Women sf greats read free audio of John Scalzi novella

John Scalzi, author of the fantastic Old Man's War sf novels, has just posted a free audio edition of The Sagan Diaries, a novella set in the same world. The Sagan Diaries are told from the point of view of Jane Sagan, and Scalzi recruited six all-star sf and fantasy women writers to read for Jane Sagan. The result is superb — and free!

So I asked some friends if they would speak for Jane Sagan: I asked Elizabeth Bear, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ellen Kushner, Karen Meisner, Cherie Priest and Helen Smith. Happily for me (and for you) they said yes. Each of them recorded a chapter (or more, in the case of Mary Robinette Kowal), and took the words I wrote for Jane and gave them extra dimensions — made more of them than I would be able to make of them myself. If you've wondered what Jane Sagan sounds like, she sounds like this. I was delighted to hear her voice coming through these readings, and deeply humbled by the efforts these women provided in letting Jane speak with them and through them. Without prejudicing your own hearing, let me say that I found myself getting emotional listening to these words given voice. Listen to it; you'll figure out where.

And now it gives me a great deal of pleasure to present you "The Sagan Diary," spoken aloud. The story is broken up into a preface and eight chapters; each chapter is available in low-bandwidth (32kbps mp3) and high-bandwidth (variable rate but usually >300kpbs mp3) versions. The low bandwidth versions are standardized in volume; the high bandwidth versions vary (I figure you know how to use a volume knob). The individual chapters themselves were recorded on everything from MacBooks with built-in microphones to professional sound equipment, so there's some variance there was well; I went in smoothed things out somewhat with my audio equipment, but not too much, because I wanted each of the individual voices to come through.

Link

See also:
Forever War with better sex, Starship Troopers without the lectures: Old Man's War
Sequel to Scalzi's Old Man's War: The Ghost Brigades
Agent to the Stars: comic sf about an alien race's Hollywood agent