EP140: Astromonkeys!

[swdragoon]

I loved this story. The characters were real the world was breathing. And the story was fun.

[ajames]

Wow, this one TOTALLY exceeded my expectations.  But, I have to admit, I've never had lower expectations for an escapepod story.

[DKT]

Wow, this one TOTALLY exceeded my expectations.  But, I have to admit, I've never had lower expectations for an escapepod story.

Why?  Because of the title?

[ajames]

Wow, this one TOTALLY exceeded my expectations.  But, I have to admit, I've never had lower expectations for an escapepod story.

Why?  Because of the title?

There was the title, and the excerpt just rubbed me the wrong way.  The narration was present tense, which can be done well but often isn't, there was the very casual style, with the narrator telling a story to his friend, which is difficult to sustain well for very long, and the naming of the group of superheroes like they were a software version, and a few other things like that, all in one little excerpt.  So I was prepared not to like this very much.  But I can see now why many people raved about this.

[Lagbert]

A note for Mr. Eley on the afterword, though: It could be just as scary, if not more so, to give a child the power to shape reality as to give it to an adult.  As a rule, children have poor impulse control and aren't too good at thinking about consequences. 

Or to put it another way, somebody's forgotten (or never seen) a certain episode of Twilight Zone.

I'm going to second this comment.  You don't even have to look further than the Escape Pod archives to find a scary example of a single person's ability to bring fantasy to life - If you ask me Save Me Plz is disturbing and a good reason no individual should be able to bend reality.

[Jhite]

This Story didn't do a lot for me.  I thought the humor was not up to the level that Steve hyped it to be at the beginning.  It was not a bad story and I know from experience that first person is very hard to pull off and sound credible.  So I think the writing was over all pretty good.  I just didn't care much for the story.

Two thoughts on the the closing comments by Steve.  First, I did like that the quote you (Steve) used that was about what a superhero should be.  Paraphrasing here as it is already gone from my iPod.  A superhero is the guy in tights that saves the person in need. Second, there was a comment about giving children the keys to the reality and letting them take it out for a spin.  This is a very popular theme in literature, that I personally have been exploring for a long time.  If you want to see one of the best examples of it, you have to look no further than The Lord of the Rings.  The Elves, going away are the old, the Wizards are the middle aged and the children are the Hobbits, a young race so young they are not recorded in the lore of the trees.  I believe, and I again I am paraphrasing here, that you (Steve) said something to the effect of give the power to the adults and they would screw it up.  "You have to understand Frodo I would take the ring in order to do good, but through me..."  and of course "...Instead of a dark lord you would you would have a queen..."  And I would have to agree with it, adults although we may be more wise than our children, most the time can't see through our own wisdom to the simple truths.

[ajames]

Second, there was a comment about giving children the keys to the reality and letting them take it out for a spin.  This is a very popular theme in literature, that I personally have been exploring for a long time.  If you want to see one of the best examples of it, you have to look no further than The Lord of the Rings.  The Elves, going away are the old, the Wizards are the middle aged and the children are the Hobbits, a young race so young they are not recorded in the lore of the trees.  I believe, and I again I am paraphrasing here, that you (Steve) said something to the effect of give the power to the adults and they would screw it up.  "You have to understand Frodo I would take the ring in order to do good, but through me..."  and of course "...Instead of a dark lord you would you would have a queen..."  And I would have to agree with it, adults although we may be more wise than our children, most the time can't see through our own wisdom to the simple truths.

I think you are stretching a bit there, Jhite.  After all, Gandalf and Galadriel were wise enough NOT to take the ring, as were Aragorn and Faramir, and Frodo was the ring bearer, given the ring to destroy it, not to wear it and create a new reality.  Also, at least one hobbit was destroyed by the ring, and it would have been a matter of time for the others.

Give ultimate power to shape reality to anyone, and the potential for an ultimate hell is there.  You just get a different kind of hell depending upon who has that power.

[Alan]

Well, I thought this story was a hoot. Radioactive flying green monkeys have got to be the most inventive metaphor I've ever heard for the demons of depression. I liked how the pace kept swinging forward from each over-the-top episode to the next, and Norm Sherman deserves to be groomed as a regular voice. If Tony Frazier extends his talents into the realm of pirates and ninjas, he may yet be top banana in the superhero comedy genre. I give this story opposable thumbs up.

[FNH]

That was a fun story, I really enjoyed it.  I nearly fell off my bike when the monkeys started flaming.

[Rain]

A note for Mr. Eley on the afterword, though: It could be just as scary, if not more so, to give a child the power to shape reality as to give it to an adult.  As a rule, children have poor impulse control and aren't too good at thinking about consequences. 

Or to put it another way, somebody's forgotten (or never seen) a certain episode of Twilight Zone.

If you ask me Save Me Plz is disturbing and a good reason no individual should be able to bend reality.

I agree, Save Me Plz was really creepy and more like a Pseudopod story

[Thaurismunths]

Shwankie and I listened to this last week really didn't enjoy it. This is one of very few EPs I've had to stop part way through. I did finish the story later with high hopes for a satisfying resolution and was disappointed.
The story itself was ok (what's not to love about green space monkeys and "digger beams?") but we just couldn't get past the reading. Mr.  Sherman has an amazing superhero voice, no doubt about it, but it was as though he hadn't read the story before he recorded it. The emotion and inflection of the characters were inconsistent and sometimes changed part way through sentences as though Mr. Sherman weren't sure what the character's intent was. That made it very difficult to listen to, which was a shame because I'm a fan of superhero shenanigans.
Shwankie also notes that the story is strongly reminiscent of an episode of Buffy, which she is trying to force me to watch (She keeps chanting 'one of us, one of us').

[Russell Nash]

Shwankie and I listened to this last week really didn't enjoy it. This is one of very few EPs I've had to stop part way through. I did finish the story later with high hopes for a satisfying resolution and was disappointed.
The story itself was ok (what's not to love about green space monkeys and "digger beams?") but we just couldn't get past the reading. Mr.  Sherman has an amazing superhero voice, no doubt about it, but it was as though he hadn't read the story before he recorded it. The emotion and inflection of the characters were inconsistent and sometimes changed part way through sentences as though Mr. Sherman weren't sure what the character's intent was. That made it very difficult to listen to, which was a shame because I'm a fan of superhero shenanigans.
Shwankie also notes that the story is strongly reminiscent of an episode of Buffy, which she is trying to force me to watch (She keeps chanting 'one of us, one of us').

Don't let he get you started on Buffy.  It's very addictive.  If you do give in, start from the beginning.

[DDog]

I thought this story was great. Listened to it at work (which is in a library no less) and had to keep from busting out laughing multiple times. Did not expect the ending at all, although I should have; too wrapped up in the story.

[Strawman]

Very unusual "voice". Stories usually have a simpler narrative form, [such as the 1st Person (I), or Third Person (He)]. Usually if the voice is switched from one to another, the original voice is terminated. But with Astromonkeys, when the narrative voices switch, they continue on together. The narrator begins 1st Person, but then tells a story whose characters speak from their own point of view.

Sound Confusing? It confuses me.

Imagine trying to read Astromonkeys, and determining "on-the-fly" what voice to use for each of the four main characters. That may partly explain what makes a line like "you said you didn't want to die with chili on your shirt" funny.

Anyway, this particular aspect of the story has no bearing on the plot, but bears directly on the performance. Who said what how to whom?

It's the language of green space monkeys shooting flames out their butts.

[CGFxColONeill]

So I am kinda new to the escape pod thing ( started with randomly finding nightfall and decided to find some other ones and try them out)
I have listened to about 4 or 5 maybe they are good on the whole some kinda strange some really good

this one had several what the heck moments flying monkeys ( shoot... green space monkeys anyway), and some other moments in there
I was surprised and a little disappointed with the end until I started reading this forum and figured out that davvys father and astro and the davvy from the bar were all the kids imagination

loved the I dont want to die with chili on my shirt and also the watch this lines the narrator was great with the inflection on them etc

[Thaurismunths]

So I am kinda new to the escape pod thing ( started with randomly finding nightfall and decided to find some other ones and try them out)
I have listened to about 4 or 5 maybe they are good on the whole some kinda strange some really good

this one had several what the heck moments flying monkeys ( shoot... green space monkeys anyway), and some other moments in there
I was surprised and a little disappointed with the end until I started reading this forum and figured out that davvys father and astro and the davvy from the bar were all the kids imagination

loved the I dont want to die with chili on my shirt and also the watch this lines the narrator was great with the inflection on them etc

Welcome Colonel!
It's really very much worth working your way through the archives. So many of EP's stories are amazing. I especially recommend the Union Dues stories (stories #27, 49, 62, 80, & 128), and L'Alchimista (#38).

[CGFxColONeill]

thank you
how do I go back and find those? I so far have only been able to get back to around 100 or so

[Russell Nash]

thank you
how do I go back and find those? I so far have only been able to get back to around 100 or so

The feed only holds somewhat recent episodes.  Steve purges it every once in a while.  To get the back episodes you can go to the main podcast page and then manually download the eps. you want or you can get on the archive feed and get them as podcasts.  The archive feed is a fan run feed. 

[CGFxColONeill]

thanks for the tip

[Tango Alpha Delta]

Steve, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Norm is a better woman than you are.



Sadly, I had baggage interfering with my enjoyment of this story.  First, Norm's reading style reminded me a lot of a guy I used to know who told long, drawn out stories in a semi-sneery, faux-world-weary tone.  I really hated that guy, so even though Norm did a fine job, I just didn't want to like Digger because of that guy.

I was also distracted because Steve bemoaned the dearth of comedic writing these days... and comedic is what I do best, when I'm not really TRYING to do comedic.  So I spent half my CPU listening, and half day-dreaming about material that just might find its way into Steve's slush pile....

[Unblinking]

This one was fun!  I totally saw the ending coming, but the rest kept me laughing enough that I didn't really have a problem with it.  And yeah, Wayne's World was first and foremost in my mind (not a bad thing).