Ben Bova and Orson Scott Card

The Audible Interview

By: Ben Bova, Orson Scott Card

Acclaimed science-fiction authors Orson Scott Card and Ben Bova, along with their shared audiobook producer and occasional narrator Stefan Rudnicki, discuss audiobooks and their works in a joint interview. The authors touch on their thoughts on audiobooks vs. print editions, the effect of technology on literature, religion, science, and many other fascinating topics sure to intrigue both Card and Bova fans, as well as all audiobook enthusiasts.©2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Very informative and funny

I'm a fan of both these authors and it was interesting to hear their views on the publishing industry today, their interest in science, and how Orson Scott Card learned from Ben Bova. Excellent interview. I highly recommend it.

good listen

Any additional comments?

Ben Bova and Orson Scott Card both are excellent authors and it was wonderful hearing their thoughts on the audio book world, which has really taken over in an unexpected way hasn't it. This was an enjoyable interview with opinions we the public is curious to hear about from the authors point of view.

As interesting as any author interview

There are no big revelations, startling gems of wisdom, or memorable one-liners here, but if you're a fan of Ben Bova or Orson Scott Card (or just like to hear SF old-timers ramble in general), this is worth the 30-minute listen. Card and Bova talk a bit about the sci-fi industry past and present, the collapse of the short story market, whether or not listening to an audiobook counts as "reading," and what Card thinks of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

They don't get very controversial in this interview, but they do talk a little bit about religion and science, and Card's Mormonism. Nope, the Gay Issue does not come up.

Ok but, uh...

Uh, I uh thought that uh Mr. uh Rudnicki, a most excellent performer, said “uh” way too often.

Everyone! Listen up!

Every reader, every writer, every editor, every listener, LISTEN. Three paragons of literature, especially audio literature!

Fun

It was a pleasure to have some excellent commentary from 2 brillant writers on the subject of audible books. I have been a fan of audible books for over 15 years and have not really put that much thought into the verbal tradition of storytelling. I loved the enthusiasm expressed by all 3 creators. I think this is something any audible listener would enjoy checking out, even if they are not sci-fi fans. Thanks for this fun audible freebie. Keep up the great work.

Love this interview w/two of my favorite authors!

What made the experience of listening to Ben Bova and Orson Scott Card the most enjoyable?

Orson Scott Card is my favorite Sci-Fi author and Ben Bova was his mentor. It was great to hear them talk about their works in general and specifically about the future of audio books.

What other book might you compare Ben Bova and Orson Scott Card to and why?

Not really any book to compare it too since this is a podcast type interview.

Which scene was your favorite?

Didn't really have a favorite scene. I enjoyed the entire interview.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Since it was less than 30 minutes long the answer to this question is "Yes."

Any additional comments?

I would love to hear more interviews like this with some of my other favorite authors.

A question

I wonder if Orson Scott Card listens to audible. He mentions that he listens to audiobooks, but it seems that he supports going Barnes&Noble and paying $40 or $50 bucks for an audiobook instead of paying an average of $13 dollars a book by purchasing from Audible. My guess is that maybe he sees a service such as Audible as cutting into his profits as an author. In this program he stated that Sci-Fi fans tend to be of a higher intelligence. This is because they tend to be techies and geeks. This is true enough at least in my case. I personally don't claim great intelligence but I am at least as smart as anyone on the planet earth. So I would like to use that and a little basic economics to state a small case. If Orson Scott Card doesn't support audible because he feels that they cut into his profits as an author from a purely economic standpoint this doesn't make any sense. I would venture to say that a majority of listeners would probably not listen if they had to pay the going rates at your average bookstore. $13 is affordable $40 sends me to the local library where his books are free. Audible and Ipods have created a whole new market for Mr.Card and many other authors simply because it's affordable. So economically even if they have to take a smaller cut they still make more money simply because more sales volume at a lesser price almost always equals more money. Besides I can't believe that the authors recieve to terribly much more from an audiobook bought at Border's compared to audible. There's probably tremendous overhead with production and packaging cd's or tapes and tremedous markup on the price because BAM has millions in overhead. With audible there is no packaging cost and overhead is low. So how can he or any author really lose. For someone to insist that MegaBuck books is the place to buy audiobooks is ridiculous. Maybe I'm off here,I'd like to know what Mr.Card's opinion is on the subject. Does he lose; do other writters lose, when the consumer win?

Very Informative and Entertaining

It's always an enjoyable experience when good writers with good voices sit down and discuss fascinating ideas. What's not to love from a free download?

Fun interview

Fun interview with 2 great authors. Thanks for putting this all together for all of us.