Escape Artists

Escape Pod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Jim on February 09, 2007, 11:43:52 AM

Title: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Jim on February 09, 2007, 11:43:52 AM
EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!” (http://www.escapepod.org/2007/02/08/ep092-the-boy-who-yelled-dragon/)
Rated G.

By Mike Resnick (http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/farmer/2/).
Read by Matthew Wayne Selznick (of Brave Men Run and Five Minute Memoir).
First appeared in Young Warriors (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375829636/escapepod-20), ed. Tamora Pierce & Josepha Sherman.

Now, this Land was the home of exceptionally brave warriors and beautiful damsels (and occasionally they were the same person, since beautiful damsels were pretty assertive back then). Each young boy and girl was taught all the arts of warfare, and were soon adept with sword, mace, lance, bow and arrow, dagger, and the off-putting snide remark. They were schooled in horsemanship, camouflage, and military strategy. They learned eye-gouging, ear-biting, kidney-punching, and — since they were destined to become knights and ladies — gentility.

So successful was their training that before long enemy armies were afraid to attack them. Within the borders of the Land justice was so swift that there was not a single criminal left. It would have been a very peaceful and idyllic kingdom indeed — except for the dragons.

Rated G. It’s a children’s story. Not recommended for cynical audiences.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: madjo on February 09, 2007, 02:27:27 PM
Interesting story, it really points out that no matter what your background is, there are always things you can relate to with someone else.
These two characters really were much alike.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: BSWeichsel on February 09, 2007, 02:39:03 PM
I really enjoyed the story thought that it was a good simple laid back and not to mention a great childrens story.

It was a good example of simple childerns fiction nothing revolutionary about it but perfect for what it was trying to do. Just a little confused on the title though. didn't seem to match the story. Thats my only complaint.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Russell Nash on February 09, 2007, 02:49:49 PM
Just a little confused on the title though. didn't seem to match the story. Thats my only complaint.

I agree with this, because the story of the boy who yelled wolf was entirely different.  After a little while nobody believed the boy. Then when a wolf did show up, no one came when the kid yelled.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Jonathan C. Gillespie on February 09, 2007, 03:08:25 PM
It's hard to take issue with a delightful little story like this -- I think as a children's piece it worked just fine.  As an adult reader, the only thing I was thrown off by was the sudden, abrupt ending.  When Horace and Melvin met, I kept thinking "okay, what scheme are these two going to come up with?".  Then, all they do is allude to it, and *poof*, we're done.

But I'm not the intended audience, so who cares  ;D
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: prusik on February 09, 2007, 07:06:41 PM
Just a little confused on the title though. didn't seem to match the story. Thats my only complaint.

Made sense to me. The boy would yell "Dragon!" whenever there wasn't a dragon around, much like the boy who cried "Wolf!" So the title refers to the plan they come up with. (I saw the punchline of the story coming, but for this story, that's not a big deal.)
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Swamp on February 09, 2007, 07:17:41 PM
Fabulous story!  Now come on, did you reaaly just want to hear "The Boy Who Called 'Wolf!'", only with a dragon?  That would have been boring.  What we got instead was a very pleasant tale of two friends.  And Matthew Wayne Selznick did an excellent job with the narration.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Holden on February 09, 2007, 07:25:22 PM
I liked the dialogue between the boy and the dragon. It reminded me of an old Disney cartoon called "The Reluctant Dragon" in which a knight and boy meet a dragon who prefers writing poetry to fighting. They end up staging a fight for the townspeople, which is what I thought was going to happen in this story.

By the way - nice job on the dragon's voice.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: cyron on February 10, 2007, 01:17:20 AM
The sexual equality message seemed a little heavy handed to my ears, but otherwise a good light hearted story that I quite enjoyed. 
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Josh on February 10, 2007, 09:11:23 PM
I really liked the comment on school life, my only complaint, which applies to a couple of the stories lately, is that it was really short. I really look forward to a story each week and, while the stories are still great, I am still somewhat disappointed when I see that it is only 20 minutes. Hope to get a nice long one soon.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Bdoomed on February 11, 2007, 12:25:51 AM
twas cute, made me laugh a bit, all in all a good, fun story!
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Dino on February 12, 2007, 02:55:39 AM
I liked the story.  I don't get to listen to too many with an audience (I'm usually listening in the car alone or when walking my dog).  However, my wife and I listened to this one together and be were both amused.

I'm just curious: am I the only one who noticed the blatant Tom Lehrer reference?!?

Dino
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: RKG on February 12, 2007, 04:06:42 AM

A very fun story, and a very good performance.  The dragon effect was just right.

I'm not 100% certain what the target audience for this was, but I can tell you that I liked it and my 12 and 10 year old both thought it was great.  An actual LOL at the "Let's kill the horse" line.

Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: .Morph. on February 12, 2007, 09:00:35 AM
I liked it, but like a few others here i was confused by the references to "the boy who cried wolf", which seemed all in all to be quite a different fabel.
Two thumbs up though.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Simon Painter on February 12, 2007, 10:39:45 AM
I'm afraid I really didn't like this one.  I realise it's a kid's story and as such I shouldn't be too hard on it, but I'm almost certain that it's the sort've story I would have disliked when I was little too.  I don't feel my dislike is simply a matter of being cynical, either, I actually remain a fan of several kids writers to this day: Roald Dahl, Nicholas Fisk, Lemony Snicket, Robin Jarvis, etc;  all of whom wrote books good enough that I can still enjoy them as an adult.

It feels like the introduction to a full story, pretty much nothing happens until the end, it was as if the writer ran out of steam somewhere along the way.  Basically two loners meet, become friends, and that's it!  There is actually no story, just the hint of one to come.  We don't even ever see an antagonist, two of them are given an off-hand reference at the end, though no real evidence of a threat is ever seen.

And it's another case of fictional cyphers, both the dragon and the kid constantly let out American school references 'proms', 'zits' etc, which is probably intended to be funny, but just leaves me cold.

It may well be, though, that I'm just not a fan of Mike Resnick, I've disliked just about everything of his that's been put up on Escape Pod (I've a bit of a soft-spot for the _travels_ one, though I'm not sure if it'd stand a re-listen).  As such my opinion is probably that of a minority, as he's obviously very popular (and fair play to him for that).

On the up side, though, the reading was excellent, I'd be happy to hear more from this reader, he did an excellent job.

I'm still eagerly awaiting the next episode on Thursday, though.  Despite the odd story I've got issues with I do still enjoy Escape Pod (there's even one or two stories I consider among my favorite story pieces!). 

Until next time,

Simon Painter
Shropshire, UK
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Swamp on February 12, 2007, 06:11:00 PM
If you liked the reader, Matthew Wayne Selznick, then you should really checkout Brave Men Run at podiobooks.com.  As a warning though, the book is chock full of American high school references.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: SFEley on February 12, 2007, 07:50:58 PM
If you liked the reader, Matthew Wayne Selznick, then you should really checkout Brave Men Run at podiobooks.com.  As a warning though, the book is chock full of American high school references.

Yeah, that's what I loved about it.  Brave Men Run to me was like "The Breakfast Club starring Wolverine."  It took me back to my high school days.

Also, I am convinced that the protagonist has the coolest girlfriend in teen fiction.  But that's just one good thing of many.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Simon Painter on February 12, 2007, 08:56:01 PM
If you liked the reader, Matthew Wayne Selznick, then you should really checkout Brave Men Run at podiobooks.com.  As a warning though, the book is chock full of American high school references.

Will do, thanks.

I'm not bothered by American High School references in general, it was just the way they were used in this story, with two loner kids being cyphered as a young knight and a dragon, but just about nothing else different.  As with _Blood of Virgins_ if you swapped them back again, you'd have a pretty dull story.

Simon Painter
Shropshire, UK
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: contra on February 12, 2007, 10:05:14 PM
Ok.  I liked this story.  It was a traditional friendship story; and the twist was obvious from the begining.  However that did not matter, as always it was about the journey.  Yeah the references to the real world came off as cheezy, but I really doubt they were aimed at me. 
I liked in the interaction between the characters; and I liked their different points of view.  Yeah again the zit thing was full of cheese, but it did not matter; it was a point the two strangers could relate on and that was the point.

The story just gave me a warm positive feeling as I travelled to work in a cold busy bus.  It was a good way to start the day.  But please I don't want to be like that at work everyday... or even every week. >__>
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Yatterings on February 14, 2007, 08:31:02 AM
I enjoyed it - a piece of whimsy and gentle convention breaking. It updates the "boy who cried wolf" story very nicely (but yes the whole zit and cheerleader thing is grating). It does what good children's fantasy ought to do - especially when playing with folk tales - updates the story and places it in its own context. Definitely made me smile though despite the saccharine coating.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Kronikarz on February 14, 2007, 06:54:07 PM
I liked the story very much, BUT I believe it wasn't really Escape Pod material... It was short, funny, and really for the kids. It WAS fun, but not in the Escape Pod way... Am I making any sense here? :)
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Shaun Farrell on February 15, 2007, 05:18:37 AM
It is a rare day, indeed, when a story can make me laugh out loud. This one did just that. Too bad I was listening while at the grocery store. . .  ;)
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Reap3r on February 15, 2007, 05:30:47 AM
It is a rare day, indeed, when a story can make me laugh out loud. This one did just that. Too bad I was listening while at the grocery store. . .  ;)

Don't look at it as a bad thing. Tell them about Escape Pod (Yes, witness for Escape Pod, and the great one will reward you with his most gracious praise(at least when he's in a good mood)).
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: wakela on February 15, 2007, 11:58:04 AM
This is one of the few narators of any pod fiction that had no distracting qualities.  That may seem like faint praise, but we listen for the stories, and when a narator does a phoney voice, has a lisp, or seems flat, it reminds me that I'm in the car listening to a iPod. 

The story itself had nothing particularly great and nothing particularly terrible for me.  It was sweet enough, but not all that original, and could have just as easily been about two kids from rival schools.  I thought the jokes were a little thick and cutsey.

And here's a thing unique to the medium.  The story might have read fine on paper, but when spoken there seemed too many "he saids" and adverbs describing how he said it.  They are not necessary at all in a story with such unique voices as these.  But then the podcaster is in a position of changing the words the author chose, which is not appropriate, either (I'm assuming).   The submission guidelines mention the kinds of writing that don't work well when spoken, but I'm wondering if anyone writes specifically for naration without going as far a writing a radio play.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: jeffwik on February 17, 2007, 03:37:21 AM
I recall thinking that this sounded like the first third or so of a longer story.  In the second act the collusion between human and dragon would blow up in their faces, but by the end everything would work out and the dragon would realize he doesn't want the lady dragon and the knight would realize he does want the lady knight.  Or the lady dragon.  Or something.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Talia on February 21, 2007, 04:14:54 PM
I liked the story very much, BUT I believe it wasn't really Escape Pod material... It was short, funny, and really for the kids. It WAS fun, but not in the Escape Pod way... Am I making any sense here? :)

I would tend to agree. To my mind it was more a children's story than it was a fantasy piece. The line between simplicity and predictability can be a narrow one to walk and I felt it fell just on the wrong side, which is not uncommon in child-oriented fiction.

I suppose one of the things that bothered me was both the dragon and the boy were pretty shallow, unoriginal characters. Outcast teenagers are a pretty common theme and neither of these characters had anything about them to set them apart from the other 1,000,000 teenage loner protagonists. Stock story + stock characters = not a ton of listening enjoyment for me, personally.  Yeah, I know, children's story shouldn't overanalyze and all that, but if there is to be an upswing of this type of story it will make me want to visit less.

It wasnt all bad, there were a few cute turns of phrase and a certain amount of amusement value. I've liked some of Mr. Resnick's other works I've heard. This story just grates.

Out of curiousity, I did a websearch for children's podcasts and it seems there are at least some children's fiction podcasts out there. A place such as that might be a somewhat better venue for stories such as this.

Not that there's anything wrong with Escape Pod continuing to run family-friendly tales. But I think its important not to use the fact that its a children's story to excuse weaker writing.  No offense to Mr. Resnick intended.

I'll second/third/whatever the recommendation of 'Brave Men Run,' though. Really excellent. One of the first podiobooks I ever read and got the hooked on the genre.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: FNH on February 21, 2007, 08:05:47 PM
A great story, really enjoyed it.  MWS is an excellent reader, and you should continue to get him reading! 

I guess the story was predicatable to some extent, but thats the beauty, the craft in childrens writing.  Kids ( and me ) like to guess whats coming, and are generally tickled pink when they get it right.

The fact that the story only suggested that the boy would be shouting Dragon, appealed to me and was a nice twist. 

How many dragon stories is this now, three?  More please.  What are the odds on getting "Pern" short?
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Wolfger on March 02, 2007, 01:38:16 AM
I think the best children's entertainment is that which has something for the adults too. Shrek. Cars. Wee Free Men. Not this story. Too simplistic and too short are just the top of my list of complaints. While I think it would be great if there was enough material and enough interest to spin off "Escape Pod Jr.", or some such, I hope to see far fewer of stories like this here. Even the previous children's story (don't recall the name, but the dragon raised by the bird) was far superior.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: DKT on March 02, 2007, 04:43:41 PM
Even the previous children's story (don't recall the name, but the dragon raised by the bird) was far superior.

"Squonk the Dragon," I think.  Yeah, that one hit home with the idea of adoption and parenting.  Although, I did enjoy "The Boy Who Yelled Dragon," just maybe not as much.
Title: Re: EP092: The Boy Who Yelled “Dragon!”
Post by: Unblinking on October 18, 2010, 05:40:42 PM
Toward the bottom of my ranked list of EP Resnick pieces, I think.  Twas cute and fluffy, but the characters were all pretty much stock characters, and it didn't go anywhere I hadn't seen before.

And mostly it bugged me that the story didn't really relate to its namesake.  If you're going to take a previous story and give it a near-identical title, you really ought to take it somewhere original but still have a strong relation to the original.  This one didn't do that, in much a similar way as the recent EP episode "The Lady or the Tiger".  In both cases the new story came off as though the author had heard the title of the other story but had never actually read it to find out what it was about.  Presumably Mr. Resnick has read The Boy Who Cried Wolf, but that didn't really come through in the tenuous connection, going directly against the moral of the original without any comment upon this.