Not Audio… VIDEO Podcast Science Fiction
WOW!! Yes WOW – all caps, that’s “Stranger Things.” Earl Newton and his crew have put together quality, HD video movie shorts of some outstanding short fiction. Words just do not do this justice. Think Entourage and Battlestar Galactica, it’s something Showtime or HBO would be proud to broadcast.
There’s a lot of update feeds, mostly Earl keeping us up to date. There are only a few episodes so far, Earl and his crew are obviously busy, the projects must be coming out of the woodwork after their first three episodes debuted.
I was trying to get the promo to preview here, but I just can’t seem to find the video on YouTube. Honestly, the preview doesn’t do it justice. StrangerThings.TV
And that haunting soundtrack is cello by Zoe Keating, it’s perfect.
Audio Science Fiction – Starship Sofa
I found this on iTunes a while back. A fellow by the name of Tony C. Smith did a well researched fan conversation with his buddies on a chosen author each show. He’s interesting (and British), but it wasn’t what I wanted to listen to. Then his buddy moved away and he started having stories read. He still does an author bio once or twice a week, but more importantly, he has really good stories read by really good readers once a week.
I’m getting to be fond of Tony. He is really into his science fiction. He often gets too deep into the authors for me, but I still listen. What impresses me is that he gets well known author’s permission to podcast their stories.
Tony recently broadcast the five short story nominees from a British SF writers award. The one that should have won and didn’t is absolutely fantastic, called “The Merchant and the Alchemist ’s Gate.” This is probably one of the finest short stories have heard. Check out Starship Sofa on iTunes.
Audio Book – MOREVI
This is my first exposure to Tee Morris and I’m impressed. MOREVI (pronounced more-ay-vee) isn’t science fiction, it’s fantasy, not my usual cup of tea. Tee avoids the endless made-up names and constant hocus-pocus that seems to rule fantasy stories. Instead, this is a great story – full of action, adventure, and great characters.
Think Pirates of the Caribbean meets Time Bandits. There is a riff in the ocean that allows Rafe and his crew to travel between our world in the days of profiteering pirates and this other world. The pirates travel the riff and perform their pirating duties on the other side. No more spoilers, just fun and adventure. Tee’s reading, the guest voice actors, sound, and effects are all top notch.
On the down side, I’m once again stuck listening to a story that isn’t complete yet. Many people seem to like the idea of waiting for a new chapter each week. Not me, I prefer to listen to the whole thing over the course of a week. So far, Tee has published seven chapters (many are in two or three 50 minute sections). I have no idea how many are left.
Get yourself over to iTunes and subscribe to MOREVI.
Audio Book – Earthcore
This was Scott Sigler’s first podcast novel. I listened to Ancestor before Earthcore; the novels are not related, so order isn’t an issue. This is well thought out science fiction. Any story is going to have a few holes. Earthcore has a few, but none were of the type that make you say, “that’s so stupid I can’t continue.” No, Scott did his research.
The story is good, the characters well developed, the plot thick enough to keep my interest. Scott is into blood and gore, I’m not, but I enjoyed the story. This is no little book. He says it’s 650 pages in print and I believe him. It was a whole bunch of 45 minute episodes, usually making up two or three chapters. I listened to the entire novel in the course of a week.
I’ve said this before, the downside to Podiobooks is that the author reads his work. Scott is better than many, but a few professional readers would move the podcast from very good to outstanding.
Audio Book – Nina Kimberly the Merciless
I have a bunch of links down there for podcast science fiction. I listen to a lot of it, I like being able to do other chores around the house while enjoying stories. Of all of the stories I’ve listened to, this little story is my favorite. Christiana Ellis wrote a real gem and does a great job with the voices. If you like a story with intelligent sarcasm and hot chicks with swords, this is a great place to start.
Audio Book – Playing for Keeps
Mur Lafferty is probably my favorite new science fiction author. My old favorites would be Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke. Not the same genre, but I love her wit and sarcasm. Her stories are intelligent and funny, absurd and compelling.
Playing for Keeps is Mur’s latest audio book. I can’t do her storyline justice, you think it was stupid if I tried to explain it. I won’t try.
The problem is … it’s not done yet. I was holding out, waiting for it to end so that I could listen to it all at once, but I broke down. I was weak, I’m hooked. Her stuff is just too good and the goings on at her website made me want to join the crowd. Now I’m stuck, I’ve listened to all 11 of the released episodes. It’s going to be four more weeks until all 15 episodes are released.
If you want to hear some of her other stories, check out the Heaven, Hell, and Earth series on iTunes. She also has a number of stories on Escape Pod that begin the concept of her … um, well, superheroes series. Just go listen.
Audio Book – Singularity
I just finished listening to Singularity by Bill DeSmedt. This was a really good technical sci-fi thriller. It’s almost a contradiction calling it a thriller and technical, but the author never bogs you down with facts. There is enough real science to make the story possible, yet it is so well explained that you never feel like you are sitting in a physics lecture. This was a long story, over forty chapters long, but well worth your time. I think I listened to the 16 hours of story in only a few days. I really couldn’t take the headphones off.
A Little Sci-Fi Audio
I love my iPod. But I’m a nerd, I don’t listen to music very often. I do listen to audio books and lots of podcasts. They are a great way to keep up while doing other things, like cleaning wine bottles or making home repairs.
I created a link category for Audio Books. These are free downloads that I’ve listened to recently. They are all available on iTunes and they have each have a web site through Podiobooks.com. Podiobooks has lots of free audio books to choose from. On the upside, some of these books are really well written. The good ones are so good that I won’t start listening to a book until the whole book is published. I hate getting into a book and having to wait a week for the next chapter. On the down-side, it’s the author that reads them. It’s really too bad, because these could be good stories, but I can’t get past the poor reading by some of them. All of the links that I’ve included are very well read.
In addition to the books, there are a lot of sites that publish short fiction every week. Check out Escape Pod, Escape Pod Classic, Pseudopod, Variant Frequencies, and The Drabblecast. Again, all available through iTunes.
