Author Topic: PC440: The Jellyfish Collector (Aurealis Month)  (Read 3945 times)

Talia

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on: November 02, 2016, 02:35:55 AM
PodCastle 440: The Jellyfish Collector (Aurealis Month)

by Michelle E. Goldsmith

read by Dawn Meredith


First appeared in Review of Australian Fiction.

Part of our Aurealis Month, celebrating the Australian Aurealis Awards.

Hosted by Aidan Doyle.

‘Where do you think they keep their brains?’ Eva asks. ‘They have to have one somewhere, don’t they?’

She stands motionless beside her younger sister, Fiona, the two of them staring past their own reflections and into the tank beyond. On the other side of the glass drift dozens of moon jellyfish, gently pulsating in the water as through dancing to imperceptible music.


Click here to continue reading.

Rated PG-13.



Michelle Goldsmith is a Melbourne-based author whose writing often inhabits the shady borderlands between genres.

She has a BSc (majoring in Zoology/Evolutionary Biology) and a Masters degree in Publishing and Communications, with a thesis exploring the author-reader relationship within the contemporary speculative fiction field.

Her life science background and particular fondness for the stranger aspects of the natural world often inform her fiction.

Her short fiction has appeared in various publications both within Australia and overseas, and been short-listed for both the Aurealis Award and the Ditmar Award. She has also had works translated.

You can find her online at michellegoldsmith.net and on twitter @Vilutheril.



Dawn Meredith is an author for kids and YA in non-fiction and fiction, singer/songwriter, Specialist Literacy Teacher and Artist. She has always wanted to do voiceovers and narration and is excited to be a part of PodCastle! Dawn’s debut fantasy novel is due out later this year.

As a child, Dawn lived in England, Australia and Norway. She lives with her family in the Blue Mountains NSW. You can find her online at dawnmeredithauthor.blogspot.com.au.

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!
« Last Edit: November 02, 2016, 02:38:27 AM by Talia »



Obleo21

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Reply #1 on: November 04, 2016, 02:36:58 PM
I can't decide if this is a lovely, fantastical story about the sentience of the sea, or a very sad story about a young, very depressed woman who ends her life. It was well paced and beautifully drawn. Perfect narrator for the story.



DerangedMind

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Reply #2 on: November 05, 2016, 07:20:09 PM
I can't decide if this is a lovely, fantastical story about the sentience of the sea, or a very sad story about a young, very depressed woman who ends her life. It was well paced and beautifully drawn. Perfect narrator for the story.

That was my feeling as well.



petronivs

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Reply #3 on: November 20, 2016, 08:34:46 PM
I had a hard time getting into this story.  I think my biggest hurdle was a lack of dialogue. 
Also it did have one weird sort of resonance.  I don't know if it was the narrator or the writing style or both, but, halfway through, I realized I felt like I was listening to a  wildlife documentary.  Given the subject is a researcher studying wild animals, I felt that was somewhat appropriate, but it still didn't draw me in like other fantasy stories.



Unblinking

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Reply #4 on: November 29, 2016, 02:36:56 PM
Hmmm...  I love watching jellyfish, but I guess I'm not enamored by them?  I felt like most of the body of the story was about obsession with the jellyfish and, I guess I just didn't feel it.  I knew the character was, but it ended up feeling overlong to me.



Devoted135

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Reply #5 on: January 23, 2017, 08:12:57 PM
The writing was very atmospheric, and in principle I like female scientists as protagonists... But, sort of like the ocean, I let this one wash over me and then moved on.