Blake's 7: Rebel, Traitor, Liberator

Official Blurb

In the third century of the second calendar, the galactic Federation, once a beacon of democracy and peace, has become a corrupt tyranny.

Freedom and Justice are things of the past.

Roj Blake stood up for the ordinary people. When the establishment tried intimidation he laughed in their faces. When they tried to crush him he fought back. When they tried to brainwash him into obedience, he broke their conditioning. Finally they framed him and sentenced him to permanent exile on the notorious prison planet Cygnus Alpha.

The Federation thinks it has seen the last of Roj Blake.

The Federation will wish it had...

My Review

I remember watching Blaske's 7 when it was first run on television. As a kid I was glued to this amazing series. As an adult I saw some re-runs and realised just how low the production values were!

I've been listening to Spotify of late and was rather pleased to discover that it includes some audio books. Mostly these are the classics, some from Librivox and the other free locations, but I was supremely delighted to discover some "new" material too., including this particular presentation.

This full cast audio drama was produced in 2010 by a professional audio company and includes everything that entails. Good acting and great sound effects!

This three part (3 CD's I guess) story starts with Blake breaking free of the Federation and building his team, just like the TV series did. I can't say if this follows the same story path as the TV version as I don't recollect but if was a fun ride. It's a straight up adventure of world building, narrow escapes and brave stand offs. Throw in some space battles and the mysterious ship "Liberator" that has a life of its own and you have everything for a great story.

There are 3 significant episodes in this story. That is, the story is episodic, just like a TV or radio series, it does not follow a single story arc.  And that was where this superb production let me down. I like my audiobooks to have a beginning middle and end, but this is just the first three episodes of an ongoing story. If I'd known that going in, I wouldn't have had the disappointment factor when I reached the end. It was just an expectation thing, and does not reflect on the book itself which is great!

In fact, there are other stories in the series on Spotify, and knowing their episodic nature I'm still interested in them. Watch this space.

In summary, Good.

Reading 3/3
Production 3/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 8/9

Listen for free on Spotify

The Lucky Strike by Seeing Ear Theatre

Official Blurb

None

My Review

You've heard of the Enola Gay?  What! Go Google it now!  Right, now you know. This story starts with the Enola Gay crashing on a training mission, which of course means that another machine and another crew has to take on the big mission.

It's an interesting proposition, what if it were a different crew, and what if they were having second thoughts about bombing that Japanese city. That's what this story does, its focus is on the man who has his finger on the trigger.

If you have any interest in WWII you will find this interesting. Even if that is not an interest, of yours, I'm sure you'll find the character based focus of this story as fascinating and thought provoking as I did.

Full cast audio drama, in two parts, top notch quality all round.

Reading 3/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 9/9

Download it from the Internet Archive

Listen to the first chapter.

Black Canoes

Official Blurb

None.

My Review

This is another full cast audio drama from the Seeing Eye Theater that runs for about a hour.

A potter dissatisfied with his art and being unable to replicate an ancient glazing technique flips and  ends up destroying the work of months of a rampage of pot smashing. A visiting trainee potter takes his hand and leads him on an adventure.

This one is a bit "out there". The story is cohesive but it is definitely one that tries to stretch your brain. Think of it as modern urban fantasy. The woman who takes the potter on the adventure inhabits a world different from his (and ours) and she leads him on a path of discovery, mystery, adventure and sacrifice.

It's very well done, the acting believeable, the sound effects and music perfectly blended to create the atmosphere. Not really my sort of thing, but in the end I did enjoy it.

Reading 3/3
Production 3/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 8/9

Download it from the Internet Archive

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Official Blurb

None.

My Review

In this full cast audio drama from the Seeing Ear Theater we get a real treat.

When Dana is surprised by being sacked from her job, it's just the start of the strange and weird things about to happen. This is a historical sci fi drama, that might sound a bit weird, but when the story is based around time travel it has to be sci fi, right? But when that time travel keeps the main characters in the past, during the age of slavery in the southern states of america it kind of becomes historical.

This story is about a modern black woman who falls through time into the 1800's. As the story evolves, she finds that she has a mission to accomplish, although it's not one she asked for nor volunteered for.

The white slave-owners treat her as a slave and she has to deal with the culture shock that this produces.

It's very well written, well acted and the story drew me in and kept me hooked for all two hours.  It was fun, exciting and intriguing all at the same time.

Once again, this is a not-safe-for-work story that contains in-character racism of the lowest order, it shouldn't be played to an unsuspecting audience.

Reading 3/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 9/9

Download it from the Internet Archive
Listen to the first part

Snow Glass Apples by Neil Gaiman

Official Blurb

None.

My Review

I've just finished listening to a dramatisation of Snow Glass Apples by the Seeing Ear Theater. I was really impressed.  It's a full cast drama and very well written and acted. Just like the previous presentation from them.

This is a new look at the Snow White story. All the elements seem to be in the story, Snow White, the dwarves, the poisoned apple, the magic mirrow, yet they are not arranged in the way you remember!

This is plain and simple a monster story, and the monster is not the queen. This is a harsh, horrid story that's not safe for work. It's more Brothers-Grim than Disney.

I really enjoyed the story, despite its dark and horrific nature. Half the pleasure was finding out how the classic story had been twisted!


Reading 3/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 9/9

Download it from the Internet Archive
Listen to the first part

History of the Devil by Clive Barker

Official Blurb

None.

My Review

I've just finished listening to a dramtisation of History of the Devil by the Seeing Ear Theater. I was really impressed.  It's a full cast drama and very well written and acted.

The story is based around a court case in which the devil is on trial. If the devil is found innocent of corrupting mankind he will go back to heaven. It's filled with flash back scenes to events throughout history where the devil was involved, from the original garden through to events around WWII.

As you might expect with a Clive Barker story things get horrific at times and I don't think the producers of this show held back. The prose is quite belly-churning at times, the brutalness is very raw at times.

The devil himself is no simple one-dimensional character in this story, you tend to hear a lot of story from his own lips and the actor chosen to play him actually makes him appealing to the listener.

As stated above, this is full cast audio drama with music, sound effects etc. It's very well produced although I found this recording a little muddy.

In summary, I really enjoyed this, not safe for public listening, you'll get a few funny looks if you do!

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3 (would have been 3, but this recording was a bit muddy)
Story 3/3

Total Score 8/9

Download it from the Internet Archive
Listen to the first part

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The Dambusters

Official Blurb

Taylor played pilot David Shannon in this dramatization of Paul Brickhill's best-selling novel about World War II. The documentary series focused on the 617 Dambusting Squadron and is full of air force adventure. There were 26 half-hour episodes, and the cast also featured Charles "Bud" Tingwell
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16/17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis. The MÃhne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley, while the Sorpe dam sustained only minor damage.All 26 episodes in excellent condition.

My Review

As you may have gathered from the blurb this review is not an audio book in the usual manner. It is in fact an old radio dramatisation of a book. I'm sure you've heard of the Dam Busters and the bouncing bomb designed by Barnes Wallace, this serial is not about that! It does include the bomb and the raids but that's done and dusted by episode 7 of this 26 episode series.

This drama follows the famous 617 squadron from its creation through to the end of the war. They did much more than the Dam raids, much more. After the Dam raids 617 was designated as a specialist unit. They were trained for pin point accuracy with other special bombs designed by Barnes Wallace. These included the "Tall Boy" and 10 ton monster bomb called the Grand Slam.

The most amazing trick they pulled off was being a deliberately mistaken for an allied invasion flotilla!

This old time radio drama is not cursed with too much hiss and crackle and is a real gem for drama fans.

Reading 2/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 8/9

Download it from the Internet Archive

Listen to the first part

Tripping Astral by Brian Smith

Official Blurb

When a matter transfer experiment goes wrong, a scientist find himself stranded on a alien planet.

My Review

Well, that Official Blurb doesn't say a lot does it! I'll add a little something to give you a better idea.

As the blurb says, he wakes up on an alien world with no idea of where why or how. He finds himself on a beach with friends and enemies to be discovered.

The title sounds a bit trippy and hints at drug induced hallucination. It's an apt title that fits the style of the story. At times you're not sure if the protaginist is flipping his lid or just experiencing really odd things.

The story sunk its claws into me and wouldn't let go. If nothing else I found myself wanting to reach the conclusion to see if he was nuts! All told the seven parts add up to about an hour and a half so even it turns out to not be your sort of thing you'll be through it before you know. It seemed to me to be an "Astounding Stories" type short story, something with aliensbut not straight sci fi. Very interesting if not absorbing.

The audio is a full cast audio drama presented by the "Seeing Ear Theatre" and worth a download. Let's face it, at a price of "Free", you can't complain too much.

Reading 2/3
Production 3/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 7/9

Download it from the Internet Archive

Listen to the first part

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The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov

Official Blurb

The Foundation Trilogy concists of:
1. Foundations
2. Foundation and Empire
3. Second Foundation

The Foundation Trilogy is an epic science fiction series written over a span of forty-four years by Isaac Asimov. It consists of seven volumes that are closely linked to each other, although they can be read separately. The series is highly acclaimed, winning the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966.

The premise of the series is that mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept devised by Asimov and his editor John W. Campbell. Using the law of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale; it is error-prone for anything smaller than a planet or an empire. It works on the principle that the behavior of a mass of people is predictable if the quantity of this mass is very large (equal to the population of the galaxy). The larger the mass, the more predictable is the future. Using these techniques, Seldon foresees the fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting thirty thousand years before a second great empire arises. To shorten the period of barbarism, he creates two Foundations, small, secluded havens of art, science, and other advanced knowledge, on opposite ends of the galaxy.

The focus of the trilogy is on the Foundation of the planet Terminus. The people living there are working on an all-encompassing Encyclopedia, and are unaware of Seldon's real intentions (for if they were, the variables would become too uncontrolled). The Encyclopedia serves to preserve knowledge of the physical sciences after the collapse. The Foundation's location is chosen so that it acts as the focal point for the next empire in another thousand years (rather than the projected thirty thousand).

My Review

First up, this is not a traditional audio book, it is an audio dramatisation of three books rolled up into an 8 hour serial. This series was produced by the BBC back in 1966 and sounds like it! The sounds effects at times sound like the BBC engineers had a new toy and were going to use it!. The high pitched beeps an whines can occasionally be painful. The recordings are pretty good although I did detect a slight muddiness in the last episode

As to the story, the blurb pretty much gives away the "plot". The story spans hundreds of years, dropping in on particular events and following people caught up in those events, and developing an overarching plot.

I read the Foundation trilogy many years ago and remembered it with affection, so downloaded this as soon as I found it. Personally I really enjoyed this serial but I'm aware that the series does have its pitfalls. I fear that anyone who is not an Asimov fan may find a little disconnect from the story when it leaps from one era to another. Also the sound effects I've already mentioned may put off some listeners.

Reading 3/3
Production 1/3 (The sound effects might surprise the unwary!)
Story 2/3

Total Score 6/9

Download it from the Internet Archive

Listen to the first part

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The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count: Sherlock Holmes versus Dracula

Official Blurb

Radio Theatre Group's production of The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count: Sherlock Holmes versus Dracula. Recorded at East Kilbride Arts Centre on 26th Of January 2007

My Review

This is a radio play type affair that appears to have been recorded in front of an audiance ( you hear the laughter in the background ).

It's a fun premise with Sherlock Holmes vs Dracular, I mean how could that not be a fun idea?

The writers have done a clever thing of actually weaving Sherlock Holmes in to the original Dracular story rather than starting from scratch with a wholey new story. A very clever trick. If you know the Bram Stoker book this adds a new level of interest to the listening.

The story is engaging but with Sherlock stories I've been spoiled by listening to Basil Rathbones interpretation so when I hear the character played differently it can be off putting for me.

The radio play works very well and is a fun listen but not produced professionally which shows in the audio quality.

The gun fire sound effects sound very much like those used in the computer game DOOM and there is a lot of microphone popping.

Dont let my pointing out of the negatives put you off, this is a fun listen and a clever idea.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 7/9

Download from the Internet Archive

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Macabre

The Official Blurb

[None]

My Review

This is another run of OTR ( Old Time Radio ). This collection contains 8 shows that feature creepy or mystery stories. THere's no real horror here, but some of them do get down right spooky.

The show seems to have been produced for the U.S Armed Forces Radio and even stars some men in uniform, not as soldiers but as actors, and as sound engineers!

It's an amusing collection of 30 minutes episodes. As you might expect there is some hiss, and the occassional scream might put your ear drums to flight.

Over all I enjoyed these shows. Best listened to one per day, as all at once and they are likely to lose "the edge". Listen in a darkened room for best effect :)

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3 - Would have been 3 but for the hiss and crackle
Story 2/3

Total Score 7/9

Download from the Internet Archive

Listen to the first episode

WKKL Presents 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

The Official Blurb

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Radio Drama.

My Review

Well the official blurb is informative!?! What we have here is a 25 minute short amature production radio drama of the classic story of the title.

The producers have done a fairly good job of reducing the novel down to it's bare minimums producing a script that works in the timeframe. Alas, it's not enough time to do the characters justice, but no 30 minute show possibly could.

The sound effects and incidental music are roughly inserted so the smooth blended feel of a professional sound are missing.

Despite the shortcomings I enjoyed this for what it was. Rather like when you go to an amature dramatics play, if you dont expect too much you have a good time.

If you have a spare 30 minutes of ear-time and you know the story you'll probably enjoy this as much as I did.

Technical note : This is an "m4a" file rather than an "MP3", so you may have to use a player such as QuickTime.

Reading 2/3
Production 1/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 5/9

Download from the Internet Archive

The Association of Semi-Superpeoples in: Nazi Radio Tower of Doom!

Official Blurb

In the days leading up to World War II, a group of mystery men joined together to fight injustice in all its forms. From gangsters and racketeers to Nazi saboteurs and communists, these brave men and women did their best to thwart evil in all its myriad forms. And though they often failed, and miserably, no one can deny the group known as The Association of Semi-Super Peoples did⦠stuff.

My Review

This is a short radio comedy thats as wacky as the title suggests. As you might have guessed a bunch of Nazi's are setting up a radio tower...of doom and the local Super Heros/Journalists/Comedians have to deal with the situation. It made me laugh, while wincing at the foul language and non-pc jokes. I laughed but was never entirely sure that I should have been. You have been warned, bad words are used, not work safe, not kid safe, not politically safe.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 6/9

Download from the Internet Archive

The Kraken Wakes

The Official Blurb

None.

My Review

Yet again, not an audio book but another radio presentation of a classic story. This drama comes from the pen of John wyndham and was put together by the BBC. It's a creepy story of disaster of an world wide scale and the purveyor of this crime is a Lovcraftian type creature. Something so beyond our understanding and so other-worldly that understanding between us ( humans ) and them/it is just not going to happen.

This full cast drama is a classic example of BBC-well-done audio that draws you into the story and holds you there fully absorbed in the story. It's really a very good story to start with and the scripting, acting and sound effects bring it to life.

If your a fan of H.P. Lovecraft or sci-fi then you should do yourself a favour and take a listen to this audio treat.

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 8/9

Download the full show from here

Download the first half

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Official Blurb

None.

My Review

Another old time radio story this time, not from the BBC but from the "Hollywood Radio Theater"

The story is a classic so I dont think I'll be giving too much away when I say that an Alien space craft lands in America and the Alien emrges demanding world peace. Of course it doesn't go smoothly.

This radio presentation is a full cast drama and I have a feeling that the man playing the alien in this drama is the same one who played the part in the old black and white film of the same name.

This show includes some of the american style radio introductions and outros so if you object to old style radio then you might not like this.

I really enjoyed the slightly cheesey acting style and apple pie family that take the lead. It's well presented and worth sticking in your ear if classic sci fi is your bag.

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 7/9

Download the Show

Chocky

The Official Blurb

None.

My Review

Once again I break from reviewing audio books and take a look at another type of audio. This time I'm reviewing a 1967 radio broadcast from the BBC, a presentation of John Wyndham's classic sci fi story "Chocky".

There is a bit of audio hiss on the old recording and a strange silence in the middle of a few seconds duration, but dont worry about that as you dont actually miss anything as the story picks up right where it left off and it's only a few seconds.

This presentation of the story is a full cast dramatisation and the voices are the typical britsh clipped accent that was habitually used by the BBC at the time of the broadcast.

The story has neccessarily been abridged in order to fit into this short presentation but we still have a fully rounded story that is very well done.

The character "Chocky" appears as a childs imaginary friend but when the child starts to ask odd questions and know things he shouldn't know the story starts to get really interesting.

It's less than an hour long and well worth your time to hear this great story well told.

Reading 3/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 8/9

Download the Show

"Bomber" by the BBC

My Review

A couple of years ago the BBC produced an audio drama that followed a WWII Lancaster Bomber crew through a day and night. The drama was presented throughout a BBC broadcast day in half hour segments that followed the timeline of the story. The story also interwove comments and interview responses from veterens of the air war.

The story tells not only the parts of the bomber crew but the stories of the people on the other side. German, civilians and night fighter crews are treated equally in the drama and the veteren comments.

It is totally absorbing and horrorfying. As you listen to Tom Bakers narration that carries the story forward, you will feel the pain and utter pathos of those involved in such a horrible war. The acting is top notch and I would describe this audio as MUST-LISTEN.

Reading 3/3
Production 3/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 9/9

Download it

Listen to the first part

Hornblower

My Review

Once again this is not a book review, but rather a review of an entire old radio series available for download for free from the internet archive.

This series is as the name suggests the retelling of the Horatio Hornblower stories, presented here as a series of half hour shows.

It is old time radio so there are some issues with the noise on the recording, but this is in the form of hiss and crackle and not the killer loss the higher frequencies we sometimes get.

The story is of course excellent, presented here as a series of memories of the aged Hornblower told as he thinks back. After the aged Hornblowers intro the action switches into full audio drama format. It is very well done and a delight for any fans of the sea.

This set of recordings is a little mixed up. There are even a couple that come from a differn't series but still telling the Hornblower story, I believe these came from the BBC.

This series is well worth a listen, high action, high fun.

Reading 2/3 ( would be 3 but for the hiss )
Production 2/3
Story 3/3

Total Score 7/9

Available from the Internet Archive

Listen to the first show on the list.

2000 Plus

The Official Blurb

[None]

My Review

Once again, this is not an audio book but rather an old time radio series available for free download.

This is quite a short series and is made up of individual stories that do not interconnect, the only thing they share is that they are all science fiction.

Some of these stories are really quite good, some are what you might call boring. A couple are VERY GOOD. I found a couple of them far too muffled, meaning that I couldn't make out the words for much of the episode. If you find yourself listening to these episodes, I reccommend just skipping to the next. All of them suffer from noise but most of it is acceptable.

Reading 2/3
Production 1/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 5/9

This series if available from Archive.org

Dark Fantasy

The Official Blurb

Every since Lights Out went out several years ago, fans of the fiendish have been clamoring for more good old goose-pimple horror drama on the air. Now they have it. One of the programs that currently freezes the airwaves with its chilling stories is Dark Fantasy comparatively new to the networks. In the late hours of Friday nights these shivery, shocking stories go out over NBC - right straight from Oklahoma City, which you might not have thought of as headquarters for haunts. Station WKY is the home of the Dark Fantasy plays, and the writer is Scott Bishop, who lives in the midst of mystery and the supernatural, represented by the innurnerable volumes of thriller fiction, fantasy lore and all kinds of horror literature that fill his home andhis office. Bishop has long contributed to network broadcasting and to magazines. He says, "Give the listener enough material to let his imagination go to work, and he'll supply his own goose-pimples." Dark Fantasy has been furnishing plenty of such material since last November. And judging from enthusiastic comment, the horror fans are responding with goose-pimples galore! Tune in every Friday on Station WKY Oklahoma City.

My Review

This review is not of a book! Instead I'm reviewing an entire radio series from the early 1940's. Each episode of Dark Fantasy is a seperate story and they all have different subjects. The writer has a nice talent for leaving the story just at a point where you want more, but the meat of the story has been told. It's an odd situation I guess, but still satisfying.

As with any series some episodes are better than others and I can especially rec' "The Demon Tree" and "W is for Werewolf".

With this being an Old Time Radio show, it suffers in the sound quality, with many episodes having lost the higher quarter of the audio spectrum, making some difficult to follow. I've found that these episodes are easier to listen to when using headphones. To reflect this I've lowered the "Reading" score.

Reading 1/3
Production 3/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 6/9

Available from Archive.org