Podcast Review #54: South Coast
originally published November 8, 2010
Title: South Coast
Author: Nathan Lowell
Genre: Science Fiction
Released: 7 December 2007 – 21 December 2007
Located: Podibooks, iTunes, Author’s Site
Formats Available: Podcast only (soon to be dead tree from Ridan Publishing)
Rating: PG/R
November. The month of November is important for many reasons. My favorite reason is because it is the month my beloved was born in. My second favorite reason is that it is the month when NaNoWriMo takes place. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. During the month of November, if you choose to participate, you must write a novel of at least 50,000 words. No small feat, but one that is routinely attempted by many and won by a dedicated, smaller percentage.
One winner I choose to dub the Master of NaNoWriMo, and that writer is Nathan Lowell. His writing exploits have made him legendary in my circle of friends on Twitter. Nobilis Reed even coined the term “a Lowell” meaning to complete a word count of 10,000 in a single day. As recently as last year, Mr. Lowell (if I remember the story correctly) completed Ravenwood, a story of roughly 100,000+ words, in fifteen days. I believe during the same period he joined U2 on stage in 17 different countries, delivered babies on all 7 continents and became a master of dragon style kung fu AND single handedly defeated Chuck Norris in a game of Parcheesi.
Having so solidly defeated NaNoWriMo, Mr. Lowell has chosen to sit this year out in the hopes that others will benefit in his absence and pick up the gauntlet he has left lying on the ground.
After having discussed these Herculean feats with Katharina Maimer (@kmlaw) I realized I wanted to celebrate NaNoWriMo by publishing a series of reviews (for the remainder of November) on Mr. Lowell’s stories as he prepares to deliver the last chapter in the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series, Owner’s Share. [ed. note: last chapter? *sob*]
So, on to the review.
Synopsis: A Shaman’s Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper : Volume 1
Otto is Richard Krugg’s only son and heir to the Shaman’s gift. The only problem is Otto doesn’t want it. He wants to be a fisherman. When company policies force unwelcome changes onto his life and threaten even the security of the village, Otto discovers that being a shaman isn’t optional.Jimmy Pirano is caught between the devil and the deep green sea when new production quotas are handed down from corporate headquarters. Locked into a century of existing practice, Jimmy is forced to find new ways to fish and new places to do it in or face the very real possibility that Pirano Fisheries will lose the St. Cloud franchise.Join Otto, Richard, and Rachel Krugg as they struggle with what it means to be the son of a shaman. Cast off with Jimmy, Tony, and Casey as they navigate the shoals and shallows of corporate fishery along the South Coast. (stolen from Podiobooks site)
Production: Mr. Lowell’s production style is remarkably consistent. A piece of music is used to open and close a story, separated by a reading that is perhaps the single best example of a straight read that exists. Mr. Lowell’s publisher, Ridan Press, has realized the treasure they have here and he has recently begun podcasting the books of Michael Sullivan, also a Ridan Press author.
A
Cast: Nathan Lowell. Enough Said.
A
Story: South Coast is NOT a Golden Age of the Solar Clipper story. It does reside in the same universe, but Ishmael will not be serving you coffee as you listen to this tale. There is a tie in, but it is very easy to almost forget the stories have any connection. South Coast is much more a spiritual journey on the part of Otto, the main character, and of Richard, his father who is also the village shaman.
A-
Verdict: South Coast is an excellent story and I would really like to hear more about the Krugg family. It took me quite a while to wrestle why this story seemed so different form the Solar Clipper stories and yet remain so similar in other ways. The obvious answer is the content, but eventually I realized it was because this one is written in third person, while Ish’s tales are all written in first. The only problem I had with South Coast is it seemed to me to be a bit short. I could easily have used another 10-20,000 words getting to know the Krugg family.
Disclosure: Since I first tweeted something along the lines of “Is this Nathan Lowell guy stories really any good?” to my circle and I got an immediate return tweet of “I like them” from Mr. Lowell, I’ve followed him on Twitter. During times of intense business, Mr. Lowell tends to stay fairly quiet on Twitter, but be warned, like Santa and Chuck Norris, he knows when you’ve been good, and he knows when you’ve been naughty. Naughty boys and girls won’t get Owner’s Share in their feeds.
View from Valhalla 