"Torchwood: The Sin Eaters" by Brian Minchin

"Torchwood: The Sin Eaters"
by Brian Minchin
Read by Gareth David-Lloyd
Produced by BBC Audio / AudioGO (2009)
 2 hours and 11 minutes

One of the things that attracted me to the television series and audiobooks of "Torchwood" (besides being a "Doctor Who" spin-off) was that they could combine several genres into each and every episode, and, as I'm finding out, the books and audio releases.  The writers of this series are able to blend in Lots of sci-fi (of course) with some horror, drama, comedy and every once in a while a bit of romance.  The latter doesn't grab me as much as the others, but hey, it's there.  This story definitely weaves in the horror. 

A little background on the Torchwood series is needed here, especially since this story takes place right about the middle of the Torchwood series timeline.  This story takes place just before the third season of the four seasons that were broadcast, so far.  Torchwood is a super secret not quite government agency that basically saves the Earth from aliens.  Their base is in Cardiff, Wales which also happens to be the location of a rift in time and space from which aliens are always appearing and threatening humanity, sometimes intentionally and sometimes just accidentally slip through the rift.  The series originally started out with five team members but by the end of season two, two of the members had died, leaving only Captain Jack Harkness, the head of Torchwood, Ianto Jones the admin of the agency, now serving in a more prominent function since the loss of the other two members, and Gwen Cooper, former cop.  That's when this book takes place, sometime just before season three.

Gwen, Jack and Ianto are investigating some bizarre rift readings (which usually means something is coming through) when they discover a corpse on the beach, the body is clothed in a WWII navy uniform and the body's face is covered in hundreds of tiny cuts.  They get the body back to the Torchwood base and discover small items within each of the cuts that appear to be egg sacs of sorts.  Further investigation reveal that the egg sacs hatch into small larvae that look like small shrimp. 

At this same time, Rhys, Gwen's husband, awakes after a night of debauchery at a friend's bachelor party to discover his friend, the groom is missing.  When he goes to the groom's home and finds the mother of the groom dead, he calls Gwen.  Gwen and Rhys set off to find the groom after Gwen decides the disappearance and the larvae may be tied together.

Also at this same time, the Reverend Hayward has found a way to take away people's sins.  By placing small creatures (larvae?) into the baptismal font that take away the peoples sins, the problem is the creatures feed on the negative emotions and eventually totally consume their hosts.  But this does not stop the reverend in his quest to free humanity of its sins. 

Jack and Ianto discover, in the bay, a sunken ship teeming with the larvae.  The larvae are caring for their "queen" who has enough larvae to destroy all of humanity.  Now only Torchwood with their, better than Bond gadgets, and alien fighting wit must race with time to save the world from these "sin-eaters."

In a well told story that combines horror, sci-fi, and some good comedic relief Torchwood and it's operatives will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.  

This audiobook is read by Gareth David-Lloyd, who portrays Ianto Jones in the series.  He does a fantastic job of delivering the drama and even impresses with his voicing of the different characters.  In fact, his voicing of Captain Jack, is spot on, at times I thought I was hearing the voice of John Barrowman, the actor who portrays Captain Jack Harkness.  His voicework and the nice dramatic music for effect make this audiobook a complete adventure.

Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles by Michael Moorcock

"Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles"
by Michael Moorcock
read by Clive Mantle
produced by AudioGO/BBC Audiobooks (2010)
Approx 11 hours

While anxiously awaiting the Christmas return of Dr. Who on television, I have to get my fix.  This time around I dive into a Dr. Who audiobook that is unlike any other. 

First of all the length.  This one is just about 11 hours where most Dr. Who audiobooks tend to be from one to three hours in length.  So I was strapped in and ready for a good long run.  This story would have easily taken an entire season to run.

The next feature that makes it unique is the writing.  Michael Moorcock is a well know award winning author of science-fiction and fantasy, and I have heard his name bandied around in sci-fi circles, but I've never picked up one of his stories until now.  This story takes the Dr. Who universe and seems to pop it into a more surreal almost absurd series of events that seem to blend the writing styles of Douglas Adams and P.G. Wodehouse.  At times the story is a humorous romp through the multiverse and at others a bit of a humorous whodunit.   Needless to say this is a fun book featuring the 11th Doctor and his companion Amy Pond.

The reader Clive Mantle does a great job of delivering the story through this audiobook.  In some cases the characters are over the top and Mantle voices them just that way.  From his vocalizations you can nearly picture the faces of the characters.  Superb delivery.

At times this story reminded me of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," with Amy pod as Alice and the Doctor as the White Rabbit, and there are a couple of hatters that do seem mad. 

In the beginning it at first seems as though the Doctor is out for a bit of sport as he and Amy join the Terraphiles, a group of humans in the far future obsessed with recreating Earth's distant past and reenacting medieval Earth sports.  By the far future I mean about 50,000 years into the future, so you have to forgive if they get some of the sports wrong.  There's a version of, I'm thinking Rugby, where the ball is an arrow and the bowmen/archers shoot the arrow and catch it.  I did say they didn't quite get it right. 

As it turns out, though, the Doctor is trying avoid the collapse of the Multiverse from the mysterious "dark tides" that have begun to appear.  The Doctor and his new friends compete in a Grand Tournament in the Miggea star system, which lies on the border of parallel realities. The prize of the contest is an ancient artifact called the Arrow of Law, sought also by the Doctor's old foe Captain Cornelius and his crew of space pirates.

With the multiverse on the verge of collapse the Doctor, Amy and the Terraphiles have to team up with the space pirates to try to save all of existence.  With some fun moments, the theft of a gaudy hat, and some strange sports, this is one adventure with the Doctor that you won't soon forget.

"Doctor Who: Hunter's Moon" by Paul Finch

"Doctor Who: Hunter's Moon"
by Paul Finch   
read by Arthur Darvill   
Published by BBC Audiobooks
Approx 6.5 hours

Okay before we talk about this particular audio book I've gotta point out something I just found out and it has me stoked; there are like a bazillion Doctor who audiobooks.  I was looking around for something to shove into my iPod and remembered having listened to a couple of Doctor who books and thought that would be cool let's see what else is out there.  'Lo and behold there are several for the latest 3 Doctors and many more for the older series.  BBC Audiobooks has been busy. 

This time around I've picked up another audiobook featureing the 11th Doctor (portrayed by Matt Smith) and in the continuity it takes place just before the 5th season episode of "The Impossible Astronaut."  The Doctor's companions are still Amy and Rory and their adventures takes them to a region that is pretty much like a gambler's heaven, Leisure Platform 9.  Before he can join Rory and Amy, the Doctor has to go and visit an old friend, Kobal Zalu, who is head of the police force in this sector.  Zalu mentions that the last time he saw the Doctor, the Doctor had white hair, so this is digging out an old friend from way back, the first or second Doctor.   It seems Zalu doesn't as much act as a police officer but more of a peacekeeper between gamblers and vilians and as long as the locals aren't harmed all else is ignored.

This book is ready by Arthur Darvill, the actor portraying Rory in the series, and not only is this a good choice because the bulk of the story is told from Rory's point of view, but because Darvill has a great delivery.  His voice is flexible enought to change between different characters talking in the story, but he does a pretty good impression of Matt Smith (the Doctor). 

While on the platform Rory notices a game of chance that he's pretty good at, well least the Earth version (craps).  While observing a player at the game Rory remarks that the game of chance is chancing more to the players benefit.  When he remarks outloud about this the player then challenges Rory.   Rory plays ends up winning but on the final throw loses, and loses big, in fact he loses the TARDIS to the player (it doesn't matter that Rory isn't the owner.)  So as payment the player, Xorg Krauzzen, kidnaps Rory and takes him to the planet Gorgoror, where Rory and other kidnapped earthlings are part of a hunt, not as hunters but as hunted. 

The Doctor and Amy go undercover to save Rory and end up uncovering a fiendish hunt that has been going on illegally for years, so now the Doctor must stop this evil, rescue his friends and get the TARDIS back.  In a non-stop thrillride this story will keep you on the edge of your seat, have you chew down all your fingernails and keep your adrenaline up until the very end.

"The Hounds of Artemis" by James Goss

"The Hounds of Artemis"
by James Goss
read by Matt Smith & Clare Corbett.
Produced by BBC Audiobooks
approx 1 hour.

Not sure why it took me so long but not until the 5th season and the 11th doctor did I get into the return of the series "Doctor Who."  I loved it as a kid especially the Tom Baker version of the Doctor.   But before I got into the series I had to start from the 9th Doctor and work my way back up to now...I'm now caught up with the TV series and, well, I'm impressed.  Great storyline, and the special effects are awesome.  The BBC even has 2 spinoff series, on for kids, "The Sarah Jane Adventures" a series for young adults (which ended due to the death of Elizabeth Sladen) and "Torchwood," which went for 3 seasons, each on a different BBC channel and then coming to America on a subscription cable channel for a 4th season.

So now I'm caught up on the series and all the side series' I'm doing my best to wait for each new episode.   So what does an audio book lover do?  Find Doctor Who audiobooks, and let me tell you the BBC has done their best to make sure there is a plethora of them available.  So far I have liked all 3 of the new doctors (David Tenant was my fave, but the latest, Matt Smith is really growing on me.   He's my son's fave so hey, there's that.)  This audiobook is a one hour release from BBC Audiobooks and features the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, and his companion, Amy Pond.)  In the continuity of the series this audio falls before the "Big Bang" episode because it features the smiling crack in reality that is always following Amy.

In 1929 Lord Woolcroft and his team break open the fabled Tomb of Artemis, sealed for thousands of years, they are astonished by what they find inside...A man and a woman.  The man is wearing a bowtie and introduces himself as The Doctor.  He then tells them they are in great danger, and  thus begins the adventure. 

As are many things in time this event is a fixed moment and cannot be changed, however maybe the casualties can be lessened so that is what the Doctor and Amy set out to do.  The Tomb of Artemis is opened and soon wolves/hounds begin to terrorize the archaeological team.  Once entering the tomb, the priestess of Artemis is there and presenting a feast of what seems to be each person's favorite food.  So it seems Artemis is feeding off the mental energy of the humans.  Soon Artemis reveals her plan to escape and take over the world, but the Doctor decides this cannot happen. 

Just as with the tv series this audiobook features excellent writing that makes the adventure one that will keep you wondering what will happen next the book is read by the star of the series, Matt Smith and by Clare Corbett.  Clare Corbett's reading sections are when the story is being told from Amy Pond's diary and as the teller of the story, a descendent of one of the archaeological team.   Matt Smith delivers the rest and gives the story that extra Doctor Whoishness.

Great little audiobook that may get you hooked into the Doctor Who world if you aren't already.

Torchwood Audio Dramas "Lost Souls" "Asylum" "Golden Age" "The Dead Line" Directed by Karen McAll

Torchwood Audio Dramas
"Lost Souls"
"Asylum"
"Golden Age"
"The Dead Line"
Directed by Karen McAll
each episode approx 1 hour.

Once again I'm astounded by the creative sci-fi writing for British television. I've been a fan of Doctor Who from way back. Get past the what are now, and even then, considered cheesy special effects, and you find some very smart writing in these series. When the Doctor Who TV series experienced a rebirth back in 2005 I was wary. I was afraid they would not be able to keep up with my image of Doctor Who, I was a huge fan of Tom Baker's portrayal of the Doctor. How could they keep up with the humor and the fun in space and time travel? Well only recently I decided to give it a try. I had six seasons to watch and I watched them all. I was astounded. The writing was excellent and all of the new doctors kept the tradition alive. David Tennant was my favorite of the New Doctors, since he was the closest to what Tom Baker brought to the character.

The cool thing about the new series was that it launched two spin-off series. One was aired on CBBC (the children's portion of BBC tv), "The Sarah Jane Adventures." This series focused on the longtime Doctor Who companion Sarah Jane Smith. The adventures were more of a live action Scooby Doo series (sans semi-talking dog, unless you count K-9) It was a kids show but the Doctor made a couple of appearances and the aliens were all ones that were experienced on Doctor Who. There was even a crossover episode of Doctor Who which featured Sarah and her alien hunting crew along with the crew of the other spin-off, "Torchwood."

This second spin-off series, "Torchwood," was one that really got my attention. "Torchwood," is a series about alien hunters that were established by Queen Victoria in 1879. The Doctor saved the Queen from a werewolf at the Torchwood Estate, in Scotland. After the Doctor saves her she knights him and then banishes him and establishes Torchwood to keep out all aliens. (Something note here; Torchwood is an anagram for Doctor Who.) Later in the Doctor Who Series Torchwood blasts an alien ship out of the sky, which The Doctor had just made it's passengers promise to never come to Earth again. Going against the Doctor on this the British Prime Minister learns not to cross the Doctor. In yet another episode of Doctor Who Torchwood is destroyed by the Daleks.

The Torchwood team is led by Captain Jack Harkness, who is a time agent and can never die. He met up with Doctor Who early in the new series and several times there after. After Torchwood is destroyed, Captain Jack rebuilds Torchwood because "The 21st Century is when Everything changes." He rebuilds the base in Cardiff, Wales, because there is a rift in time and space above/around Cardiff that aliens and time travelers find their way through. His team's job is to detain the arrivals or if possible send them back, keeping the world safe from aliens. So far the series has run 3 seasons with a fourth one coming soon, according to rumor at the time of this writing.

Set between the end of Series Two and the beginning of Series Three, the BBC aired four Torchwood radio dramas featuring the cast of the series, with the first airing September, 2008 and the last three July, 2009. That is the focus of this review. After I watched all of the new Doctor Who series and all the Torchwood series, I had to find more material. There are other audiobooks available but I wanted to start out with these radio dramas. They are available separately on amazon.com at last check.

So, let's talk about these audio dramas. They all feature the full cast and are written just as well as the TV series. If you want to continue in the Torchwood world it is best to start with these since they do feature the full cast. They also include the same music as the TV broadcasts as well as phenomenal sound effects that blast you into the middle of the story.

Here's a summary of each episode:

"Lost Souls" written by Joseph Lidster, begins with Captain Jack Harkness and his crew chasing weevils (annoying aliens that are constantly coming through the rift). Jack gets a call from Doctor Martha Jones, a former companion of The Doctor, who needs his help at CERN. Just hours away from a major discovery in particle physics people have gone missing. Torchwood arrives to find that the people have a particle missing from their atoms and must save the Earth from something brought to our univers via the Hadron Collider.

"Asylum" written by Anita Sullivan, is about a girl that comes from the future through the rift, she is caught shoplifting clothes and Torchwood is called in because of the weapon she's carrying. Turns out the young girl is from a bleak future and has a secret. Why did she come back in time and more important who sent her?

"Golden Age" written by James Goss, tells the story of the Delhi branch of Torchwood which was closed down by Captain Jack Harkness back in 1924 yet the people inside are not only still receiving packages addressed to Torchwood but have also found a way to freeze time. This can't be good for planet Earth.

"The Dead Line" written by Phil Ford is more of a haunting tale of a phone call you never want to receive. People in Cardiff are winding up in the hospital after answering the phone and going into a coma. When the call is traced the phone number is one that has not been connected since 1975. When Jack answers one of those calls it is up to Ianto Jones and Eve Myles, the other two members of Torchwood to find answers.

Four great sci-fi stories that will leave you wanting more. You can always go back and watch the series and check out the other audiobooks based on the series. Glad I could get you started.

Spiderman: The Amazing Spiderman (BBC Radio Collection) Story Adaptation by Dirk Maggs

Spiderman: The Amazing Spiderman (BBC Radio Collection)
Story Adaptation by Dirk Maggs
Multi-cast performance
Produced by BBC Audiobooks Ltd (2002)
Approx 2 hours


I have always been a Spider-Man fan, I'm pretty sure I came out of the womb reading the comics, so when I found this gem I had to give it a listen. In 1995, BBC Radio commissioned a Spider-Man audio book which aired on BBC Radio 1 over 50 episodes on week days between January 15, 1996 and March 24, 1996. The performance was co-produced by Brian May who also contributed to the musical arrangement and wrote and performed the theme tune. Yes, the same Brian May that plays lead guitar for Queen. BBC Audiobooks has taken this production and no made it available as a CD audiobook, I haven't looked yet for any download versions.

The run of the production includes a number of familiar characters from the Spider-Man comic books as well as key figures from the Marvel "Heroes" universe such as Fantastic Four, Namor the Submariner, and Doctor Doom. This is a re-telling of the origin of Spider-Man, not exactly as Stan Lee originally wrote it, but pretty darn close. In this version rather than Peter Parker going to a demonstration of Atomic energy (pretty dated sounding, right), he is conducting an experiment at the high school using low level radiation, but a spider gets in the mix and bites our hero. Very similar to the origin the story continues with Peter Parker calling Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, of the Fantastic 4 to ask for help, after all he thinks he's turning into a spider.

After finding out the Fantastic 4 are out of office he decides he needs to make some money and goes on the TV circuit performing feats of spider-like ability. After a criminal kills his Uncle Ben, Peter then takes up the crime-fighting mantle. The play then brings on such villains as; the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, the Sandman, Prince Namor (hero/villain) and Dr. Doom.

My only complaint is that not once in the performance does Peter Parker/Spider-Man's line that is his raison d'etre come out. You know the one, "With great power, comes great responsibility." Stan Lee has been known to say that when he first came up with the phrase for Spidey, it sounded cheesy, but, it is a great life-lesson. But the Brits decided to leave it out of the production. I won't fault them too much because this was fun to hear.

The role of Spider-Man was performed by William Dufries. Also included in the cast list was EastEnders star Anita Dobson. The entire cast and the production meld to make a great comic book to audio book adaptation.

"Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" By Grant Naylor

"Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers"
By Grant Naylor
Multicast Performance
BBC radio broadcast of Abridged audiobook
Approx 3 hours.


Recently I watched the entire 8 seasons of the British space comedy TV series, Red Dwarf. I didn't watch the series much when it actually aired (on PBS here in the states), but I did catch a few episodes and thought them to be funny...very funny actually, with that great sarcasm and dry wit that the Brits do best. After watching all 8 seasons, I kept asking, "Is that all?" It couldn't be there was too much more fun to be had. The actors were brilliant in their roles as a diverse set of characters pretty much marooned in space, at least until season 7, then things got weird (weirder?). Anyway as I found out that wasn't all. There are books out there, my fave, cool, let me at 'em. I found that the first book had been broadcast on BBC Radio with the original cast and that's the one I had to get. After all Douglas Adams made some great strides in the retelling of his "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on BBC Radio, so this had to be great. Yes it was and more so.

Here's the premise of the series "Red Dwarf;" Dave Lister is one of the lowliest crew members on the interstellar mining ship Red Dwarf. He's the guy that cleans the gunk out of the chicken soup vending machines. Arnold Rimmer is is boss of sorts. Dave is a laid back curry eating, beer drinking, cigarette smoking slob who just wants to go back to Earth. Arnold Rimmer is the overachiever that never can pass his officer's exam. They are bunk mates on the Red Dwarf. On the last day of their lives, okay last day of Rimmer's life, Dave is placed in time stasis as punishment for bringing an unquarantined animal (a cat by the name of Frankenstein) on board. Time stasis is a pretty cool punishment, if you ask me. The punished is locked in and for the time of sentence (3 years in Lister's case) time goes by for everyone else and not you, okay you lose 3 years of pay in this case, but to the punished it only takes a moment.

Alright, so Lister is locked into stasis. The Red Dwarf then has a core meltdown creating hydrogen bomb effect on board, thus all lifeforms destroyed but electronics and the ship are fine. So Lister is release out of stasis 3 million years later after all harm of radiation has passed and he finds himself not only alone on the ship but alone in the universe, yes the human race is extinct. So the ships computer, Hollie, revives Lister's bunkmate, Rimmer, as a hologram. The technology is so energy consumptive that the ship's resource can only support one hologram. The problem is what Hollie thinks may save Lister's sanity, actually may cause him to go insane, picture "The Odd Couple" in space and you have the comedy makings of this fiasco.

It is soon discovered that during the 3 million years that infamous cat of Lister's was safe behind cargo bay doors and reproduced over the timespan and eventually the cats evolved over 3 million years into Felis Sapiens. Humanoids but still cats at heart, any cat lover would love this character. Later in this book after discovering a crash landed Earth space craft the crew is rounded out with Kryten, a mechanoid, a robot designed to serve.

This audiobook is basically a retelling of the first season of the series and a portion of season two. The additional material is what makes this a big bonus. Not only do you get the retelling but also some back story, like how Lister got to be on the Red Dwarf, more information on the evolution of Cat, and some extra fun information.

If you are a fan of Red Dwarf, you'll love this audio book, If you have never watched a single episode, check out this audio book and then get ready for the urge to watch the series.

Doctor Who – The Evil of The Daleks

Doctor Who – The Evil of The Daleks

Written by David Whitaker

Multicast performance starring Frazer Hines

Published by BBC Audiobooks America

Running time 2 hours 51 minutes

Published 2007

One of the many things that got me on the path to loving science fiction was my exposure to “Doctor Who” every Saturday night on PBS (at least in my hometown). Doctor Who was a time and space traveler with many dimensions to his character. He also had many incarnations through the years, which provided a plausible explanation when different actors portrayed him. Although all of the doctors were unique and well-worth watching, I will have to admit my favorite was Tom Baker. He’s the one who portrayed the doctor with the long scarf and the frizzy hair.

The series was set up as somewhat of a sci-fi soap opera, or better yet, a television serial, with a cliffhanger at the end of every episode. One unique aspect of older programs is the “cheap” special effects, which, by today’s standards, are completely unbelievable. Fortunately, they really didn’t drive the story so viewers forgave them and sometimes got a good giggle. Now, if you were to take away the visual effects, every episode is brilliant storytelling. With writers such as David Whitaker the concepts in the world of the Doctor make for some dramatic science fiction. So, what happens if you take the visuals away from the series? A very interesting and fun audiobook from BBC Audio, that’s what.

This production is more than a single narrator reading a TV script adaptation – it’s an audio performance that lets you experience the broadcast using the recording of the original soundtrack (combining the voices from the TV show with the music and sound effects) along with added narration that describes scenes and provides the set-up for action sequences. The narrator, Frazer Hines, should feel right at home because a much younger Hines is the actor who portrays the Doctor’s assistant in this particular TV episode. Using the original soundtrack, the listener is treated to the voice of the second incarnation of the Doctor, portrayed by Patrick Troughton. Also experienced is the full effect of the loud dischordant voice of the Daleks, a treat in itself. So, with the story narrated and the voices of the original actors, it becomes pretty much a radio play, which makes for some fun sci-fi listening. As a side note, the original copy of this television broadcast was destroyed in the 60s but, due to fan efforts, the audio was saved, which allowed the creation of this audiobook.

The episode begins with the Doctor and Jamie trying to track down thieves who stole the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space – it is a time machine and spacecraft used by the Doctor). After some mysterious and “too convenient” clues the Doctor and Jamie track down an antiques dealer whose antiques are authentic but new. This leads the Doctor and Jamie to be captured by the dealer and the Daleks and taken back in time to 1866. During their stay in 1866, the Doctor is forced to trick Jamie into passing some tests for the Daleks so the “human factor” can be extracted by the Dalek’s to use in their plans to conquer humankind.

With clever twists and deceptions, the performance finally leads to the Dalek home planet of Skaro, where the Doctor intends to defeat the Daleks once and for all. Can he do it? Ahh… I will not give that away, Enjoy this audiobook and you will find out. This audiobook will bring back some great memories for Doctor Who fans of all ages and could create some new ones with a great science-fiction time traveling adventure with Doctor Who.

Listen to the audio review below.



Click here to get the MP3 podcast file from sfsite.com

Or click on the graphic below for other sci-fi audiobook reviews...some by me..some not.