Author Topic: PC023: Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge - PodCastle Giant  (Read 36625 times)

Heradel

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on: September 03, 2008, 02:51:23 PM
PC023: Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge - PodCastle Giant

By Richard Parks.
Read by Steve Anderson.
Introduction by Rachel Swirsky.
First appeared in Realms of Fantasy.

Note: This PodCastle Giant is longer than a normal episode. PodCastle Giants will air once every three months. Other episodes will remain our customary length.

The full moon cast the man’s shadow across the thin screen that was my doorway. It wasn’t a mistake; he wanted me to know he was there. I pulled the screen aside, but I was pretty sure I knew who would be waiting.

He kneeled on the veranda, the hilt of his sword clearly visible. “Lord Yamada? My name is Kanemore.”

“Lord” was technically correct but a little jarring to hear applied to me again. Especially coming from a man who was the son of an emperor. I finally realized who he was. “Prince Kanemore. You were named after the poet, Taira no Kanemore, weren’t you?” I asked.

He smiled then, or perhaps it was a trick of the moonlight. “My mother thought that having a famous poet for a namesake might gentle my nature. In that I fear she was mistaken. So, you remember me.”

“I do. Even when you were not at Court, your sister Princess Teiko always spoke highly of you.”

He smiled faintly. “And so back to the matter at hand: Lord Yamada, I am charged to bring you safely to the Imperial compound.”


Rated PG. Contains adventuring.

For those listeners looking for a good point to pause the episode, Steve Anderson recommends minute 48 as a good time for an intermission.


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Heradel

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Reply #1 on: September 03, 2008, 02:57:45 PM
To forestall the obvious question: One hour, Thirty-Four minutes and Many-Many seconds.

Edit: That's odd — For some reason Preview and iTunes disagreed on the length.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2008, 04:40:08 AM by Heradel »

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MacArthurBug

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Reply #2 on: September 03, 2008, 03:25:13 PM
Oh my goodness! Now this is what I've been wanting.  I didn't even know I needed this story. It glimmered, it glowed. The prose and characters were exquisite, the world was full and spectacular. The tangled and twisted strands were all woven into a gorgeous collage. Thank you! thank you! I loved it! I'm really looking foreward to the next PC giants stories now!

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Reply #3 on: September 04, 2008, 09:38:05 AM
i'd been wondering why we hadn't seen a solid, straight forward fantasy story before. now it makes sense, i'm glad we have a forum for them now.



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Reply #4 on: September 04, 2008, 10:11:09 PM
Finished listening to it on the drive in today - it filled the majority of three commute legs. :-) 

The story was very good.  I really liked the atmosphere... I'm a sucker for court intrigue, and love medieval Japan, so I was thrilled with the combination.  The fantasy elements really added to the atmosphere too, even though the plot didn't really hang on them.  But I loved the matter of fact way that they were handled. 

Technical gripe - the sound levels were just too low, or the sound quality too poor.  Listening in my car with the iPod hooked into the car's system, I had to turn the volume way up to understand on the freeway.  When switching to radio (or iPod music) had to crank it back down.  This seems a fairly typical problem for PC, but it was strongly noticed this time so I thought I'd mention it.



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Reply #5 on: September 04, 2008, 10:35:01 PM
I'm a sucker for court intrigue, and love medieval Japan, so I was thrilled with the combination.

Wasn't it medieval China?  I can't reply further because I haven't finished it, but even without getting to the end yet, I love this story.

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Heradel

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Reply #6 on: September 04, 2008, 11:18:59 PM
I'm a sucker for court intrigue, and love medieval Japan, so I was thrilled with the combination.

Wasn't it medieval China?  I can't reply further because I haven't finished it, but even without getting to the end yet, I love this story.

They mention someone being from China (as opposed to everyone else), so I'm pretty sure it's Japan.

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Reply #7 on: September 05, 2008, 12:47:14 AM
I'm a sucker for court intrigue, and love medieval Japan, so I was thrilled with the combination.

Wasn't it medieval China?  I can't reply further because I haven't finished it, but even without getting to the end yet, I love this story.
It's Japan. The child at the centre of the story is Emperor Go-Sanjo.

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Swamp

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Reply #8 on: September 05, 2008, 05:31:24 AM
I'm a sucker for court intrigue, and love medieval Japan, so I was thrilled with the combination.

Wasn't it medieval China?  I can't reply further because I haven't finished it, but even without getting to the end yet, I love this story.
It's Japan. The child at the centre of the story is Emperor Go-Sanjo.

I stand corrected.  Thanks for the clarification.

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Roney

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Reply #9 on: September 05, 2008, 07:58:11 PM
Awesome, without reservation.

I was a little bit apprehensive when I heard that Steve Anderson was reading it: I've found his readings rather over-wrought in the past, and thought that 90 minutes was going to strain me past breaking point.  But I thought he was excellent throughout.  I now can't imagine any other Escape Artists reader bringing this story to life.  It was really magnificent work, imbued with the humanity of the characters.

And they were beautifully portrayed characters.  And the language was gorgeously controlled.  And everything about the story was great.

(And it slotted perfectly into my commute, finishing about two minutes before I walked into the office.)

I don't know whether Fantasy in general works better at a slightly higher word count, but this story was exactly as long as it needed to be, and it would have been a terrible shame if it had been rejected for breaching some self-imposed limit.  Please keep running the good stories, whatever pigeon-holes they miss on the way.



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Reply #10 on: September 05, 2008, 09:25:25 PM
I found this story to be pretty boring, the first half hour or so was pretty good, but then it turned into dull court politics and the fantasy element completely disappeared. It doesnt help that Steve Anderson was the reader, no offense to the man but i have to resist the urge to fall asleep when he reads stories, everything just comes off as dull and flat
« Last Edit: September 11, 2008, 08:24:36 PM by Rain »



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Reply #11 on: September 06, 2008, 04:13:00 AM
Finished listening to it on the drive in today - it filled the majority of three commute legs. :-) 
It occupied 45 minutes of my lunch hour and 45 minutes of my bus ride home today.  I finally resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to have an uninterrupted 90 minutes so I just plunged in.  Some shorter PC and EP stories don't get finished in one sitting, so this wasn't really anything new.

The story was very good.  I really liked the atmosphere... I'm a sucker for court intrigue, and love medieval Japan, so I was thrilled with the combination.  The fantasy elements really added to the atmosphere too, even though the plot didn't really hang on them.  But I loved the matter of fact way that they were handled. 

If I had any kind of skill at drawing people, I'd be adapting this one as a manga right now.  I thought it could also be a good 45-to-60-minute OAV in the right hands.

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ajames

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Reply #12 on: September 07, 2008, 11:33:04 AM
If I was wearing a hat, I'd tip it to both Steve Anderson and Richard Parks. Intrigue, ghosts, sorcery, mystery, poetry, and more, all done very well. And the length was just right (although I've debated whether or not it was two words too long, for now I'm sticking with just right).

Glad to see Podcastle is trying some new things without sacrificing the quality.



JoeFitz

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Reply #13 on: September 08, 2008, 12:00:08 AM
(And it slotted perfectly into my commute, finishing about two minutes before I walked into the office.)

Ouch. That's quite a drive. I barely have time to start the story before I'm arriving.



Heradel

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Reply #14 on: September 08, 2008, 12:38:26 AM
(And it slotted perfectly into my commute, finishing about two minutes before I walked into the office.)

Ouch. That's quite a drive. I barely have time to start the story before I'm arriving.

Depending on how long I have to wait for a (1) train, I can either finish a miniature or about half of a regular story. If I walk I can finish a regular one. When I was commuting to work this summer I would have been able to finish this story with about ten minutes to spare, so I'm quite glad to be back at school.

I really liked this one. The length was good — I listened to it as I was walking around taking pictures in Central Park (is that name dropping?) and otherwise just wandering around before classes started, so it was nice to lose myself for a decent length of time before having to do battle with old and middle english, plus the story wouldn't have worked shorter. I saw the ending coming a little bit off, but the suspense about the possible end of the main character/story compensated quite well for that.

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Reply #15 on: September 08, 2008, 12:56:15 PM
Other than one or two of the Miniatures, this is the only PodCastle or EscapePod that I've listened to more than once.  That right there is glowing review considering I barely have enough commute-time to even keep current on all my podcasts!



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Reply #16 on: September 08, 2008, 04:05:47 PM
I thought the story was well-written and certainly a good listen.  It wasn't something that I'd rate 'WOW!'

As for the run-time of the story, it didn't bother me.  However, I thought it was hard to find a good 90 minutes to get the whole thing in.  I know it's a new sort of experiement, but once every few months I think it's quite reasonable.

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Reply #17 on: September 08, 2008, 07:17:39 PM
I really enjoyed this first giant cast.  The reader really brought life to the story, and I loved how the ending twisted from what I had expected.  Delicious.  Plus, I am such a sucker for good asian fantasy.  (Though I suppose, given the stories you guys have seen from me, you know that already.)

I did not listen to this story for a commute, but used it to get me through laundry folding and a ton of filing at home.  It made these onerous tasks really enjoyable.

Thanks for running this one!

Hmm

PS Now I am going to have to look up that Emperor... You know a story is good when you get so excited by it you want to indulge in spontaneous research to enrich your understanding of it.


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Reply #18 on: September 09, 2008, 06:27:09 AM
I listen while I work, so bigger is bettah!

The tad bit at the end through me for a loop. I had actually considered it, but I didn't think it was so. I was expecting that she didn't really kill herself, that she used a, uhm, ghost thingy, that looked like her. I thought this because Wossesname found a scrap of paper in her bed, and it was never revealed, and the ghost thingies don't dissipate until job is done, so I calculated that perhaps until all was revealed, that she didn't die, the body would not vanish.

Other than I felt that scrap of paper was a loose end, BEST STORY EVER on Podcastle, so far...

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Reply #19 on: September 09, 2008, 03:05:40 PM
LONGEST. PODCASTLE. EVER.

(Come on, someone had to.)

I really liked this story as a piece of historical fiction. Not being a student of Japanese history I don't know how speculative it actually is (fantastical elements aside), but I enjoyed it.

From a fantasy perspective (and the voice of Lyle Konkiel just echoed in my head as I wrote that), I felt the fantastical elements were given very short shrift. It's like... okay... there are demons and monsters and ghosts, but aside from that one ghost that gives the information to Lord Yamada and the monsters the prince (I forget his name) fight, there's really no NEED for the fantasy. Had there been an informant that could've been bribed with food or money, had there been mercenary guards, had the CONCEPT of ghosts been discussed without actually seeing them, I think the story would've been just as good, if not better -- and the whole thing with the demons... I felt a little cheated not seeing more of them. I feel that for a fantasy or sci-fi story to really justify the genre label, SF or F needs to be a part of the climax, even if it's not the point of the story... and in this story, it wasn't. Lord Yamada simply washed off the ink, then pulled a Scooby Doo ending on the princess's brother.

Also, the ending -- when Yamada and the prince got drunk -- went on FAR too long, and I think the whole "my son" thing felt tacked on. I think you'd really have to be a student of Japanese classical literature -- haiku/tanka format, and more than just counting syllables -- to really have picked up on the fact that the child emperor (Takahito, was it?) was Yamada's son.

Make it a non-fantasy story and I'll like it a lot better.

As for the reading, Steve Anderson is a talented voice actor, but he always sounds pained, like he's trying too hard to get the words to come from his diaphragm, and like he's actively trying not to read too quickly. Okay in small doses, but I think he may have contributed to my feeling that the story went on TOO long.

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Reply #20 on: September 09, 2008, 03:19:30 PM
Yay.  Nice story, and I really enjoyed the reading.  I was actually wondering about the paternity of the prince, so the "my son" bit worked well for me.



Roney

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Reply #21 on: September 09, 2008, 09:16:29 PM
(And it slotted perfectly into my commute, finishing about two minutes before I walked into the office.)
Ouch. That's quite a drive. I barely have time to start the story before I'm arriving.

It would be if I had to drive!  It's 20 minutes walking, slightly over an hour on the train (usually).  The train was slightly delayed on the morning I listened to PC023, otherwise I would have been sitting at my desk fending off all challengers while I waited for the end...



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Reply #22 on: September 09, 2008, 11:22:15 PM
This longer episode couldn't have come at a better time - today is the first day of my new schedule with three ten and a half hour shifts per five-day week. I enjoyed the voice of the reader very much! Just the voice and tones kept me interested in what was going on.

Oh, and no disrespect intended, but am I the only one that thought of Pinky and the Brain when he said "We need our heads clear tomorrow". "The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!"
« Last Edit: September 10, 2008, 12:33:57 AM by daphyn »

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Reply #23 on: September 10, 2008, 04:05:51 PM
Also, this story made me want to go play Onimusha, despite the fact that I sorta hated the game, but I liked it too. In Onimusha 2 was the worst. I don't mind getting my butt kicked my a throng of demons, or my butt handed to me by the greatest demon swordsman ever, but when the ugly demon woman with an UMBRELLA causes my death over and over (yay for save games), that is just wrong, and does not make a guy want to play a game that is so humiliating. 'Course, when I finally did win the fight, there was dancing in the living room for several minutes. Aaaaand... uhm... yeah... Demons are bad. I also agree that the story could have lived on without them, but I liked it better with them, simply because floating lamp ghosts are cool, and before that almost getting eaten by an imposter lamp was a cool scene.

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Reply #24 on: September 10, 2008, 04:27:57 PM
Also, this story made me want to go play Onimusha, despite the fact that I sorta hated the game, but I liked it too. In Onimusha 2 was the worst. I don't mind getting my butt kicked my a throng of demons, or my butt handed to me by the greatest demon swordsman ever, but when the ugly demon woman with an UMBRELLA causes my death over and over (yay for save games), that is just wrong, and does not make a guy want to play a game that is so humiliating. 'Course, when I finally did win the fight, there was dancing in the living room for several minutes. Aaaaand... uhm... yeah... Demons are bad. I also agree that the story could have lived on without them, but I liked it better with them, simply because floating lamp ghosts are cool, and before that almost getting eaten by an imposter lamp was a cool scene.

Now that you mention it, I want to watch Spirited Away again.  Lots of Japanese ghosts/demons in that one.

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Reply #25 on: September 10, 2008, 07:43:46 PM
I think this story is the one I've enjoyed the most to date on Podcastle.  I'm not usually into this type of story, but this one grabbed me right from the start.

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Reply #26 on: September 11, 2008, 02:37:34 AM
From a fantasy perspective (and the voice of Lyle Konkiel just echoed in my head as I wrote that), I felt the fantastical elements were given very short shrift. It's like... okay... there are demons and monsters and ghosts, but aside from that one ghost that gives the information to Lord Yamada and the monsters the prince (I forget his name) fight, there's really no NEED for the fantasy. Had there been an informant that could've been bribed with food or money, had there been mercenary guards, had the CONCEPT of ghosts been discussed without actually seeing them, I think the story would've been just as good, if not better -- and the whole thing with the demons... I felt a little cheated not seeing more of them. I feel that for a fantasy or sci-fi story to really justify the genre label, SF or F needs to be a part of the climax, even if it's not the point of the story... and in this story, it wasn't. Lord Yamada simply washed off the ink, then pulled a Scooby Doo ending on the princess's brother.

Not that I place much stock in the "is this genre?" debates, I have to agree with you that this one struck me as pretty marginally fantasy. That's okay, personally, because it was still a great story, all in all (though historical fiction is not my cup of tea generally).



stePH

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Reply #27 on: September 11, 2008, 04:01:18 AM
Not that I place much stock in the "is this genre?" debates, I have to agree with you that this one struck me as pretty marginally fantasy. That's okay, personally, because it was still a great story, all in all (though historical fiction is not my cup of tea generally).


It's certainly identifiable as fantasy, however marginal the fantasy elements might have been -- unlike "It Takes A Town".

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Reply #28 on: September 12, 2008, 04:50:09 AM
I have yet to listen to the story, so I skipped over the other posts so as not to ruin my enjoyment, but as soon as I saw the Giant concept, I jumped up and down clapping my hands together like a little girl. I mean, this is exactly what I've been looking for! I love longer stories, and they tend to be my favorites, just because it feels like there is more room for the author to stretch their legs and explore both their characters and world. This goes for all the podcasts, Flat Diane is almost definitely my favorite Pseudopod story, and Robots and Falling Hearts holds a special place for me.

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Reply #29 on: September 14, 2008, 09:42:34 AM
Also, this story made me want to go play Onimusha, despite the fact that I sorta hated the game, but I liked it too. In Onimusha 2 was the worst. I don't mind getting my butt kicked my a throng of demons, or my butt handed to me by the greatest demon swordsman ever,

I AM GORGONDANTESS, THE GREATEST SWORDSMAN OF THE DEMON WORLD!! (I had to...)

Anyway...

I'm a big fan of japanese stories and history (and of the Onimusha games, actually), and I loved hearing this story. The longer form was perfect and I look forward to more since I regularly listen to podcasts this long anyway. I agree that this wasn't all that fantastic, but I like me a subtle Japanese fantasy. The "my son" bit worked perfectly for me, threw me off quite a bit. I had no idea it was coming (as I rarely do with such things, I'm very susceptable to plot twists).



stePH

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Reply #30 on: September 14, 2008, 02:24:54 PM
Yay.  Nice story, and I really enjoyed the reading.  I was actually wondering about the paternity of the prince, so the "my son" bit worked well for me.

I just assumed that the prince's father was Teiko's former husband.

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Reply #31 on: September 14, 2008, 03:11:18 PM
I really enjoyed this first giant cast.  The reader really brought life to the story, and I loved how the ending twisted from what I had expected.  Delicious.  Plus, I am such a sucker for good asian fantasy.  (Though I suppose, given the stories you guys have seen from me, you know that already.)

I did not listen to this story for a commute, but used it to get me through laundry folding and a ton of filing at home.  It made these onerous tasks really enjoyable.

Thanks for running this one!

Hmm

PS Now I am going to have to look up that Emperor... You know a story is good when you get so excited by it you want to indulge in spontaneous research to enrich your understanding of it.

Madam Hmm,

This is fabulous- I too am driven to spontanious resurch. Tho not always by good stories sometimes all it takes is a good idea in a story.  I did LOVE this story and also went "to the books!" (I'm sure that'd be my superhero cry) to find out a bit more.

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Reply #32 on: September 16, 2008, 06:46:31 PM
I found the beginning of this story slow, dull, and laden with unnecessary detail. I just kept thinking, "Urgk, politics. Bo-ring." But I know that long stories often start slowly, so I decided to stick with it. Boy am I glad I did, because the middle and end are fantastic.

I liked how the protagonist's description of himself as a donkey sort of set a tone for the story, and recurred subtly several times, including towards the end when he calls himself an enormous ass. I loved the powerful ending that recast the entire story. I loved how, though we saw little of what Princess Taiko (yeah, I suck at Japanese phonetics) actually did, she was richly characterized for us through the eyes of her brother and lover.

Most of all, though, I find myself at a loss for words to describe why I loved this story. I can point to very few elements and say, "Yes, that's it; that's what made it great." There are too many tiny things that pull together to create in me a gushing, nearly irrational positive reaction. This is my new favorite Podcastle.

That doesn't change my opinion that it could have been edited down, just a little; the beginning could have had more of a hook; but overall I must say to the author, "Well played". I'll be checking out those links in the liner notes for sure.



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Reply #33 on: September 17, 2008, 05:59:05 AM
I seem to be swimming against the tide here as I cared little for the story but enjoyed Steve Anderson's reading of it. It was most exciting at the little swashbucking moment of fighting the ghosts but I found I didn't really care about the court or it's intrigues.



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Reply #34 on: September 17, 2008, 08:33:42 PM
I'm with the "WOW" crowd on this one!  I also listen while I work so all I had to do was slate some partially mundane coding for the 90 minutes and there I was!

The reading brought me into the world which was well built and let me feel like I was one of those benign spirits, floating behind the heads of the characters.  Excellent plot, I thought, with the court intrigue and the spirit world wound together to an ending that caught me completely off-guard!

If you like stories like this, I'll recommend In the Service of Samurai by Gloria Oliver, http://www.gloriaoliver.com/samurai.html which has a free audio version by Podiobooks.com at http://www.podiobooks.com/title/in-the-service-of-samurai


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Reply #35 on: September 17, 2008, 08:41:25 PM
Great story! I really loved it. And I enjoyed the fact that it had the room to expand. In the beginning I was skeptical about the "giant" concept - not because I didn't want longer stories, but because I didn't feel they needed a special category; I thought PC could just run them when they felt natural without labelling them. But after hearing the story, I realized that the label did adjust my expectations - I wasn't expecting to hear something paced like a short story, so rather than the exposition and detail level bothering me, it drew me in.

My one nit was that the twist was so glaringly obvious that I felt insulted that the story waited until the very last sentence to "reveal" it. I realize that explicit confirmation had to wait at least until the narrator learnt the prince's paternity, but I would have appreciated if the author had the grace to assume I'd figure it out earlier than that, and certainly not postpone the reveal through the entire climax and denoument.



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Reply #36 on: September 18, 2008, 01:13:32 PM
My one nit was that the twist was so glaringly obvious that I felt insulted that the story waited until the very last sentence to "reveal" it. I realize that explicit confirmation had to wait at least until the narrator learnt the prince's paternity, but I would have appreciated if the author had the grace to assume I'd figure it out earlier than that, and certainly not postpone the reveal through the entire climax and denoument.

We're not all so perceptive and insightful.

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eytanz

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Reply #37 on: September 18, 2008, 02:04:55 PM
My one nit was that the twist was so glaringly obvious that I felt insulted that the story waited until the very last sentence to "reveal" it. I realize that explicit confirmation had to wait at least until the narrator learnt the prince's paternity, but I would have appreciated if the author had the grace to assume I'd figure it out earlier than that, and certainly not postpone the reveal through the entire climax and denoument.

We're not all so perceptive and insightful.

Well, I don't think I am particularly perceptive and/or insightful, which is why I thought that the fact that the kid's parentage seemed very obvious to me meant it was so for everyone. Guess not.



slic

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Reply #38 on: September 18, 2008, 08:21:36 PM
My one nit was that the twist was so glaringly obvious that I felt insulted that the story waited until the very last sentence to "reveal" it. I realize that explicit confirmation had to wait at least until the narrator learnt the prince's paternity, but I would have appreciated if the author had the grace to assume I'd figure it out earlier than that, and certainly not postpone the reveal through the entire climax and denoument.

We're not all so perceptive and insightful.

Well, I don't think I am particularly perceptive and/or insightful, which is why I thought that the fact that the kid's parentage seemed very obvious to me meant it was so for everyone. Guess not.
I think that a twist ending is something that listeners often expect, and in this case, as an option for a twist, it was a pretty clear one.  The author was subtle in the way he hinted about the level of

Personally, I think it would have been a better story without the last line.  Lord Kamata (sp?) would have taken care of her son no matter the parentage, she had him wrapped around her finger enough already.  If anything it went further to make Lady whatshername even more of a heartless controlling schemer.



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Reply #39 on: September 18, 2008, 08:54:19 PM
For the record, i was pretty clear on the "twist" well in advance.  To the point where it was revealed and presented in the tone of a Big Deal my reaction was "...oh ya, guess they never explicitly said that before, have they?"

And I don't think it *needed* to be explicitly said, either.  But it didn't hurt it for me.



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Reply #40 on: September 18, 2008, 09:14:00 PM
Oh, I disagree. I think the twist itself - though not, as I said above, it's manner of presentation - added a lot to the story.

For one, it showed that the entire deception was necessary from the princess's POV. Her son was illegitimate, and someone might have discovered evidence. She needed to act pre-emptively.

It also explains - though not, at least not to our morality, justifies - why she cast out the narrator when they were young. She probably discovered her pregnancy, and needed to be rid of him before anyone could make the connection.

Finally, it does show that her priorities very clearly placed her son's future over that of her lover. But the fact that she told him means that she both trusted him to make the right choice (as opposed to him taking revenge on her, as the brother suggested), and that she wanted him to know what her priorities were. Remember, she gave him a letter that admits the boy is a bastard. The story made it entirely clear that such a letter would destroy everything she worked for. The fact that she did so, giving him that power over the son and her entire enterprise, was crucial for the story having the impact it had, in my opinion.
« Last Edit: September 18, 2008, 09:24:40 PM by eytanz »



slic

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Reply #41 on: September 18, 2008, 11:48:36 PM
I'm not a cynical bastard, and I really am happily married, but I doubt she expected him to behave any different than he did.

Sure he had the letter - after she died.  That level of guilt alone was more than enough to get him to take care of the boy, whether or not it was his.  And frankly, after everything else she did, how do you know she was being truthful?  Maybe she was just making extra certain.

And really what would he have done? "Oh by the way, family-of-the-guy-I-totally-detest, the heir to the throne is a bastard, and my true love is a slut"

I really should say for the record that I really enjoyed the story - well written, well paced.  I'd listen to more like it.  I just thought the hero was a little love-struck-gullible is all



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Reply #42 on: September 19, 2008, 10:20:21 PM
I couldn't get all of this. forty minutes was the most I could get to play.



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Reply #43 on: September 23, 2008, 04:28:28 PM
My one nit was that the twist was so glaringly obvious that I felt insulted that the story waited until the very last sentence to "reveal" it. I realize that explicit confirmation had to wait at least until the narrator learnt the prince's paternity, but I would have appreciated if the author had the grace to assume I'd figure it out earlier than that, and certainly not postpone the reveal through the entire climax and denoument.

I thought the prince being his son was SO obvious that I didn't even realize it was supposed to be a twist.  I thought the last line was just wrapping up loose ends, a confirmation rather than a reveal, and didn't place much weight on it (and therefore wasn't irritated).

And to forestall Steph, I don't feel I'm a particularly perceptive or insightful listener.  I miss as much as the next guy and have my share of "OH! Is that what that means?" moments and am surprised at how things play out just about as often as anyone else. 

I dug the poetry.  And I usually don't like poetry, but all symbolic and oblique and reflective of the symbolic and oblique culture, it worked well.

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Reply #44 on: September 23, 2008, 09:12:26 PM
I love the oriental tales the best of the fantasy I've heard.  They are exotic and familiar at the same time, a great bread from Tolkien feudal stories, without going too far afield.  This one was a beautiful story and I was captured by its spell.  It was somewhat predictable, but it was told so well that I did not mind.  I love the view of the spirits in the world as they worked to really differentiate the world, much more than the standard court intrigue.  Also, the poetry was a nice touch, reminding me of the songs Tolkien had in his stories.  Prose can't catch all the emotion that poetry can.



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Reply #45 on: September 23, 2008, 09:55:17 PM
I thought the prince being his son was SO obvious that I didn't even realize it was supposed to be a twist.  I thought the last line was just wrapping up loose ends, a confirmation rather than a reveal, and didn't place much weight on it (and therefore wasn't irritated).

And to forestall Steph, I don't feel I'm a particularly perceptive or insightful listener.  I miss as much as the next guy and have my share of "OH! Is that what that means?" moments and am surprised at how things play out just about as often as anyone else. 

Another possibility is that I'm just really really thick.  It's a possibility that I've considered off and on for years now.

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Reply #46 on: September 29, 2008, 04:45:55 AM

Coming to this a bit late, but I really loved the story.  I thought it made good use of its length, and while the fantasy element was weak and peripheral, I thought it added substantially to the alieness and "otherness" of a story set in a culture of a distant time and (for me, anyway) place.  Part of the way I knew I was in feudal Japan was that people worried about demons and ghosts; they're part of the atmosphere, just like the swords, armor and court protocol.

While I thought this story amply justified the time spent, I'm glad that "giants" will come only once a quarter or so.  It's hard for me to come up with that much time to listen, and there's a lot of competition for those listening opportunities.

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Reply #47 on: September 29, 2008, 11:52:25 AM
I think this might be in the wrong thread?

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Reply #48 on: September 29, 2008, 12:47:57 PM

I think this might be in the wrong thread?


Yes, it was.  I removed it and relocated it to How the World Became Quiet.  Thanks.

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Reply #49 on: October 02, 2008, 03:29:22 AM
I It doesnt help that Steve Anderson was the reader, no offense to the man but i have to resist the urge to fall asleep when he reads stories, everything just comes off as dull and flat

Agreed.  Story was decent but his readings always kill me.  Too deliberite maybe.  Is that the word I'm looking for?  I don't know but not my favorite narrator.



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Reply #50 on: October 08, 2008, 04:08:20 AM
Is it possible to get a word count on this story?



Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #51 on: October 08, 2008, 07:23:12 AM
Approximately 13,400.



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Reply #52 on: October 10, 2008, 08:53:20 PM
Thank you.



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Reply #53 on: October 27, 2008, 06:37:25 PM
After stepping away from PC for a while, I came back for this one.  I haven't read any other comments yet, so forgive me if I'm beating a dead horse.

I absolutely loved this story!  It had a depth that most podcasts lack.  Back in the day when I had to rent my audiobooks from truckstops, these kinds of stories are what kept me renting.

More giants, please.

Now I'm off to listen to Goose Girl and start catching up...



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Reply #54 on: December 22, 2008, 10:42:33 AM
It doesnt help that Steve Anderson was the reader, no offense to the man but i have to resist the urge to fall asleep when he reads stories, everything just comes off as dull and flat

Wow, I think just the opposite of Steve!  To me, he adds depth and emotion to his readings that some others don't.  He's my second favorite reader, behind Mur Lafferty, and only slightly ahead of a tie between Steve (Eley) and Cunning Minx.  M. K. Hobson is running a close fourth (fifth?).

Edit:  added "(Eley)" for clarification

« Last Edit: December 23, 2008, 07:23:13 AM by izzardfan »



izzardfan

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Reply #55 on: December 23, 2008, 07:39:59 AM
I posted earlier after only hearing about the first third of the story.  I've now finished it, and wondered if Rachel can post the text of the individual poems from the story.  I would have to go back and listen again to find them, but I'll do it if she can't do it.  I became intrigued by the format and content, but can't remember exactly what each was, and I listen in my car (as many do) which makes taking notes difficult (or dangerous, in traffic).

Thanks in advance,
Tamara



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Reply #56 on: January 05, 2010, 03:49:54 PM
The beginning was too slow and descriptive for my tastes, I just had trouble getting interested in what was happening because of this.  This is a matter of personal tastes--I have trouble reading Tolkien for the same reason.  Tolkien can write a really rip-roaring adventure and then kill every bit of momentum by describing something too long (that's why I like the Lord of the Rings movies better than the books). 

And, in any case, very few novella-length stories merit the length in my opinion.  Not that there's anything wrong with the stories in novellas, but the story just seems to be buried under so much other stuff it's hard to really get to it.



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Reply #57 on: May 14, 2013, 06:32:45 PM
I missed the part where the protagonist was the father, as I took at face value that the protagonist was not lying to us. His affection was easily justified in my mind via honor/chivalry.

If we're going to be deceived as part of the subtle court intrigue, then pick a third person perspective. I can appreciate an unreliable narrator, but this was a narrator lying to us consistently throughout. Also, there were some parts that really dragged. It could have lost 15 minutes of fluff and no one would notice. It could have lost 30 minutes of material and been stronger for it. But then again, it could be the excess length just annoys me all the more because of the dirty author trick of the lying protagonist.

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Reply #58 on: April 02, 2014, 11:36:25 PM
This was longer than I usually like listening to, but I really enjoyed it.