’s the “Seen But Not Heard” list of Nick Mamatas’s Bullettime, collections from Kij Johnson and Jeffrey Ford, and some others which drive my thoughts on the week — there’s a sizable list of previously released books in audio for the first time, including a highly-anticipated sequel and a collection of stories by Joe Haldeman being the most intriguing audiobooks this week, with additional picks being Ken Scholes Psalms of Isaak series continuing with a switch in audiobook publisher, and an already-mentioned trilogy’s conclusion.

Just out this morning (Wednesday) is that much-anticipated sequel, Caliban’s War: The Expanse, Book 2 By James S. A. Corey, Narrated by Jefferson Mays for Recorded Books. At 19 hrs and 50 mins the second offering from the joint pseudonym of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck is a shade longer than the series opener, 2011’s Leviathan Wakes. Caliban’s War was published earlier this year, and now that it’s in audio, listeners will get to hear Mays reprising his role as narrator, following “James Holden and his crew on the Rocinante” once again.

Out on Monday was None So Blind: A Short Story Collection By Joe Haldeman (1996) Narrated by Tom Weiner for Blackstone Audio — Length:9 hrs and 6 mins — “An award-winning visionary and true master of worlds and wonders, the man whom author David Brin calls “one of the best prophetic writers of our times”, once again demonstrates the breathtaking scope and startling power of his imagination, transporting listeners across space and time, into the heart of darkness and the soul of madness.”

Antiphon: The Psalms of Isaak, Book 3 By Ken Scholes, Narrated by Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, John Rubenstein, and Stefan Rudnicki for Audible Frontiers — Length:16 hrs and 35 mins — The first two audiobooks in this series were produced by Macmillan Audio, and it’s good to see this series continuing. Audible has brought back narrators Brick (books 1 and 2) and Rudnicki (book 1) for some high-end voice continuity as well. Here: “Nothing is as it seems to be. The ancient past is not dead. The hand of the Wizard Kings still reaches out to challenge the Androfrancine Order, to control the magick and technology that they sought to understand and claim for their own.”

As for that trilogy: Yeah, I mentioned it on its off-Tuesday release day last week, but it bears repeating: Heir of Novron: Riyria Revelations, Book 3 By Michael J. Sullivan, Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds — Length:31 hrs and 49 mins — On the heels of Theft of Swords: Riyria Revelations, Book 1 (March) and Rise of Empire: Riyria Revelations, Book 2 (May), both wonderfully narrated by Reynolds: “A rising star in the fantasy genre, Michael J. Sullivan has built an ardent following for his Riyria Revelations saga, which draws to its epic conclusion in Heir of Novron. On the holiday of Wintertide, the New Empire plans to burn the Witch of Melengar and force the Empress into a marriage of their own design. But they didn’t account for Royce and Hadrian finally locating the Heir of Novron—or the pair’s desire to wreak havoc on the New Empire’s carefully crafted scheme.”

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Currently listening to: The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan, read by Suzy Jackson for Neil Gaiman Presents.

Audible’s having another members-only 2-for-1 sale through August 14. Listed by author last name, here are the titles which catch my eye:

• The Scar By Sergey Dyachenko and Marina Dyachenko, translated by Elinor Huntington, Narrated by Jonathan Davis for Audible Frontiers — Length:15 hrs and 17 mins — Release Date:02-28-12
• The Magician King: A Novel By Lev Grossman, Narrated by Mark Bramhall for Penguin Audiobooks — Length:15 hrs and 48 mins — Release Date:08-09-11 — one of my favorite audiobooks, sequel to an absolutely great audiobook, as both author and narrator “maintain the perfect knife’s edge between the fragile and the real, charting well the heady waters of a truly worthy sequel to one of the new century’s great fantasies.”
• Swan Song By Robert McCammon, Narrated by Tom Stechschulte for Audible, Inc. — Length:34 hrs and 22 mins — Release Date:11-15-11
  
• Sheepfarmer’s Daughter: The Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 1 By Elizabeth Moon, Narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck for Audible Frontiers — Series: Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 1 — Length:15 hrs and 53 mins — Release Date:03-16-10
• Blood Engines: A Marla Mason Novel By T. A. Pratt, Narrated by Jessica Almasy for Audible Frontiers — Series: Marla Mason, Book 1 — Length:10 hrs and 24 mins — Release Date:02-16-09
• The Disappeared: A Retrieval Artist Novel By Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Narrated by Jay Snyder for Audible Frontiers — Series: Retrieval Artist, Book 1 — Length:10 hrs and 9 mins — Release Date:05-20-08
• Flashforward By Robert J. Sawyer, Narrated by Mark Deakins for Blackstone Audio — Length:10 hrs and 26 mins — Release Date:06-18-08
• The Black Prism By Brent Weeks, Narrated by Cristofer Jean for Hachette Audio — Series: Lightbringer, Book 1 — Length:22 hrs and 6 mins — Release Date:08-25-10
  

A fledgeling 3 weeks old, Salon’s new column The Listener looks to be something to keep an eye on. In this week’s column, Laura Miller (author of The Magician’s Book) lends an ear to Heidi Julavit’s The Vanishers and Laura Groff’s Arcadia, both high-end “genre in the mainstream” titles from a bit earlier this year. Check it out!

I wasn’t expected this to arrive until September 1, but Recorded Books has just released a very anticipated fantasy audiobook: Heir of Novron: Riyria Revelations, Book 3 By Michael J. Sullivan, Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds — Length:31 hrs and 49 mins:

On the heels of Theft of Swords: Riyria Revelations, Book 1 (March) and Rise of Empire: Riyria Revelations, Book 2 (May), both wonderfully narrated by Reynolds: “A rising star in the fantasy genre, Michael J. Sullivan has built an ardent following for his Riyria Revelations saga, which draws to its epic conclusion in Heir of Novron. On the holiday of Wintertide, the New Empire plans to burn the Witch of Melengar and force the Empress into a marriage of their own design. But they didn’t account for Royce and Hadrian finally locating the Heir of Novron—or the pair’s desire to wreak havoc on the New Empire’s carefully crafted scheme.”

Also out from Recorded Books ahead of the listed September 1 publication date is Seawitch: Greywalker, Book 7 By Kat Richardson, Narrated by Mia Barron. And, while I’m here, there are two more which catch my eye that are just out today:

• The Carefully Considered Rape of the World: A Novel About the Unspeakable By Shepherd Mead, Narrated by Bruce Pilkenton — Length:7 hrs and 13 mins — From the author of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, this is the story of women becoming inexplicably pregnant. And it happens to every type of woman, regardless of race or creed, from nuns to lesbians. It happened to Beauford Abel’s wife. With her, a perfume tester called; one of his more exotic samples made her black out for a split second. At least, she thought it was a split second…. When Beauford eventually figures out what’s going on, he plays amateur sleuth. But instead of finding sex maniacs, he finds brainy apes planning to invade the Earth. And the brainy apes are clever enough to ask Beauford to handle their PR. They’d like to be liked when they land. And they’d like the baby apes that earth women will soon be giving birth to, to be liked as well. You might think this is a pretty funny way for invaders to act. In this book, everything’s funny.”
• Revolution World (2011) By Katy Stauber, Narrated by Michele Knotz for Audible Frontiers — Length:9 hrs and 13 mins — “Set in a near-future, post-ecological and post-economic collapse, Revolution World chronicles the romance between rogue genetic engineer Clio Somata, and martial-artist computer-programmer Seth Boucher. Sadly, the road of love is never easy…in this case, an overreaching US military establishment and an evil multi-national bioengineering firm has decided that they want what Clio and her family has - cutting edge bio-technology. The conflict between the Somata clan and the US government ends up being the catalyst that drives a bunch of libertarian Texan gamers to declare a revolt against the oppressive US government, kicking off a new Texas Revolution!”

The nominees for the 2012 World Fantasy Awards have been announced, and all five of the novels on the final ballot are available in audio. Let me run them down for you:

• Those Across the River, Christopher Buehlman (Ace) — Those Across the River, Narrated by Mark Bramhall for Penguin Audiobooks — Length:9 hrs and 5 mins — Release Date:09-06-11 — this is one that interested me last year, mainly due to my affection for Bramhall’s narration on Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, and reviewed fairly positively by Bob Reiss over at The Guilded Earlobe
  
• 11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63) — 11-22-63: A Novel, Narrated by Craig Wasson for Simon & Schuster Audio — Length:30 hrs and 44 mins — Release Date:11-08-11 — warmly reviewed (once again, it’s Bob at The Guilded Earlobe)
  
• A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK) — A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5, Narrated by Roy Dotrice for Random House Audio — Series: Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5 — Length:49 hrs — Release Date:07-12-11 — ADwD made my top 10 list in sf/f audio last year
  
• Osama, Lavie Tidhar (PS Publishing) — Osama, Narrated by Jeff Harding for Audible Ltd — Length:8 hrs and 27 mins — Release Date:05-14-12 — two reviews here at Audible SF/F, the first by Dave Thompson, the second in my May listening roundup
  
• Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor) — Among Others, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren for Audible Frontiers — Length:10 hrs and 39 mins — Release Date:08-05-11 — a lovely audiobook, reviewed both here in my January roundup, and (of course!) by Bob over at The Guilded Earlobe
  

In the novella category, at least one of the stories is available in audio, as Silently and Very Fast, Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA Press; Clarkesworld) was podcast in three parts by the always-excellent Kate Baker at Clarkesworld.

In the short fiction category, “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees”, E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld 4/11) was podcast first at Clarkesworld, read by Kate Baker, and later re-podcast at Escape Pod, read by Mur Lafferty; and “The Paper Menagerie”, Ken Liu (F&SF 3-4/11) are available in audio, with Liu’s story first podcast at PodCastle read by Rajan Khanna, and later re-podcast (with the same narration) at Escape Pod. (A fun note is that for the PodCastle recording, PodCastle editor and host Dave Thompson provides the introduction; Audible SF/F readers may recognize Dave as a frequent contributor to the blog.)

Whew! I am quite a fan of the World Fantasy Awards. The juries there seem to really find beautiful, well-written books (Among Others certainly qualifies), whether those released to great, best-selling fanfare (Stephen King, GRRM), those released by mainstream imprints (Those Across the River perhaps deliberately avoids outright classifying itself as having fantastic elements), or books you won’t find in any US bookstore — at least not yet (Lavie Tidhar’s Osama). In past years, the award has recognized Lewis Shiner’s shimmering Glimpses and Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death, nominated Jeff VanderMeer’s Finch, Lauren Beukes’s Zoo City, Karen Lord’s Redemption in Indigo, and generally found the kinds of books that I love. If you’ve found yourself in sympathy with my thoughts on fiction and audiobooks here, I do urge you to check out these books, whether in print or in audio.

The first release week of August packs a pretty big whallop, though it doesn’t bring a couple of the titles I was most looking forward to (Jim C. Hines’s Libriomancer and T. Aaron Payton’sThe Constantine Affliction— Payton is a new pseudonym for Steampunk from the brilliant Tim Pratt) it does bring an anticipated sequel, one of my “most missing audiobooks” from earlier in 2012, and two more interesting “genre in the mainstream” picks, along with a few new audiobooks of older Stephen King books, 6 books in CJ Cherryh’s Foreigner series, and a half-dozen more titles of interest out today and earlier this week.

That anticipated sequel is King of Thorns By Mark Lawrence, Narrated by James Clamp for Recorded Books. At 13 hrs and 30 mins, “The follow-up to Mark Lawrence’ s thrilling debut novel Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns continues the tale of antihero Jorg Ancrath. After wresting back control of his kingdom from those who murdered his family, Jorg sees the land erupt with hundreds of battles fought by lords and petty kings. More daunting still, he faces an enemy many times his own strength. Jorg may not be able to win this battle in a fair fight, but he wields a rage and cunning that just might even the odds.”

The Croning By Laird Barron was originally published earlier this year in print/ebook by Night Shade Books. Barron is a familiar name to those who follow the Shirley Jackson Award, where his short fiction (and collections of the same, and anthologies featuring the same) has often been nominated and selected as the award’s winner. (He’s also been nominated for the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, World Fantasy, and other awards.) The Croning is his debut novel, here narrated by Emily Zeller for Audible Frontiers. “Strange things exist on the periphery of our existence, haunting us from the darkness looming beyond our firelight. Black magic, weird cults, and worse things loom in the shadows. The Children of Old Leech have been with us from time immemorial. And they love us…. Donald Miller, geologist and academic, has walked along the edge of a chasm for most of his nearly 80 years, leading a charmed life between endearing absent-mindedness and sanity-shattering realization. Now, all things must converge. Donald will discover the dark secrets along the edges, unearthing savage truths about his wife Michelle, their adult twins, and all he knows and trusts. For Donald is about to stumble on the secret… of The Croning. From Laird Barron, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of The Imago Sequence and Occultation, comes The Croning, a debut novel of cosmic horror.”

Some Remarks By Neal Stephenson, Narrated by Jeff Cummings for Harper Audio. “One of the most talented and creative authors working today, Neal Stephenson is renowned for his exceptional novels - works colossal in vision and mind-boggling in complexity. Exploring and blending a diversity of topics, including technology, economics, history, science, pop culture, and philosophy, his books are the products of a keen and adventurous intellect. Not surprisingly, Stephenson is regularly asked to contribute articles, lectures, and essays to numerous outlets, from major newspapers and cutting-edge magazines to college symposia. This remarkable collection brings together previously published short writings, both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a new essay (and an extremely short story) created specifically for this volume.”

Lastly, two genre-leaning titles from mainstream imprints, the first and more interesting to me being The Dog Stars By Peter Heller, Narrated by Mark Deakins for Random House Audio. “Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and to pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life - something like his old life - exists beyond the airport.”

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Received from Blackstone Audio, late July 2012 — I think they’re really dialing in on what I’m looking for:

• CHIMERA by T. C. McCarthy read by John Pruden (conclusion of McCarthy’s Subterrene War trilogy, just out simultaneous with the print/e-book from Orbit)
• HOW TO BUILD AN ANDROID by David F. Dufty read by Bronson Pinchot (non-fiction, the story of building and then losing the robotic head of Philip K. Dick, released in audio in early June simultaneous with the print/e-book from Henry Holt)
• GLORY ROAD by Robert A. Heinlein read by Bronson Pinchot (Heinlein’s 1963 fantasy novel, released in audio in late May)

July goes out with quite a bang this release week, with two of my long-anticipated sf titles and an unexpectedly fantastic surprise with the Audible Frontiers release of Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber series under two all-star narrators.

Being quite a fan of the first and second books in the series, I’m already digging into Chimera: The Subterrene War, Book 3 By T. C. McCarthy, Narrated by John Pruden for Blackstone Audio: “Escaped Germline soldiers need to be cleaned up, and Stan Resnick is the best man for the job - a job that takes him to every dark spot and every rat hole he can find. Operatives from China and Unified Korea are gathering escaped or stolen Russian and American genetics, and there are reports of new biological nightmares: half-human things bred to live their entire lives encased in powered armor suits. Stan fights to keep himself alive and out of prison while he attempts to capture a genetic - one who will be able to tell them everything they need to know about this new threat, the one called Project Sunshine. Chimera is the third and final volume of the Subterrene War trilogy, which tells the story of a single war from the perspective of three different combatants.” While I don’t have a release day review of the audiobook for you, Publishers Weekly’s starred review says: “Breathtaking and heartrending, this is the future of military science fiction.” And my own early thoughts are: “McCarthy writing the disaffected Resnick is coming from a darker place than the self destructive fame chasing or nihilism of the journalist in book one; definitely a huge change from the nearly optimistic young voice of Exogene’s protagonist. And seeing the monitored and predicted automated US home here recalls both Big Brother and Minority Report. Here we get to see a much wider view of the world of The Subterrene War; one where Sydney and LA are nuclear wastelands, being half-heartedly resettled as a (and here is a paraphrase from memory, because I don’t have the text) ‘band-aid, to show that as much could be done was being done, and if people could just hold on until space colonization and mining finally take hold…’”

Speaking of the (further) future, my other much-anticipated new release today is vN: The First Machine Dynasty By Madeline Ashby, Narrated by Christina Traister for Angry Robot on Brilliance Audio. The title is listed a bit surprisingly to me under Teens, but coming with praise from Cory Doctorow (“Ashby’s debut is a fantastic adventure story that carries a sly philosophical payload about power and privilege, gender and race. It is often profound, and it is never boring”) and Peter Watts (“vN might just be the most piercing interrogation of humanoid AI since Asimov kicked it all off with the Three Laws.”) — Here’s the pitch: “For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of a mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother’s past, so when her grandmother arrives and attacks them, young Amy wastes no time: she eats her alive. Now she’s on the run, carrying her malfunctioning granny as a partition on her memory drive. She’s growing quickly, and learning too. Like the fact that in her, and her alone, the failsafe that stops all robots from harming humans has stopped working… Which means that everyone wants a piece of her, some to use her as a weapon, others to destroy her.”

The surprise comes in the form of a beloved classic series coming to audio from a pair of all-star narrators, that series being Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber and those narrators being Alessandro Juliani (SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica reboot, and an Audie nomination for his work on Solaris: The Definitive Edition) for the first five of the ten books: Nine Princes in Amber: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 1, The Guns of Avalon: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 2, Sign of the Unicorn: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 3, The Hand of Oberon: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 4, and The Courts of Chaos: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 5:

And Wil Wheaton (who needs no introduction, surely?) on the remaining five: Trumps of Doom: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 6, Blood of Amber: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 7, Sign of Chaos: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 8, Knight of Shadows: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 9, and Prince of Chaos: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 10.

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The samples sound a bit like GraphicAudio in terms of full cast, sound effects, etc. The Batsons title seems oriented for kids, which is a nice change of pace and a more unique direction. I wasn’t overly thrilled with the packed-to-the-earwalls sample for Titanium Rain, but as it was a battle scene, it’s hard to get an overall feel for a more typical section of the narrative. Something to keep an eye on.