Author Topic: PC133: And The Blood Of Dead Gods Shall Mark The Score  (Read 21617 times)

ElectricPaladin

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Reply #25 on: December 03, 2010, 02:31:22 PM
Anyone else have a mental image of Adam Baldwin as Huck? :)

No, I imagined Huck as being bigger and fleshier. Not fat, but a little more bulky and jowly than Adam Baldwin. But then again, I didn't know what Adam Baldwin looked like until I read your post and google image searched for him.

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Talia

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Reply #26 on: December 03, 2010, 03:00:13 PM
I guess you haven't seen 'Firefly' then (!!??!?!?!!). Anyway, I think it was mostly that Huck made me think of Baldwin's FF character Jayne. Kind of sinister with a suggestion of violence about him.



ElectricPaladin

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Reply #27 on: December 03, 2010, 05:15:25 PM
I guess you haven't seen 'Firefly' then (!!??!?!?!!).

Oh, that James Baldwin.

Actually, I can never remember actors by their real names.

Anyway, I stand by Huck's fleshiness.

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Ocicat

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Reply #28 on: December 03, 2010, 07:21:43 PM
I thought this was a really good story.  Loved the world and background of magic tattoos and gods being tortured by secret cults.  The heist plot held up well enough, and the character relationships were very well drawn. 

I was also kind of thrown off by the narrator's gender at first, though it did give you the view of the narrator that the other two characters had - always viewing him as the woman he used to be. 



stePH

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Reply #29 on: December 03, 2010, 07:50:31 PM
I was also kind of thrown off by the narrator's gender at first, though it did give you the view of the narrator that the other two characters had - always viewing him as the woman he used to be. 

It probably wouldn't have thrown me so much if I'd been simply reading the story, with no female voice in my ears to confuse the issue. I most likely would have accepted the character as male, been somewhat puzzled by Huck calling him "baby girl" and the reveal of their history... but then when Woody is revealed as transgendered, I'd have still ended up in the same place that the audio brought me to.

So whatever... I'm not really sure where I was going with this. So I'll just say... Cool story, bro!

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Listener

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Reply #30 on: December 06, 2010, 05:59:32 PM
I believe this is the second time in a row (or at least 2 of the last 3) that Ellis has narrated a story with a nontraditionally-gendered character. Just an observation.

I didn't love the story. God blood in tattoos as a way to gain power? Very cool idea, and I have the feeling it draws on some sort of old-culture myth. I want to say Native American but I don't know and my lunch break is almost over.

Otherwise, it had all the elements of urban fantasy, as if the author had to check stuff off a list: tortured artist, old partner comes back for one last job, something goes wrong during the job, and in the end the MC is really no better than before except that s/he now has the Maltese Falcon. To my mind, that cheapened the story, as if risks could've been taken... but weren't. That's probably the main reason I didn't like it.

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stePH

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Reply #31 on: December 06, 2010, 09:32:08 PM
Otherwise, it had all the elements of urban fantasy, as if the author had to check stuff off a list: tortured artist, old partner comes back for one last job, something goes wrong during the job, and in the end the MC is really no better than before except that s/he now has the Maltese Falcon.

I must be reading atypical urban fantasy then, because I don't think I've come across anything else in the genre that fits this description.

[edit]
That's a pretty standard crime-fic plot though, except that for "tortured artist" I would substitute "ex-criminal trying to go legit, and barely scratching out a living".
« Last Edit: December 06, 2010, 09:35:32 PM by stePH »

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Reply #32 on: December 06, 2010, 10:58:56 PM
Yeah, urban fantasy tends to have more "werewolf hunter" and "vampire boyfriend" these days as the things to check off the list.  Also "protagonist has dark inner self that threatens to break free."



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Reply #33 on: December 07, 2010, 12:09:20 AM
Yeah, urban fantasy tends to have more "werewolf hunter" and "vampire boyfriend" these days as the things to check off the list.  Also "protagonist has dark inner self that threatens to break free."

I seem to have missed those as well. Most of my UF reading's been Charles DeLint. And I consider a great deal of Stephen King's work to fit the genre also.

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blueeyeddevil

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Reply #34 on: December 10, 2010, 12:52:58 PM
First, I would like to add my voice to the chorus of approval for Madame Ellis's reading. I would say that I think this one sounded the best of any of her readings that I've heard, and this is not meant as a slight on any previous outing; new mic? Different recording environ?
(Btw, can voice actors/readers get 'type' cast? This is her second reading in a row as a gender-morphed character; for as good a job as she did with both, I hope this doesn't become an inescapable trend)

As for the story:

Interesting concept world, but there seemed little actual fruition of the concept. At no point is anyone shown under the effects of the blood. As such the concept of the piece, which could have borne great fruit, instead became a run-of-the-mill Macguffin.

Like many other posters, I found Nicolai's character a little too pat. Why would someone so powerful need to create this elaborate scheme to draw in someone who has a named and established business in the same city? Two tatted-up kneecappers could have hauled the protagonist in at any time, had Nicolai wished to 'catch up'.
Furthermore, if Nicolai was so very very powerful, why didn't he have any tats? A little essence of Hermes and he could have been out of the house before the globes hit the floor, or caught the globes before they landed. Plus, anyone stupid enough to store what essentially amounts to eleven red-mercury bombs together on a velvet drape in an easily unlocked case deserves to be melted in a puddle of eldritch goo.

All of these issues can be resolved with explanatory sentences sprinkled in the work. Maybe Nicolai was bluffing about the whole 'I set this up' bit, maybe he has no tats or at least no obvious powers because he's a 'I don't sample the merch' type of dealer. A little extra touch would have shored the story up well.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2010, 12:55:57 PM by blueeyeddevil »



AliceNred

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Reply #35 on: December 13, 2010, 02:31:38 AM
Yeah, urban fantasy tends to have more "werewolf hunter" and "vampire boyfriend" these days as the things to check off the list.  Also "protagonist has dark inner self that threatens to break free."

It sure does, and I am so SICK OF IT. it feels like some readers and some editors are forever in their early teens. Enough with tragic, dark, mysterious boyfriends that our TRUE LOVE can save. It feels like nothing more than bubble gum porn.

When you really grow-up, you move past the, "I can fix him," and "He's OH SO dangerous." Really, is that someone you want to grow old with? Is that someone you want to be tied to forever because you had kids?

I just want a hero who has taken their tragedies and made something more of it than feeling sorry for themselves and using as an excuse why they can't be with the one they REALLY love. How about it giving you strength, wisdom, and character?

I know... it's escapism, but a good story is more than that.

And besides, a real man dose dishes, even if he is a werewolf.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2010, 05:41:52 AM by AliceNred »

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kibitzer

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Reply #36 on: December 16, 2010, 07:43:09 AM
So, just finished this and I'm gonna jump right in without reading the other posts first.

This one was flat-out awesome, loved it! A great concept and well put together, especially considering it was done in 24 hours. Whilst I don't think I quite caught the implications of Woody's para-androgyny, it was a great listen. I liked the characters, the conflicts between them and the whole blood of dead gods idea. Wow. Wonderful.

Now, I'm gonna read back over the other posts to see how wrong my opinion is ;-)


kibitzer

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Reply #37 on: December 16, 2010, 07:51:10 AM
Anyone else have a mental image of Adam Baldwin as Huck? :)

Wasn't Huck black? I thought he was black. Like, Ving Rhames or Forest Whitaker's awesome lead in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

And was the character's name Huck or Hawk? What with your strange American accents, I couldn't tell ;-)


kibitzer

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Reply #38 on: December 16, 2010, 07:53:46 AM
Yeah, urban fantasy tends to have more "werewolf hunter" and "vampire boyfriend" these days as the things to check off the list.  Also "protagonist has dark inner self that threatens to break free."

Don't forget loose-cannon wizard who's actually really powerful and the only one who can solve world-ending situations despite a globe full of other, older, more powerful wizards. (Too specific?)

And come to think of it he sorta has/had/will have again a "vampire girlfriend".
« Last Edit: December 16, 2010, 07:56:00 AM by kibitzer »



Talia

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Reply #39 on: December 16, 2010, 08:36:57 AM
Anyone else have a mental image of Adam Baldwin as Huck? :)

Wasn't Huck black? I thought he was black. Like, Ving Rhames or Forest Whitaker's awesome lead in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

And was the character's name Huck or Hawk? What with your strange American accents, I couldn't tell ;-)

Was he? If so I didn't pick up on it. Or maybe my mental image of Adam Baldwin overrode that part so I forgot. :p

Although this line from the part quoted on the boards suggests you're correct - "the blood tatted into his dark skin.."

And yep was Huck. :)



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Reply #40 on: December 22, 2010, 07:31:42 PM
Just finished listening to this too. Hey, I'm catching up!!! Yes, Kibitzer, I too was under the impression Huck was black.

Other than that, I feel this story had so much potential. I could see where the story was going immediately. The only scene that stood out to me was the scene with the old granny god getting killed. I wanted to learn more about the blood. I wanted to see the blood in action. This story felt more like a prologue.

But I will cut the writer some slack. Dude, if he wrote this in 24 hours...then dang. And as always Christiana's narration rocked!

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Listener

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Reply #41 on: December 29, 2010, 06:19:13 PM
Yeah, urban fantasy tends to have more "werewolf hunter" and "vampire boyfriend" these days as the things to check off the list.  Also "protagonist has dark inner self that threatens to break free."

It sure does, and I am so SICK OF IT. it feels like some readers and some editors are forever in their early teens. Enough with tragic, dark, mysterious boyfriends that our TRUE LOVE can save. It feels like nothing more than bubble gum porn.


I think it's not that the editors are like that, it's that they know what sells.


But I will cut the writer some slack. Dude, if he wrote this in 24 hours...then dang.

Just because he wrote it in 24 hours doesn't mean this is that version. I'm sure he edited it and subbed it to several places.

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mbrennan

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Reply #42 on: December 30, 2010, 08:30:43 AM
For once I was apparently paying attention, because I suspected very early that Woody was trans: at the early "wooden pecker" line, in fact.  The question of what voice to use for such narration is an interesting one; my take is that it should vary on a story-by-story basis, depending on the character's precise situation (hormones, op, etc), and that a female reader with a low voice was a good choice for this one.  If a man had read the story, I think it would have undermined one of the key points of the narrative, which is that the blood could make Woody be more fully what (and who) he wanted to be.

On the topic of voices, though, the tone for Huck *really* didn't work for me.  (Which is apparently a motif with the stories I've been listening to the last couple of days, as I catch up.)  There's another early line about there being threat or something in his "smooth voice," and it totally didn't match with the reading; Huck sounded nasal and whiny to me the whole way through.  This probably contributed to one of my other big problems with the story, which is that the entire situation between him and Woody fell flat for me.  There was just nothing remotely appealing or redeeming about him, and that reflected badly on Woody, too.

Add me to the chorus of those who would have liked to see the blood thing developed more.  As it was, it felt too much like a macguffin, providing the reason for the plot but not much beyond that.

(Which makes it sound like I hated the story.  I didn't; it was fine.  But not as memorable as it could have been.)



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Reply #43 on: December 30, 2010, 12:30:49 PM
Just because he wrote it in 24 hours doesn't mean this is that version. I'm sure he edited it and subbed it to several places.

At least one other sub that we know of, because like the vast majority of our stories, this was a reprint, which appeared originally in Fantasy Magazine, here.

Since I've opted to post in this thread, I'll also reiterate that there's no EA cross cast coordination with narrators.  Coincidences in similar narration choice are just that, coincidences, and should not be interpreted as concerted efforts on anyone's part to typecast.  I don't know the types of conversations people have at the sister 'casts about who should read what, but at PodCastle, the suggestions are almost always about who we think can make the story really shine, as well as who we think would really enjoy reading the story.  We miss on both counts sometimes - sadly fallible beings that we are - but we believe that the narrators do their best work on stories they themselves are engaged with.  Nothing makes us happier than when we send a reader request and the narrator tells us "Yes!  I love that story!"  So do we, reader, so do we.

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Reply #44 on: April 09, 2011, 02:47:48 PM
I struggled with this story. It seemed either a framework to hang a Transgender journey onto, or a heist story with a bunch of extra fluff. Loved the blood/magic concept, but that was one of the least developed aspects. I don't regret listening to it, but probably won't again.

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Reply #45 on: September 12, 2016, 01:07:58 AM
I loved this story so much, I have referred several people to it.  I would love to see another story in this world.