Rip-Off! Audiobook By John Scalzi, Jack Campbell, Mike Resnick, Allen Steele, Lavie Tidhar, Nancy Kress, Gardner Dozois - editor cover art

Rip-Off!

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Rip-Off!

By: John Scalzi, Jack Campbell, Mike Resnick, Allen Steele, Lavie Tidhar, Nancy Kress, Gardner Dozois - editor
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Scott Brick, Christian Rummel, Jonathan Davis, Stefan Rudnicki, L. J. Ganser, Khristine Hvam
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Audie Award Finalist, Original Work, 2014

In Rip-Off!, 13 of today’s best and most honored writers of speculative fiction face a challenge even they would be hard-pressed to conceive: Pick your favorite opening line from a classic piece of fiction (or even non-fiction) - then use it as the first sentence of an entirely original short story.

In the world of Rip-Off!, "Call me Ishmael" introduces a tough-as-nails private eye - who carries a harpoon; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz inspires the tale of an aging female astronaut who’s being treated by a doctor named Dorothy Gale; and Huckleberry Finn leads to a wild ride with a foul-mouthed riverboat captain who plies the waters of Hell.

Once you listen to Rip-Off! you’ll agree: If Shakespeare or Dickens were alive today, they’d be ripping off the authors in this great collection.

The stories included in Rip-Off! are:

  • "Fireborn" by Robert Charles Wilson
  • "The Evening Line" by Mike Resnick
  • "No Decent Patrimony" by Elizabeth Bear
  • "The Big Whale" by Allen M. Steele
  • "Begone" by Daryl Gregory
  • "The Red Menace" by Lavie Tidhar
  • "Muse of Fire" by John Scalzi
  • "Writer’s Block" by Nancy Kress
  • "Highland Reel" by Jack Campbell
  • "Karin Coxswain or Death as She Is Truly Lived" by Paul Di Filippo
  • "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal
  • "Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air" by Tad Williams
  • "Declaration" by James Patrick Kelly

As a bonus, the authors introduce their stories, explaining what they ripped-off - and why.

Rip-Off! was produced in partnership with SFWA - Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. Gardner Dozois served as project editor.

The full list of narrators includes: Wil Wheaton, Scott Brick, Christian Rummel, Jonathan Davis, Khristine Hvam, L.J. Ganser, Stefan Rudnicki, David Marantz, Nicola Barber, Dina Pearlman, Allyson Johnson, Marc Vietor, and Ilyana Kadushin.

©2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Anthologies & Short Stories Science Fiction Funny Witty

Critic reviews

"Thirteen authors, eight narrators--this themed anthology has something for everyone…. Longtime narrators Scott Brick and Stefan Rudnicki rub elbows with Star Trek alum Wil Wheaton and five others. The varied narrators mean that there's no common delivery style, but it's safe to say that everyone involved was having fun." (AudioFile)
All stars
Most relevant
If you get one book this year, get this one. It's the best of the best. a smorgasborg of a literary type.

Something for everyone!

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I enjoyed maybe half of the stories in this collection. That’s not to say that they were bad, they were just all very different from one another. Different styles for different tastes.
I do have one complaint, though. The first story in the collection took its opening from a book and author I’ve never heard of. I recognized all of the opening lines except that one. It seems very weak planning to open a book of stories about ripping off famous first lines with a story using an opening line from a little known author.

Not bad but the stories were kind of all over the place

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This book was fun, there are a couple of stand-out stories here, but overall it didn’t really wow me.

It is definitely worth listening to if you have any favorite authors with stories in it.

Did not wow me

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

For my SF loving friends it is a yes.

What other book might you compare Rip-Off! to and why?

It was a themed anthology. There are a host of these but the theme matters.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

I like the diversity of the narrators. Every story got it's own narrator. This is how to handle anthologies. Short of a different one for each story alternating narrators would help differentiate the stories.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Mike Resnick's Damon Runyon inspired story was my favorite. Why isn't there any Runyon on audible?

Anthology done right.

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I guess when it comes to a short stories you are always going to have some good, some bad, but I really don't think I would have purchased this book if I had it to do over. There were some excellent stories, but the bad out weighed the good.
There are to many books out there more worthy of your credits!

Some good, some bad

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