Title: Cybrosis
Author: P.C. Haring
Genre: Science Fiction
Released: 1 January 2010 – 14 May 2010
Located: Author’s Site, iTunes
Formats available: podcast only
Rating: PG-13 for violence and a bit of language (always listen before sharing with your family, we might have different views)
This has been a very busy spring. I’m having a hard time remembering what was going on January 1st. I believe I was ramping up to listen to Nathan Lowell’s highly anticipated Ravenwood when a heretofore unheard of podcast, Cybrosis, was brought to my attention. I might be able to lay the blame with Richard Green (a.k.a Mainframe) or perhaps Thomas Reed (a.k.a. trreed) but I might just as easily stumbled up on it on my own. Regardless, the author, P.C. Haring was a name I was familiar with from my Twitter circle (@pcharing). He seemed like a good enough bloke, and there are really few scifi productions in the podiofiction realm at the moment, so I decided to give it a shot.
So, on to the review.
Synopsis: Cybrosis is a cyberpunk action adventure novel filled with conspiracies, betrayals, and surprises. When a simple mission goes wrong, CNSCP Agent Ciris finds herself falling through a rabbit hole and into a conspiracy that threatens everything she knows about the cybernetic technology that keeps her alive. (Stolen and mashed up from iTunes and the author’s site.)
Production: I don’t know what Mr. Haring does for a living (I think he’s mentioned accounting, believe it or not (tax seasons over… lay off the poor guy)), but this production really is top notch. He makes appropriate use of consistently good production techniques and has paid attention to his mentors.
Several production notes. I have said previously that I was going to stop mentioning the story so far except when I had something to add to previous statements. This is one of those times.
Mr. Haring did something I haven’t heard before. He had guest voices introduce the episode (which was nice), but then had a consistent voice presence for TSSF. While I haven’t changed positions on the use of the device, I really liked this way of going about it. This is an example of good production. Repetition lets the audience know what is coming and draws us in from the very beginning.
Secondly, though Mr. Haring is far from the first podcaster to do this, I always appreciate the added touch of redoing the lead in on the final episode to signify the final episode. It just seems to me to be a mark of pride on the creators part that I can’t help noticing. Podcasters, I don’t know if I’m alone, but I DO notice these things.
Cast: The cast from Cybrosis, which truly is a full audiodrama (not the silly 3 or more people stipulation either -poke poke) has a cast that most first time podcasters would kill for. However, I will say that I had never heard Heather Welliver in the lead role before, and she truly and honestly nailed it. Her star is on the rise folks, and you heard her in Cybrosis early on.
Story: Cybrosis starts out with a high adrenaline chase scene and never backs down. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a work of podiofiction that kept the pulse pounding rate going through as much of the story as Cybrosis did. If you mainline this one, the twenty episodes are going to fly by.
Verdict: Cybrosis is a great science fiction podcast that should have great and long lasting appeal. It isn’t “high art” perhaps, but it is great fun and would make a great summer blockbuster movie. I always looked forward to the weekly drops (which happened very regularly and according to schedule) and will miss having this one in my feed.
Unless you’re philosophically opposed to fun, cyborgs, splosions or strong female characters, stop hesitating and go subscribe. Now.
Disclosure: I have never met P.C. Haring, although I do follow him on Twitter. I was not asked to provide this review. Mr. Haring DID ask me a question about mix levels early on, but that was the only input I ever provided during the release, other than an occasional “hurray”.
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