"The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (Audio CD) by Jack Finney and narrated by Kristoffer Tabori.
© Blackstone Audio
Invasion’s Back…In Pog Form!
By: Pat FerraraDate: Monday, July 02, 2007
Nearly 52 years after the book’s initial release, Jack Finney’s SF classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers makes its way onto audio format just in time for the summer holidays.
Happy belated Canada Day all you Maniac readers and welcome to the start of July’s Weekly Book Buzz. This week’s lean release schedule offers very different perspectives on vampire lore, a few new series openers, and born again classics.
Author Gerry Bartlett reinvigorates the single, modern vampire woman in Real Vampires Live Large while E.E. Knight follows up Valentine’s Exile (to be released on paperback tomorrow) this week with Valentine’s Resolve, the sixth installment in the Vampire Earth series, on hardback through Penguin Group USA.
Jennifer Roberson continues her Karavans series with the second volume, Deepwood, in hardcover and Jenna Rhodes kicks off her new Elven Ways series with The Four Forges on paperback.
Blackstone Audio has wrapped up their unabridged version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers on audio CD to deliver this sci-fi archetype as it was intended, pure and uncut from Finney’s cerebral cortex. The book that inspired Don Siegel’s film adaptation of the same name, this classic is narrated by none other than Don Siegel’s own son Kristoffer Tabori (who is himself an Audie Award winner).
New in Hardcover:
Deepwood, Jennifer Roberson (DAW)
Deepwood is the sequel to Karavans, the start of a new, highly commercial fantasy adventure series. Filled with magic, mystical beings, and humans with magical powers, and replete with bloody war and illicit romance, the universe of Karavans is already garnering high praise. Even darker and richer than Roberson's previous work, Deepwood is sure to enthrall her already dedicated readership.
Valentine’s Resolve, E.E. Knight (Roc)
After three years of exile from humanity's war against the Kurians, David Valentine returns to battle. The Lifeweavers, Earth's allies in the conflict, have all but vanished, and without them mankind cannot possibly stand against their alien enemies. Many of the Lightweavers are held captive by a Kurian overlord. To free them, Valentine must convince the Marshal, a legendary resistance fighter with a grudge against the Kurians, to join his cause. But the Marshal is something of a dictator himself, ruling over his men with an iron fist-and giving Valentine a new enemy to fight. The sixth novel in the Vampire Earth series.
The Best of Jim Baen’s Universe, Ed. by Eric Flint (Baen Books)
Top-Selling established writers and brilliant newcomers both appear regularly in the online magazine, Jim Baen's Universe, edited by Eric Flint, creator of the New York Times best-selling “Ring of Fire” series. Now, editor Flint selects a generous serving of the best science fiction and fantasy stories that have appeared in the magazine. Hugo and Nebula Award winners, such as Mike Resnick and Gene Wolfe are on board, and so are best-selling writers David Drake, Gregory Benford, Esther Friesner and more. Jim Baen's Universe is already a resounding hit on the internet, and is certain to be equally popular in the uncybernetic realm of paper reading as well.
New in Paperback:
Man vs. Machine, Ed. by Martin H. Greenberg & John Helfers (DAW)
Fifteen original tales envision ever-more sophisticated technology, and the repercussions on humankind... As our world and daily lives become more and more involved with and dependent on complex technology, concern over what the future holds increases. If computers develop genuine Artificial Intelligence will they still willingly serve humankind? If the machines rebel, can we shut them down? And what kind of world would we be left with if we did? These are just a few of the questions explored in fifteen brand new stories by some of science fiction's most visionary minds, inventive and cautionary tales about some of the futures we may be building for ourselves right now.
Whiskey and Water, Elizabeth Bear (Penguin Group USA)
Several years ago, Matthew the Magician ended an age-old war. It only cost him everything-and everyone-he knew and loved. Turning against his mentor, Jane Andraste, in the realm of Faerie left him physically crippled and his power shattered. But Matthew remains the protector of New York City. So when he finds a young woman brutally murdered by a Fae creature, he must bring her killer to justice before Jane uses the crime to justify more war-and before he confronts an even larger threat in the greatest Adversary of all... A novel of the Promethean Age.
Real Vampires Live Large, Gerry Bartlett (Berkley Trade)
It's not easy to keep a boyfriend, run a business, and survive for centuries as one of the immortal undead. Glory St. Clair knows-ever since a sexy Scottish vampire bit her while she was a tad...bloated. But when a frustrated vampire hunter firebombs her vintage clothing boutique, she's ready to pitch a fit. Then her long-time, part-time lover takes off in a rage to hunt the hunter and prove himself worthy of her. And that's only the beginning of her troubles. The Energy Vampires want her-and not in a good way. They're paranormal drug dealers, selling thrills to those who've lived for ages, been everywhere, and done everything... and they want to suck Glory dry. But it'll take more than a few super-suckers to get the goods out of her.
Daemon Eyes, Camille Bacon-Smith (DAW)
The paranormal mystery of Eye of the daemon and eyes of the empress Together for the first time! Kevin Bradley and his partners are uniquely qualified to handle cases involving the occult-he and Evan Davis are far more than the mere mortals they appear to be. Kevin is a powerful daemon lord, and Evan is his half-daemon, half-human son. Solving mortal crimes should be a cinch for them. But somehow, they never get the easy, open-and-shut cases.
The Four Forges, Jenna Rhodes (DAW)
Brought to the world of Kerith by an unknown cataclysm, the Vaelinar race is both magical and arrogant, considering themselves far superior to the natives whose own magic has been shorn away by a civil war. As hated as they are revered, the Vaelinars have retreated to seclusion after anchoring their magic to the new world by a series of Talent-wrought Ways, passages of power, always hoping that one day they will create the Way back to the world they lost. Two young people, one broken of soul and the other broken of mind, find their fates intertwined as their mixed bloodlines both curse and bless them. Can a river-borne slave and a street-savvy half-breed find their own personal truth in time to avert another civil war? The first book in the Elven Ways series.
Demons are Forever: Confessions of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom, Julie Kenner (Berkley Trade)
Exciting new escapades for the demon-hunting stay-at-home mom-from the USA Today bestselling author of Carpe Demon. It isn't easy when your daughter's figured out that her mom's a demon hunter-and wants to grow up to be just like her. Or when you suspect your dead husband used the forces of darkness to filch the body of another human. And your living husband isn't the man you married anymore either. Moreover, Kate's acquired a precious but deadly item that every demon within commuting distance wants. With husband woes playing havoc with her emotions, an ambitious teenage protégé at her heels, and hell to pay, this stay-at-home mom's putting in a lot of overtime.
Valentine’s Exile, E.E. Knight (Roc)
Welcome to the year 2072. Earth is under new management. Possessed of an unnatural and legendary hunger, the Reapers came to Earth to establish a New Order built on the harvesting of enslaved human souls. They rule the planet. They thrive on the scent of fear. And if it's night, as sure as darkness, they will come. In a valiant rebellion against the half-century Kurian occupation, the newly formed Texas and Ozark Republics have dealt the vampiric aliens their first major defeat. Resistance member David Valentine is revered as a hero, but he has a dangerous enemy within his own ranks, who will have him facing charges for abusing the Quisling prisoners-the human pawns of the Kurians. When fellow freedom fighter William Post is badly wounded, he asks Valentine to find his wife, who has vanished into the darkness of the Kurian Order. But what Valentine finds there will shake his sanity to its very core. The fifth installment of the Vampire Earth series.
Star Trek: Grand Designs, Allyn Gibson, David Mack, et al. (Star Trek Books)
These are the voyages of the U.S.S. da Vinci. Their mission: to solve the problems of the galaxy, one disaster at a time. Starfleet veteran Captain David Gold, along with his crack Starfleet Corps of Engineers team lead by former Starship Enterprise ... engineer Commander Sonya Gomez, travel throughout the Federation and beyond to fix the unfixable, repair the irreparable, and solve the unsolvable. Whether it's an artificial planetary ring that was damaged during the Dominion War, an out-of-control generation ship, a weapons inspection gone horribly wrong, shutting down a crashed probe, solving a centuries-old medical mystery, or clearing a sargasso sea of derelict ships, the S.C.E. is on the case! But the problems they face aren't just technical; Tev must confront the demons of his past, Lense must confront the demons of her present, Gold faces a crisis of leadership on his own ship, and Gomez must lead an away team into the middle of a brutal ground war. Plus the da Vinci crew must find a way to work with their Klingon counterparts in a deadly rescue mission. A Star Trek: Corps of Engineer novel.
Shift, Chris Dolley (Baen Books)
Peter Pendennis killed and dissected eleven people before they caught him. Now he was safely locked away in an institution, but one of the multiple personalities he is host to claims to be the astronaut John Bruce, who is now running for President of the United States. And when Pendennis is confronted with Louise Callander, Bruce's former girl friend, he tells her things that only the real John Bruce could know. Nick Stubbs, a scientist investigating the nature of multiple dimensions in their connection to the human brain, was called in to investigate, and now very much regrets it. Someone is killing people, leaving their parts scattered in places where Nick has been, and the police think he's the prime suspect. The modus operandi of the murderer is identical to that of Peter Pendennis… but he apparently is still securely under lock and key. Nick knows that John Bruce had tested a new faster-than-light ship using higher dimensions, and had reported a strange, almost religious experience. Was part of his personality left behind, becoming attached to Peter Pendennis? Soon, Nick and Louise are on the run. But how can they escape a killer who seems to be unbound by any restraints of space and time?
Chris Bunch’s The Gangster Conspiracy, Steve & Dal Perry (Roc)
The Star Risk, Ltd. team has a standing objective: "We'll do anything for money." And when they're hired by a political top gun to clear his assassinated father's name, wealth beyond their wildest dreams is finally within their grasp...if they can stay alive long enough to forge the check.
New in Audiobook:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Jack Finney (Blackstone Audio Unabridged)
On a quiet fall evening in the small, peaceful town of Mill Valley, California, Dr. Miles Bennell discovers an insidious, horrifying plot. Silently, subtly, almost imperceptibly, alien life-forms are taking over the bodies and minds of his neighbors, his friends, his family, the woman he loves--the world as he knows it. This classic 1955 thriller of the triumph of the human spirit over an invisible enemy inspired the acclaimed 1956 film, directed by Don Siegel and named one of Time magazine's 100 Best Films. Blackstone's edition is read by Don Siegel's son, actor-director Kristoffer Tabori, an Emmy and Audie® Award winner, and concludes with the narrator's insider reminiscences of his father's work on the film.
Escape Route, Peter F. Hamilton (AudioText)
The Lady Macbeth sets out on a dubious prospecting mission and ultimately discovers an ancient, long abandoned, derelict, xenoc starship. Captain Marcus Calvert must unlock its alien secrets in time to save his crew. Set in the author's Confederation universe of his "Night's Dawn" trilogy, this gripping tale tells the story of the last flight of Joshua Calvert's father. This story also explains why the Lady Macbeth was in such poor shape when it first made its appearance in The Reality Dysfunction. This title is part of the publisher's Great Science Fiction Stories audio series. This story is narrated by Jared Doreck and is approximately 156 minutes in length, on two audio CDs.
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