Although listening to audiobooks feels much slower than reading, I like listening to lectures through my Audible account. I just started listening to How Great Science Fiction Works, narrated by Gary K. Wolfe. It's about 12.5 hours long, broken up into roughly-30-minute lectures. The first two lectures discussed Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Amazing Stories, with particular attention given to early contributors such as Welles, Verne, and Poe.) I'm about halfway through Lecture 3 (comparing science fiction with historical fiction, along with the topic of time travel) as I write this. According to one reviewer, this series is more of a history of the science fiction genre, not a how-to course on writing great science fiction. Nevertheless, it should be a interesting listen, though it'll probably take me a few months to complete the course.
Have you ever listened to one of the Great Courses? If so, which one (or ones)? Feel free to share in the comments.
It sounds interesting. I could listen at work. How much is the whole session?
ReplyDeleteWow 12 hours is a lot of information.
ReplyDeleteAlex, if you're not a member of Audible, it's $35. For members, it's $25 or one credit (which I buy monthly for $15). It's a great value if you have Audible credits, and trial memberships are available. It can take me a few months to listen to a lecture series, but I also buy audiobooks for my son with my membership. It's worked out well for us.
ReplyDeletePat, if you scroll down to read the reviews for this series, someone listed the topics of each lecture. Lots of stuff to learn!