Podcast Review #134: Tools and Means
originally published June 4, 2012
Title: Tools and Means
Author: John Mierau
Genre: Science Fiction
Released: 12 March 2012 – 22 May 2012
Located: iTunes
Formats Available: podcast
Rating: R – for violence
Yup… John Mierau has put out another novella in his Serving Worlds stream on iTunes. Now, will I only review the stuff I like by John, or will I also review the stuff I hate? Read on dear friends.
So, on to the review.
Synopsis: Tom Brogan. An ordinary guy. With a sister in a coma. Seeing visions of a murderer. Becoming one himself…. and Tom is the hero. (Stolen from the author’s website.. and if I may say.. woefully misleading.)
Production: The production of Tools and Means is right in line with the rest of Mr. Mierau’s podcasts: quite good quality audio with the occasional repeated line (becoming fewer as time goes by) and a single piece of music to open and close each episode. Overall, John creates an environment that is conducive to listening to the story he tells.
Grade: A-
Cast: As always (or at least to date), Mr. Mierau does Tools and Means as a self read. If you’ve never listened to Mr. Mierau read one of his stories, I would have to say, I would put him in the top 5 of self read authors. He does an exceptional job of reading life into each of his characters. Authors considering podcasting their book as a self read should consider listening to Mr. Mierau read one of his stories.
Grade: A
Story: Tools and Means opens as a story that is more of a crime/serial killer novella. It actually takes a while for this one to take a speculative fiction twist. When it does, Mr. Mierau plays to his strengths and does a fine job. My one criticism of Tools and Means is that it ends a little too quickly. Tools and Means definitely sets itself up for a much larger story to follow. And it had better follow.
Grade: B+
Verdict: As I was listening to Tools and Means, I tweeted Mr. Mierau that after the slow turning of this story into speculative fiction, I now strongly desire a story by him that doesn’t turn into spec/fic. This is a good story. I really enjoyed it and even if you are not familiar with Mr. Mierau’s work, I would recommend it to any that enjoy speculative fiction in line with Puppetmasters or similar works. To answer the opening question: would I review something of Mr. Mierau’s I hated? Sure I would. However, Tools and Means is not that story.
Disclosure: I do follow Mr. Mierau. He’s a Canadian with a huge interest in the U.S. and writing. He’s an extremely nice guy and fun as well. As nice a guy as he is, he’s still never offered me anything in return for a review. If he did, I’d tell you here.
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