I've got two Audible freebies (that aren't author interviews) for you today. One I'm getting, the other I'm not. It's up to you to figure out which is which.
First, we have a mysterious pre-order. You can get "The Dispatcher" by John Scalzi and read by Zachary Quinto (the latest "Star Trek" and TV's "Heroes") you can get it free
here. There is a chance this is a pricing error so I don't know if it will be free until the release date (10-4-16). I can't even tell you how long it is - the entry says "Not Yet Known."
Quote:
Zachary Quinto - best known for his role as the Nimoy-approved Spock in the recent Star Trek reboot and the menacing, power-stealing serial killer, Sylar, in Heroes - brings his well-earned sci-fi credentials and simmering intensity to this audio-exclusive novella from master storyteller John Scalzi.
One day, not long from now, it becomes almost impossible to murder anyone - 999 times out of a thousand, anyone who is intentionally killed comes back. How? We don't know. But it changes everything: war, crime, daily life.
Tony Valdez is a Dispatcher - a licensed, bonded professional whose job is to humanely dispatch those whose circumstances put them in death's crosshairs, so they can have a second chance to avoid the reaper. But when a fellow Dispatcher and former friend is apparently kidnapped, Tony learns that there are some things that are worse than death and that some people are ready to do almost anything to avenge a supposed wrong.
It's a race against time for Valdez to find his friend before it's too late...before not even a Dispatcher can save him.
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The second freebie is a speech, "Annihilation of Caste: An Undelivered Speech 1936" by B. R. Ambedkar, which can be found
here.
Quote:
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) was one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of India. He was born in poor circumstances as an Untouchable - high castes regarded physical contact with Untouchables as polluting and condemned them to do the dirtiest of jobs, sweeping and the collection of human detritus. But Dr. Ambedkar's natural ability and determination (and some good fortune) enabled him to rise above caste prejudice and become one of the founding fathers of modern India.
He was the chief architect of the Indian constitution introduced at Independence in 1947 and saw the concept of Untouchability made illegal. But he had campaigned for decades. In 1936, Dr. Ambedkar wrote a speech - famously not delivered - in which he outlined the case against the whole existence of caste divisions in India.
In Annihilation of Caste, rationally and methodically, he takes apart the basis on which caste exists, and which has delivered harm, pain and misery on untold generations - and continues to do so. Individuals such as Mahatma Gandhi shamefully continued to defend caste distinctions (his response is included here).
Even today, in modern India, many of the 200 million Dalits (as the ex-Untouchables now call themselves) experience severe prejudice and violence.
Annihilation of Caste is as important a political statement concerning basic human rights as The Rights of Man or The Communist Manifesto, and is just as relevant in the 21st century , where caste and class still exercise a baleful effect on society.
In 1956, despairing of true justice for the ex-Untouchables within Hinduism, Dr. Ambedkar, and millions of his followers, converted to Buddhism.
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Enjoy!
skinmaan
Your audiobook bloodhound