Author Topic: Best Podcastle of 2012 Nominations (Read 9835 times)

Ocicat · **on:** January 16, 2013, 01:29:31 AM

Comment with up to three stories that you think should be in the poll for best Podcastle story of the year. Feel free to make the case for why your favorites are better than the other excellent episodes we ran last year. Nominations will last at least two weeks, more if they are still coming in at that time. The episodes with the most nominations will then be put into a poll.

A list of all eligible episodes follows:

PC 190 A Window, Clear as a Mirror, Ferrett Steinmetz
PC 191 Balfour and Meriwether in The Vampire of Kabul, Daniel Abraham
PC 192 The Interior of Mr. Bumblethorn's Coat, Willow Fagan
PC 193 Fruit Jar Drinkin', Cheatin' Heart Blues, Patty Templeton
PC 194 Their Changing Bodies, Alaya Dawn Johnson
PC 195 Lavanya and Deepika, Shveta Thakrar
PC 196 The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman, Translated by Sir Richard Burton
PC 197 Destiny, with a Blackberry Sauce, David J. Schwarz
PC 198 Urchins, While Swimming, Catherynne M. Valente
PC 199 A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet, Garth Nix
PC 200 In the Stacks, Scott Lynch
PC 201 Golden City Far, Gene Wolfe
PC 202 The Rugged Track, Liz Argall
PC 203 Buried Eyes, Lavie Tidhar
PC 204 The Rowan Gentleman, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
PC 205 Outlander, Samantha Henderson
PC 206 Another Word for Map is Faith, Christopher Rowe
PC 207 Hope Chest, Garth Nix
PC 208 Fable from a Cage, Tim Pratt
PC 209 Lila the Werewolf, Peter S. Beagle
PC 210 Sittin' Round the Stewpot, Patricia Russo
PC 211 The Axiom of Choice, David W. Goldman
PC 212 Squonk and the Lake Monster, P.M. Butler
PC 213 Wane, Elizabeth Bear
PC 214 We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S. Beagle
PC 215 Ours is the Prettiest, Nalo Hopkinson
PC 216 - 217 Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Translated by Sir Richard Burton
PC 218 Insect Joy Caspian Gray
PC 219 The Circle Harp, Donna Glee Williams
PC 220 Iron-Eyes and the Watered Down World, Saladin Ahmed
PC 221 A Hunter in Arin-Qin, Daniel Abraham
PC 222 The Secret Beach, Tim Pratt
PC 223 Five Bullets on the Banks of the Sadji River, Keffy R.M. Kehrli
PC 224The Navigator and the Sky, Ian Mchugh
PC 225 The Cage, Jeff VanderMeer
PC 226 The Hand of God, Erica Satifka
PC 227 The Yew's Embrace, Francesca Forest
PC 228 The Terror of Blue John Gap, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
PC 229 The Tonsor's Son, Michael John Grist
PC 230 Little Better Than a Beast, T.A. Pratt
PC 231 Unpossible, Daryl Gregory
PC 232 Skulls in the Stars, Robert E. Howard
PC 233 Study, For Solo Piano, Geneveive Valentine
PC 234 Tricks of London, Elizabeth Bear
PC 235 Recognizing Gabe: un cuento de hadas, Alberto Yáñez
PC 236 Architerctural Constants, Yoon Ha Lee
PC 237 Crossroads, Laura Anne Gillman
PC 238 Sleep and Wake, Holli Mintzer
PC 239 Catching the Spirit, Heather Shaw and Tim Pratt
PC 240 Seeking Captain Random, Vylar Kaftan

benjaminjb · **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2013, 02:28:14 AM

a) What happens to those stories voted best?

b) This is hard, but using "do I remember this story?" as my first heuristic, and salving my conscience by hoping others will suggest the ones that I just didn't have room to vote for, I'd say, in no order:

PC 191 Balfour and Meriwether in The Vampire of Kabul, Daniel Abraham
PC 198 Urchins, While Swimming, Catherynne M. Valente
PC 225 The Cage, Jeff VanderMeer

c) But ask me tomorrow and I might have a different answer.

Listener · **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2013, 01:05:58 PM

PC 197 Destiny, with a Blackberry Sauce, David J. Schwarz -- Liked it for the upending (and lampshading) of tropes.
PC 206 Another Word for Map is Faith, Christopher Rowe -- This was a horrifying story about the power of religion. The more I think about it, the scarier it gets, especially because none of the characters thought they were doing anything wrong.
PC 235 Recognizing Gabe: un cuento de hadas, Alberto Yáñez -- Literally for the moment when Gabe's father stands up to Nina Tere. My little sister is gay, and her birth parents do not accept that, and it kills me every time she has to hide it from them. Unfortunately, her father would not do as Gabe's did.

Honorable mention:
PC 222 The Secret Beach, Tim Pratt -- Pratt has won so many awards that I feel like it's time to give someone else a shot. This was, however, my favorite Pratt story of 2012 on any podcast.

Fenrix · **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2013, 03:45:43 PM

I'm down to seven...

Y'all planning to run a poll for narration as well?

Devoted135 · **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2013, 05:12:48 PM

Surprisingly, there were fewer than 5 titles on this list that I did not immediately remember the story. Cutting my list down was HARD. So, in order of publication:

211 The Axiom of Choice
213 Wane
214 We Never Talk About My Brother

Honorable Mention: 221 A Hunter in Arin-Qin

EckInBlack · **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2013, 06:46:42 PM

My three in no particular order are:-

PC 205 Outlander, Samantha Henderson
PC 208 Fable from a Cage, Tim Pratt
PC 221 A Hunter in Arin-Qin, Daniel Abraham

danooli · **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2013, 10:29:50 PM

Wow, that was tough. Narrowing it down to seven was excruciating, there are so many stories on that list I want to nominate. I also can't rank these, so they're in episode order.

PC 211 The Axiom of Choice, David W. Goldman (I'm still waiting for the CYOA app.)
PC 214 We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S. Beagle
PC 235 Recognizing Gabe: un cuento de hadas, Alberto Yáñez

Honorable Mentions:
PC 190 A Window, Clear as a Mirror, Ferrett Steinmetz
PC 197 Destiny, with a Blackberry Sauce, David J. Schwarz
PC 207 Hope Chest, Garth Nix
PC 215 Ours is the Prettiest, Nalo Hopkinson

Fenrix · **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2013, 03:17:40 PM

Strategy, strategy...do I drop ones from my list that have several nominations because they're likely secured a spot in the poll? That would get me down to five...

kibitzer · **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2013, 02:33:22 AM

I'm posting this before looking at others' votes.

Top three:

PC 195 Lavanya and Deepika, Shveta Thakrar -- LOVED the fable feel of this one. Wonderful.
PC 207 Hope Chest, Garth Nix -- Another winner from Mr Nix! Would love to read more of this character,
PC 229 The Tonsor's Son, Michael John Grist -- I really loved the slow build of this one. Couple that with my general fear of edged tools in close proximity to my neck (when wielded by someone else) and it was a creepy treat, full of threat and menace.

So MANY other good ones!! I'll just mention two:

PC 221 A Hunter in Arin-Qin, Daniel Abraham
PC 214 We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S. Beagle

Swamp · **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2013, 04:10:45 PM

My top choices:

PC 207 Hope Chest, Garth Nix
PC 214 We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S. Beagle
PC 229 The Tonsor's Son, Michael John Grist

Honorable Mentions:
PC 200 In the Stacks, Scott Lynch
PC 211 The Axiom of Choice, David W. Goldman
PC 228 The Terror of Blue John Gap, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
PC 238 Sleep and Wake, Holli Mintzer

Fenrix · **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2013, 05:20:58 PM

I'm going to go with:

Best PodCastle Stories 2012:
PC 193 Fruit Jar Drinkin', Cheatin' Heart Blues, Patty Templeton - steampunk whiskey stills and caustic love
PC 200 In the Stacks, Scott Lynch - the production knocked this good story up to excellent
PC 227 The Yew's Embrace, Francesca Forest - dark, creepy, and quite effective in a tight word budget

I'm going to talk about my favorite narrations, whether or not there's a poll run for them.

Best PodCastle Narration 2012:
PC 198 Urchins, While Swimming, read by Diane Severson - Sometimes taking the risk of song lyrics in a story goes badly, and some times it really pays off like in this story. The rest of the reading was really good, too.
PC 211 The Axiom of Choice, read by Eric Luke - The reading really helped carry this surprisingly effective use of CYOA in audio, along with a compelling message. Eric Luke shows some serious skill with helping to convey complicated readings (see the multiple nested parenthetical asides in The Fall of the House of Usher).
PC 214 We Never Talk About My Brother, read by Malcom Charles - The great reading really elevated this story. The rural twang and slow pacing were perfect.

Bdoomed · **Reply #11 on:** January 26, 2013, 06:03:46 PM

I haven't yet caught up completely with this year's stories, so I think I'll refrain from the nominations, but I do like that PC 214 has been nominated several times. I loved that story. That, and Fable from a Cage was magnificent.

Fenrix · **Reply #12 on:** January 26, 2013, 06:06:24 PM

Quote from: Bdoomed on January 26, 2013, 06:03:46 PM

I haven't yet caught up completely with this year's stories, so I think I'll refrain from the nominations, but I do like that PC 214 has been nominated several times. I loved that story. That, and Fable from a Cage was magnificent.

Nominate the three best from what you've listened to, and make sure to hit everything that gets nominated before the vote rolls around.

DKT · **Reply #13 on:** January 26, 2013, 06:53:11 PM

Quote from: Fenrix on January 26, 2013, 06:06:24 PM

Quote from: Bdoomed on January 26, 2013, 06:03:46 PM
I haven't yet caught up completely with this year's stories, so I think I'll refrain from the nominations, but I do like that PC 214 has been nominated several times. I loved that story. That, and Fable from a Cage was magnificent.

Nominate the three best from what you've listened to, and make sure to hit everything that gets nominated before the vote rolls around.

Yeah, do this. I'm behind on podcasts too, but I'll probably still nominate my three faves from EP and PP and use other's noms as guidelines to what I should catch up on first :-)

FireTurtle · **Reply #14 on:** January 26, 2013, 07:57:16 PM

Quote from: Listener on January 16, 2013, 01:05:58 PM

PC 197 Destiny, with a Blackberry Sauce, David J. Schwarz -- Liked it for the upending (and lampshading) of tropes.
PC 206 Another Word for Map is Faith, Christopher Rowe -- This was a horrifying story about the power of religion. The more I think about it, the scarier it gets, especially because none of the characters thought they were doing anything wrong.
PC 235 Recognizing Gabe: un cuento de hadas, Alberto Yáñez -- Literally for the moment when Gabe's father stands up to Nina Tere. My little sister is gay, and her birth parents do not accept that, and it kills me every time she has to hide it from them. Unfortunately, her father would not do as Gabe's did.

Honorable mention:
PC 222 The Secret Beach, Tim Pratt -- Pratt has won so many awards that I feel like it's time to give someone else a shot. This was, however, my favorite Pratt story of 2012 on any podcast.

Gasp. I'm agreeing with Listener. ---with the exception that honorable mention would have to go to PC 229- The Tonsor's Son.

Umbrageofsnow · **Reply #15 on:** January 27, 2013, 08:47:57 PM

Like Fenrix, I got my list down to 7. Like Fenrix, I was able to eliminate 2 by what you all were voting for, and like Fenrix I'm going to mention best narration even if you aren't doing it. That said, I almost completely disagree with Fenrix's votes!

My Nominees:
PC 231 Unpossible, Daryl Gregory
Absolutely fantastic, in both senses of the word. I'm surprised this story hasn't gotten more love already. It is a great deconstruction of self-centered entitled chosen-one protagonists while at the same time reminiscing about childhood escapes into fantasy. Then again, I'm the only one who liked "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" last year.
PC 198 Urchins, While Swimming, Catherynne M. Valente
Okay, I've seen it mentioned a few times in honorable mentions, but only one vote. I can't let this story be nudged out if the final poll ends up being 2 nominations as a cutoff. The singing was great, the narration was great, but it would have been heartbreaking even with a more boring reader.
PC 201 Golden City Far, Gene Wolfe
Speaking of Gene Wolfe, I still think he is one of the greatest living fantasy authors. I get the impression a lot of people didn't finish this story because it was so long and came during a time when Podcastle was overflowing with very long stories. I'm glad I listened to it because the increasing trippiness of a kid who can affect reality comes together much better when you really take the time to explore it. This was a story more about metaphor and growing up than it was about high stakes or "realism."

Honorable Mentions:
PC 211 The Axiom of Choice, David W. Goldman
Everyone loves it, I'm part of everyone.
PC 209 Lila the Werewolf, Peter S. Beagle
Possibly the most underrated story from the forum comments at least. Although I laughed pretty constantly during this story, and I'd love to see it in the poll, I just can't rate it higher than my actual votes. Too many good stories this year. I could add a bunch of other honorable mentions if this post weren't already too long.
PC 218 Insect Joy Caspian Gray
Another one I loved that I seemed to be in the minority on, mostly because everyone wants nice sympathetic characters. Are both the protagonists less than lovely? Yes. But that doesn't make the story any less horrific/sad/meaningful. I'm comfortable with good stories being about people I don't like much, but I also didn't find the female protagonist completely unsympathetic. Point is, at the end of the story all I could think was: poor Rocket

Best Narration:
PC 209 Lila the Werewolf, read by Steve Anderson
Months later I'm still cracking up at Steve Anderson's reading, particularly lines like: "Her mother's the real werewolf."
PC 214 We Never Talk About My Brother, read by Malcolm Charles
The rural accent of the narrator really elevates this story, particularly as compared to the protagonist's urbane brother and the god-like powers involved.
PC 215 Ours is the Prettiest, read by Nalo Hopkinson
I understand the policy against letting authors read their own work, but I'm glad you guys made an exception for Nalo Hopkinson. It isn't just getting an appropriate accent for the story, although that helps, it's that she has an excellent voice and adds stress in exactly the right places for her story.

Fenrix · **Reply #16 on:** January 27, 2013, 11:45:19 PM

Quote from: Umbrageofsnow on January 27, 2013, 08:47:57 PM

Like Fenrix, I got my list down to 7. Like Fenrix, I was able to eliminate 2 by what you all were voting for, and like Fenrix I'm going to mention best narration even if you aren't doing it. That said, I almost completely disagree with Fenrix's votes!

I'm ok being the lone voice of sanity in this thread. All the work that went into Episode 200 and no other nominations? For shame!

Listener · **Reply #17 on:** January 28, 2013, 01:22:23 PM

Quote from: FireTurtle on January 26, 2013, 07:57:16 PM

Gasp. I'm agreeing with Listener. ---with the exception that honorable mention would have to go to PC 229- The Tonsor's Son.

Cats and dogs, living together! MASS HYSTERIA!

Do you smell marshmallows?

Bdoomed · **Reply #18 on:** January 29, 2013, 06:12:08 AM

Okay, this is way hard.
Loved PC 214 We Never Talk About My Brother
Really dug PC 208 Fable from a Cage
and for a third, I'm torn between PC 219 The Circle Harp, PC 229 The Tonsor's Son, and PC 227 The Yew's Embrace for its beautiful fable-like quality.

I'll just leave them all as honorable mentions. I loved The Circle Harp because it... well, tugged at my heart(read: harp) strings. It was pretty obvious where it was going, yet I was totally engrossed the whole time.
The Tonsor's Son was super fun, the reading was phenomenal, that's really all I can say. I absolutely loved every minute of it.
And The Yew's Embrace was really cool. It somehow went above and beyond its own storyline. Evil king, retribution, etc, it's all been done and re-done, but this story managed to make it fresh and highly entertaining.

I'd also like to mention PC 206 Another Word for Map is Faith for being the one i hated most, in a good way. It was really well executed, and deeply horrific. I cringed through the whole thing, hated every moment of their fanaticism, and looooved the story. Bravo.

Scattercat · **Reply #19 on:** February 03, 2013, 04:47:03 PM

1) PC 206 Another Word for Map is Faith
A brilliant high concept in a fully-realized world with complex, layered characters. Just a top-notch story all around.

2) PC 192 The Interior of Mr. Bumblethorn's Coat
I love the surreal moebius nature of this one.

3) PC 202 The Rugged Track
This story, in my opinion, just has not gotten a sufficiency of love. It's not quite "Punk Voyager" for me in terms of sheer gleeful excess, but it's close.

Honorable Mentions
A) PC 214 We Never Talk About My Brother
Peter Beagle does not need me to tell him he is awesome, but he is and I'm saying so anyway. However, I am saying so quietly; a story that one is surprised to enjoy is always oddly more satisfying that one that one expects to enjoy and then does. One could go so far as to say that this poses something of a difficult situation for Mr. Beagle, but then, wouldn't we all want to have those sorts of problems?

B) PC 229 The Tonsor's Son
Like everyone else, the sheer unexpected weirdness of this story won me over. Just not quite enough to bump out the giddiness of "The Rugged Track."

C) PC 240 Seeking Captain Random
Like Mr. Beagle, Vylar is awesome, and as a bonus, she might even appreciate hearing so.

Ocicat · **Reply #20 on:** February 07, 2013, 08:41:20 AM

Anybody else working up their lists? Nominations will close soon, unless I hear that some folks are still busy reviewing episodes...

Fenrix · **Reply #21 on:** February 07, 2013, 03:00:29 PM

Quote from: Ocicat on February 07, 2013, 08:41:20 AM

Anybody else working up their lists? Nominations will close soon, unless I hear that some folks are still busy reviewing episodes...

Unblinking of the Numbered Lists is conspicuously absent.

Unblinking · **Reply #22 on:** February 19, 2013, 07:29:41 PM

Quote from: Fenrix on February 07, 2013, 03:00:29 PM

Quote from: Ocicat on February 07, 2013, 08:41:20 AM
Anybody else working up their lists? Nominations will close soon, unless I hear that some folks are still busy reviewing episodes...

Unblinking of the Numbered Lists is conspicuously absent.

I forgot about Best of the year nominations! I have a full Best of Podcastle 2012 list scheduled to post February 25, but I'll steal my top 3 from that list for best story:
In the Stacks by Scott Lynch
Recognizing Gabe: Un Cuento de Hadas by Alberto Yañez
The Tonsor's Son by Michael John Grist

Ocicat · **Reply #23 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:33:29 AM

Okay, nominations are now closed!