I learned yesterday via email that the audioplay production of A.E. van Vogt’s story, “The Weapons Shops,” has been completed. Apparently it already premiered this Summer at Dragon*Con (scroll down half-way for a group photo) this year in Atlanta, and also played at a frefan party at the WorldCon in Los Angeles. Adapted by Brad Linaweaver and featuring Richard Hatch of Battlestar Gallactica fame (the original series), the CD is not yet available on the home site of the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company. The short story itself, however, can be found in Baen Books’ onmibus collection Freedom! which combined all the stories previously gathered under Give Me Liberty and Visions of Liberty. These two collections won a Special Award in 2005 from the Libertarian Futurist Society. “The Weapon Shops” is a classic of libertarian sf, and along with Vernor Vinge’s “The Ungoverned” and Eric Frank Russell’s “And Then There Were None” stand as the best pieces in that book. I already bought the three Heinlein audioplays from ARTC, and so far have enjoyed “The Man Who Travelled in Elephants” via my iPod. This CD transferred quite nicely, with each track titled and clear. The other two CDs must not have been loaded into the database that iTunes checks, as all the tracks say “untitled.” I suppose I will need to update these manually. Listening to the story adds a different dimension to appreciating them as works of fiction, and at ca. 30 minutes does not demand too much of your time. I saw ARTC perform live back in 1995, and you can almost visualize them from the audio alone.