Author Topic: Other podcasts? (Was Re: EP352: Food for Thought)  (Read 12724 times)

Andy C

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Reply #25 on: July 22, 2012, 08:15:15 AM

Another of my favorites is "That Leviathan, Which Thou Hast Made" by Eric James Stone, which has run on StarShipSofa:
http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2011/06/21/starshipsofa-no-194-eric-james-stone/


I listened to this, it was excellent....




if a little 'Mormon' :P



Scatcatpdx

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Reply #26 on: July 24, 2012, 05:29:59 AM
@Alasdair5000
Sorry we agree to disagree especially a false comparison between modernism and Mozart, speaking as somebody who enjoys Classical music up to Some Romantic era but rather stick to sacred   and secular music form Medieval to Baroque periods. I don’t think this is the place for long philosophical arguments on the effects on modernism on thought, culture and arts; I hope it suffices for me so say I detest it especially in the arts, taking beauty and turning into ugly.

As for space Opera, I was raised during the 1960’s and remember the optimism as we were sending men to the  moon. Things were more positive and up beat than today (Sorry folk I wish I can say more but I will be up all night  trying to write a single paragraph I have a learning disability taht makes written communication almost impossible for me)



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Reply #27 on: July 24, 2012, 06:20:35 PM
I accept the second point made here, that's a decision for authors to make, but the first point I see this as a challenge to those who want to write decent short story scifi. I do not think it is beyond the wit of good authors to write a decent space opera SF story of 3k to 6k words, or thereabouts. I think writers should step up to this challenge without asking EP to change the guidelines of what they accept. So I have, what I hope will be a really cracking story that I've nearly finished, but it's coming in at 12.5k words so I wont be sending it to EP, neither would I expect them to consider it, however good it was.

Keep in mind, too, that it matters what the author wants to write.  I don't go out of my way to write space opera.  It's hard to write well, and it's hard to sell (at least for a relative unknown like myself).  But for me mostly space opera is a different scale of detail than the space where I really find myself in my element.  I tend more toward microcosm than macrocosm.  Of the 56 short stories that I've written I have a couple that I might hesitantly call space opera, but if they count at all they're very much on the fringe of the definition.

At this point no one is clamoring for my work.  If I reach a point where I start getting solicited for stories, then I'll decide what to do at that point.  But at this point I'm just writing what I feel like writing, which apparently is not space opera.



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Reply #28 on: July 28, 2012, 06:11:36 PM
Good news for all fans of Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette.  In the most recent episode of the Drabblecast, Norm reminded everyone of their upcoming Lovecraft month that they've been having once a year, where they commission original stories from notable authors with a cosmic horror bent.  He specifically mentioned that there will be a brand new story written by Bear and Monette in the Mongoose/Boojum universe, which will be a Drabblecast original, specifically commissioned by Drabblecast because of the huge fan love for the previous ones.

So, keep your eyes on www.drabblecast.org in the next month for the next one.  I know I'm super excited!



Umbrageofsnow

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Reply #29 on: August 16, 2012, 07:30:16 PM
Speaking of Cosmic Horror Space Opera, anyone who likes that sort of thing should check out "The God Engines" by Scalzi.  It appeals to me in very much the same way the Bear/Monette stories do. As far as I know, it only exists in print though, so I guess it is inappropriate to the other podcasts discussion.

Therefore: Something on topic!

Reading this whole discussion, I can't help but think "Wow, that level of modernism and slice-of-life-ness is bothering you guys? Have you read The New Yorker recently? Or Best American Short Stories?" EP's got a whole lotta plot comparatively.

Which is not to say the above stories are all bad, I actually quite like some plot-light stuff, I'm just saying it's a funny perspective difference.

 Also, it's funny because I think of Escape Pod as the most Space Opera-y podcast. Which is why (no offense) it's actually my least favorite as compared to Drabblecast and Clarkesworld. I've absolutely loved "Run Bakri Says", "Devour", "Water Man", and "Ghost of a Girl Who Never Lived". But I find myself getting discouraged by all the "Next Time Scales" and "Asteroid Monte" type stories.

You can't please all of the people all of the time, but I love you guys anyway. Plus, you spawned Pseudopod.