Author Topic: PC460, ARTEMIS RISING: The Settlement  (Read 4356 times)

Ocicat

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on: March 19, 2017, 12:07:15 AM
PodCastle 460, ARTEMIS RISING: The Settlement

by Wendi Dunlap

read by Kimberly Taylor

A PodCastle Original!

Rated R, for violence, adult themes.


They file out into the predawn chill before the rest of the settlement is awake. Cloaked by a thick fog and the still darkness of a waning night, they carry shovels and picks. Despite the high collars and low hats that conceal their faces, their attempts at anonymity are wasted. I recognize them instantly through the frost of the kitchen window, their layers of clothing stitched by my own hand or those of my brethren.

I see you Reverend John Able, Matthias Smith, Thomas Gore, William Roe and Matthew Surgeon. And God sees you too.


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Wendi Dunlap has been writing speculative fiction since she was seven-years-old. Drawn to the genre by the Arthurian legends and the epic traditions of Europe, she eventually found a home in the works of Octavia Butler and Tananarive Due. She credits the novels Wildseed and My Soul to Keep for opening her eyes to the potential of combining African mythology, history and culture into the fantastic sagas she enjoyed as a child.

Her writing career has spanned across film, journalism, poetry and cultural critique. She has worked as a freelance journalist for The Amsterdam News and wrote op-eds on race and diversity for The Bergen County Record. She has won national awards for playwriting and was a regular in the NY / NJ spoken word circuit. Her literary reviews and cultural critiques have appeared in independent press publications like African Voices and New Jersey Perspectus magazine.

Wendi holds a BA in Film and Africana Studies from Cornell University. She currently resides in the Seattle, WA area with her teenage son. By day, she works in Digital Media & Advertising for a major technology company. In the evenings, she is completing her first full-length novel, a YA horror epic. Follow her on twitter @lovingbrowngirls.

Kimberly Taylor is a black Southern woman. She lives with a middle-aged man, a young Maltese, and an elderly Yorkie. She enjoys books, games, and colored paper.

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!



ragados

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Reply #1 on: March 21, 2017, 11:06:08 PM
I think this is the first episode of PodCastle I've not been able to bring myself to finish. Visceral and graphic, it was just too much for me.



Katzentatzen

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Reply #2 on: March 22, 2017, 07:24:24 PM
I love horror, but I'm worried for those Podcastle lovers who don't have the stomach for all the gore! Regardless I love the image of Abi(sp?) burying herself in a strange ground to familiarize herself with the powers that be. Amazing redemption for the main character.

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Anyanwu

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Reply #3 on: March 24, 2017, 02:07:48 AM
As a big fan of Octavia Butler and Tananarive Due, I was intrigued with this story. It sent chills down my neck. The horror was inescapable. No, it was not pleasant, nor was it easy. But it was gritty and real. The horrors of slavery should make us all queasy. It begs the question, who are you willing to sacrifice to survive, to be free? The main character is willing to do what needs to be done to survive, but she also knows the shame and guilt of it. No one is virtuous....slavery demands both master and slave make awful decisions. The tree where my great, great, great grandmother was sold still stands in South Carolina. You can visit remnants of holding cells where slaves were brought ashore to be sold in Savannah and Charleston. This story reminds me that Granddaddy used to say the "buzzards walked the streets" in those cities. There is something cannibalistic about slavery, consuming a life for profit.  This story explores that concept deeply and expertly.  Powerful story. Strong work Escape Artists for hosting Artemis Rising!!



Frank Evans

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Reply #4 on: March 31, 2017, 01:48:32 PM
This was both very good and very difficult to listen to. The descriptions of cannibalism and human butchering left me with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach that I don't usually get from Pseudopod stories, let alone expect from Podcastle. Not a criticism, because, as I said, this was an excellent story. Just unexpected. The narration was also very well done.



Lionman

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Reply #5 on: April 04, 2017, 10:49:55 PM
I think this is the first episode of PodCastle I've not been able to bring myself to finish. Visceral and graphic, it was just too much for me.

This isn't my first, but it's definitely one I finally had to turn off.  I didn't feel like this story, as fantastical as it might be, belonged here...PseudoPod might have been a much better choice.

I couldn't listen to this whole episode.  While it was rated R, that doesn't feel like it was warning enough.

Yuck.  Please don't do this to us again.  More warning, and the use of the word Cannibalism would be much more helpful.

I can't give much comment on the story, though I did get to hear most of it, I was just so squick'd by the content.  Sorry.

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