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Escape Pod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: eytanz on November 02, 2012, 09:21:58 AM

Title: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: eytanz on November 02, 2012, 09:21:58 AM
EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps (http://escapepod.org/2012/11/01/ep368-springtime-for-deathtraps/)

By  Marjorie James

Read by Dr. John Cmar

---

The building sat in a small clearing in the jungle, its stone walls radiating solidity and the midday heat. Giant statues of warrior-gods crushing skulls beneath their feet flanked the doorway. Xnab looked from the ornately carved keyhole to his customer and back again.

“And the key is where, exactly?” he asked.

“In the treasure chamber,” the big man said in a small voice. “We had just finished putting everything away and, well, it had been a long day. I think I must have put the key down on the altar or something. The problem is, the place locks automatically, and our entire fortune is in there. We had a few locksmiths out to work on it, but they didn’t get very far.”

Xnab nodded. He had already noticed the blood spatter around the keyhole.

“So that’s why we called you. Everyone said that if anybody could get in there, it would be you.”

Xnab accepted that, not as a compliment, but a statement of fact. He was a specialist the design and construction of booby traps, deadfalls and other, largely fatal, security options. He was a small man, thin and wiry, his shaved head still smooth and unwrinkled despite years of working in the sun. Despite making a very good living, he wore a plain tunic and no adornments at all. In his business, he considered it a bad idea to have anything extra hanging around, and he was very good at his business. In fact, anyone who knew anything considered Xnab the best death trap designer alive.

Which typically would have been reason enough to turn down a job like this, but in this case it was actually why he was there.

“How long have you owned the temple?” he asked the man, who had introduced himself as Tuak.

“Just a couple of months, actually,” Tuak admitted. “It’s not really a temple. I think the statues of the gods are just there for show. The family who used to have it used it to store their treasures and they spared no expense on the security.” He sighed heavily and stared up at the tiers of stone vanishing into the jungle. “It seemed like a good


(http://escapepod.org/wp-images/podcast-mini4.gif) Listen to this week’s Escape Pod! (http://traffic.libsyn.com/escapepod/EP368SpringtimeDeathtraps.mp3)
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: johnhummel on November 02, 2012, 12:24:47 PM
Um. I was listening this morning through the Stitcher app and - it was 20 minutes long. I think I missed the other half of the story and now I'm going to spend my entire day worrying about what happened with the poison trapped control room.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Kaa on November 02, 2012, 03:46:35 PM
"Where we're going, we don't need toads."

... o.O ...

Really?

I didn't even hear the next several minutes because of that line. It completely kicked me out of the story. I had to go back and listen again, and even then, it kept resonating in my head. At least it's taught me one thing: I'm going to go through all my stories and, in every place I used or was tempted to use a one-liner like that, I'm going to viciously chop it.

For my actual review, I'm going to pretend that one line didn't exist. I enjoyed the story. I was very pleased to hear more from Znob. And it was read extremely well by John Cmar.

Can someone provide a list of all the other stories in this "series"? I'd like to hear them all again. Never mind. :)

All stories by Marjorie James — including EP007– The Trouble With Death Traps and EP224– The Ghost In The Death Trap. It's on the page at escapepod.org.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: flashedarling on November 02, 2012, 04:08:21 PM
Oh come on, that was the pop-culture pun of this pop-culture pun filled story that kicked you out? :P

I like how even the title is a pun. Since clearly water power didn't work it was time for them to use springs in their deathtraps.

Always great to hear more stories of Znob. Although since there was no acknowledgement that this was an escapepod regular during the intro I was afraid that maybe it was one I had already heard. Thanks for finding the previous ones Kaa. I feel like going back and giving them a listen.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Swamp on November 02, 2012, 04:45:13 PM
I love these stories!  When I saw the title and author, I got a huge smile on my face, know this was going to be fun.  The puns and pop culture references are a big part of it.  Kaa, if the "toads" comment pulled you out of the story, wait untill you listen to The Ghost in the Deathtrap.  ;)

This goes back to the good old days of spec fic being mostly about the fun.  I really need to see what other stories this author has. 

Thanks for this one, though.  And here's hoping there are more Deathtrap stories.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: lowky on November 02, 2012, 08:00:18 PM
this might be my favorite Znob story yet.  When I heard the line about the toads, I knew it was a pop culture reference, but couldn't place it until I saw someone mention it on the forums. 

Hope to come back to Znob in the future.  Thanks to the author and everyone involved in bringing us this story.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Cutter McKay on November 03, 2012, 05:08:19 AM
So, being fairly recent to EP, within the last year, this is my first taste of Marjorie, Znob, and the whole Deathtrap universe. I have to say, though corny at times, it was a fun romp through an interesting world. The Back to the Future reference had me laughing and groaning at the same time. I mean, it was both horrible and awesome.

Now, perhaps it's because I'm new to the Deathtrap stories, but I couldn't help but wonder why these tales aren't being run on PodCastle rather than EscapePod. I mean, where's the sci-fi in this? The complexity of the traps? It's very clearly a fantasy tale. I'm not complaining, I really enjoyed the story, I'm just a little confused is all. Since this is a continuing series, I would think we would know by now that these are more fantasy than sci-fi and have moved them over to the fantasy podcast. Or do they hold place here due to some grandfather clause? Marjorie was one of the first, so she is always welcome back?

Either way, a fun tale thoroughly enjoyed.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Jade Praerie on November 03, 2012, 06:31:13 AM
"Where we're going, we don't need toads." —I loved this! Made me chuckle. 4/5 stars.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Bdoomed on November 03, 2012, 07:32:01 PM
I loooooooved this one! The toads line was so wonderfully funny! The narration was fantastic, the story was super fun, and that's really all I have to say about it. Enjoyed it on all fronts. :)

And hoping for more!
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: zoanon on November 04, 2012, 04:58:57 PM
have't read it yet, just want to say HEELLLLLLLYESSSS!! DEATH TRAPS ARE BACK! *FIST PUMP*
these are my favourite stories on escape pod :)
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Max e^{i pi} on November 05, 2012, 08:46:53 AM
Excellent story, and an excellent reading. Except of course for the ever-present (and rather tiresome) complaint about the lack of an audio cue between scenes.

I started listening to EP one episode after the previous Deathtraps story, so I'll go and fill that in.

Cutter McKay: is steampunk science fiction? Just because the tech doesn't involve phasers and wormholes doesn't mean it isn't science fiction.
That's the simple answer. The complex one is that people will tell you (and I agree but lack the eloquence to put it well) that science fiction is more about speculative fiction than about the tech.

Anyway, I loved this. And the final scene threw me for a loop. First there was the problem with no way of knowing that we were in a new scene (AUDIO CUES!), then there was the actual content of the scene. Totally didn't see it coming. Well done.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Unblinking on November 05, 2012, 02:55:03 PM
I'm still enjoying this series. I like the nonchalant way it deals with death and dismemberment.  I like the title.  I like Znab and his team's dynamic, and this one had a cool addition in the form of the dead trapmaker the best there ever was, as well as the detail of how the plot resolved. All good stuff.

Well, almost all good stuff.  The "Where we're going, we don't need toads" is absolutely horrendous.  It's not even that I'm opposed to pop culture references, or that I'm opposed to puns.  It's just that, for that to be a really effective secondary meaning the primary meaning also has to make sense in context.  Znab strikes me as someone who doesn't spend his time saying unnecessarily.  "We don't need toads" or "You can have all the toads to yourself" would be lines that would make sense coming from Znab's mouth.  But the "Where we're going" breaks it--that implies that there are other places where Znab would need hallucinogenic toads to lick.  So, that dumped me out of the story as the author made the character contort his words to make the joke, but by saying something that made no sense in Znab's context of the world.

Now, perhaps it's because I'm new to the Deathtrap stories, but I couldn't help but wonder why these tales aren't being run on PodCastle rather than EscapePod. I mean, where's the sci-fi in this? The complexity of the traps? It's very clearly a fantasy tale. I'm not complaining, I really enjoyed the story, I'm just a little confused is all. Since this is a continuing series, I would think we would know by now that these are more fantasy than sci-fi and have moved them over to the fantasy podcast. Or do they hold place here due to some grandfather clause? Marjorie was one of the first, so she is always welcome back?

In general, I'd give an answer similar to Max's, "is steampunk science fiction? Just because the tech doesn't involve phasers and wormholes doesn't mean it isn't science fiction." 

In this particular case though, I think it's because the original Deathtrap story ran on EP when it ran fantasy.  If I remember correctly, the 2nd one ran on EP as well, even after the Podcastle mitosis, and I think it ran with the editorial saying "Yeah we know this is fantasy, but we're continuing the Deathtrap franchise here where it ran before".

Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Cutter McKay on November 05, 2012, 07:50:39 PM
"Yeah we know this is fantasy, but we're continuing the Deathtrap franchise here where it ran before".

Ok, that's what I assumed. And honestly, I don't have a problem with it. I quite enjoyed this story. I was just curious. As for:
Cutter McKay: is steampunk science fiction? Just because the tech doesn't involve phasers and wormholes doesn't mean it isn't science fiction.

Steampunk absolutely is science fiction. However, I don't see this story as Steampunk. I mean, sure it has some mechanics in the construction and operation of the Deathtraps, but what else about the tale made it Steampunk? Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had mechanical traps very similar to this with blades that shot out of the walls and decapitated people, would you call that Steampunk?

To me, this was a fantasy story with some mechanics involved. Which is why it seems out of place on EP, not because it doesn't have phasers and wormholes.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Ocicat on November 05, 2012, 08:02:51 PM
This wasn't a fantasy story per se - there was no magic.  Sure, it was set in an alternate universe that is somewhat lower tech, but both SF and fantasy stories make use of alternate universe tales.  But seeing as nothing supernatural happens here, it's not actually a fantasy story. 

Just sayin'.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Cutter McKay on November 06, 2012, 03:16:19 AM
This wasn't a fantasy story per se - there was no magic.  Sure, it was set in an alternate universe that is somewhat lower tech, but both SF and fantasy stories make use of alternate universe tales.  But seeing as nothing supernatural happens here, it's not actually a fantasy story. 

Just sayin'.

Ok, I'll give you that. In that regard this story is more sci-fi than fantasy.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Max e^{i pi} on November 06, 2012, 06:58:52 AM
Cutter McKay: is steampunk science fiction? Just because the tech doesn't involve phasers and wormholes doesn't mean it isn't science fiction.
Steampunk absolutely is science fiction. However, I don't see this story as Steampunk. I mean, sure it has some mechanics in the construction and operation of the Deathtraps, but what else about the tale made it Steampunk? Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had mechanical traps very similar to this with blades that shot out of the walls and decapitated people, would you call that Steampunk?
I'm not saying this story is steampunk, that was just an example. If I had to label it maybe... stonepunk?
Whatever it is, it is science fiction. Or speculative fiction, whatever floats your boat.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Thunderscreech on November 06, 2012, 01:43:55 PM
Stonepunk.  I love it.  I move that the Deathtraps series be considered the vanguard of this new genre, a pleasing new member of the scifi family.

Those darn calendars, we're still dealing with his deceptive advertising even today...
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Listener on November 06, 2012, 02:07:58 PM
Stonepunk.  I love it.  I move that the Deathtraps series be considered the vanguard of this new genre, a pleasing new member of the scifi family.

Stonepunk. Good one there. Me likey.

Overall I enjoyed the story. It seemed to wrap up a bit fast, but I found it amusing and I loved all the little pop culture nods.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: timprov on November 07, 2012, 01:40:45 PM
I'm happy to finally listen to a story on Escapepod that didn't seem to have any kind of agenda, unless it did and I missed it.  This was just a good story with an actually story, a fun mystery, and some really funny writing.  To much has been said about the toad comment but I have to admit, it made me laugh and roll my eyes.

I sort of figured the problem with the traps once the clues were laid out.  Seems very short sighted by the trap designer that he didn't see a problem with it either.  Guess this is spoiler alert territory (not sure what the rules are for that here, some seem to care, other's don't, well I do since I come here sometimes to get the 'feel' for the story before listening.)  but I had another way to disarm the traps that might have worked, but the authors methed was much better than mine.

All in all, thought this was a great story, the first one I've really enjoyed in a while and I'm hoping there are more coming at some point.

-Tim
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Unblinking on November 07, 2012, 02:34:00 PM
Seems very short sighted by the trap designer that he didn't see a problem with it either. 

I agree that it was shortsighted.  I think it was fairly early on in his career, and he wasn't very familiar with jungles, so I think it's understandable.  It was through life-lessons like this that he became the best ever.  He didn't become the best by never making mistakes, but by learning from them!  :)
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Cutter McKay on November 07, 2012, 04:33:27 PM
but I had another way to disarm the traps that might have worked...

Same. I couldn't help but wonder the whole time, if the traps were water powered, why don't they just divert or dam the river? Wouldn't even have to be for long, just enough to render the traps inert and get inside. Did anyone else wonder that, or have a reason as to why that wouldn't work?
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Kaa on November 07, 2012, 04:47:20 PM
I couldn't help but wonder the whole time, if the traps were water powered, why don't they just divert or dam the river? Wouldn't even have to be for long, just enough to render the traps inert and get inside. Did anyone else wonder that, or have a reason as to why that wouldn't work?

As a suggestion, I offer this: Because diverting the river or damming it were the first two most obvious things? As a writer, always taking the obvious path is boring.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: timprov on November 07, 2012, 05:12:22 PM
Quote
Same. I couldn't help but wonder the whole time, if the traps were water powered, why don't they just divert or dam the river? Wouldn't even have to be for long, just enough to render the traps inert and get inside. Did anyone else wonder that, or have a reason as to why that wouldn't work?

That's exactly what I thought when he first said it was powered by the river. 
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Unblinking on November 07, 2012, 05:29:24 PM
As a suggestion, I offer this: Because diverting the river or damming it were the first two most obvious things? As a writer, always taking the obvious path is boring.

I thought it was because those answers were too obvious, but I think it makes sense in the context of the story rather than it being attributable only to the writer.  The designer would consider that and have a contingency in place.  There could be a trap that's rendered INERT by the waterflow, and if the flow stops it could cause something to happen, like collapsing the corridors or something.  Which could presumably be dug out, but would be very time consuming and embarrassing.  In the original context the traps were made for, the owner of the place would be able to kill the intruders at leisure at this point while they dig the treasure back out.  In this context, Znab would lose face and lose time if he triggered a catastrophic collapse.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Kaa on November 07, 2012, 05:31:10 PM
It seems like Znob says something very like that at some point, about the water supply being booby-trapped. I only listened the once, but that tickles a memory.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: timprov on November 07, 2012, 05:40:01 PM
Quote
Near the halfway point they met up with the team who
were working the river angle, who had found the water intake for the
traps, along with some pressure-loaded spikes and a very active
piranha colony

This is the only quote I could find about the river being booby-trapped, but it was just at the intake point, could they have damned the river say, a mile away? 
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Gamercow on November 07, 2012, 09:09:30 PM
Being an engineer and a DM, I found this story to be wonderful, like the other two Xnab stories.  If I was a teacher, I would use the stories and the death traps as physics/engineering lessons, and ask the students on how they would break in, ask them to reverse engineer the traps, and how they might improve upon the traps themselves.

Anyway, there is definitely a line in the story about altering the water pressure: 
"The rumor about this place
is that that’s how he rigged the self-destruct. Try to interfere with
the operations and the place comes down on your head.”

Finally, I would point out that Xnab's name should probably be pronounced "ISH-nab" or "ISH-nub" according to a friend with Mayan roots.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: hilmera on November 08, 2012, 07:32:46 PM
Among all the pop-references (I didn't groan aloud until "Say hello to my little friend") I think the main one should have been a giant aural asterisk and disclaimer... "With apologies to Terry Pratchett". It made me wonder where my copy of Pyramids has gotten to.

Apologies, however, probably weren't needed. I enjoyed James' mixture of tongue-in-cheek references and highlighting the absurdities of the jungle-temple genre mixed with the ancient-temple-contractor idea. Good writing doesn't need to stick to sober ideas, nor does it have to worry about being identified too closely with like material. Marjorie James and the further adventures of Znob are definitely on my list.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: hilmera on November 08, 2012, 07:42:18 PM
Excellent story, and an excellent reading. Except of course for the ever-present (and rather tiresome) complaint about the lack of an audio cue between scenes.

I noted the same thing. I think the answer is to ensure a explicit pause, long enough to evoke the extra space used for the same purpose in text, but not long enough to sound like dead air. Could the lack of scene breaks be an artifact of the processing of the audio for broadcast? Editing the audio from looking at the squiggles rather than listening to the context?

I don't know what the behind-the-scenes logistics are, but perhaps EA needs to move to a system where it solicits from the readers the reading of every separate scene in a separate file, with excess dead air at the beginning and end, then matching them properly for the final file.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: CryptoMe on November 12, 2012, 06:28:32 PM
Yeah, Xnob! Always fun.

Not much else to add, except that I didn't get the toads line pop-culture reference. I am sure I'm just not looking at it the right way, so if someone could give me a nudge, it would be much appreciated....
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Thunderscreech on November 12, 2012, 06:32:21 PM
Not much else to add, except that I didn't get the toads line pop-culture reference. I am sure I'm just not looking at it the right way, so if someone could give me a nudge, it would be much appreciated....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flge_rw6RG0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flge_rw6RG0)
:) Hope that helps!
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Talia on November 14, 2012, 01:39:14 PM
'Say hello to my little friend' made me laugh a bunch.

A fun installment. I truly enjoy this series.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Devoted135 on November 14, 2012, 02:50:18 PM
I love the deathtraps stories, and this was no exception. :) It's refreshing to hear a fun story that exists merely to provide enjoyment and a few puzzles. Also, I'm totally on board with "stonepunk" as an emerging genre. :P Great story, and great reading!
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Kaa on November 14, 2012, 03:04:16 PM
I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for someone to bring up the pop-culture reference in the title of the story, but since no one else has, it falls upon me.

Anyone ever see The Producers? In it, a couple of schemers decide to make money by producing a Broadway play that is absolutely doomed to fail. They collect a bunch of money from investors -- more than necessary -- and plan to head for South America when the play flops with all the stolen money.

Unfortunately for them, their show -- Springtime for Hitler -- is a huge success rather than a flop.

I can't help but assume that the title of this story is a gigantic reference to that.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: CryptoMe on November 14, 2012, 03:06:09 PM
Not much else to add, except that I didn't get the toads line pop-culture reference. I am sure I'm just not looking at it the right way, so if someone could give me a nudge, it would be much appreciated....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flge_rw6RG0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flge_rw6RG0)
:) Hope that helps!

Thanks Thunderscreech. That does help.

Now knowing the connection, it's still too big a stretch for me and I'm not surprised I didn't get it. Oh, well. Vive la différence.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: CryptoMe on November 14, 2012, 03:20:12 PM
Anyone ever see The Producers? In it, a couple of schemers decide to make money by producing a Broadway play that is absolutely doomed to fail. They collect a bunch of money from investors -- more than necessary -- and plan to head for South America when the play flops with all the stolen money.

Unfortunately for them, their show -- Springtime for Hitler -- is a huge success rather than a flop.

I can't help but assume that the title of this story is a gigantic reference to that.

Now this one I got. And kept singing the silly, silly song in my head far too much during the reading.  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCf9VRLnDY&feature=fvwrel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCf9VRLnDY&feature=fvwrel)
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Talia on November 14, 2012, 03:55:57 PM
I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for someone to bring up the pop-culture reference in the title of the story, but since no one else has, it falls upon me.

Anyone ever see The Producers? In it, a couple of schemers decide to make money by producing a Broadway play that is absolutely doomed to fail. They collect a bunch of money from investors -- more than necessary -- and plan to head for South America when the play flops with all the stolen money.

Unfortunately for them, their show -- Springtime for Hitler -- is a huge success rather than a flop.

I can't help but assume that the title of this story is a gigantic reference to that.

You know I HAVE seen, and enjoyed, that show, but I didn't pick up on it. That makes it even more great, haha.

Now I'm re-envisioning the entire story as a musical. :D
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Myrealana on November 14, 2012, 05:08:14 PM
"Stonepunk" -- Love it!

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for someone to bring up the pop-culture reference in the title of the story, but since no one else has, it falls upon me.

Anyone ever see The Producers? In it, a couple of schemers decide to make money by producing a Broadway play that is absolutely doomed to fail. They collect a bunch of money from investors -- more than necessary -- and plan to head for South America when the play flops with all the stolen money.

Unfortunately for them, their show -- Springtime for Hitler -- is a huge success rather than a flop.

I can't help but assume that the title of this story is a gigantic reference to that.
Ah!

I totally got that the title referred to "The Producers," but I couldn't figure out how it applied.

Now I get it. Tuak thought he was producing a big flop, but he ended up with disaserous success instead.

Strike a light!
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Myrealana on November 14, 2012, 05:14:40 PM
It took me a little while to get into this story. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. I'm pretty sure I've listened to all the episodes of Escape Pod since the beginning, but remarkably, I don't remember the first two deathtrap stories.

That said, after a couple of minutes adjustment to get into the spirit of the story, I loved it. I just got back from a vacation in the Yucatan, where the 2012 end date of the Mayan calendar is part of the discussion at every tourist stop. I loved imagining the millenia-old ruins I had been walking through as the setting for Xnob's work.

Loved the story. I hope we'll get more soon.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: cDave on November 22, 2012, 12:19:01 PM
I've seen quite a few authors recently refer to their work as "Fantasy, but with a Science Fiction attitude". I wouldn't count this story amongst those works. Just because something is set in the past, that doesn't make it fantasy.

I'd say this was straight up fun Science Fiction, with engineering as the science in question.

More Deathtraps please!
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Carlos Ferreira on November 22, 2012, 07:45:50 PM
That was fun, without being extraordinary. It's a bit like an Indiana Jones film: a cool bash down some tombs, a slight twist at the end of the story, and thank you very much, I'll be here all week! I just wish there was some depth, some character development somewhere, but I'll happily listen to the next story in the series.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: startrek.steve on November 23, 2012, 12:42:50 PM
Lion Dance, Springtime Deathtrap, Passengers and Carefeeding mammalian Bipeds had no episode title and as such crashed my Sandisk MP3 player! Luckily I store all my podcasts on the SDcard, so I was able to remove it and get it to boot up, I then had to go through all the podcasts to find the offending ones. the ID3 stuff was all there apart from the Episode Title, once I editted it manually and put the title in it worked ok. Darned annoying though!!

Steve
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Fenrix on November 24, 2012, 05:17:21 PM
This was an enjoyable fun story. I heartily endorse all publications of fun stuff. I don't need deep brain stimulation on my commute. And piffle on the genre balkanization. It's spec fic, was submitted to EscapePod, purchased, and published here. Extra points for being part of a series, which I'm going to add to the top of the queue for consumption.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Scatcatpdx on November 27, 2012, 08:11:09 PM
I think calling this stone punk fits the bill, perhaps could this term fit  the Flintsones?

Overall i 100% enjoyed this one and others  Xnab / deathtrap story. There seem and overall theme  of reputation, losing face and  cover up  and the the complication it can in both Ilhan design and Tuak  business.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: hardware on February 17, 2013, 06:05:20 PM
Fun but forgettable. There's a place for these. Moving on.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: childoftyranny on April 10, 2013, 11:34:05 PM
I enjoyed this as one of those stories that have a concept that isn't exactly serious but does well by keeping itself serious in-universe, I have a great fondness for the sillyness that sort of approach allows for!
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Max e^{i pi} on April 11, 2013, 07:10:48 AM
I love it when childoftyranny shows up. It makes me recall some of the awesome stories we've heard in the past and smile. :)
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: Fenrix on April 11, 2013, 01:46:11 PM
I love it when childoftyranny shows up. It makes me recall some of the awesome stories we've heard in the past and smile. :)

Once and future stories. I know this one is in my "relisten" pile, particularly once I've listened to all the previous stories in the series.
Title: Re: EP368: Springtime for Deathtraps
Post by: childoftyranny on April 11, 2013, 06:22:13 PM
I love it when childoftyranny shows up. It makes me recall some of the awesome stories we've heard in the past and smile. :)

I'm glad to hear my falling behind serves some purpose other than creating quite the long list of stories that I need to comment on :D