Breaking news: Neil Gaiman Presents to bring the work of Cory Doctorow to Audible, through new "Double DRM" format

Posted on 2013-04-01 at 19:50 by Sam

April 1, 2013, Durham, North Carolina:

Cory Doctorow’s work in audio, including Little Brother, Makers, and Pirate Cinema, has previously been available in both CD audio and through several other digital audiobook vendors, but has not been available on Audible.com. Now, due to a groundbreaking new “Double DRM (TM)” technology, the titles will finally be available, starting today, on Audible.com as well, published through Audible’s Neil Gaiman Presents imprint.

“I’ve always loved DRM,” said Doctorow in a press release, “but Audible.com’s was just too permissive. Now with new Double DRM (TM) finally I can feel confident that my work cannot possibly, like ever, be pirated or used on some rogue OS, like Linux or whatever.”

Producer Gaiman said the following, when asked for further comment: “I have enjoyed my role in bringing some of the forgotten past and present masters of speculative fiction to audio, from James Branch Cabell to Robert Sheckley and Keith Roberts, to Jonathan Carroll, Ellen Kushner, and M. John Harrison. When I was a boy, monsters. A second world. Inspiration. What happens next? Exactly.”

According to Audible.com’s Steve Feldberg, the new Double DRM (TM) technology is both a patent and a trade secret. But he did offer a few detail teasers, such as “Advanced ROT13 encryption” and “Extra-Strongly-Worded FBI Copyright and DMCA Warning” and “a picture of an army of lawyers”.

While Audible is working out details on Doctorow’s audiobook backlist, the first title to be available in Double DRM (TM) is the February, 2013-published Homeland, the NY Times-bestselling follow-on to Little Brother, which had been previously unavailable in audio.

”It’s the perfect book for this new technology,” said Doctorow. “Marcus struggles with the ethics of releasing leaked data publicly, confronting overzealous prosecutors, trying to navigate his way through issues of privacy and control. With Double DRM (TM) that all goes away; it’s simply clear that his data and privacy belongs to corporations and governments, not to him. Forever.”

Posted in April 1 | Tagged cory doctorow, drm, neil gaiman

Breaking News: John Scalzi to Serialize Final Chapter of Serialized Novel! (PLUS: BONUS EXCERPT!)

Posted on 2013-04-01 at 12:15 by Dave

April 1, 2013, Whittier, California: Big news from John Scalzi on The Human Division front. Scalzi made the bold announcement that he was going to be splitting the final chapter of his serialized novel Earth Below, Sky Above: The Human Division, Episode 13 up into multiple sections. (We’ll feature an exclusive excerpt from the book at the end of the post.)

”The Human Division serialization has been wildly successful,” Scalzi said. “People seem to have enjoyed being able to be with these characters week after week. So, why not that extend that a little more? Splitting the final installment of franchise films has become a very popular thing to do. You’d the think it’d piss the fans off, but they love it. This whole thing has been an experiment for both me and Tor, as well as Audible. Now, I want to push the experiment further! And I started thinking why not do something else - split up the final installment of the Human Division?”

But the final episode of the popular serial won’t be split in two. “No, no. That’d be too easy,” Scalzi said. “We’re going to serialize the final chapter by paragraph.”

When asked about the pricing of the final episodes, Steve Feldberg of Audible told us, “It’ll be one cent for every paragraph. Whether it’s an enormous infodump, or Hart saying, ‘Oops!’ One cent either way.”

When asked what the serialization of the final serial chapter meant to narrator William Dufris, he laughed. “At first, I thought it was no big deal. I’d already recorded my end. Then I realized I’d have to record credits for every single paragraph, and I realized I was going to be pulling some late nights. Some of those credits are going to be longer than the paragraphs themselves!” said Dufris.

And now, here’s that exclusive excerpt!

Audible Frontiers Presents, “The Human Division, Episode 13: Earth Below, Sky Above,” Paragraph 323, by John Scalzi, Read by William Dufris.

”Oh, shit!” Wilson said.

This has been an Audible Frontiers presentation of The Human Division, Episode 13: Earth Below, Sky Above,’ Paragraph 323, by John Scalzi, Read by William Dufris.

Posted in April 1 | Tagged john scalzi, the human division, william dufris

Release Week: Neil Gaiman Presents returns, Ariel Djanikian, Red Planet Blues, Wolfhound Century, David Drake, and more

Posted on 2013-03-27 at 15:46 by Sam

It's another big release week with multiple must-listen titles. I've already gotten started on the return of Neil Gaiman Presents, the John Hodgman-narrated Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley, and I expect to get to a few more from this week -- including a literary dystopia, a sf noir set on Mars, and an espionage novel of alternate Russia -- before summer comes around. And, of course, John Scalzi's The Human Division marches on with Episode 11, A Problem of Proportion.

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Dimension of Miracles By Robert Sheckley, Narrated By John Hodgman for Neil Gaiman Presents is "a satirical science fiction novel" first published by Dell in 1968. As Gaiman says in his introduction: "Dimension of Miracles is probably not [Sheckley's] most famous book…. but I think it's probably his best-loved book. It's about the joys and tribulations (mostly the tribulations) of winning the lottery—the galactic lottery—accidentally. And wrongly. Tom Carmody is awarded a remarkable prize, is taken half way across the universe to collect it, finds himself hopelessly lost, and needs to find his way home again to Earth…to this Earth, not an alternate, weirdo Earth. He's got to get back. And the price is high. In its style of humor—and even in some of the jokes—Dimension of Miracles is very obviously a precursor of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian was published in print/ebook in February by Viking Books, and here is read by Emily Woo Zeller for Tantor Audio. "Weaving philosophy and science together into a riveting, dystopian story of love and adventure, The Office of Mercy illuminates an all-too-real future imagined by a phenomenal new voice in fiction. Twenty-four-year-old Natasha Wiley lives in America-Five - a high-tech, underground, utopian settlement where hunger and money do not exist, everyone has a job, and all basic needs are met. But when her mentor and colleague, Jeffrey, selects her to join a special team to venture Outside for the first time, Natasha's allegiances to home, society, and above all to Jeffrey are tested. She is forced to make a choice that may put the people she loves most in grave danger and change the world as she knows it. The Office of Mercy is speculative fiction at its best with a deeply imagined, lush world, high-stakes adventure, and romance that will thrill fans of Suzanne Collins, Margaret Atwood, Justin Cronin, and Kazuo Ishiguro."

Red Planet Blues By Robert J. Sawyer, narrated By Christian Rummel for Audible Frontiers, simultaneously released with the print/ebook from Ace Hardcover. "... set on a lawless Mars in a future where everything is cheap, and life is even cheaper.... Alex Lomax is the one and only private eye working the mean streets of New Klondike, the Martian frontier town that sprang up 40 years ago after Simon Weingarten and Denny O’Reilly discovered fossils on the Red Planet. Back on Earth, where anything can be synthesized, the remains of alien life are the most valuable of all collectibles, so shiploads of desperate treasure hunters stampeded to Mars in the Great Martian Fossil Rush."

Wolfhound Century By Peter Higgins, narrated by Neil Dickson for Hachette Audio, simultaneously released with the print/ebook from Orbit. This one's an intriguing-looking alternate history novel of espionage: "Investigator Vissarion Lom has been summoned to the capital in order to catch a terrorist - and ordered to report directly to the head of the secret police. A totalitarian state, worn down by an endless war, must be seen to crush home-grown insurgents with an iron fist. But Lom discovers Mirgorod to be more corrupted than he imagined: a murky world of secret police and revolutionaries, cabaret clubs and doomed artists. Lom has been chosen because he is an outsider, not involved in the struggle for power within the party. And because of the sliver of angel stone implanted in his head."

Lastly, while Audible Frontiers released David Drake's The Fortress of Glass: The Crown of the Isles, Book 1 a bit earlier in the week, read by the inestimable Michael Page, it is Drake's 2010 Tor-published novel The Legions of Fire: Books of the Elements, Book 1, narrated by David Ledoux which grabs my last mention above the fold (though do check out a pair of Angry Robot on Brilliance Audio releases below as well The Martian by Andy Weir, and...). It's the first of a four-book series, with the third novel (Monsters from the Earth) coming this fall, also from Tor.

Told from the rotating perspectives of two men, the naive but well-meaning Varus and the experienced and stalward Corylus, and two women, the wordly and no-nonsense Hestia and the mercurial Alphena, and populated with fantastic creatures and side characters, the books are also told with a rich attention to (transposed) historical detail, from hobnail boots to the positions of house slaves, to bizarre bits of political-religious detail such as having to wait for a flock of birds to fly in the proper direction before beginning a particular ceremony. For the impatient, some of these details and political notes may be a bit dry, they built an atmosphere into which these characters can descend and swim, creating a world of sphinxes come to life and Hyperborean wizards. "In this novel of magical menace to the survival of all humanity, David Drake introduces a new fantasy world, Carce, based on Europe during the later Roman Empire. Far in the north, a group of magicians perform a strange dance on a volcanic island intended to open a gateway for supernatural creatures that will allow them to devastate the whole Earth and destroy all life. Not knowing the cause, two young men, Corylus and Varus, and two women, Hedia and Alphena, each separately pursue the answer to mysterious and threatening happenings that prefigure disaster in the great city of Carce, the center of civilization. Through magical voyages in other realities where fantastic creatures, and even gods, help or hinder them, each of them must succeed or not just the city but the world will end in fire."

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK:

Posted in Release Week

Dave Reviews The Hobbit

Posted on 2013-03-27 at 05:51 by Dave

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Narrated by Rob Inglis (for Recorded Books) Length: 11 hours, 8 minutes

I have a confession to make. I was never been head over heels in love with Tolkien’s writing. I’ve loved fantasy and science fiction literally as long as I can remember anything, but reading Tolkien didn’t do that much for me. I could tell that the stories were interesting, but the dryness of the prose and plot didn’t fire up my imagination the way other fantasies did. I read The Hobbit in high school and struggled through it. I read The Lord of the Rings in college and forced myself to finish it.

I loved loved loved Peter Jackson’s movies. So much so, that after Fellowship of the Ring came out, I took a friend’s advice and gave The Simarillion a shot. I managed to get through that one too, and like the others - there was stuff I liked in there, but it took a lot of dedication for me to discover it. Maybe Tolkien just wasn’t my bag, and I should just enjoy the movies for what they were?

So when The Hobbit came out, I made a conscious decision NOT to listen to the book ahead of time, so I wouldn’t compare the plots and events and bemoan what was cut. And I’m glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie - I think I could watch Jackson do another 10 movies set in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

What really surprised me, was that when I did listen to The Hobbit (about a week after I saw it), I absolutely fell in love with Tolkien’s words for the first time. It was love at…fourth sight. And I could not stop listening to it.

A lot of praise obviously goes to Rob Inglis’s reading of the book. Inglis is a natural storyteller. He gets the adventure, the magic, and the humor. Dude, you think putting thirteen dwarves with thirteen different actors in a movie and allowing the audience to tell them apart is difficult? Try thirteen dwarves in a book with one reader. And yet, Inglis pulls it off effortlessly.

But, of course, Inglis only gets some of the credit. Tolkien wove together an exciting, charming quest, and gave us a cast of memorable characters in Bilbo, Gandalf, Gollum, and some of the dwarves. (I still couldn’t tell you all their names.)

Tolkien and Inglis are a perfect match of author and reader and storytelling.

I know a lot of people adore Tolkien’s prose in and of itself. But as someone who has never truly been able to do that before,  I’m thrilled that thanks to this audiobook, I understand a lot better the charms of this story, and why it’s become such an iconic piece of fantasy fiction. And for the first time in my life, I’m really looking forward to reading some more Tolkien.

Posted in reviews

The Human Division Listen-A-Long, Episode 10: This Must Be the Place

Posted on 2013-03-22 at 05:49 by Dave

The Human Division, Episode 10: This Must Be the Place by John Scalzi, read by William Dufris Length: 44 minutes

Hello, and welcome back (you missed me, right?) to the Human Division Listen-A-Long! This week, come hang out with the family for the holidays. So pass the spoilers before they dry out, and let's get going!

Posted in The Human Division Listen-a-Long

Sam's Listening Report: December 2012

Posted on 2013-03-21 at 17:36 by Sam

After two months in a row with seven audiobooks, I closed out 2012 with a quite a run, with several titles making it into my best-of-the-year choices, including several unique and thoroughly enjoyable books -- such a good month that I hardly know where to begin, so I'll just run 'em down in chronological order, like I always do:

REVIEWS:

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged a sudden outbreak of magic, legion, monthly listening report, the last policeman, the testament of jessie lamb, the white forest, three parts dead

The Human Division Listen-A-Long, DOUBLE FEATURE - Episodes 8 and 9!

Posted on 2013-03-21 at 04:57 by Dave

The Human Division, Episode 8: The Sound of Rebellion, and Episode 9: The Observersby John Scalzi, narrated by William Dufris Length: 41 minutes; 1 hour and 9 minutes

Hello, and welcome back to another listen-a-long for the Human Division. Apologies for missing all you cats the last two weeks - my wife and I just had a new baby, and it kept me pretty busy! So, I'm gonna play catch-up with this post, and then hit you up with the brand-spanking new episode: "This Must Be the Place" on Friday.

So drink some highly alcoholic beverages, belch some SmartBlood, and light a match. Remember SPOILERS MIGHT BE FLAMMABLE (and they are definitely in this post), and let's get to it!

Posted in The Human Division Listen-a-Long

Release Week: The Rift Walker, The Leviathan Effect, The Clockwork Princess, and more

Posted on 2013-03-20 at 19:37 by Sam

While it's a busier week for young adult titles, not too much really strikes my ears in terms of concurrent new adult releases this week. Meanwhile, John Scalzi's The Human Division chugs along with This Must Be the Place: The Human Division, Episode 10. The big eye-opening audiobook news for me this week was the announcement that Neil Gaiman Presents is set to release another title next week, Robert Sheckley's Dimension of Miracles, read by John Hodgman. To celebrate, Audible is holding a NYC Comicon trip giveaway. Anyway, on to...

PICK OF THE WEEK:

The Rift Walker: Vampire Empire, Book 2 By Clay and Susan Griffith Narrated By James Marsters for Buzzy Multimedia Publishing

Also available in MP3-CD, The Rift Walker, book two after The Greyfriar in Clay and Susan Griffith’s Vampire Empire trilogy, is a worthy successor in story, narration and production for the Audie-nominated The Greyfriar. As in the first book, James Marsters as a cast of vampires could not be more perfect, and here the production is if anything even cleaner and more crisp. (The only nit-pick narration-wise is the, er, unfortunate pronunciation of “chasm” with a soft “ch”. It had me looking for dictionary entries which favored that pronunciation and… coming up empty.) Story wise, the Griffiths have some intricate political knots to tie and untie and some delicate plot points to navigate between the introductions and other instigations of book one, and the resolutions and other conclusions of book three, The Kingmakers (published in print and ebook last year by Pyr and, hopefully next year, to come to audio from Marsters and Buzzy Multimedia as well). [link to full review]

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK:

Posted in Release Week, Uncategorized

Release Day: The Rift Walker: Vampire Empire, Book 2, by Clay and Susan Griffith

Posted on 2013-03-17 at 13:18 by Sam

The Rift Walker: Vampire Empire, Book 2 By Clay and Susan Griffith Narrated By James Marsters for Buzzy Multimedia Publishing

Also available in MP3-CD, The Rift Walker, book two after The Greyfriar in Clay and Susan Griffith's Vampire Empire trilogy, is a worthy successor in story, narration and production for the Audie-nominated The Greyfriar. As in the first book, James Marsters as a cast of vampires could not be more perfect, and here the production is if anything even cleaner and more crisp. (The only nit-pick narration-wise is the, er, unfortunate pronunciation of "chasm" with a soft "ch". It had me looking for dictionary entries which favored that pronunciation and... coming up empty.) Story wise, the Griffiths have some intricate political knots to tie and untie and some delicate plot points to navigate between the introductions and other instigations of book one, and the resolutions and other conclusions of book three, The Kingmakers (published in print and ebook last year by Pyr and, hopefully next year, to come to audio from Marsters and Buzzy Multimedia as well). While the summary (below) handles the plot setup quite well, I did want to say a few non-spoilery words about book two.

One of the best signs that you have strong characters on your hands is when it would be very, very convenient for them to do a particular thing, react in a particular way. Under another author, the character may be easily detected as a marionette, with a heavy hand on the strings. But instead, given a bit more freedom of action, they remain true to the character that has been developed and do something that makes things more complicated and risky. There are several instances of this kind of choice in The Rift Walker, and the Griffiths handle events with a light hand. Senator Clark, the American hero of many an anti-vampire campaign, feels the most heavily handled, but never truly played against his reckless "Wild West" feel as a character. In particular, two of the more wonderful supporting characters, Colonel Anhalt and the enigmatic samurai Mamaru, clearly face at least one test of this nature: will they do what might be convenient for the plot, or will they buck against such heavy-handed direction? Both, I'm happy to say, behave as characters, not as plot devices. While I might have a few complaints about some of the plot points -- Adele's incredibly risky gambit to gain refuge in a neighboring country in particular -- the book's pace doesn't get bogged down in the sometimes messy escalations of a middle book, and the chessboard is heavy with extended pieces in motion as the book concludes, setting up the conclusion, whatever it is that may come.

Anyway, here's the publisher description of the plot and setup:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged james marsters

Release Week: Bitterwood, Sister Mine, Intermusings, and Morlock Night

Posted on 2013-03-13 at 19:36 by Sam

MARCH 6-12, 2013: Well it's a fairly quiet second release week in March, though not without a few audiobooks very much worth checking out. (It's even quieter on the "seen but not heard" front, as it really appears that both book and audiobook publishers had some manner of aversion to the Ides of March... though there is an intriguing anthology and a slowly picking up buzz novel from a small press to check out.) Meanwhile, John Scalzi's The Human Division marches on with episode 9, The Observers.

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Intermusings by David Niall Wilson, Richard Rowand, John B. Rosenman, Stephen Mark Rainey, Brett A. Savory, Brian Keene, Brian A. Hopkins, and Patricia Lee Macomber, narrated By John Lee for Crossroad Press -- already mentioned via Facebook/Twitter that this "collection of collaborations" by David Niall Wilson had piqued my interest: "All are the result of two muses meeting on paper. Meet a modern day Don Quixote, fighting Y2K bug nightmares, and striving to save the woman of his dreams. Learn how Edgar Allen Poe might have found his tales. Face off on a lonely mountaintop with Lovecraftian nightmares. Join a young man in a ghostly race to save a relative from cancer. Follow a cross-wired detective in his hunt for a lycanthropic killer bent on ending every serial killer she encounters."

Morlock Night by K. W. Jeter, narrated By Michael Page for Angry Robot on Brilliance Audio. First published in 1979, this parallel novel to H.G. Wells' The Time Machine is being lovingly re-released by Angry Robot, complete with an audiobook treatment by one of the industry's best narrators, so definitely one to check out: "Just what happened when the Time Machine returned? Having acquired a device for themselves, the brutish Morlocks return from the desolate far future to Victorian England to cause mayhem and disruption. But the mythical heroes of Old England have also returned, in the hour of the country’s greatest need, to stand between England and her total destruction."

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK:

Posted in Release Week, Uncategorized