Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks - io9 Comments

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

phoghat — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:36:30 PST

There are audio books for download, some quite reasonably priced at fictionwise.com

phoghat

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

strider_mt2k — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 05:46:50 PST

I have to admit I've never tried an audio book.

-but you folks are expanding my mind so that I might have to give at least one a try. :)

strider_mt2k

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

cdogzilla — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:36:50 PST

Since I started commuting to Boston, I've been checking audiobooks out of the library by the bushel. It's a pain to import them to iTunes but I've listened to dozens of very well done (currently listening to Peter Riegert reading Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union") recordings this way without spending a dime.

cdogzilla

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

GregorMendel — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 09:06:42 PST

Campbell's Scott's reading of Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake" is fabulous. It's a favorite book of mine, and Scott's reading is as well-crafted as the book.

GregorMendel

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

fugu_v — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:32:32 PST

I completely agree--Jennifer Wiltsie's reading of The Diamond Age makes the book come alive. I've got to say though that Jonathan Davis also does an absolutely wonderful job reading Snow Crash, and if you liked Diamond Age, this is another sure thing.

And I know it's not SciFi, but... THE best audio production of a book/series I've come across so far is for Phillip Pulman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. The three books-starting with The Golden Compass-are read by an award winning, full group of stage actors that do an absolutely *incredible* job with each of the characters (it's also narrated by Phillip Pulman). Note: like so many other movie adaptations out there the film doesn't do the novel justice, so even if you didn't really like the movie pick up the book, or at least the audio version!

I can't stop myself: Also highly recommended is Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, read by William Hope and Laurel Lefkow. Just beautifully done.

fugu_v

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

robg33 — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:44:31 PST

@bob_jesus: The Nueromancer radio play was great. BBC Radio also did a reading of Burning Chrome, another favorite Gibson story of mine.

The primary and secondary phases of the HHGTG are a lot of fun to listen to.

robg33

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

jessse — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:17:24 PST

@adragontattoo: I think the audio books are costing you so much because you are using the wrong store. Try checking out Audible's competition: eMule - which is like the Internet library, free and with no DRM seems better to me. Although eMule doesn't advertise.

jessse

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Zapp Brannigan's Girdle — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:34:09 PST

@adragontattoo: I don't have any hard evidence of this, but it's probalby safe to assume that the cost of the audiobook also includes some sort of royalty payment to the person reading the book.

Zapp Brannigan's Girdle

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Melby — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:13:51 PST

My favorite audiobooks by far are Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Pullman himself narrates the story, with a full cast of voice actors for the dialogue. The woman reading Lyra is amazingly good.

Melby

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

adduby — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:05:07 PST

For a short one, I've always liked Harlan Ellison's reading of "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktock Man

adduby

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Dug — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:58:19 PST

Good point, the narration on the Vorkosigan stories is excellent as well.

Dug

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

JennaW, Internet Tough Girl — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:29:00 PST

Not to be overly sensitive, but if you were having trouble finding a token woman writer for your list, many of multiple Hugo/Nebula-winner Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books are available on audio as well--on Audible, iTunes, and on CD. Connie Willis has some stuff, too, but it's harder to find in digital formats.

JennaW, Internet Tough Girl

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Kevin Kelly — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:34:55 PST

@Lars: Although Screamers is just a reinterpretation of the story. I enjoyed the short version a lot better!

Kevin Kelly

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Lars — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:32:45 PST

"Second Variety" was filmed as well: Screamers
OK for a B-scifi.

Lars

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

bob_jesus — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:11:04 PST

There's a great BBC full-cast radio play of Neuromancer out there. It's hard to find both parts but it crops up now and again. HIGHLY recomended!

Also there *was* an audiobook of virtual light read by peter weller on tape but that seems to have been replaced by another version. Pattern Recognition worked well on tape also and is available on iTunes.

bob_jesus

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Dug — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:57:30 PST

@ ANOTHERFLUKE Oh yea! Escape pod rocks!

Dug

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Dug — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:56:47 PST

I spend huge amounts of time on the road, & Audio books have become a lifesaver. Over the past year I've found 3 gems...

If you wish to listen to an awesome reading of a great sci-fi story, I can't recommend the audio book version of Ian Bank's "The Algebraist" enough. Fantastic narration!

Same goes for Niel Gaiman's "American Gods" and "Anansi Boys" Mad narrative skillz.

That said, I found Gibson's narration of Neuromancer painfully hard to listen to. I know we are supposed to bow in the presence of the master, but the nasal drone kept me sleepy at the wheel, and the mispronunciation of technical terms drove me nuts.

Dug

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

firecatstef — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:56:10 PST

So does anyone know where to get Idoru? It's not to be found at Audible, SimplyAudio, iTunes, or my library.

Other scifi/fantasy audiobooks I've enjoyed (from audible.com unless otherwise noted):
-Several works by Octavia Butler
-Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (from what I've heard, it's easier to get through in audio form than on paper)
-John Crowley, Aegypt (read by the author, wonderfully quirky)
-Most everything by Neil Gaiman (Lenny Bruce narrates Anansi Boys and does a great job; Gaiman narrates everything that's relatively short, and also does a great job)
-Nalo Hopkinson, Brown Girl in the Ring
-Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
-Ursula K. Le Guin, lots of stuff. A Wizard of Earthsea narrated by Harlan Ellison has to be heard to be believed.
-Fritz Leiber, The Wanderer, classic 1960s SF
-Walter Mosley, 47. Won the Carl Brandon Society award). Also superbly narrated.
-Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials trilogy. The author is one of the narrators.

Also, a company called Audiovox has been releasing a lot of short works, including several by Charlie Stross and award-winning "Schrodinger's Kitten" by George Alec Effinger.

And I second Syncpulse's recommendation of the Takeshi Kovacs series and Thirteen. Although I didn't listen to the third Kovacs book on audio, because it had a different narrator than the first two, and he was awful.

firecatstef

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

syncpulse — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:35:10 PST

Another series that i enjoyed was the Altered carbon / Takashi Kovachs series by Richard K. Morgan. Great bit of post-cyberpunk fiction, and the Reader does an excellent job. Actually Morgan's book Thirteen also has an excelent Audio version to go with it.

syncpulse

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

webmaven — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:33:09 PST

'A Wrinkle in Time' by the late Madeleine L'Engle (and read by her as well) was a recent pleasant surprise.

webmaven

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Anotherfluke — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:28:36 PST

I'm very surprised no one has mentioned Escape Pod yet. They're into their third year, and the readings are always very professional and well done. An awesome free weekly short-story fix. Check them out at www.escapepod.org. I highly recommend the "Union Dues" series of short fiction.

Anotherfluke

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

LadyMin — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:05:06 PST

I discovered audiobooks last year and love them. I put them on my mp3 player and listen while doing yardwork or going for a walk.

Some libraries offer audiobooks that can be checked out as downloads... although the ones at my library are only available as wma files due to DRM.

LadyMin

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

papercup mixmaster — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:45:07 PST

Related: As a kid I had a tape collection of Tolkein reading his own favorite portions of his works. It included pieces from the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and even Farmer Giles, and was the best example of an author reading his own work that I have encountered. His version of Gollum is phenomenal.

papercup mixmaster

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

indemnitypop — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:28:33 PST

@adragontattoo: Audio books are expensive because you have to pay somebody (sometimes somebody famous) to sit in a recording studio and read an entire book out loud. There's probably some costs for the production and studio time too.

indemnitypop

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

lucky_you — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:11:52 PST

Audiobooks kick ass.
I do the beach walk and catch up on literature. I got through I, Robot a few weeks ago and loved it. Then I watched the movie. Don't even get me started...

lucky_you

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Gyrus — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:56:33 PST

As it happens, my wife and I will be driving across country in a few months, relocating to the West Coast. May need to pick up a few of these. Great stuff!

Gyrus

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

JoshJasper — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:52:59 PST

eMusic.com has a DRM free audiobook section.

JoshJasper

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

Jeff — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:25:29 PST

Dune is an excellent audiobook especially if you're scared of trying out the book...which I must say is a great read even after a dozen times.

Jeff

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

adragontattoo — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:20:56 PST

I REALLY like audiobooks but cant even begin to understand why it costs 20-50$ per audiobook when the book in paperback is 8-15$.

Im all for making a profit but a 200+% profit seems a bit extreme to say the least.

adragontattoo

Listen Up -- We've Got 11 Classic Scifi Audiobooks

MilesFromNowhere — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:11:01 PST

I really like audio books. In my opinion, the best are the ones read by one person who does not go overboard with voice characterizations. Unabridged only, please.

MilesFromNowhere