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Dark Terrain, Dying for More -- James reviews Career of Evil
Posted on 2016-01-21 at 19:28 by Sam
Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike, Book 3) [Downpour | Audible] by J. K. Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith, read by Robert Glenister
Review by James Alexander:
Freed by her pseudonym, J. K. Rowling immediately plunges Career of Evil into some awfully dark terrain. “Robert Galbraith’s” Cormoran Strike detective series has never shied away from grim material before. Even as the reader is shown a supermodel's defenestration and an erotic fiction writer gruesomely murdered in the fashion of one of his characters, the imprint of the clever style and attention to detail familiar to Harry Potter fans is still present and accounted for. Much like readers were once caught off guard with Ron Weasley’s pet’s connection to the murder of Harry’s parents, in The Cuckoo’s Calling (the first novel in the series) the description of fashion items proves unexpectedly crucial to the resolution of a grizzly murder, and the resolution is all the more satisfying for it. She’s really the perfect person to write a straight up detective story.
Read more...Posted in reviews | Tagged cormoran strike, j.k. rowling, james alexander, robert galbraith, robert glenister
It All Goes Around -- Dave Reviews Ancillary Mercy!
Posted on 2015-12-29 at 15:36 by Dave
Ancillary Mercy (Imperial Radch, Book 3) [Downpour | Audible] by Ann Leckie, Read by Adjoa Andoh Length: 10 hours, 54 minutes
"There is always more after the ending. Always the next morning, and the next. Always changes, losses and gains. Always one step after the other. Until the one true ending that none of us can escape. But even that ending is only a small one, large as it looms for us. There is still the next morning for everyone else. For the vast majority of the rest of the universe that ending might as well not ever have happened. Every ending is an arbitrary one. Everything ending is from another angle, not really an ending." -- Ann Leckie, Ancillary Mercy
At this point, you've probably heard of Ann Leckie. Over the last few years, her Imperial Radch series has taken Science Fiction by storm. Ancillary Justice, Leckie's debut novel, took home just about every major award in the field, and the sequel was nominated for just about every award and received wide critical acclaim. So, with the final book in the trilogy coming out -- no pressure here, right?
Read more...Posted in reviews | Tagged adjoa andoh, ann leckie, Imperial Radch, pretty fucking bad ass, reviews, space opera
December #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Neil Gaiman, Nancy Farmer, Cherie Priest, Linda Nagata, Christopher Priest, Kurt Vonnegut, Carrie Fisher, and more
Posted on 2015-12-26 at 16:43 by Sam
If you've recovered from last month's #WhispersyncDeal haul (including Audible's and Downpour's week-long sales around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and Tantor's annual Cyber Monday sale) and Audible's "Big Thanks" sale earlier this month, then let me tell you, the year's going out with a huge bang. Of the more than 1000 titles in this month's Kindle deals listings, a whopping 390 are enabled with Whispersync for Voice.
That's a lot of titles to comb through, so let me do some of the legwork for you, this time starting in the CHILDREN'S and YOUNG ADULT sections, because this month's selections are absolutely fantastic:
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, read by the author for $1.99+$3.99 -- My kids and I have listened to this hour and 46 minutes of quirky Norse mythology dozens and dozens of times: "In this inventive, short, yet perfectly formed novel inspired by traditional Norse mythology, Neil Gaiman takes readers on a wild and magical trip to the land of giants and gods and back. In a village in ancient Norway lives a boy named Odd, and he's had some very bad luck: His father perished in a Viking expedition; a tree fell on and shattered his leg; the endless freezing winter is making villagers dangerously grumpy. Out in the forest Odd encounters a bear, a fox, and an eagle - three creatures with a strange story to tell. Now Odd is forced on a stranger journey than he had imagined - a journey to save Asgard, city of the gods, from the Frost Giants who have invaded it. It's going to take a very special kind of twelve-year-old boy to outwit the Frost Giants, restore peace to the city of gods, and end the long winter. Someone cheerful and infuriating and clever . . . Someone just like Odd."
Read more...Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged cherie priest, colin meloy, dan wells, gordon korman, jo walton, julia whelan, kate milford, neil gaiman, wil wheaton
Audible's "Big Thanks" Sale through December 16: from under $5 to just under a credit, here's some fantastic picks from the members-only 50% off sale
Posted on 2015-12-14 at 02:57 by Sam
UPDATE 2017-12-07: Yup, I’m “re-using” this post yet again for Audible’s latest members-only 50% off sale, which ends in one week, on December 14, 2017 at 11:59 PM PT (US). Don't be confused by either last year's sale end date (December 14, 2016) or the year before that's sale end date (December 16, 2015) and miss out. As you can see, there’s quite a bit on sale, and each year, the list keeps growing!
UPDATE 2016-12-13: I'm "re-using" this post again for Audible's latest members-only 50% off sale, which ends tomorrow (December 14, 2016) so don't be confused by last year's sale end date (December 16, 2015) and miss out. As you can see, there's quite a bit on sale!
UPDATE 2016-10-10: I'm "re-using" this post for Audible's latest members-only 50% off sale, expiring today, on science fiction and fantasy titles. All the below are still very much in play, and see the end of the post for new titles since December!
I am getting this out now rather than waiting to put together this month's full #WhispersyncDeal roundup, because these deals expire December 16th. So, what's going on? Audible.com's member-only "Big Thanks" sale gets 50% off the regular price sale on... pretty much everything, including pre-orders. First, a word: 50% of the regular price means the actual "regular price", not the already discounted member price. This means that quite a lot of the books I've had my eye on are still above a credit cost, or even still cheaper the Whispersync add-on way. But! a few looked pretty darned good.
First off, $5.59 for Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott is a steal. It's an amazing work of fantasy:
Read more... Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged audible
Downpour's "Black Friday" sale ends tonight: Samuel R, Delany, Women Destroy Science Fiction, Kim Stanley Robinson, Jeff VanderMeer, new releases, pre-orders, rentals, and more
Posted on 2015-12-03 at 20:23 by Sam
I mentioned this already near the end of last month's #WhispersyncDeal roundup, but I figured I would expand things a bit and offer up one last reminder that Downpour.com's "Black Friday" sale extended well beyond the one day, and finally does end tonight (Thursday, December 3). There's plenty of titles well below credit cost, and pre-orders (!!) and rentals are also included. One I’d recommend, right off the bat?
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany, read by Stefan Rudnicki for Skyboat Media — For $7.63 this is kind of a “no brainer”, people. It’s one of the great all time works of science fiction, read by one of the masters of the audiobook form, with excellent production touches to boot: “Babel-17, winner of the Nebula Award for best novel of the year, is a fascinating tale of a famous poet bent on deciphering a secret language that is the key to the enemy’s deadly force, a task that requires she travel with a splendidly improbable crew to the site of the next attack.” And apparently the “Black Friday” discounts also include rental prices, as Babel-17 rents for $3.48. I reviewed the (quite nice) rental process earlier this year, and can recommend it without hesitation. (Although in this case, I might suggest you buy it; Rudnicki reading Delany may be a pairing for your personal re-listening library.)
Read more...Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged downpour
Audible's "Treat Yourself" sale ends tonight: Luke Daniels reading Kevin Hearne, Wil Wheaton reading John Scalzi, and more
Posted on 2015-12-02 at 21:45 by Sam
I mentioned this already in the midst of last month's #WhispersyncDeal roundup, but it bears repeating once more, with feeling: here's my picks from Audible’s “Treat Yourself” $4.95 sale, which ends December 2, 2015 at 11:59 PM PT:
Posted in Uncategorized
November #WhispersyncDeal roundup: A Calculated Life, Off to Be the Wizard, The Broken Sword, I Am Princess X, Ella Enchanted, and more, and! a glance through Audible's "Treat Yourself" sale, and! Downpour.com's Black Friday sale (UPDATED)
Posted on 2015-11-27 at 05:31 by Sam
As promised, you've got more than 48 hours this time! But there's a lot to look over, as among the 299 Whispersync for Voice-enabled Monthly Deals in Kindle Books
First, though, the usual monthly #WhispersyncDeal roundup, which expire at midnight on November 30:
A Calculated Life by Big business is booming and state institutions are thriving thanks to advances in genetic engineering, which have produced a compliant population free from addictions. Violent crime is now a rarity. Mayhew McCline, a major corporation that analyzes global trends, has hired a genius: Jayna. A brilliant mathematical modeler, she has the ability to produce accurate predictions that are both good for the world and good for the bottom line. Her latest coup: finding a link between northeasterly winds and violent crime. When a string of events contradicts her forecasts - including a multiple homicide on the wrong day - Jayna suspects she needs more data and better intuition. She needs to understand what it means to be "normal," so she disrupts her strict daily routine and, unknowingly, sets herself on a path that leads to new encounters, new experiences, and - perhaps most dangerous - new emotions." And! Charnock's eagerly-anticipated new novel Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind, due out December 1, is available through Kindle First
Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 Book 1), Spell or High Water (Magic 2.0 Book 2), and An Unwelcome Quest (Magic 2.0 Book 3) by Scott Meyer, read by Luke Daniels for $1.99+$1.99 each -- If you like humor in your sf/f you've come to the right place: "Martin Banks is just a normal guy who has made an abnormal discovery: he can manipulate reality, thanks to reality being nothing more than a computer program. With every use of this ability, though, Martin finds his little “tweaks” have not escaped notice. Rather than face prosecution, he decides instead to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and pose as a wizard. What could possibly go wrong?"
Teen: I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest, read by Mary Robinette Kowal for $2.99+$3.99 -- "Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure. Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her. Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window. Princess X? When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon -- her best friend, Libby, who lives."
Read more...Posted in Whispersync Deals | Tagged anne charnock, bronson pinchot, cherie priest, downpour.com, jennifer marie brissett, john scalzi, luke daniels, marko kloos, mary robinette kowal, oliver wyman, poul anderson, redshirts, samuel r delany, scott meyer, skyboat media, stefan rudnicki, susan duerden, the broken sword, wil wheaton, wild-cards
Harry Potter, now on Audible
Posted on 2015-11-20 at 17:21 by Sam
Well, it’s finally happened. For years, if you wanted to (legally!) listen to the Harry Potter series in audio, you could only avail yourself of the physical CD sets, either buying them outright or (as I did) patiently waiting in the library hold list. Then! In 2012, as reported here of course, the US (read by Jim Dale) and UK (read by Stephen Fry) digital audio editions became available at the Pottermore shop, albeit with a hefty price tag of $29.99 (for the first three books, each) and $44.99/each for the remaining books. They also started showing up in library digital collections (Overdrive) but there you’re still waiting in the queue, and if you want to listen again? “Form a line!”
Well, apparently an appropriately-sized money truck full of galleons has made the trek from Seattle (Amazon) and/or New Jersey (Audible) to Gringott’s, as all seven digital audiobooks are now available at Audible as well.
They’ve launched the availability of the series with some huge banners, and (as on Pottermore) the edition available is region-dependent: the US gets Jim Dale, the UK and Australia get Stephen Fry.
On Twitter, Dave asked the same first question that came to my mind: are the audiobooks coming to DRM-free Downpour.com as well? So far, no news on that front, but we’ll keep you posted.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged harry potter
This is Not a Woman To Be Underestimated! The Tremontaine Listen-A-Long
Posted on 2015-11-16 at 00:16 by Dave
"Heavenly Bodies" (Tremontaine, Episode 3) by Joel Derfner, Narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Nick Sullivan, and Katherine Kellgren Length: 2 hours
Last week Sam told me he'd been able to get around to listening to the Pilot episode of Tremontaine, and while he enjoyed it, suggested I maybe oversold the sex. (But not the chocolate!) And I suppose that he was right -- the sex in the first episode (and last week's) was insinuated. But "Heavenly Bodies" was such a delicious double-entendre, I think we all knew what we were getting into in Riverside this week, didn't we? Yeah, this episode was hot, and promises more to come. Here there be little deaths! And not so little ones.
Read more...Posted in reviews | Tagged riverside, serial box, tremontaine
"What is Necessary is Not Always Just!" The Tremontaine Listen-A-Long Continues!
Posted on 2015-11-10 at 06:25 by Dave
"The North Side of the Sun" (Tremontaine, Episode 2) by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen and Nick Sullivan Length: 1 hour, 38 minutes
While last week focused on the different introductions to Riverside and this cast of characters, this week the story seemed to tighten it's focus on Kaab in particular, though we also spent time with Micah, Rafe, and (SURPRISE) Tess and Ben. Kaab's storyline drove the whole episode -- she's sent on an errand to the Fenton household to secure saffron and hares, and has the good fortune to meet and verbally spar with Rafe, went to the market with Rafe to meet Micah and witness a protest, and then returned for the feast. We do find out a little bit about her's past -- Rafe asking if she was fleeing a marriage really seemed to set Kaab on the defensive, but there still seems to be a lot we don't know. Yay, mysterious pasts!
Read more...Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged listen, riverside, serial box, tremontaine
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