Author Topic: EP196: Evil Robot Monkey  (Read 18303 times)

monkeystuff

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Reply #25 on: October 13, 2009, 03:19:59 AM
This story left me wanting more as well.  I have herd that it is a sign of a good story teller to leave you wanting more.  Either way it was short but to the point.  It didn't need to be long.

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Unblinking

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Reply #26 on: April 30, 2010, 01:37:24 PM
This story didn't do much for me, and as with many Hugo nominees, left me thinking "This was really a Hugo nominee?"  My faith is somewhat restored when the Hugo nominees that blow my mind tend to be the ones that win.

Barnaby in Exile did the intelligent ape plot better, and I liked that one so much that this one really hurts from the comparison.  It was an interesting opening scene, with two interesting characters, but then it just ends without warning.

And the title was just terrible.  I'd been looking forward to listening to Evil Robot Monkey ever since I downloaded the whole EP archive and did a quick flip through the titles.  With a title like that, it doesn't take much to satisfy me, just a story with an evil robot monkey.  I would've forgiven all kinds of faults as long as it delivered on it's promise.  But this story had no evil, no robot, and no monkey.  Very disappointing.  If it had been given a title that actually described the story, instead of just a one-liner from a moronic secondary character, then I think I would've liked it quite a bit more.



Talia

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Reply #27 on: April 30, 2010, 02:09:37 PM

And the title was just terrible. 


I could not disagree more. I loved the title. :) (but then I loved 26 monkeys and the abyss to absolute death too so its pretty clear we have different tastes).



DKT

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Reply #28 on: April 30, 2010, 04:16:51 PM
So you're actually saying it's not the title that's terrible, but that the story didn't live up to it?


Unblinking

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Reply #29 on: April 30, 2010, 04:54:31 PM
So you're actually saying it's not the title that's terrible, but that the story didn't live up to it?

Yeah, you're right.  I actually love the title, but it gave me expectations that weren't met.  Imagine going to Snakes on a Plane only to find out that the film contains neither snakes nor planes.  I mean, whether or not that's an example of quality moviemaking, at the very least it delivers on expectations--if you're excited by the title you'll probably love it, if you hate the title you'll probably hate it. 

So, if someone publishes a story titled "Evil Robot Monkey" that actually has an evil robot monkey, I'll probably love it.  :)

I thought the title "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" kicked ass.  And that storied actually had 26 monkeys.  And it also had an abyss (in one sense of the word, at least).



Scattercat

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Reply #30 on: April 30, 2010, 09:54:30 PM

And the title was just terrible. 


I could not disagree more. I loved the title. :) (but then I loved 26 monkeys and the abyss to absolute death too so its pretty clear we have different tastes).

FWIW, "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" is one of my favorite stories period, but I was underwhelmed by this story for pretty much the exact same reasons as Unblinking.  "Evil Robot Monkey" is a real attention-catcher as a title, and I think it would be pretty hard for any story to really fulfill that promise.  (Though having an actual evil robot monkey would, indeed, have helped.)

I liked this story, but the title wrote some checks that the prose just couldn't cash.