Escape Artists
The Lounge at the End of the Universe => Podcast Pedantry => Topic started by: Talia on March 06, 2007, 09:53:25 PM
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I've really gotten into podiobooks over the past couple of months and have come across a few that are just absolutely wonderful. Well-produced, well-read and excellently written. I find there's a lot of different elements that go into the podiobooks I end up enjoying the most - the music utilized (if any), the reader's voice and style of reading, overall audio quality, etc. Actually it makes me curious to some degree if I'd enjoy reading some of these stories as much as I do listening to them :)
Anyway, I've come across a few that I just thought were really, really stellar, and wanted to share them and encourage you guys to check them out.
First,let me mention 'How To Dissapear Completely' by someone named Myke Bartlett, which is currently "in progress" but with a good chunk already available on the site (http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=44 (http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=44)) Set in London, its about an alienated waitress who finds herself sucked into a sort of shadow world where she's pursued by sinister suited men and murderous shadows, accompanied by a happy-go-lucky criminal and his bitter, gambling-addicted sidekick - who drives a time-travelling car.
The writing's sharp, the characters are great and the music is well-chosen and adds atmosphere. Plus, the author has a great reading voice. This one is really, really, really, really, really good and I couldn't encourage you guys more to check it out.
'Brave Men Run' by Matthew Wayne Selznick has gotten some love on here before, but I thought I'd mention it again in case anyone hadn't heard it yet. Its about a teenager with a few special abilities who might be even more special than he thought. Another one you really shouldn't miss.
Not quite in the same caliber as the previous two, but I'm still really enjoying it, is 'The Corridor' by "Zan." (http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=118 (http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=118)). Its also unfinished.
At its core its an exploration of multiple realities/multiple universes and the people who can transverse them, told through the viewpoint of an individual who one day finds himself being hunted down by interdimensional beings.The writing's a little uneven at times, and the musical introduction is waaaaay too long for the first bunch of episodes, but its a pretty fun story overall.
Anyone else heard any good ones they'd care to recommend?
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When I subscribed to a Podiobooks feed, I found it to be of especially poor quality. Not the writing, of course, but after being spoiled by the great quality of Escape Artists, listening to hiss and echo and paper shuffling and the like was really distracting and I just couldn't do it.
Maybe they deserve a second try.
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Oh yeah, give it a second try. I've yet to have any of the podiobooks I've listened to have as poor a quality as you described, though I'm sure there are some out there. It sounds like you picked a particularly poorly put together one.
Most of them are better!
Heh, im not a shill for that particular site, it just happens to be where I found the podiobooks i'm currently obsessing over. :P
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When I subscribed to a Podiobooks feed, I found it to be of especially poor quality. Not the writing, of course, but after being spoiled by the great quality of Escape Artists, listening to hiss and echo and paper shuffling and the like was really distracting and I just couldn't do it.
Maybe they deserve a second try.
The quality depends on the author. Podiobooks doesn't record. They just distribute. I got a couple that were bad, but most are quite good. On the first page of each book there's a customer revue. It has sound quality as one of the ratings.
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I started listening to Brave Men Run this week and am absolutely loving it. It's definitely (at least thus far) got a John Hughes take on teenage superheroes.
James Patrick Kelly's Burn is awesome. I read the novel first but got a lot from the podiobook.
I finished listening to Infection last week, which was the first Sigler novel I'd heard. The only other Sigler stuff I'd listened to was Bag Man and his stories here on Escape Pod.
I love The Failed Cities Monolgues although technically I've been listening to it via Variable Frequencies rather than podiobooks. That and Hell are really the only books I've kept up to date with. The others I've waited until they're finished and then started listening to them.
I'd love to hear what other people are listening to and recommend. I don't think Brave Men Run will last me for much longer :)
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I am very surprized no one has mentioned 7th Son by J.C. Hutchins. Best podiobook so far that I've listed to, for quality and content. Book two: Deceit is just about finished. Very cool stuff.
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I started listening to Brave Men Run this week and am absolutely loving it. It's definitely (at least thus far) got a John Hughes take on teenage superheroes.
I heard the whole book, think it is really great!! Though the story felt a little unfinished at the end. I also heard the "director's commentary" 'cast - it was interesting to hear some of the back story and cleared up two major plot problems I had (won't tell you here because one of the "problems" is a major spoiler).
I can't recommend "A Different Point of View" enough - very very funny! Though, I would recommend manually downloading the episodes from the original site http://www.adpov.net/adpov-archives/ because a) none of the podiobooks bookending, b)more than the 10 episodes listed at podiobooks.
The sonic fiction anthologies are about 50% - short stories from different authors
http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=70&link=search_title
And I enjoyed Spherical Tomi - not as much as Brave Men Run, but still exciting/interesting.
http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=31&link=search_title
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I also wanted to plug Children of the Gods
http://www.childrenofthegods.net/
Stumbled across this and the prod qualities are fantastic. The only problem is that it can be literally months in between episodes and it's no where near finished.
That is one really nice thing about podiobooks - you know if it is finished. Other than COTG, I've never bothered starting an unfinished book - I hate waiting for the author.
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only issue I have really had with podiobooks.com is that for some reason, about every 3-4 weeks it seems like they loose their connection, and the feed stops updating for a few days, not sure if it's on my end or theirs. I usually get frustrated at that point go find the authors site, and subscribe through that if I can. Also means on authors I like I am more likely to get their next feed right away as well. I also like the rants/author comments (can ya tell I am a scott sigler fan?). While I enjoyed ancestor and earthcore, I kept thinking to myself they sound so sterile. Probably because the first work of his I checked out was infection as it was his current podcast at the time. J.C. Hutchins always sounds so geeked about his podcast and truly surprised at any praise/listener content he receives. I definitely prefer the "raw" feed over the cleaned up versions on podiobooks YMMV.
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I started listening to Brave Men Run this week and am absolutely loving it. It's definitely (at least thus far) got a John Hughes take on teenage superheroes.
I heard the whole book, think it is really great!! Though the story felt a little unfinished at the end. I also heard the "director's commentary" 'cast - it was interesting to hear some of the back story and cleared up two major plot problems I had (won't tell you here because one of the "problems" is a major spoiler).
I can't recommend "A Different Point of View" enough - very very funny! Though, I would recommend manually downloading the episodes from the original site http://www.adpov.net/adpov-archives/ because a) none of the podiobooks bookending, b)more than the 10 episodes listed at podiobooks.
Ooooo. That one does look like a lot of fun. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!
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Thumbs Up to...
A Differn't Point of View
Amber Page and the Legend of the Coral Stone
AmerIndian2192 ( poor recording, great story!)
Ancestor
At the Appointed Time
Brave Men Run
Daughter of the Sun
Doctor Janeways Plague
EarthCore ( 2 Thumbs up )
Echos
Great Moments in History
In the Service of Samurai
Infection
King Solomons Mines
Morevi
Nina Kimberly the Merciless
Nogglestones
Sparkling Death
Spherical Tomi ( Top Notch Sci Fi, Listen now fool-- )
The Pocket and the Pendant
The Red Panda Adventures
Tom Corven
Weavers Web
Thumbs down to...
Come Let Me Whisper
How to Disapear Completely ( too long )
Singularity
I'm listening to a few others, but am reserving my mighty judgement until they end.
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i recently finished Brave Men Run, twas great, wish there was more.
currently listening to the first 7th Son, pretty awesome stuff!
ive listened to Ancestor (loved it) and The Pocket and the Pendant (loved it!)
ive also listened to deep thoughts, voices: new media fiction, and.... Heaven (but i subscribe to Geek Fu so im good for Hell)
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Both Hell and the Failed Cities Monologues have now finished and they both rock. I'm sad they're over. :(
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If you enjoy podiobooks, you may also enjoy my podcast PodioBooks Chat, http://podiobookchat.chrismoody.net. Here I interview authors who have released their books via podcasts.
Chris
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'Brave Men Run' by Matthew Wayne Selznick has gotten some love on here before, but I thought I'd mention it again in case anyone hadn't heard it yet. Its about a teenager with a few special abilities who might be even more special than he thought. Another one you really shouldn't miss.
That was the first recently-written SF that I'd ever listened to, and it was quite engaging.
I just finished Singularity (http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=61) by Bill DeSmedt. It moved along quite nicely even with some fairly painless exposition about black holes and quantum physics.
Looking forward to the sequel Dualism.
Next up will be Scott Sigler's EarthCore, after I catch up on a few more episodes from the Escape Archive.
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Favorites:
The Failed Cities Monologues - Rediculously good. His short stories are just as good and his upcoming movie, Devil's Kitchen looks great.
The Immortals - I was prepared to be underwhelmed by it. Very well done. The only thing I disliked was that the moments meant to ellicit an emotional response couldn't have been more obvious than if he had Keenan Ivory Wayan walk through and announce it every time.
Heaven 2 - Like all the Heavens, just a flat out freaking good time. The difference between the two for me was that I was literally giddy at the end of this one. I think my exact words were "Oh shit! That is AWESOME!"
7th son 1 - Everything is pretty obvious but you're still gonna love it. Just get over it and enjoy.
Earthcore - IMPOSSIBLY wonderful suspense. IMPOSSIBLY better voices. This one was IMPOSSIBLY good. Except for the overuse of a particular adverb. Care to guess which?
Great:
Shadowmagic - Had a hard time not moving this one up higher. Pretty fun world and great characters. It's okay to want to smack the shit out of the protagonist. I think the predictability was probably the only thing that kept this lower for me.
Heaven 1
7th son 2
Ancestor
Heaven 3
Crescent (in progress)
Eastern Standard Tribe (in progress) - I'm almost certain this may move into the top tier upon completion.
Infection - Couldn't get past any more Sigler female voices. I finally got through the Chinese girl's from Ancestor to be met withthe spanish girlin this one. Couldn't do it. PS. I told him this at DragonCon and he's QUITE aware. PPS. Awesome cat.
Singularity - I like Bill. I fancy myself to be a pretty smart gentleman. I love the concept. I felt like a moron listening to some of the descriptions. Especially the epic machine near the end. The characterization of the female bugged me a bit. His Russian and other voices are great. I'll still look forward to his next one.
The Arwen - I was shocked when it won out over Heaven in the parsecs. I was even more shocked when I heard it. It's not bad by any means. But... it's episodic, and the first episode was... meh. Again, I believe in second chances and will listen to the second one.
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I recently finished listening to Nathan Lowell's series Quarter Share (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/quarter-share), Half Share (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/half-share), and Full Share (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/full-share).
Told in the first person, and they have some fairly engaging characters.
The blurb for Quarter Share:
The 1st Trader's Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper...
When Ishmael Wang is orphaned by a flitter crash, he must make some hard decisions about how to survive in a Company-owned universe. With limited time and fewer options, he lands a job as the newest hand on the Solar Clipper Lois McKendrick and learns there's more to life than making coffee. Join Ish, Pip, Big Bad Bev, and the rest of the Lois McKendrick's crew as they sail the galaxy in search of profitable trade.
Before that I enjoyed to Paul S. Jenkins' The Plitone Revisionist (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/the-plitone-revisionist). Something of a fun space opera.
Both were definitely agents of reduction in workplace productivity for me.
i recently finished Brave Men Run, twas great, wish there was more.
Didn't the author say in the last episode (not part of the actual story) something about another story in the same 'verse, but with different characters?
Oh, wait ... on http://www.podiobooks.com/title/brave-men-run he says "Are questions left unanswered about the larger world? Sure... but this book is about Nate Charter's journey of self-discovery, and the story question is answered by the end. Give it a shot --- and get ready for Pilgrimage, the next novel of the Sovereign Era, coming in early 2008."
Also there's his blog about it, with a "progress bar": http://www.mattselznick.com/writing/pilgrimage/
That's good news.
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I'm enjoying Playing for Keeps. :D
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Has anyone heard "The Sagan Diaries" by John Scalzi? I've enjoyed his written material, so I thought I'd give it a go.
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I'm halfway through Phil Rossi's Crescent (http://podiobooks.com/title/crescent)
This podcast is part Babylon 5, part Firefly, and part Blade Runner... only darker." -- Tee Morris
That sounds about right.
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I've finished the first 13 chapters of Tracy Higkman's The Immortals. I like the idea, but the story isn't thrilling me yet. Does it get better or should I dump it? I have so much other stuff to listen to.
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Dump it. It gets worse. Trust me.
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Dump it. It gets worse. Trust me.
That's what I was thinking. I'll wait for a few more comments before I erase it, but I'm not going to listen to anymore unless someone gives me a very good reason.
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The Arwen - I was shocked when it won out over Heaven in the parsecs. I was even more shocked when I heard it. It's not bad by any means. But... it's episodic, and the first episode was... meh. Again, I believe in second chances and will listen to the second one.
You're not the only one, when I found out I won, I nearly fell out of my chair (I was in a hotel room on a business trip at the time.)
I had a very long, 11 hour drive a few weeks ago and I was able to listen to book one of the Secret World Chronicle series, if you like superhero stories, alien invasion and Nazi's in superarmor attacking cities, you'll look this book. Some of the chapters are very, very long and could be broken up but, since I was in the middle of a long drive it didn't bother me at all.
I also found Number one with a bullet pretty entertaining in an 80's action movie sort of way, don't listen too it thinking you'll be hearing anything that's even remotely set in a believable world but I can't deny it was extremely entertaining.
Listened to most of the other stuff that was mentioned so yeah, I'd recommend most of them as well.
BrandtPileggi, when you get done listening to the second one I'd be interested to know what you think.
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Finished Phil Rossi's Crescent
It was okay enough for me to want to finish it. It had its moments, but I kept waiting for revelations that never happened. I did not find it scary like some reviewers said, but then I find very few works scary.
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That's how I feel about Crescent too. In fact, so far in my podiobooks experience, which isn't much really, 9 or 10 books, they have either been duds or "okay enough for me to want to finish it."
I'm really waiting for one to blow me away, my faith in podiobooks could use a little boost.
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I haven't started any Podio books yet except Playing for Keeps, which I got into purely off the EP promo (and being a huge comic book dork). It's lots of fun, but not really blowing me away.
What I'm really into right now is LibriVox (http://librivox.org/) - a project to put all sorts of public domain works into audiobooks, for free. They have direct .zip file downloads, or podcast versions for itunes. I'm currently going through Innocents Aboard, by Mark Twain. The reader is fantastic, it really sounds like it could be Twain himself narrating. After I finish that, there are all sorts of other classics that I never quite got to in book form just waiting for me...
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Now I'm 2/3 through J. C. Hutchins' 7th Son: Book One - Descent (http://podiobooks.com/title/7th-son-book-one---descent). It's moving along quite nicely in a techno-thriller sort of way.
What I'm really into right now is LibriVox (http://librivox.org/) - a project to put all sorts of public domain works into audiobooks, for free.
Me too, but as a reader (http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1272). I'm currently working on recording Harry Harrison's Planet of the Damned as a solo project, but it's slow going. Reading/recording is easy enough but I'm really nit-picky in the editing, so it takes me a loooooong time to finish a chapter. I have a much higher regard now for the folks who can churn out a weekly podcast.
Librivox mostly does works that pre-date 1923 (and are found on gutenberg.org), but there are a lot of later works that were published in SciFi pulps and just never had the copyright renewed. Hence the handful of more recent SF and Fantasy authors in the Librivox catalogue (Andre Norton, H. Beam Piper, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Keith Laumer, Nourse, Farmer, Del Rey, etc.) See "science fiction" catalog search (http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search_advanced.php?title=&author=&cat=&genre=science+fiction&status=all&type=&language=&date=&reader=&bc=&mc=&action=Search).
I'll be the first to agree that the technical quality and voice talent on Librivox projects can be somewhat uneven, since it's all done by enthusiastic volunteers using whatever recording facilities they have. Some are pretty good though, and sound quite professional.
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Now I'm 2/3 through J. C. Hutchins' 7th Son: Book One - Descent (http://podiobooks.com/title/7th-son-book-one---descent). It's moving along quite nicely in a techno-thriller sort of way.
I really liked part one. Part two started getting really stupid. I've been putting off listening to part three.
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That's how I feel about Crescent too. In fact, so far in my podiobooks experience, which isn't much really, 9 or 10 books, they have either been duds or "okay enough for me to want to finish it."
I'm really waiting for one to blow me away, my faith in podiobooks could use a little boost.
Have you listened to the Failed Cities Monologues? The podiobook version of that is awesome (you can actually understand the Russian guy, now).
I'm enjoying Playing For Keeps so far, too.
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BrandtPileggi, when you get done listening to the second one I'd be interested to know what you think.
Thanks for letting me know it's out Tim. I'm looking forward to hearing it.
7th Son: Destruction - Pretty good. I liked it better than 2 but at the end of it I was thinking to myself... Am I really enjoying this story about 7 clones with no conflict resolution experience saving the world against the greatest villain of all time and his army of brain copied super assassins? The answer is, yeah, I guess I do.
Playing for keeps - I'm a few chapters in and I LOVE it. The concept is so assinine and the execution is damn near flawless so far. I think this'll end up near Failed Cities Monologues as my favorite.
Crescent - I wasn't too hot on it at first. I think Phil grew as this thing goes on I found my self a bt enhralled by his imagery. The story was decent. I'd probably rank the whole thing in the top 20-25% of the ones I've heard.
Quarter Share - GREAT. Currently my number 2 behind FCM
Half share - SUCKED. The trading stories were the best part but still pretty weak. The love triangles were impotent and didn't do anything to move the story along, make me feel anything for the characters or add anything to the story. I can't remember it well enough to recomend a 'skip this one'/
Full Share - Redeemed. Much better than 2, not as good as 1. Fell into that top 25%. I'd say it's good, not great.
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All from Librivox, and getting a thumbs up from me
Non Fiction
South
Fiction
mysterious island ( classic adventure )
king solomons mines ( classic adventure )
and all of the H Beam Piper stories are excellently well read and produced ( sci fi )
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Variable Star - Spider Robinson (and I guess RAH too).
Great story, and Spider does the reading himself. You can download it for free via his podcast. I'm really enjoying this one. He pushes the music aspect a bit hard, but he sings well enough, and David Crosby wrote the song, so It's not terrible. Just funny as hell, really. Seven chapters in, so far.
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Has anyone tried their local library for podiobooks? My library has contracted with a site called
http://www.netlibrary.com/ (http://www.netlibrary.com/) . You log into their site with your library card and can download a couple thousand audio books and many more ebooks.
This is probably the only thing good that has come from DRM, being that the library can loan stuff out like this because they can put a timestamp on it.
Its a great way find things to listen too when you've ran out of episodes from podiobooks :)
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...when you've ran out of episodes from podiobooks
Heat death of the universe, man... Millennium Space Entropy.
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if you're not against commercial audiobooks i recently heard two that can't be recommended highly enough:
Neil Gaiman - Anansi Boys (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anansi_Boys)
Max Brooks - World War Z (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_war_z)
great writing improved by fantastic readings.
if they aren't available at your library you may find access somewhere (http://www.mininova.org/sub/51/seeds) out on the net.
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...when you've ran out of episodes from podiobooks
Heat death of the universe, man... Millennium Space Entropy.
I think I've actually listened (or tried) to just about all the scifi/fantasy on podiobooks, now I sit around refreshing my podcatcher all day then deleting all those damn "youve caught up with the author!" placeholders :P
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It's so hard to narrow down favorites. Earthcore was the first podiobook I heard and is personally my favorite Sigler work. The Failed Cities Monologues, of course, is another great one. Mur Lafferty's Heaven series is interesting. I liked The Immortals and Singularity, too.
In terms of dislikes, there aren't a lot of them. Only two really come to mind. I've tried a few times to get into AmerIndian 2192, but haven't made it past the half-hour mark. Aliens and Satanic Creatures Wanted: Humans Need Not Apply seems initially like a good bet, but I found the plots to be cliche and predictable.
For my own benefit as much as for others', I post reviews on my website (direct link: http://www.vu.union.edu/~morrisa/Podcasts/PBDC.htm) I should note that I'll be updating shortly since I just discovered a half-dozen oversights when writing this post.
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Not sure if Second Shift has been plugged. This has matured into a really good story. The voice acting is top notch and the plot is great. The audio was a little shaky in the first episodes, but its much better now. Great background sound too.
http://www.secondshiftpodcast.com/
Summery from the website:
This Parsec-Award nominated audio drama follows the adventures of three students from Boston who are summoned to another world against their will. There they must either find their places or find a way home. New friends, new enemies, clashes of culture and clashes of personality help and hinder them in their search for answers.
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Now that I've gotten rid of my backlog, I'm going through my audio/podiobooks.
Two chapters in I deleted all of Prophecy of Swords. The reading was so dull, I couldn't pay attention enough to know what was going on.
Playing for Keeps was a lot of fun, but the intros and outros were WAAAAYYY too Long. I stopped listening to it in the car, because it's hard to scan forward accurately when your driving. I also hated the set up for the sequel at the end.
Quarter Share went by in a flash and I'm part way into Half Share. I think I'll be throuh the whole series in no time. One problem: 1st person objective form is "I", subjective is "me", reflexive is "myself". Every single character in these books says, "the Captain told Pip and I." It's almost enough to make me stop listening, but the rest of it is too good.
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haha, another Nathan Lowell addict. Wait till you get till double share. You think you're hooked NOW..
I've been impatiently waiting for Captain's Share for a while now. *sigh*
Incidentally his other book "South Coast" is pretty good as well (same universe, but planet-bound rather than in space. Also, I think it's a bit of a prequel...)
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Earthcore was the first podiobook I heard and is personally my favorite Sigler work.
I ended up not finishing Earthcore after a few chapters, which put me off Scott Sigler. It took me a long time before I tried listening to Infected recently. That was somewhat entertaining and engaging, so now I'm in the middle of the sequel, Contagious.
(I can put up with having to skim past the ads at the beginning, but I wonder what he was smoking during the selection of the awful music on the outros of Contagious.)
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For fellow Solar Clipper addicts, Nathan Lowell states he hopes to get 'Captain's Share' out this summer.
*squee*
http://solarclipper.com/2009/07/01/captains-share/
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I've started the Theater of the Midnight Sun (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/theater-of-the-midnight-sun) collection from Podiobooks.com. I finished the first three stories and it's still quite entertaining.
Full cast audio drama, all amateurs, pretty good production, and great choices for theme and incidental music.
For fellow Solar Clipper addicts, Nathan Lowell states he hopes to get 'Captain's Share' out this summer.
*squee*
http://solarclipper.com/2009/07/01/captains-share/
Nate sez:The upshot is that I’ve committed to getting Captain’s Share out this summer. No I don’t have a date, and I expect it’ll be at the last possible minute, but I’ve got what I hope is a nice tale lined up that will set up the final chapter of Ishmael Wang so we can tie off the series soon. Maybe as early as the end of the year.
Woo-hoo!
Mod: fixed link
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I just finished Jon Armstrong's Grey (http://podiobooks.com/title/grey). It's a Romeo and Juliet story set in the near future.
Quite a bit of time is spent describing high-tech fashion and popular culture gone amok, but at least they are entertaining to hear. I give it a 4 out of five.
Don't read the chapter descriptions at the bottom of the page. Too many spoilers, even if some of them are predictable.
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Earthcore was the first podiobook I heard and is personally my favorite Sigler work.
I ended up not finishing Earthcore after a few chapters, [snip]
I still had it in iTunes, so I gave it another chance. It seemed much better this time around. I must be acquiring a taste for Sigler, because I'm listening to Nocturnal now.
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haha, another Nathan Lowell addict. Wait till you get till double share. You think you're hooked NOW..
I got someone else hooked on podcasts. My bludgeon was EP and Quartershare. He never had a chance. He's one of us now.
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haha, another Nathan Lowell addict. Wait till you get till double share. You think you're hooked NOW..
I got someone else hooked on podcasts. My bludgeon was EP and Quartershare. He never had a chance. He's one of us now.
Invasion of the Pod People?
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Some that I missed posting about, all from podiobooks.com.
Fried Green Zombies (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/fried-green-zombies/) - It's a hoot. F'rinstance, a hot dog that is moving around because the creatures it was made of are now of the undead horde. Also there's a hot alien babe.
How To Succeed in Evil: The Original Podcast Episodes (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/how-to-succeed-in-evil-the-original-podcast-episodes/)
and
How to Succeed in Evil: The Novel (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/how-to-succeed-in-evil-the-novel/)
Two versions of the same story. "Alternately funny and dark, a HtSiE is the story of Edwin Windsor, Evil Efficiency Consultant. A biting satire of both modern business and the conventions of the superhero genre."
Dead Mech (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/dead-mech/) - Post-apoc mech warrior zombies! Aiyeeee!
Forever Fifteen (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/forever-fifteen/) - Teenage girl vampire. The description makes it sound like Twilight or something awful, but don't let that put you off.
Conjuring Raine (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/conjuring-raine/)
"From San Fransisco's Tenderloin to the Dismal Swamp of North Carolina, human trafficking, vampires, and conjure magic combine in this sexy, funny, spooky story about Raine Black, a struggling comic strip artist with a gift--her comics come true. Enter Joshua: Raine's secret childhood friend, an abolitionist, and a vampire."
Again it's much better than it might sound from the description.
I think she recorded it in her yurt (http://mayalassiter.com/tag/yurt-raising/), because you hear the occasional chirping birds and nature sounds. I found that charming even when they didn't fit with the urban settings.
Only finished out of politeness, hoping they would get better:
Doctor Janeway's Plague (I found the plot too complicated, didn't warm up to any of the characters)
Ida (story was just better than "meh" for me, but the author should have gotten someone else to read it. It really annoyed me that the author/reader pronounced the eponymous asteroid colony as "Oida". It caused me to disengage every time.)
Beautiful Red (If it was compressed to half of its length, it would have been a good start of a story. Something about computer hackers, I think.)
Fiddle and Burn, Vol. 1 - The Adventures of Coyote Man (tried to be funny, but didn't quite make it for me)
Murder at Avedon Hill (not bad, really, but it dragged after a while.)
The Doomsday Club (I have no idea why it's categorized under "Alternate history". It's more like "Animal House" morphing into a Noir flick, so I feel like I'm being mislead twice.)
Could not finish:
Dunkin the Vampire Slayer (annoying characters)
The Ex-Wife Files (just annoying)
V and A Shipping (not sure why, we just drifted apart.)
The Failed Cities Monologues (slogged through half of them, too depressing and disconnected)
Tumbler (poor interpretation of physics, some events just too implausible. I think Miley Cyrus would be cast as the protagonist in the movie version.)
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Crescent, by Phil Rossi. It's a really good mash-up of Lovecraft and dark sci-fi.
Murder at Avadon Hill by P.G. Hollyfield. Although definitely flawed in ways - mostly ways that don't bother anyone but me - it's also really good and fun to listen to.
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Some that I missed posting about, all from podiobooks.com.
Seconded about Conjuring Raine. I really enjoyed that, though I too noticed the chirping. Hehe.
I have different feelings on Beautiful Red and Murder at Avedon Hill. I liked both of those - although 'Red' mostly for the world-building, which I found interesting. 'Murder at Avedon Hill' was IMHO a fun little tale - yes, long, but I think the story he was telling merited the length. Great production too.
Crescent, by Phil Rossi. It's a really good mash-up of Lovecraft and dark sci-fi.
Murder at Avadon Hill by P.G. Hollyfield. Although definitely flawed in ways - mostly ways that don't bother anyone but me - it's also really good and fun to listen to.
I liked Crescent a good deal too. Creeeeepy.
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I quite enjoyed most of Crescent, but I thought the ending was rushed, or that it was leading up to a sequel, or something. It was quite a while ago.
For Nathan Lowell fans - Owner's Share (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/owners-share) is under way at podiobooks.
Yay!
I'm about 2/3 done with Phil Rossi's Harvey (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/harvey/). So far, I think it's at least as good as Crescent. As with Crescent, it's not really clear what the exact nature of the Big Bad is.
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Another "could not finish" was Mercy Bend (http://www.hellholetavern.com/links1.html), by Mark Eller. I just could not stand listening to the raving lunatic stylings of the narrator in the framing story that introduces each episode. Just too long, too annoying, and over the top. It's a disappointment, because I quite enjoyed Mark's Traitor, Book 1 of The Turner Chronicles (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/traitor/). Totally different kind of story.
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It's been a while.
Patrick E. McLean ("How to Succeed in Evil") has a new one out - Unkillable (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/unkillable/)
Unkillable is the story of a young man who is cruelly murdered then brought back from the dead to revenge himself. The kicker is: He’s not really alive. He can be hurt, he just can’t be killed.
I give it two thumbs up.
I rather liked the stoner friend character.
Seth Harwood's Jack Palms series (http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/search.php?keyword=Jack+Palms). So far I've finished books 1, 2 and 3. Feels like an '80 action movie.
I loved the Czech gangsters.
Vulture Capital (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/vulture-capital/)
When Basis Ventures venture capitalist Ted Valmont is belatedly informed that the Chief Scientist of NeuroStimix—a biotech firm in which he has invested—is missing, it's not just business, it's personal.
Not only is the scientist an old school chum, but his disappearance jeopardizes the development of NeuroStimix's most important product: a device intended to aid spinal cord injury victims. Since Valmont's twin brother, Tim, was paralyzed in a college diving accident, finding the scientist and getting him back into harness is of the utmost importance to both brothers.
The uh, I dunno, pacing (?) was a bit weird, and it took a while to get going, but once it did, it ended. Even so, I had no trouble sticking with it through to the end.
Paraffin Winter (http://www.podiobooks.com/title/paraffin-winter/)
A murder mystery set in 1962.
Ronnie and Jenny Delaney live in the south coast town of Poole, close by the gas works. They get by - Jenny works in the local pottery and Ronnie runs a paraffin [fuel] delivery round, helping to keep his grateful customers warm. But then something unexpected turns up on the paraffin round: an eyeball.
I found that the setting and portrayal of daily life was almost more interesting than the main story, in a nostalgic sort of way.
My favourite line from it is: "The snow was coming down in great big flakes, like they was plucking angels up there or something."