posted Monday June 01, 2009 02:13pm EDT

Free Audiobook! Sun of Suns, by Karl Schroeder

In my inbox this morning, some cool news for audio book fans from our corporate cousins at Macmillan Audio: Starting today (yes, today!) you can download a fully unabridged and free copy of the audio for Karl Schroeder’s Sun of Suns directly from Audible.com. Just go here, and register for Audible.com, if you’re not already a registered user.

The Sun of Suns unabridged audio book will be available for free download through Audible.com, from June 1 to June 12, so get yours while they’re hot. You will have to register with the site if you aren’t already in order to download, but you won’t be required to provide any payment info or anything like that. It’s free, after all. The free download also includes a preview of the next book in the Virga series, Queen of Candesce, which is available now in print, and as an Audible download.

So go enjoy the free listen!

BOOKMARK

categories: Internet, Written Word

tags: audiobook, Macmillan Audio, karl schroeder, sun of suns, virga, Audible

21 comments

1. decco999
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 01, 2009 03:19pm EDT

By any chance, does the e-mail state that the offer might be restricted to certain countries; possibly North American? I can't get the "free" part to work on my side of the Atlantic, I'm afraid.

2. bluejo
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 01, 2009 03:40pm EDT

Sun of Suns is absolutely terrific, by the way.

3. Michael_GR
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 01, 2009 04:08pm EDT

I listened to all three books in the Virga series - they are awesome. perfect mix of a classic adventure yarn and radical inventive SF.

4. pablodefendini
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 01, 2009 05:36pm EDT

@ decco999 #1

Good question. While the email didn't mention geographic limitations, I've replied to Mac Audio and asked them. I'll post any pertinent info here as soon as I get a reply.

5. madpoet
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 01, 2009 05:39pm EDT

Thanks for the heads up - the intro at Audible reminds me of Niven's Integral Trees books. I'm looking forward to hearing this!

6. pablodefendini
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 01, 2009 05:41pm EDT

Well, that was quick. According to Mac Audio, they have 'worldwide rights', so geography should not be an issue. If anyone else encounters problems, do chime in here in the comments, and I'll look into it further.

7. the_wiggle
Monday June 01, 2009 08:21pm EDT

rats. linking in after making a free account does not make the d/l free. audible insists on trying to bill for this.

8. jddennis
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 01, 2009 09:35pm EDT

I'm kind of confused. I've read Sun of Suns and really like it a lot. But there's two different versions of the audio book on the site. There's the free one which is 10 hours 46 minutes, and then there's the version you can purchase, which is 11 hours 25 minutes. Both versions are marked unabridged. Is that extra time an interview with Schroeder on the longer version?

9. Karl Schroeder
Tuesday June 02, 2009 08:06am EDT

To the best of my knowledge it's the same version. I don't know why there's additional time listed for the purchasable version, but don't sweat it.

Although, it would be interesting to package the free version with everything up until the climax: "And the murderer is... Please buy the official version for the rest of this novel." Sounds like career suicide to me.

10. TheFactory
Tuesday June 02, 2009 08:26am EDT

How is the author getting paid?

11. Karl Schroeder
Tuesday June 02, 2009 08:43am EDT

@the_wiggle Have you tried both download pages on the site? Sun of Suns actually has two pages, one of which is the free version, the other the paid (probably because the free page will expire, so permalinks can still be aimed at the other one).

12. Karl Schroeder
Tuesday June 02, 2009 08:46am EDT

--Oops! About that difference in length between the two versions: I'm informed that the free version has an additional promo trailer for Queen of Candesce on it. Hence the difference in timing.

13. Morgase
Tuesday June 02, 2009 12:58pm EDT

Same geography problem in Ireland, the site tells me to go to the co.uk site which lists Sun of Suns: Book One of Virga - Free Version (Unabridged) as £7.99.

14. firecat
VIEW ALL BY · Tuesday June 02, 2009 02:46pm EDT

Karl@12: Except it's the free version that's shorter.

15. decco999
VIEW ALL BY · Tuesday June 02, 2009 03:08pm EDT

Pablo @6: Still no luck. Site automatically redirects to audible.co.uk. Search under "Karl Schroeder" and you find "Sun of Suns: Book One of Virga - Free Version". You might think you're there, but cost is still: £9.59 non-member, £7.99 member.

16. pablodefendini
VIEW ALL BY · Tuesday June 02, 2009 09:36pm EDT

@decco999 #15
Man, that sucks. As someone who grew up outside of the U.S., I can relate to the massive fail of geographical limitations on media. The powers that be over at Mac Audio decided to check again with Audible, but I haven't heard anything back yet. Again, I'll post here if I learn anything new.

17. dyaffe
VIEW ALL BY · Tuesday June 02, 2009 11:46pm EDT

@pablodefendini
FWIW, my Canadian audible account worked perfectly.

Thanks for the freebie! Any chance we'll see more free audiobooks?

18. jddennis
VIEW ALL BY · Saturday June 06, 2009 11:58pm EDT

@Karl Schroeder -- Thanks for looking into that and responding! Like I said, I've really enjoyed Sun of Suns. It's going to be a treat to listen to it in audio.

19. Emily at Audible
Monday June 08, 2009 02:07pm EDT

Many apologies to those of you in England who were not able to download this title. It is now available for free on audible.co.uk. Also, the free download now includes a trailer of Book 2, Queen of Candesce.

20. ssherris
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 08, 2009 02:22pm EDT

Sun of Suns is a great story - I read it in serial form in Analog magazine.

But trying to download the audiobook from Audible... well I just learned that I have no desire ever to use that site again. What a horrible waste of time. And who needs to deal with all that DRM for a free book anyway?

21. decco999
VIEW ALL BY · Monday June 08, 2009 05:36pm EDT

Emily @19: thank you & Pablo for fixing the problem - moreso for the fans here in Ireland. The download via audible.co.uk was successful. I'm looking forward to 11 entertaining hours.