Author Topic: EP017: The Life and Times of Penguin  (Read 4764 times)

Swamp

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on: October 11, 2009, 03:04:10 AM
EP017: The Life and Times of Penguin

By Eugie Foster.
Read by Mur Lafferty.

Penguin listened raptly to the new voice. He knew this was his guardian angel, she who would guard and protect him forever. Sure enough, the Creator set him gently into his angel’s hand. Her hands, much smaller than the Creator’s–which was fitting since who among the angels had such power as the Creator?–were a bit sticky. He squealed as she held him aloft to receive the glorious light.

“Look, Daddy! It’s a peng’n!”

“Yes it is, Angie. It’s a very nice penguin. Did you thank the nice man for the balloon?”
 


Rated PG. Contains explicit existentialism and violence of the soul. (The intro contains minor profanity and frank discussions of current events, and is likely to be more offensive than the story.)


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Reply #1 on: January 21, 2010, 05:49:01 PM
An enjoyable story with lots of great philosophy.  Sort of a Toy Story meets Nietzche.

And besides that, it is an extremely well-done unreliable narrator point of view, how the penguin views things is very interesting, and how the balloon man is seen as the creator and infallible god, sort of like The Claw on Toy Story.



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Reply #2 on: January 27, 2010, 04:31:25 AM
An enjoyable story with lots of great philosophy.  Sort of a Toy Story meets Nietzche.

And besides that, it is an extremely well-done unreliable narrator point of view, how the penguin views things is very interesting, and how the balloon man is seen as the creator and infallible god, sort of like The Claw on Toy Story.

The little girl did put me in mind of Sid from Toy Story.

This was the first Eugie Foster story I ever encountered.  Though I did enjoy it, at the time I had no idea how much I would come to love her work.  Another collection please, Mrs. F!

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Supernova

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Reply #3 on: January 08, 2016, 01:04:58 PM
When I first started listening to this, I had a concern that it would become a bit preachy and full of messages, however I found it was actually quite a sweet little story with a nice, simple message, basically "Enjoy the moment". As already mentioned, there was certainly a heavy Toy Story influence here but it was well executed and no reason why authors shouldn't 'play' with the idea (pun intended).



Chairman Goodchild

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Reply #4 on: January 10, 2016, 03:06:33 PM
A real favorite of mine, the first Eugie Foster story I'd heard, and the first Mur Lafferty narration I'd heard.  The memory of it has really stuck with me even over five hundred episodes later. 

Every Eugie Foster story I've heard on Escape Pod, Podcastle, or Pseuodpod has been a blast, and that this, I believe, was Mur Lafferty's first narration for Escape Artists ever.  Now, if you're not familiar with those names, Supernova, no worries, you will be as you continue thru the archives. 



Supernova

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Reply #5 on: January 10, 2016, 04:29:29 PM
I'm getting familiar with some of the names already, Mur Lafferty certainly gives a good, clear reading.



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Reply #6 on: January 11, 2016, 03:48:53 PM
I'm getting familiar with some of the names already, Mur Lafferty certainly gives a good, clear reading.

And Mur was the editor of Escape Pod for several years later on, and is now the editor of the sister not-a-podcast publication Mothership Zeta.  :)



Supernova

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Reply #7 on: January 11, 2016, 03:53:22 PM
I'm getting familiar with some of the names already, Mur Lafferty certainly gives a good, clear reading.

And Mur was the editor of Escape Pod for several years later on, and is now the editor of the sister not-a-podcast publication Mothership Zeta.  :)

Cool, I'll check that out, thanks for the heads up ! Funnily enough I have just finished listening to her read for episode 30, Aliens love oranges, which I really enjoyed.