Escape Artists
Escape Pod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Russell Nash on August 03, 2007, 07:05:31 AM
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EP117: Reggie vs. Kaiju Storm Chimera Wolf (http://escapepod.org/2007/08/02/ep117-reggie-vs-kaiju-storm-chimera-wolf/)
By Matthew Wayne Selznick (http://www.mattselznick.com/).
Read by Scott Sigler (of Earthcore, Ancestor, Infected, The Rookie (http://www.scottsigler.net/)).
Yarborough led them through the impromptu village of broad white tents, rows of outhouses, sensor towers, and heavy weapons installations that had obliterated the turf of the athletic field. They stopped at the fence on the edge of the hilltop.
“You can get a pretty good look at the swath, here.”
On a day without monsters, it would have been a nice view. You could see most of the town center, and all the way to Pacific Coast Highway the misty ocean beyond. A wide, flat, smoking scar of ruin cut from the water to a shopping center half a mile inland.
Rated.R Contains profanity and giant monster violence.
Referenced Sites:
Knitwitch’s Sci-Fi & Fantasy Zone on Talkshoe (http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=28497&cmd=tc)
(http://escapepod.org/wp-images/podcast-mini4.gif)
Listen to this week’s Escape Pod! (http://media.escapepod.org/EP117_ReggieVsKaiju.mp3)
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I can't say I was that impressed with this story. I was just confused. Let me see if I get this right: a giant wolf-octopus-fish monster was going to destroy Reggie because he went to Berlin rather than comforting his girlfriend during her father's death? You mean that was the worst thing someone in the LA area had done? Or was it somehow related to the fact he was in Berlin? Or was the Kiaju the same Kaiju as was in Berlin, Fenris, but with a fish-octopus body? Or is it Fenris' brother, and told him about Reggie's smell and what he did, or...so confused... Am I just missing something that makes this story make sense?
And was Reggie in the military? Why did he get a call to respond to the monster attack? He didn't seem to have any real power besides all-consuming angst for a girlfriend from 10 years ago. ???
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I was taken in by the story up until the end -- that is, the part where Reggie woke up in the hospital. I wanted some sort of explanation, something more than "Ben thinks you were Touched by the monster." That's really what killed it for me. I thought the story itself was a nice treatment of the Godzilla kind of plot, where a monster comes from the sea for pretty much no reason we can suss out, destroys a bunch of stuff, then is beaten back by the military. The references to military hardware and the thought that there might be something like a giant robot laying in wait, just in case, were cool. Also, the matter-of-fact treatment of these monsters helped draw me in, and the Berlin Wall reference was a nice touch.
But like I said, the ending made me feel less good about the story as a whole. I didn't feel like there was any resolution, not really. I mean, sure, there was resolution with Reggie admitting his guilt and apologizing to Gwen, but... well... then what?
I did think the reading was over the top, as if the reader tried to give everyone such a distinct voice that it almost took away from the story itself. Not to disparage his talents, but perhaps quite so many different voices might not have been necessary. Also, Ben's voice was a little too deep-and-slow to, IMO, accurately convey his emotions in the climactic scene (on the lawn). But the narration was well-done and kept me drawn in, and it helped me to see the images of the text more clearly.
Overall, I'd say this story was 90% three-star (out of four) and 10% one-star (again out of four). Good, but not until the last drop.
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The plot concept appears to have been taken from the movie "Forbidden Planet"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet
A monster that can not be controlled by the conscience mind is controlled by the sub conscience mind.
The characters appeared to me to be one dimensional but, I'm not sure if it was the reading or the way they were written.
To paraphrase a character in "Rodger Rabbit" I'm not bad, I'm just read that way."
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I heard an old radio broadcast of The Forbidden Planet and liked it quite a bit. But this story fails where The Forbidden Planet succeeded. TFP gave the audience a lot more information on the connection of the monster to the subconscious, and did a much better job at creating suspense, intrigue, and audience interest in the story, at least IMO.
This story just didn't do much for me.
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Nitpick: The Sidewinder is an air-to-air missile.
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Nitpick: The Sidewinder is an air-to-air missile.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that caught that. The only thing I could think of was that this monster was giving off enough heat to engage it with a heat-seeking AA missile. Although I doubt it would have done anything to a giant monster.
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That was my first thought too!
Anyway...as far as concept and subject matter goes, I really liked this story. Giant Japanese style monsters destroying towns is an awesome topic. And a lot of the mental images and references to all the basic monster concepts that we probably all recognized and for whatever reason accept as being the way "it should be" really made me smile.
However, I also wanted something more at the end. Without any explanation for having your mind "touched" by a monster, it just seemed like a way to end the story in a "science fictiony way" that everyone would be familiar with. We found out a little about Reggie's history, mabe if we'd found out more about Ben and why his telepathy was so special, we'd have gotten a better picture as to just what was going on...maybe even a little explaination for why we're just supposed to accept that these monster exist. There must be some story behind that...
What I was expecting to happen was some possible family connection. Reggie's grandfather encountered and probably helped battle Fenris....so...Fenris could have had an heir looking to settle some kind of score? That could theoretically lead him back to Reggie's home town.....
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Worst escape pod story to date. Nothing in it really appealed to me. Neither the humans nor the monster where gone into in enough depth to be be interesting, even the seemingly main concept (that the monsters where either manifestations of peoples emotions or relationship problems or some such) wasn't even explored much. It seemed almost like a cardboard cutout of a story.
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Hate is a strong word, but I really, really didn't like this story.
Here's my main issue. This is a story where a lot of crazy things are happening, but the emphasis and the meaning behind the story lies in the everyday issues - in the regular interaction between people and their personal relationships. Except that here, the interaction and relationships are forced, clunky, clichéd, and probably worst of all, boring. You've got this massive horrific terror threatening citywide destruction, and the literary narrative focuses intensely in on a hackneyed relationship quirk that occurred twenty plus years ago between two paper-thin, one-dimensional characters. Maybe Reggie defeated the Kaiju Storm Chimera Wolf by boring it to death.
All of the potentially interesting parts of this story are glossed over in favor of the uninteresting. I was rolling my eyes throughout the story.
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I would really like to post here to defend a great author like Matthew Wayne Selznick. I loved Brave Man Run! Unfortunately, I have to say that I did not care for this story myself. Maybe I was misled by the title that this would be an exciting action-packed story with a cool monster. But the monster was kind of...I don't know...undefined, I guess, with an undetermined, sketchy connection to a lame protagonist. (I was more interested in Ben than Reggie.)
I expected explosions and destruction and some ultra weapon to defeat the monster, but any action that occurred seemed to happen offstage and never directly involved the main characters. Toward the end it got close. I was getting into the suspense of its approach, but then a quick "I'm sorry", the world goes black, and then wake up to find it's all over.
If the billboard says Monster, we go to the movie to see the Monster. Yes the characters are needed to move the plot along and provide a human viewpoint, but we really came to see the monster. This story was about the humans (that weren't interesting); the monster was practically just part of the setting. (Compare how you felt about the Hulk movie a few years back and how you felt about the Transformoers movie.)
It's not just that we want to see the monster (we did get a physical description), but we want to learn about it: its origins, etc. This story almost made a point to say there's no reason for them, they just come and destroy. Even the so-called experts didn't have a clue.
I guess this just proves what somebody told me once: The greatest source of unhappiness is unrealized expectations. Whether that is my fault for having the wrong expectations, or the author's for not meeting them, I'll leave that up to you.
Sorry, Matthew. I loved Brave Men Run. I think you are awesome, just not this story.
P.S. I've also learned that I only like Scott Sigler's narration style for certain stories. I liked it for his podcast novel Ancestor, and it was OK for Psuedopod's Last Respects, but for this story and some others, it does more harm than good. Mostly for the female voices.
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I thought this was a fun story and it really doesn't surprise me that it was written by Matthew Wayne Selznick, the same dude who brought us Brave Men Run. Like kmmrlatham, I loved Brave Men Run and this story felt similiar to me, like the universes they were set in could have been second cousins or something. I've heard lots of people say Brave Men Run is like a John Hughes superhero movie. This story felt like a romantic comedy directed by Ed Wood. It had some crazy Japanese-style movie monster in it, but the monster was as much of a metaphor about the rift and heartbreak that spread over ten years between two old flames as Godzilla was about atomic energy. Okay, maybe in this story it was more literal than a metaphor. But still.
As far as the ending, I took it to mean that some part of Fenris tapped into that heartache back in Berlin and when it found Reggie and Gwen it went right at them. I could bet totally wrong, though.
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Great read by the Sigler and a pretty good story.
It was very Selznicky (if that is even a word) and that I like. But, the whole monster controlled by something's emotions seems a little overdone to me, though it could just be that I happen to read a lot of that. Also, some part of it somewhat reminded me of Neil Gaiman, I don't know why. Good EP though.
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Nitpick: The Sidewinder is an air-to-air missile.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that caught that. The only thing I could think of was that this monster was giving off enough heat to engage it with a heat-seeking AA missile. Although I doubt it would have done anything to a giant monster.
Exactly. I could believe that a sidewinder could track the heat signature, but with only about 20 pounds of explosive, the sidewinder is something that's designed to make something that's flying and hot stop flying, not kill monsters 30 meters tall.
Which makes me wonder, given today's military hardware (ie, if we don't have handy experimental aircraft handy with "100mm" guns on them), what *would* you want to attack a giant monster with?
I think a couple of A-10s with 30mm cannons and air-to-surface missiles would be about as good as it gets from the air. For any sort of missile or bomb, I imagine you'd want something that penetrates and then explodes to inflict the most damage. So a bunker-buster seems like a good idea, except I don't know if there are any that are designed to track a moving target.
I don't have any idea of what sort of weapons you'd want on the ground. Or even if you'd want anybody on the ground: If the monster is something like 70 meters long, and moving maybe a third of its length with each step (I'm totally making this up) with "stepquakes" 2-3 seconds apart, we're looking at 70 / 3 / 2.5 = 9.2 meters/sec, or about 20 MPH. Would it be worthwhile to try to bring anything heavy to bear on the ground against something that moves that fast? I know 20 MPH doesn't seem like much, but tanks don't move very fast (Wikipedia says the M1 tops out at about 30 MPH off-road, 42 on-road) and remember that if you're in a city you can't take the most direct route.
In the end, the easiest thing to do might be to tell everybody to get out of the way, and then drop a nuke with the smallest possible yield to still guarantee a kill.
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Which makes me wonder, given today's military hardware (ie, if we don't have handy experimental aircraft handy with "100mm" guns on them), what *would* you want to attack a giant monster with?
The GBU-28 is a 5,000 lb bomb that can penetrate 6 meters of solid concrete. It is also laser guided (as opposed to GPS) so it could either be guided by the aircraft that dropped it or by a ground team with a portable laser. I would imagine that would be the best bet, and I don't think any monster only 30 meters tall would survive an explosion that large, that deep in their body.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-28 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-28)
Also, the AC-130E and U models have a 105MM howitzer strapped to the side. That would be an excellent, if less accurate alternative.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC-130 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC-130)
Nuclear seems like a bad alternative. Even with a direct hit there's all that messy fallout and residual radiation to deal with.
Maybe Napalm? I'm not sure if they're fireproof, but if they aren't napalm would make a nice Kaiju bar-b-q. I imagine it would be pretty stinky though.
The only other thing I could think of would be an airborne laser. They're in development right now, and are planned to be used for shooting down outgoing nuclear missiles. Their targeting systems would need some work, but they vaporize the skin of nuclear missiles, so I would imagine they would work on a Kaiju. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_laser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_laser)
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I was bored listening to a story about a giant Wolftapuss...
Not since Alien vs Predator have I been so devastated...
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The GBU-28 is a 5,000 lb bomb that can penetrate 6 meters of solid concrete. It is also laser guided (as opposed to GPS) so it could either be guided by the aircraft that dropped it or by a ground team with a portable laser. I would imagine that would be the best bet, and I don't think any monster only 30 meters tall would survive an explosion that large, that deep in their body.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-28 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-28)
Hmm. I was initially thinking the laser-guided bomb idea wouldn't work because you have to deal with a moving target, but if you only have to hit once, maybe you can afford a little lower accuracy.
And "only 30 meters tall"? ONLY? Man, I'd hate to see the size of the cockroaches where you come from. :)
Also, the AC-130E and U models have a 105MM howitzer strapped to the side. That would be an excellent, if less accurate alternative.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC-130 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC-130)
Oh, cool, I didn't know there were aircraft mounted guns that big.
Nuclear seems like a bad alternative. Even with a direct hit there's all that messy fallout and residual radiation to deal with.
Well, obviously it would be the last resort.
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The discussion of real world military hardware vs. absurd megafauna is rocking my world... keep it coming! It's going to be very useful for future stories in this world... though the possibility might make some of you cringe..! ;D
Matthew Wayne Selznick
http://www.mattselznick.com
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The discussion of real world military hardware vs. absurd megafauna is rocking my world... keep it coming! It's going to be very useful for future stories in this world... though the possibility might make some of you cringe..! ;D
Matthew Wayne Selznick
http://www.mattselznick.com
I like the MASER Cannons in the Godzilla movies.
(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v62/bigmclargehuge/Kong/Maser_Cannon.jpg)
However, I think being assigned to one might have been a punishment job in the Japanese Defense Forces because everytime they were fired on Godzilla, he walked over and stomped them flat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markalite
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It's not real world, but I loved the Hammer of Dawn in Gears of War. Orbital lasers are all around awesome, as is its name.
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I'd like to add my voice to the people dissatisfied with this story - I mostly agree with everything Listener said above. The story was good and engaging, but it felt incomplete to me. If this was story #3 in a series - if the rules were already established, the implications already at least partially understood - I would have probably enjoyed it a lot more. As an introduction to a new - and rather original - world, it was lacking.
So even though I am sort of on the negative side here, the idea of new stories in this world doesn't make me cringe, but on the contrary, I would be very happy to see them. Maybe once I read/listen to them I can return to this one and enjoy it more.
As a side note, I was somewhat puzzled by Steve's into - he said that "the story is about as serious as the title implies", but I felt that the story took itself quite seriously - it was not a giant monster parody by any means, which is what I was expecting after that comment and given the somewhat silly title. I wonder if raising this expectation was influential in the fact that some of us were disappointed...
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Big weapons against big monsters - the first thing I thought of the "Daisy Cutter"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLU-82
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No, more like the MOAB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_Ordnance_Air_Blast_bomb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_Ordnance_Air_Blast_bomb)
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If this was story #3 in a series - if the rules were already established, the implications already at least partially understood - I would have probably enjoyed it a lot more. As an introduction to a new - and rather original - world, it was lacking.
I would agree with that. If this were in a series of stories from this monster world, it wasn't the best introduction. However, the world itself is very interesting.
I relistened to the story and did take to it better that the first time I heard it, but I'm still very confused about the monster. Is it Fenris from 1945? Is it Kaiju from 1989? Is it a hybrid as the "Chimera" in the title might suggest? There just isn't enough information is the story to pin it down. The monster became more confusing and frustrating to me than interesting.
As a side note, I was somewhat puzzled by Steve's into - he said that "the story is about as serious as the title implies", but I felt that the story took itself quite seriously - it was not a giant monster parody by any means, which is what I was expecting after that comment and given the somewhat silly title. I wonder if raising this expectation was influential in the fact that some of us were disappointed...
There's that expectation thing again.
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Is there a commonly-used name for the trope in which a male and female character have a past together that only they seem to know much about?
Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca
Indy and Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark
Riker and Troi on ST:TNG
Denny and Shirley on Boston Legal
And now here it is in this story.
I half-expected to hear the woman say, "Of all the gin joints and all the bars demolished by giant monsters in all the world, he's got to stumble into the what's left of mine."
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Big weapons against big monsters - the first thing I thought of the "Daisy Cutter"
As cool as it sounds won't someone think of the children? I'm sure 1000psi of ovrepressure would shatter almost any carapace though. That would do it. It only takes a couple PSI of overpressure to rupture ear drums and hemmorage lungs.
And "only 30 meters tall"? ONLY? Man, I'd hate to see the size of the cockroaches where you come from. :)
Well, when you're talking a minimum of 6 meters of penetration that's 1/5th of the length of the monster (assuming it's innards are as hard as concrete).
Cockroaches give me the jibblies. The hibbly-jiblies.
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Is there a commonly-used name for the trope in which a male and female character have a past together that only they seem to know much about?
This is an excellent question. I actually spent a few minutes looking for a name for this at http://tvtropes.org (http://tvtropes.org) but found it a bit hard to navigate for a concept-based search like this. (And then, like Wikipedia, found it way too easy to get lost in wandering there.) If anyone has an answer, I'd like to know too!
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I actually spent a few minutes looking for a name for this at http://tvtropes.org (http://tvtropes.org) but found it a bit hard to navigate for a concept-based search like this. (And then, like Wikipedia, found it way too easy to get lost in wandering there.) If anyone has an answer, I'd like to know too!
The closest thing I could find was New Old Flame (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NewOldFlame), in the Television section.
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I too got kind of bored with the story. I think Ben's character would have made a much more interesting story, a human with telepathy able to sense monsters instead of failed romance attracts monster.
On the topic military hardware to use against the monster...since the monster is a living creature, why not have some sort of biological weapon to use against it? Call it Godzilla-virus, and it gives the monster some nasty flu that ends up killing it. Although the idea of a 90+ foot monster with the runs is kind of gross....
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Although the idea of a 90+ foot monster with the runs is kind of gross....
Oh, the story ideas coming from this thread... :)
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This story started out promising, as I hadn't heard of any writers trying to tackle the Giant Monster tale in a fully literary medium. Usually, writers try to put it in a format like a graphic novel to help bring out the heavy visualizations that accompany the subject matter. By about halfway through the story, I started to wonder is Mr. Selznick had an entirely different story in mind than what he had started with. It seemed, on the surface, that he was going to give us another "rock 'em, sock 'em" story. I was also confused by the twist of how the monster was tied to Reggie's relationship, and I couldn't help but see the part in the Americanized Godzilla when Matthew Broderick's character was standing directly in front of Godzilla as it roared at him.
Sadly, I didn't think much of Emmerich's Godzilla either. This wasn't one of the better stories that I've heard on EP, but I also don't think that it took itself too seriously either.
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The initial prospect of a giant monster story was quite exciting. However, the end result was a little disappointing. This is the third giant monster story I've read, or heard, and the other two weren't satisfactory either The problem is difficult to pinpoint exactly, but giant monsters seem empirically linked to men in rubber suits stomping on model cities, and attempts to translate them to words on a page are pale imitations of their hokey glory.
The is an anthology called Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0809557584/escapepod-20) for folks who may like the genre, but I think, based on past stories, I'll pass.
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Interesting concepts, but it didn't go anywhere, it didn't end up making any sense, and it wasn't funny.
Yawn. Thumbs down.
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Interesting concepts, but it didn't go anywhere, it didn't end up making any sense, and it wasn't funny.
Yawn. Thumbs down.
I'll add my thumb to that. My least favorite episode to date.
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I liked the old romance part. I liked the monster. I had problems with the hardware. I really liked that the start of the fall of communism (The big visual of it at least) was caused by a giant monster. When I went to work today I passed Check Point Charlie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkpoint_Charlie) and saw some of Kaiju's work.
But everything seemed to be truncated. We needed more info about Berlin, The relationship, the monster; a fuller ending; and more explosions.
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(And then, like Wikipedia, found it way too easy to get lost in wandering there.)
Wow, you can wear the buttons off your mouse at this site. What do you call complete infatuation with completely useless knowledge? Wiki-idous?
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Story? Plot? Who cares! Here's one junkie who needed a Scott Sigler fix. I've stopped sweating and writhing for the time being...It's sort of like hooting yard - I don't understand what he's talking about, it's all about the voice, man. Thank you, escape pod.
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Story? Plot? Who cares! Here's one junkie who needed a Scott Sigler fix. I've stopped sweating and writhing for the time being...It's sort of like hooting yard - I don't understand what he's talking about, it's all about the voice, man. Thank you, escape pod.
Man, I had the opposite reaction. Sigler's female voice kept bumping me out of the story, and I felt the reading was a bit heavy (low-key, photographically speaking) for the characters' personalities. Not bad, just not meshing with my take on them. I liked the story; the world was a closer parallel to our own than we've heard in a few weeks. Maybe this story's appeal relies on a familiarity with anime and monster movie tropes and a certain sense of humor. The combination of a just-average-guy's emotional hangover with just-a-gal and the stepquakes was fun.
CF
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I loved the world. The idea of giant monster experts (these guys where sort of the precursors to the big gun mechas they'd send in later if the monster reappeared) and mechas standing by to come in and take out kaiju. The fact that these monsters are common enough that folks would evacuate much as they would with a hurricane (and just like a hurricane you'd get some who wouldn't). If this were an RPG I'd buy it. Now the story itself? It needs work. I like the motivation of the monster as an extention of id (a nod as a couple have said to TFP), but it all seemed so rushed. MWS since you're watching the thread, I agree that this one has problems but don't make this your last foray into the world of kaiju.
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Oh and as a fellow junkie, I loved Sigler reading this.
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MWS since you're watching the thread, I agree that this one has problems but don't make this your last foray into the world of kaiju.
Oh, don't worry... it's not. I have plans.
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Which makes me wonder, given today's military hardware (ie, if we don't have handy experimental aircraft handy with "100mm" guns on them), what *would* you want to attack a giant monster with?
I'd like to try a thermobaric weapon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon) of some sort. Even fireproof armoured monsters must need to breathe. Unfortunately I don't know how long the oxygen-sucking effects tend to last or how long a monster can hold its breath.
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Which makes me wonder, given today's military hardware (ie, if we don't have handy experimental aircraft handy with "100mm" guns on them), what *would* you want to attack a giant monster with?
I'd like to try a thermobaric weapon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon) of some sort. Even fireproof armoured monsters must need to breathe. Unfortunately I don't know how long the oxygen-sucking effects tend to last or how long a monster can hold its breath.
After the concrete penetrating bunker buster, we got into some weopons with some serious colateral damage. People do need to return to these areas.
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In a world where kaiju have been wandering around I could see the military developing weapons that we don't have. Necessity is the mother of invention and all. And these weapons should be powered by STEAM!!
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In a world where kaiju have been wandering around I could see the military developing weapons that we don't have. Necessity is the mother of invention and all. And these weapons should be powered by STEAM!!
And hamsters running on wheels.
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Listened to this tonight and, sorry, but it did bore me. I just didn't connect with the story. It's the first time this has happened to me. I have failed :'(
Just to say, Escape pod has taught me to hang on in there with stories, and very rearly am i not rewarded, and it hs made me more adventurous in my reading. Keep it up, and thanks.
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Listening to Scott's readings, not just this story but his other work, reminds me of when I would read a story to a young kid. How you would always try to make big, funny voices for all the different characters.
I liked the story though, you don't hear too many giant monster stories anymore so I like what I can get.
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Tip for the youngsters out there who are thinking about writing their own giant monster story: put a giant monster in it.
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I looked up kaiju in my Japanese dictionary. The literal meaning of the kanji is "suspicious beast." In the case of daikaiju, the meaning is "big suspicious beast," or less likely "normal sized beast towards which we feel great suspicion."
Of course this should be taken with a grain of salt. When we think of "breakfast" we think of eggs and cereal, not any sort of fast breaking. But I thought you guys would find it interesting.
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I ended up fast-forwarding through a lot of this. Just 'eh' overall.
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I rather liked the notion that giant monsters were such a commonplace occurance that they had a routine response to them, like an oil spill crew or fire brigade, yet it wasn't totally satire.
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I really liked this one. I'm a huge fan of this sort of 'Our world but to the left' story and like others have already said, the idea that the Kaiju's are so common that there's built in containment procedures for them is fascinating. Plus there's some gorgeous attention to detail here, especially the stepquakes and the combination of the blase and blank terror that the survivors have.
Oh and as has already been said, this would be a fantastic roleplaying background.
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It was a slow build up, and I got quite lost for most of the story because it didn't grab me. Halfway I was saying out loud "Give me the monsters!!".
I love the idea I rather liked the notion that giant monsters were such a commonplace occurance that they had a routine response to them, like an oil spill crew or fire brigade, yet it wasn't totally satire.
Gotta love that - Big Fat Scary Monsters beat Zombies every time!
The ending was pretty cool. I didn't expect that, and it left me thinking about what sort of powers Reggie must have somehow.
I like Scott Sigler's reading - the emotion and big voices are all part of the package. I enjoyed them in Infection and I liked them in this story too.
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Like many here, I was left confused and disappointed by this story. I thought I may have missed something (What was Reggie's purpose there? What is this Figuroa thing? Touched by a Monster? Huh?). I also felt that the story had too long of a build-up for the crescendo, which was still confused. The description of the swath of destruction needed to be punctuated more by the ongoing violence.
Nuggets of charm: The step-quakes and the roar of the monster were good; I like the concept of a monster-telepath; and I like the fact that the story didn't devolve into a Godzilla comic satire.
There were just too many loose ends for me to enjoy it. I'm guessing that this was a first-run at the City Crushing Monster genre. If so, try again please! There's not enough of these stories around here.
- Jonathan
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I have really enjoyed all the Escape Pods I have listened to but this one just seemed a little lost. I would like to read/hear more from this author because I feel that there is a possibility of some original ideas waiting in his mind. This one just seemed like it was not fully conceived.
I do not know if he did the reading but it was distracting for me and it violated a lot of the rules of voice acting and doing voice overs. I hope that is not insulting it is not meant to be. If the author wants I would be perfectly willing to do his next short story for him. I think he will get a better result that enhances his story telling.
Keep on creating.
Jeff
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I liked this story - until the end.
I felt like we got this exciting build up and then - what? The monster was after Reggie why? How? Huh?
I felt completely deflated at the way this story ended.
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I liked this story - until the end.
I felt like we got this exciting build up and then - what? The monster was after Reggie why? How? Huh?
It's been a while, but I don't think the monster was after Reggie - IIRC, Reggie created the monster (unintentionally) to go after his ex and her boyfriend. He just happened to put himself in the line of fire by going to her place. But yeah, the later part of the story is a muddle so I'm not surprised you got a different idea.
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I liked the concept of this but i think it had the same problem as most short stories, it felt like the first chapter in a novel and not a complete story in itself
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This was an interesting story for sure. ...you ever notice how relationships among young adults always have such larger-than-life proportions? It just kind of follows that one day they would end up destroying cities.
(flowers from time to time are SO IMPORTANT!)
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The discussion of real world military hardware vs. absurd megafauna is rocking my world... keep it coming! It's going to be very useful for future stories in this world... though the possibility might make some of you cringe..! ;D
Like many, I found the ending to this story a bit muddled, but liked the idea of monster incursions as "routine emergencies." And I like the idea of fighting imaginary monsters with real weapons myself...
As another poster said, one of the big problems is that the real heavy-hitting stuff tends to assume a stationary target. Note that in the Wikipedia article on the "Daisy cutter" accurate placement and navigation is stressed repeatedly. Tough break when the target is trucking along at 30 mph or so.
Bio-weapons fail for the same reason they never get used against anything else -- you can't control where they'll go or what they'll become once you turn them loose. Not to mention they're way to slow. Though there might be an interesting story in a monster-control virus mutated into a poodle-killer or something.
I'm thinking the way I'd approach this would be with heavy anti-tank weapons and very good target assessment. Have remote sensing gear that lets you get a good look at the creature's joints and other weak spots, then focus fire on those areas. I might have a group like snipers or forward air controllers deployed close to the creature, using laser homing beacons and other targeting gear to direct fire from aircraft and artillery further away. ("I need a cranial-thickness scan now goddamnit, we've got aircraft in position...")
Anyway, my 2 cents...
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The discussion of real world military hardware vs. absurd megafauna is rocking my world... keep it coming! It's going to be very useful for future stories in this world... though the possibility might make some of you cringe..! ;D
Like many, I found the ending to this story a bit muddled, but liked the idea of monster incursions as "routine emergencies." And I like the idea of fighting imaginary monsters with real weapons myself...
As another poster said, one of the big problems is that the real heavy-hitting stuff tends to assume a stationary target. Note that in the Wikipedia article on the "Daisy cutter" accurate placement and navigation is stressed repeatedly. Tough break when the target is trucking along at 30 mph or so.
Bio-weapons fail for the same reason they never get used against anything else -- you can't control where they'll go or what they'll become once you turn them loose. Not to mention they're way to slow. Though there might be an interesting story in a monster-control virus mutated into a poodle-killer or something.
I'm thinking the way I'd approach this would be with heavy anti-tank weapons and very good target assessment. Have remote sensing gear that lets you get a good look at the creature's joints and other weak spots, then focus fire on those areas. I might have a group like snipers or forward air controllers deployed close to the creature, using laser homing beacons and other targeting gear to direct fire from aircraft and artillery further away. ("I need a cranial-thickness scan now goddamnit, we've got aircraft in position...")
Anyway, my 2 cents...
We already have the perfect hard hitting flying asset for the job. The A-10 Thunderbolt II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Warthog) is more affectionately called the Warthog, because it is so damn ugly. It has been scheduled for decommisioning for years, but everytime we get into a little scrape in a desert, we realize how important it is.
It is a tank killer. Can carry basically any type of bomb including laser guided. Carries hellfire missles which are armor piercing. It is also built around the legendary 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger), the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft cannon in the United States military. This cannon can shoot 3900 rounds a minute and can puncture 3 inches of armor from a quarter of a mile away. The A-10 also has excellent low speed and altitude capability. A squadron of these would make mince meet of any creature.
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We already have the perfect hard hitting flying asset for the job. The A-10 Thunderbolt II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Warthog) is more affectionately called the Warthog, because it is so damn ugly. It has been scheduled for decommisioning for years, but everytime we get into a little scrape in a desert, we realize how important it is.
It is a tank killer. Can carry basically any type of bomb including laser guided. Carries hellfire missles which are armor piercing. It is also built around the legendary 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger), the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft cannon in the United States military. This cannon can shoot 3900 rounds a minute and can puncture 3 inches of armor from a quarter of a mile away. The A-10 also has excellent low speed and altitude capability. A squadron of these would make mince meet of any creature.
Ah, the area of my specialty when I served with the USAF ;D
The A-10 would be the best pick, due to the low-speed/altitude capabilities you mentioned, but the F-15E would make a great choice as well. They don't get much use, but gun pods can be placed on the aircraft wing stations, in your choice of calibur, from .30 all the way up to 30mm (not the same as the GAU-8). The Strike Eagle can carry a lot more guided ordinance than the A-10, with an on-board Whizzo to run the works. Engagement distance for stationary ground targets can exceed 50 miles, shorter, I'm sure, for moving targets, but still long.
Also, don't discount the M61 20mm Vulcan. Not as much punch as the GAU-8, but same range, and a much higher rate of fire (6000-7200 rounds per minute, depending on the aircraft it's mounted in).
The AC-130 would be brutaly effective: 2 x 20mm Vulcan, a 40mm Bofors gun, and a 105mm howitzer, all radar directed. Other configurations are extant, but this is the one I'm most familiar with.
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We already have the perfect hard hitting flying asset for the job. The A-10 Thunderbolt II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Warthog) is more affectionately called the Warthog, because it is so damn ugly. It has been scheduled for decommisioning for years, but everytime we get into a little scrape in a desert, we realize how important it is.
It is a tank killer. Can carry basically any type of bomb including laser guided. Carries hellfire missles which are armor piercing. It is also built around the legendary 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger), the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft cannon in the United States military. This cannon can shoot 3900 rounds a minute and can puncture 3 inches of armor from a quarter of a mile away. The A-10 also has excellent low speed and altitude capability. A squadron of these would make mince meet of any creature.
Ah, the area of my specialty when I served with the USAF ;D
The A-10 would be the best pick, due to the low-speed/altitude capabilities you mentioned, but the F-15E would make a great choice as well. They don't get much use, but gun pods can be placed on the aircraft wing stations, in your choice of calibur, from .30 all the way up to 30mm (not the same as the GAU-8). The Strike Eagle can carry a lot more guided ordinance than the A-10, with an on-board Whizzo to run the works. Engagement distance for stationary ground targets can exceed 50 miles, shorter, I'm sure, for moving targets, but still long.
Also, don't discount the M61 20mm Vulcan. Not as much punch as the GAU-8, but same range, and a much higher rate of fire (6000-7200 rounds per minute, depending on the aircraft it's mounted in).
The AC-130 would be brutaly effective: 2 x 20mm Vulcan, a 40mm Bofors gun, and a 105mm howitzer, all radar directed. Other configurations are extant, but this is the one I'm most familiar with.
I'm a little iffy on the eagle. The monsters hit populated areas as a rule and I'd like something a little slower. The AC130 gunship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC130) is an excellent choice, but I don't know if we really have enough of them stationed around the country to be effective everywhere. I think the decision between the A-10 and the AC130 would simply be based on which was closer and could be on the scene faster.
If the monster is in the boondocks, just send out the eagle with some ground piercing laser guided munitions. It's OK if it takes a couples of tries to hit 'em, when they're not in populated areas.
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We already have the perfect hard hitting flying asset for the job. The A-10 Thunderbolt II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Warthog) is more affectionately called the Warthog, because it is so damn ugly. It has been scheduled for decommisioning for years, but everytime we get into a little scrape in a desert, we realize how important it is.
It is a tank killer. Can carry basically any type of bomb including laser guided. Carries hellfire missles which are armor piercing. It is also built around the legendary 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger), the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft cannon in the United States military. This cannon can shoot 3900 rounds a minute and can puncture 3 inches of armor from a quarter of a mile away. The A-10 also has excellent low speed and altitude capability. A squadron of these would make mince meet of any creature.
Ah, the area of my specialty when I served with the USAF ;D
The A-10 would be the best pick, due to the low-speed/altitude capabilities you mentioned, but the F-15E would make a great choice as well. They don't get much use, but gun pods can be placed on the aircraft wing stations, in your choice of calibur, from .30 all the way up to 30mm (not the same as the GAU-8). The Strike Eagle can carry a lot more guided ordinance than the A-10, with an on-board Whizzo to run the works. Engagement distance for stationary ground targets can exceed 50 miles, shorter, I'm sure, for moving targets, but still long.
Also, don't discount the M61 20mm Vulcan. Not as much punch as the GAU-8, but same range, and a much higher rate of fire (6000-7200 rounds per minute, depending on the aircraft it's mounted in).
The AC-130 would be brutaly effective: 2 x 20mm Vulcan, a 40mm Bofors gun, and a 105mm howitzer, all radar directed. Other configurations are extant, but this is the one I'm most familiar with.
Actually, I think lack of speed might be a problem for both the A-10 and the AC-130. Assuming the creature breathes fire/atomic gas/extreme bad breath, slow-moving aircraft coming relatively close would be in considerable jeapordy. (Titanium "bathtub" for the A-10 crew notwithstanding.) Though the combination of the F-15E and a ground control team would be formidable, though of course the ground-control team is always at risk in these scenarios.
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We already have the perfect hard hitting flying asset for the job. The A-10 Thunderbolt II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Warthog) is more affectionately called the Warthog, because it is so damn ugly. It has been scheduled for decommisioning for years, but everytime we get into a little scrape in a desert, we realize how important it is.
It is a tank killer. Can carry basically any type of bomb including laser guided. Carries hellfire missles which are armor piercing. It is also built around the legendary 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger), the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft cannon in the United States military. This cannon can shoot 3900 rounds a minute and can puncture 3 inches of armor from a quarter of a mile away. The A-10 also has excellent low speed and altitude capability. A squadron of these would make mince meet of any creature.
Ah, the area of my specialty when I served with the USAF ;D
The A-10 would be the best pick, due to the low-speed/altitude capabilities you mentioned, but the F-15E would make a great choice as well. They don't get much use, but gun pods can be placed on the aircraft wing stations, in your choice of calibur, from .30 all the way up to 30mm (not the same as the GAU-8). The Strike Eagle can carry a lot more guided ordinance than the A-10, with an on-board Whizzo to run the works. Engagement distance for stationary ground targets can exceed 50 miles, shorter, I'm sure, for moving targets, but still long.
Also, don't discount the M61 20mm Vulcan. Not as much punch as the GAU-8, but same range, and a much higher rate of fire (6000-7200 rounds per minute, depending on the aircraft it's mounted in).
The AC-130 would be brutaly effective: 2 x 20mm Vulcan, a 40mm Bofors gun, and a 105mm howitzer, all radar directed. Other configurations are extant, but this is the one I'm most familiar with.
Actually, I think lack of speed might be a problem for both the A-10 and the AC-130. Assuming the creature breathes fire/atomic gas/extreme bad breath, slow-moving aircraft coming relatively close would be in considerable jeapordy. (Titanium "bathtub" for the A-10 crew notwithstanding.) Though the combination of the F-15E and a ground control team would be formidable, though of course the ground-control team is always at risk in these scenarios.
Low speed means 200 MPH and close in means a quarter mile. Not much risk of being hit by a monster's weapons. They can also be much further off. A quarter mile is just the most effective range for the A-10's cannon. The Hellfire missiles are good for a few miles.
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We already have the perfect hard hitting flying asset for the job. The A-10 Thunderbolt II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Warthog) is more affectionately called the Warthog, because it is so damn ugly. It has been scheduled for decommisioning for years, but everytime we get into a little scrape in a desert, we realize how important it is.
It is a tank killer. Can carry basically any type of bomb including laser guided. Carries hellfire missles which are armor piercing. It is also built around the legendary 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger), the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft cannon in the United States military. This cannon can shoot 3900 rounds a minute and can puncture 3 inches of armor from a quarter of a mile away. The A-10 also has excellent low speed and altitude capability. A squadron of these would make mince meet of any creature.
Ah, the area of my specialty when I served with the USAF ;D
The A-10 would be the best pick, due to the low-speed/altitude capabilities you mentioned, but the F-15E would make a great choice as well. They don't get much use, but gun pods can be placed on the aircraft wing stations, in your choice of calibur, from .30 all the way up to 30mm (not the same as the GAU-8). The Strike Eagle can carry a lot more guided ordinance than the A-10, with an on-board Whizzo to run the works. Engagement distance for stationary ground targets can exceed 50 miles, shorter, I'm sure, for moving targets, but still long.
Also, don't discount the M61 20mm Vulcan. Not as much punch as the GAU-8, but same range, and a much higher rate of fire (6000-7200 rounds per minute, depending on the aircraft it's mounted in).
The AC-130 would be brutaly effective: 2 x 20mm Vulcan, a 40mm Bofors gun, and a 105mm howitzer, all radar directed. Other configurations are extant, but this is the one I'm most familiar with.
Actually, I think lack of speed might be a problem for both the A-10 and the AC-130. Assuming the creature breathes fire/atomic gas/extreme bad breath, slow-moving aircraft coming relatively close would be in considerable jeapordy. (Titanium "bathtub" for the A-10 crew notwithstanding.) Though the combination of the F-15E and a ground control team would be formidable, though of course the ground-control team is always at risk in these scenarios.
Low speed means 200 MPH and close in means a quarter mile. Not much risk of being hit by a monster's weapons. They can also be much further off. A quarter mile is just the most effective range for the A-10's cannon. The Hellfire missiles are good for a few miles.
OK, A-10's it is then. "Praise the Lord, and pass the depleted uranium..." Though I guess Matthew does get to make the final call on this one, seeing how he is the author and all... :)
Imagine the nose-art possibilities for a special-purpose, Kaiju-busting wing of aircraft...
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We already have the perfect hard hitting flying asset for the job. The A-10 Thunderbolt II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Warthog) is more affectionately called the Warthog, because it is so damn ugly. It has been scheduled for decommisioning for years, but everytime we get into a little scrape in a desert, we realize how important it is.
It is a tank killer. Can carry basically any type of bomb including laser guided. Carries hellfire missles which are armor piercing. It is also built around the legendary 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger), the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft cannon in the United States military. This cannon can shoot 3900 rounds a minute and can puncture 3 inches of armor from a quarter of a mile away. The A-10 also has excellent low speed and altitude capability. A squadron of these would make mince meet of any creature.
Ah, the area of my specialty when I served with the USAF ;D
The A-10 would be the best pick, due to the low-speed/altitude capabilities you mentioned, but the F-15E would make a great choice as well. They don't get much use, but gun pods can be placed on the aircraft wing stations, in your choice of calibur, from .30 all the way up to 30mm (not the same as the GAU-8). The Strike Eagle can carry a lot more guided ordinance than the A-10, with an on-board Whizzo to run the works. Engagement distance for stationary ground targets can exceed 50 miles, shorter, I'm sure, for moving targets, but still long.
Also, don't discount the M61 20mm Vulcan. Not as much punch as the GAU-8, but same range, and a much higher rate of fire (6000-7200 rounds per minute, depending on the aircraft it's mounted in).
The AC-130 would be brutaly effective: 2 x 20mm Vulcan, a 40mm Bofors gun, and a 105mm howitzer, all radar directed. Other configurations are extant, but this is the one I'm most familiar with.
Actually, I think lack of speed might be a problem for both the A-10 and the AC-130. Assuming the creature breathes fire/atomic gas/extreme bad breath, slow-moving aircraft coming relatively close would be in considerable jeapordy. (Titanium "bathtub" for the A-10 crew notwithstanding.) Though the combination of the F-15E and a ground control team would be formidable, though of course the ground-control team is always at risk in these scenarios.
Low speed means 200 MPH and close in means a quarter mile. Not much risk of being hit by a monster's weapons. They can also be much further off. A quarter mile is just the most effective range for the A-10's cannon. The Hellfire missiles are good for a few miles.
OK, A-10's it is then. "Praise the Lord, and pass the depleted uranium..." Though I guess Matthew does get to make the final call on this one, seeing how he is the author and all... :)
Imagine the nose-art possibilities for a special-purpose, Kaiju-busting wing of aircraft...
I got to see an A-10 after the first Gulf War. The kill stickers on the side were different depending on the target: tanks, artillery, etc.. It would be really funny to see what the sticker looked like for a Monster.
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This one was really disappointing. As others said, much of that was because of the title implying some kind of actual faceoff between Reggie and the monster. Also, when I read a monster story, I want the monster to actually show up. The connections between everything were way too muddled--how is this monster related to the Berlin monster? Why does Reggie have monster summoning powers?
I'd really like to see a daikaiju story that is about daikaiju.
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The intro on this one was amusing. It's like Steve was talking directly to me about how weird it would sound in a few years. Only two (Facebook/Twitter) of the long list of sites / social media outlets seem to be functional eight years later. Livejournal was also mentioned, but that thing is limping along. Does it even still count?
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Social media of choice for a lot of authors, weirdly. I loathe it with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns but it works for a lot of folks.
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Social media of choice for a lot of authors, weirdly. I loathe it with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns but it works for a lot of folks.
Yeah, I still know quite a few fiction writer on LiveJournal, but I don't think I know a single person who is not a fiction writer on there anymore.