Podcast Review #24: Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana (Remastered)

Title: Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana (Remastered)
Author: Tee Morris (with Lisa Lee)
Genre: Fantasy
Released: 29 November 2007 – 25 December 2008
Located: iTunes, Podiobooks, Author’s Site
Formats Available: Podcast, Dead Tree.

So, back in 2008 (again) after having completed Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword, I of course had to find out if Tee Morris had written anything else. Little did I know at the time that Mr. Morris was one of the original three podcasting authors. I went to iTunes and typed in his name and was happy to find Morevi Remastered. Thankfully, it had been going for a while all ready so there were some episodes “in the bank”. I eagerly subscribed and began the Morevi experience.

So, on to the review.

Synopsis: Morevi, a landlocked kingdom shrouded by jungles and mystery, falls under the rule of Askana Moldarin. In the dawn of this New Age, hidden traitors in her own regime threaten to destroy everything. The First Queen, independent of council, seeks help to reveal the conspiracy against her…

Enter Rafe Rafton, captain of the Defiant. (Stolen, once again, from Podiobooks.com)

Production: Morevi Remastered was unusual in its production. The production was indeed the catalyst for the remastering this podcast. I could definitely hear a difference between the portions of the podcast that came from the original, and the parts that had been added. As anyone that has consistently read these reviews should know, the production quality probably counts the least in importance for me. However, if you must have audio that doesn’t variate at all in order to enjoy a story, Morevi may not be your best bet. One other production element worth mentioning was the volume. Mr. Morris makes reference of this in one of the meta portions of one of the episodes and it is something that I definitely noticed. Morevi is not recorded with the intention that you will be able to shake the walls with the sea battles (well worth hearing) and other assorted production elements. There are times I could have wished it were louder. Still, the production on Morevi is far above merely satisfactory.

Cast: The cast of Morevi is almost a who’s who of podcasting. Through listening to Morevi I went on to search for Philippa Ballantine and Christiana Ellis to name just two. The vocal work is simply amazing and every single member of the cast sells their part in an emphatic manner.

Story: Pirates. Ninjas. Need I say more? Actually, that is about all I needed to know to subscribe. Want more? Morevi is an epic fantasy and I do mean epic in every sense of the word. The flavor of Morevi borrows heavily from the cultures of Western Europe and Asia, both of which I enjoyed very much. The scope of the story carries the crew through the panoramic views of two worlds, mixing fantasy with historical fiction.

Verdict: Quite simply I have never enjoyed a fantasy novel more than I enjoyed Morevi. It truly is the rule that is use in this genre. I do not try to hide the fact that I am a rabid fanboy of the story and I highly recommend the sequel, Legacy of Morevi, available only in print. While this verdict might seem a little over the top compared to most of the reviews I write, I give credit to Morevi for cementing my love of podiofiction as an art form that I wanted to delve into. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you enjoy fantasy epics.

Rating: Following a request in the comments of last weeks review, I plan on trying to provide a guide for perspective listeners. Morevi does include a fair amount of violence and a bit of sexual content. While most episodes would be safe for work, depending on your violence threshold where kids are concerned, it might not be minivan safe. I would rate Morevi most appropriate for young adults and beyond.

Disclaimer: As stated previously, I do count Mr. Morris as a friend and am looking forward to the day when I will meet him in person. However, he didn’t know about this review before it was released, he didn’t ask me to provide one, and offered me nothing in way of compensation.

14 responses to “Podcast Review #24: Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana (Remastered)”

Richard Green aka Mainframe

Tee’s books are awesome. I also recommend this podiobook to fans of fantasy. I do have to say that I did enjoy “Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword” (See Odin1Eye’s review at https://viewfromvalhalla.com/2009/11/15/podcast-review-billibub-baddings-and-the-case-of-the-singing-sword/) even more (it is one of my all-time favorite audio books). My impression is that Tee is a strong writer in Morevi and only gets better with time.

Since Odin has given the deservedly positive review, I will point out a couple of other things you may want to know going into the book. This is a long podiobook, but most epic fantasy – especially those released in book form at the time this was – is long.

Since this work was a published (dead tree) novel first, this work had already been professionally edited, which most podiobooks are not – yet another plus for this book. This type of fantasy is not my usual reading material, but I definitely enjoyed it all the way through.

I do have to expand on the voice cast. If there were best actor & actress categories for podiobooks, Tee Morris & Phillipa Ballantine would have easily scored nominations for their acting in this production and been very strong contenders for the wins (IMHO). Other supporting actors are likewise strong, especially Christiana Ellis, George Hrab, P.G. Holyfield (you gots to love a good villain), and John Cmar *CMAAAARRRR!!!*. O.K., actually they are all darn good – see http://www.teemorris.com/morevipodcast/the-cast for the cast. I’ve listened to many other podiobooks with at least one of these fine people in the cast, and I’ve never heard a weak performance from any of them.

If you enjoy fantasy with pirates, swashbucklers, ships, hidden kingdoms, & a queen that can hold her own in almost any fight – go now and check it out. If not, still give it a try when you get the chance, if you are like me you won’t regret it 🙂

Reply
1. odin1eye
  
  LOL… thanks Richard. I really should have let you write this one. I am so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks again for being such a regular contributer to this blog.
  
  Reply
Tee Morris

Wow, man. Just…wow.

The tweet this morning did catch me off-guard, and I’m thrilled that you found Morevi so worthwhile. I alos would say, very much in the same manner as Joe Murphy, this is an honest review. Morevi was an experiment to see if I could take audio of two different sources and work them together. Did it work? It had it’s high and low points, but I have no regrets. I was able to restore many chapters to how they appear in print, got as chance to feature a scene not seen in any edition, and got an education in the higher functions of Soundtrack Pro. I think it is a success, but I do not plan to return to this podcast again.

Now, if a NY publishing house picks it up? Then, I may need to redo it again. I got all the audio from my cast. Why not? 😉

Reply
1. odin1eye
  
  I would buy that third round! ,^) Seriously sir, your works brought me into the world that is podiofiction, a fact for which I cannot thank you enough. Beyond that, although you didn’t bring me into Twitter per se, it was interacting with you and then many others in the podiofiction field that made me the Twit I am today. Thanks for the comment, but more importantly, thank you for what you have done for podiofiction and for giving us Billi, Rafe and Askana. Now if only we could get Books and Braun!
  
  Reply
  1. Tee Morris
    
    If only…
    
    Working on that as we speak…
    
    Reply
    1. odin1eye
      
      All I can say is, DON’T QUIT!
      
      Reply
2. Doc Coleman
  
  If there was ever a reason to re-re-master Morevi Remastered, I would recommend re-recording the lot of it. Not because the previous audio was bad. It isn’t bad, although some parts are better than others. If you re-record, the mixing and editing is simpler, and all of the voice cast has had time to improve their craft. I think you’d get better performances from re-recording. And there are a few parts that Tee voiced for secondary and tertiary characters that could be cast with new voices. Especially the female ones.
  Of course, I am thoroughly enjoying this version of Morevi as it is. I don’t think there is a real reason to re-do this version of Morevi. Now a Morevi movie on the other hand…
  
  Doc
  
  Reply
  1. odin1eye
    
    If tee ever reremasters morevi, imma gonna beg for a one line red shirt appearence. Lol. And dude. A morevi movie? Wow. What a dream.
    
    Reply
Philippa Ballantine

Morevi, the original was my first podiobook, but I credit Tee asking me to take the Askana role in the Remastered edition for my love of doing character work for them. It was only after taking part that my passion was reignited for something I had done from childhood until my early 20s.
Morevi also cemented my decision to do Chasing the Bard, and feeling no compunction about asking Tee to play Will. 🙂

Reply
1. odin1eye
  
  Knowing how much I love strong characters and characterization, it should come as no surprise when I say that hearing the backstory like this makes me squee like a little girl… SQUUUEEEEE
  
  Reply
Scott Roche

Nice work with this review my friend. This is a favorite of mine as well. Of course as Tee knows I prefer me some Billi, but Rafe is a scallywag par excellence and the end had me whooping and tearing up a bit. So yeah, thanks Tee!

Reply
1. odin1eye
  
  Yeah, had me balling like a baby… nono.. umm…. I was cutting onions during the commute, yeah, that’s my story.
  
  Reply
Michell Plested

I would concur with both your comments (Odin) and Mainframe’s as well. Tee takes the production quality to another level with his podcasts. Add a great story and you’ve got a real winner. I must blame/give credit to Tee for at least some of my podcast efforts because of both his fiction and ‘The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy’.

Another great (and fair) review. Keep up the great work!

Reply
1. odin1eye
  
  Thank you sir. I try to be fair regardless of the review. The thing is, fair with something that has touched you in a certain way will always still come across as being “fanboy” ish… so you might as well own up to it and just explain why. Thanks for the comment!
  
  Reply