Page 33 of posts by: Sam

First thoughts on Downpour: DRM-free and beta-testing (updated)

Posted on 2012-10-11 at 10:32 by Sam

Downpour is a new multi-publisher DRM-free digital audiobook (and physical audiobook) website and iOS app launched by Blackstone Audio, with titles from Recorded Books, Hachette Audio, and more. The site is a bit slow at times (note: it is still in Beta) but it is certainly usable, though a link here and there is wonky (when browsing Science Fiction titles, which are by default and always by default sorted by title, try clicking to sort by release date and you’ll instead get the page for Captain’s Blood by

Posted in regular | Tagged downpour, miscellaneous

Release Week: Tad Williams, Steven Erikson, Iain M. Banks, and The Lord of the Rings

Posted on 2012-10-10 at 15:07 by Sam

What the second release week in October lacks in the staggering numbers department, it makes up for with three absolutely stellar titles: urban fantasy from Tad Williams, the latest Iain M. Banks “Culture” novel, and the long-awaited first audio installment of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen epic fantasy series. And! The long-awaited digital audio release of the Rob Inglis narrations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

I’ve bemoaned the US audiobook absence of The Dirty

Posted in regular, Release Week | Tagged gardens of the moon, iain m banks, j.r.r. tolkien, release week, steven erikson, tad williams, the dirty streets of heaven, the hydrogen sonata, the lord of the rings

Cory Doctorow's Pirate Cinema, DRM-free and direct from the author

Posted on 2012-10-08 at 17:45 by Sam

Via author Cory Doctorow’s blog, he is selling direct, EULA- and DRM-free downloads of his latest audiobook, Pirate Cinema (Listening Library, read by Bruce Mann), from his own website. It’s also available DRM-free from Simply Audiobooks, eMusic, BooksOnBoard, and Barnes & Noble (probably among others), but this is the first I can remember seeing a publisher-published audiobook being sold directly in this manner. (I have purchased some of his previous audiobooks DRM-free from some of the above stores, and

Posted in regular | Tagged cory doctorow, drm, listening library, pirate cinema

Release week: Ironskin, Legion, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, This Book is Full of Spiders, Building Harlequin's Moon, and a return to Fairyland

Posted on 2012-10-03 at 13:54 by Sam

Well, I tried. I put together an interstitial release week post on Friday. Then again Monday morning. And still what’s left in this week’s haul is more than enough to keep all the listening hours in a year occupied. So, since we can’t listen to everything, here are my picks for the week. Since Monday. Luckily, several of them are short. And one of them is even free. However… there are a lot of picks. And this is mostly just from Tuesday.

I’ve been looking forward to Ironskin By Tina Connolly since late

Posted in regular, Release Week | Tagged brandon sanderson, brenda cooper, building harlequin's moon, catherynne m valente, david wong, ironskin, larry niven, legion, mr penumbra, oliver wyman, release week, tina connolly, walter mosely

Listening report: July 2012

Posted on 2012-10-02 at 13:57 by Sam

After ending a run of eight audiobooks in my June listening with the amazing The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, I listened to seven audiobooks in August, with Michael J. Sullivan’s Theft of Swords, Daniel O’Malley’s The Rook, and G. Willow Wilson’s Alif the Unseen being the outstanding listens.

REVIEWS:

• Earth Unaware By Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Stephen Hoye, Arthur Morey, Vikas Adam, Emily Janice Card, Gabrielle de Cuir, and Roxanne Hernandez

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged alif the unseen, Carlos Fuentes, earth unaware, into the black, james maxey, john scalzi, michael j sullivan, monthly listening report, orson scott card, the rook, theft of swords

A weekend of new Dave Duncan audiobooks

Posted on 2012-10-01 at 02:25 by Sam

Goodness. I put together a Friday “interlude” release week post, and then on Saturday 11 Dave Duncan audiobooks show up, all from Audible Frontiers:

• Donald Corren narrates the Seventh Swordsman series:The Reluctant Swordsman, The Coming of Wisdom, and The Destiny of the Sword
• Peter Ganim narrates Ill Met in the Arena
• Derek Perkins narrates the  Omar series: The Reaver Road, The Hunter’s Haunt,
  
• Mark Ashby narrates the The Great Game series: Past Imperative, Present Tense, and
  Future Indefinite
• Jennifer Van

Posted in regular, Release Week | Tagged dave duncan, release week

Received: Shine Shine Shine

Posted on 2012-09-30 at 18:26 by Sam

Received: Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer, read by Joshilyn Jackson for Macmillan Audio.

Posted in photo | Tagged received, shine shine shine

Release week... Friday? Ben Aaronovitch, Greg Bear, Philip Pullman, Mike Mignola, and J.K. Rowling

Posted on 2012-09-28 at 21:02 by Sam

It feels like I just wrapped up a huge release week post two days ago, because I did. But so much has already come out since Wednesday that, well, I’d better post now because next week should have a huge list of new audiobooks as well. So here’s an “interlude” release week post.

Leading the list is the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch, all narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith for Tantor Audio. The three books, Midnight Riot: Peter Grant, Book 1, Moon Over Soho: Peter Grant, Book 2, and Whispers Under

Posted in regular, Release Week | Tagged ben aaronovitch, greg bear, j.k. rowling, mike mignola, philip pullman, release week

The Guilded Earlobe reviews Wool by Hugh Howey

Posted on 2012-09-27 at 13:34 by Sam

I started hearing good things about Wool quite some time ago. Then Ridley Scott bought the film rights, and still I didn’t read it. Then Random House UK bought in, and still I didn’t read it. But now that The Guilded Earlobe has given the audiobook a “go for it” review, I’ll have to figure out how to fit it into a busy fall of listening.

Posted in regular | Tagged guilded earlobe, hugh howey, wool

Release week: The Mongoliad, Embedded, The Freedom Maze, Dodger, Under Wildwood, and Neil Gaiman Presents James Branch Cabell

Posted on 2012-09-26 at 14:49 by Sam

The last Tuesday of September brings a sizable haul of interesting-looking audiobooks, from new sequels, to some of 2011’s most missing, new Terry Pratchett, and the return of Neil Gaiman Presents.

The Mongoliad: The Foreworld Saga, Book 2 By Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo, Nicole Galland, Erik Bear, Joseph Brassey, and Cooper Moo comes with quite a busy byline from Brilliance Audio, but once again it’s one narrator, Luke Daniels, who handles the dozens of accents and handful of storylines as the

Posted in regular, Release Week | Tagged colin meloy, dan abnett, dodger, embedded, luke daniels, neal stephenson, neil gaiman presents, release week, small beer press, terry pratchett, the freedom maze, the mongoliad