View from Valhalla

Category: Uncategorized

  • Podcast Review #20: Tattoo

    Title: Tattoo
    Author: Paul Elard Cooley
    Genre: Horror
    Released: 11 September, 2009 – 18 October, 2009
    Located: iTunes, Podiobooks, Author’s Site
    Formats Available: Podcast, PDF

    I often query my small network on Twitter for what they are listening to at the moment and I always get lots of great suggestions. Paul Cooley almost invariably provides titles written by horror authors (as well as other genres as well) so I wasn’t too surprised to find out that he writes in the horror field himself. A very good friend of mine recently started her very first podcast, and for it, she chose Tattoo (maybe I should be worried about her, hmmm….). Since I had been in need of a few new podcasts, I decided to give Tattoo a shot myself.

    So, on to the review.

    Synopsis: Scars. They remind us who we are, what we are and where we have been.
    But when a scar takes away your identity, what would you do to get it back?

    Jackson, a journalist in Houston, discovers links between several murders that have taken place in his city. His investigation draws him into the world of body art where he discovers an obsession worth killing for.

    Production: I know I harp about The Story So Far quite often, but Tattoo not only doesn’t include one, it includes almost nothing in the way of chatter. Perhaps this is due to Mr. Cooley’s preferences or perhaps it was just the version I chose, but it is really quite impressive in it’s “clean” approach. All the audio is at a good level and the story is easy to listen to. One observation, when Mr. Cooley makes a minimum vocal flub, he just repeats the word and continues on. Maybe surprisingly, but this didn’t detract from the story at all. It reminded me of all the band directors I’d ever had. “Just keep going.” While the production is pretty simplistic, in no way did I find it lacking.

    Cast: As previously stated, Mr. Cooley listen’s to plenty of podcasts himself, and so I would assume that he has heard many straight reads and many casted podcasts. Tattoo is unique in that it is mostly a straight read with one or two extra cast members thrown in. I didn’t really understand why this was done, but again, it didn’t detract from the story, so I didn’t really care. I will state that Mr. Cooley narrated most of the book pleasantly enough and I would have had no problem hearing him do the entire reading himself.

    Story: Tattoo is very much a urban crime/horror story. It is also the first story I’ve reviewed that is labeled a Novela, and it really is. At seven episodes it was a very quick listen. The horror elements were enough to make my skin crawl at times. I am not a fan of tattooing. I don’t know why, it just has never appealed to me, but I enjoyed the peek into the subculture of those that do. I have no idea how much research Mr. Cooley put into Tattoo, but it felt like he knew what he was talking about. It was also apparent that he was well familiar with the setting, Houston, Texas.

    Verdict: I’ve tried to be very upfront about stories that I like and stories that I didn’t care for. Truthfully, as mentioned before, this usually comes down to characterization for me. I don’t have to like the characters (and sometimes really hope one dies – hey, it’s fiction — don’t judge me!), but they DO have to interest me. Mr. Cooley’s characters did indeed interest me. I didn’t get to know them as well as I do the characters in some books because it was such a short work, but I stayed interested in the protagonist the entire story, and when the antagonist finally makes his appearance, you feel like you all ready have met him due to the character analysis completed by other characters in the story. I admit, physical torture is not something I generally have patience with. I do not watch the SAW movies because I find them distasteful. However, when slasher type horror Is included in my psychological horror, I have no problem with saying it can add to the mental anguish. Tattoo was able to walk this tightrope for me. It is not safe for work, nor is it safe for the minivan, but I do recommend it if you liked The Silence of the Lambs type horror.

    Disclaimer: I do follow Mr. Cooley on Twitter (@paul_e_cooley) and enjoy watching him try to win (unsuccessfully) verbal sparring matches with various ladies on Twitter. However, he did not offer me, nor did I accept, anything in the way of incentive for this review. (Although, pink bunny slippers, had they been offered, would have made one heck of an incentive.)

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  • Pimp from Valhalla Preview

    Rich:  Hey Odin didja hear about the crazy kiwi trying to auction off a sonic boom what the hell is up with that?

    Odin:  No man you got it all wrong  it’s not like that at all.  What Pip Ballentine is trying to do is raise money for Tee Morris’s daughter, Sonic Boom.  Yeah it’s over at theboomefect.org.

    Rich: Really let me go check that out… (Five checks of twitter, Skype and Facebook later Who hoo I found a lonely bull) DUDE!!!   Some chick in Austria is auctioning off Mozart’s Balls dipped in chocolate?

    Odin:  That has to be some crazy Austrian let me check that out – What the heck is Marzipan?  And why would they be stuffing his balls with Marzipan.

    Rich: Some kind of weird European embalming method?

    Odin: I don’t’ know about you man but I have no desire to put a dead composers chocolate dippes sack in my mouth.  Look at that she has a proxy bid in already for $25

    Rich: Considering how talented he was I’d figure they’d go for more.

    Odin: Only if you were a very big fan, and I’m not going there.

    Rich: Well you know that Napoleon’s Penis went for over two Million.  That’s a lot of scratch for Bonaparte’s Boner.

    Odin: Look here’s a guy that wants Fans to lead the charge.

    Rich: Get yourself a cheerleader… nah man I’ll pass I think Misty might get a little upset if I got myself a cheerleader.

    Odin: Yeah I think my Lady Queen might have some issues with that as well.

    Rich: Wait no it’s a cheerleader to lead the charge on the front lines.  Misty might be all for that.  Give me a B Give me a U Give me a L Give me a *POW* Oh wait I guess she didn’t mean a real bullet.

    Odin: Backseat Producers Package?  Talking about your package in the back seat that’s a recipe for disaster.

    Rich: What we don’t even rate a casting couch?  What are they driving around the neighborhood in a van with signs for Free Puppies, Free Candy, and Movie Production Critique?  They didn’t have Puppies!!

    Odin: And the candy wasn’t even anything I wanted!

    Rich: Yeah what’s the deal with the chunky bars… I know I’m a big guy but I won’t even touch that.  Raisins in candy… that’s just wrong.  Whoa! Hey some dude in Texas wants to strip us!

    Odin:  If you’ve ever been to Texas you wouldn’t find that too unusual.  Man and he wants us to pay him to do it.

    Rich: Your Very own Pocket Ninja?

    Odin: Might want to keep that one in the shirt pocket, Especially if he gets kicky.

    Rich: Yeah Ninja kicked in the junk doesn’t sound that appealing.  Yeah no ninjas near my nuts.

    Odin: Neither with swords nor kicks nor knife hand strikes.

    Odin: And Look here There’s a chance to become a Dead Robot.

    Rich: What are they gonna do rebuild they have the technology us make us better than we were before better stronger faster more creative?

    Odin: Well I could use a replacement eye.

    Here’s another we go from Dead Robots to being made into Zombies.  If someone is gonna be biting on me I get to pick who it is.

    Rich: Hmm undeath or bionics…

    Odin: Yeah I’d go with the bionics every time.  It’s all fun and games until your ear rots off.

    Rich: yeah that’s an awkward party moment, umm dude you left your ear in the guacamole… that’s not guacamole it’s brain dip!!  Oh hey look at this tow losers are offering up two reviews in one packages.. how pathetic can you.

    Odin: Umm Rich that’s us…

    Rich: What… DAMMIT!!!

    ** On a More Serious note…

    The auctions made fun of are actual listings, for the REAL scoop on the auctions check out their Links Below.

    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=373 Mozart Balls

    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=167 Become a Dead Robot

    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=325 Fan to lead the charge in your podcast project

    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=377 Back Seat Producers

    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=398 Be Stripped by TRReed

    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=343 Pocket Ninja

    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=284 Become a Zombie

    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=329 Two Reviews in One Package

    More about the auctions the ones we’ve poked fun at here plus many many others can be found at the main site for the Boom Effect located on the web at –  http://theboomeffectg.org – Benefit for Tee Morris’s daughter Sonic Boom to help take care of the costs of raising a child alone and give her a brighter future.  The Auction is slated for February 27th 2010 10:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST live on Ustream Channel – http://www.ustream.tv/channel/theboomeffect – The Boom Effect- raising money for Sonic Boom’s Future. Nothing can replace her mother, but we’re going to give her options.

    If you can’t make the auction you can place Proxy bids on http://theboomeffectg.org or you can leave donations using the Chipin widget located at the main site as well.

    Thank you

    Sincerely Odin1Eye and Rasplundjr

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  • Nominate Weather Child for The Sir Julius Vogel Awards

    Nominations have opened for the The Sir Julius Vogel Awards. These are the awards the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand Inc. award to New Zealand artists (and a few others listed in their Rules and Criteria) Although most of us can’t win, we’re all eligible to nominate works we enjoyed. Not only can we nominate these works, but the more nominations these works receive, the more likely they are to be placed on the ballot. While most of us can’t actually vote (members of the association only), a work can’t win if it isn’t on the ballot.

    With that in mind, if you listened to Weather Child, and you enjoyed it and think it deserves to be on the ballot, along with it’s author, the wonderful Philippa J. Ballantine, feel free to “borrow” any of the information provided below to complete your nomination. Nominations can be placed via email to: sjv_awards@sffanz.sf.org.nz. The nomination needs to include at least the information contained in lines 1-9. The rest is optional.

    I make no secret of the fact that I was, and still am, totally enamored with Weather Child and I definitely think it is worthy of this honor.

    1. Title of work – Weather Child
    2. Name of Producer / Author / Creator – Philippa Jane Ballantine
    3. What the work is i.e. Novel, TV, Movie, Short Story, Web, Collection, Comic, Art  – Unpublished book/podcast
    4. Year of First Release – 2009
    5. Publisher / Production company name – Koru Studios
    6. How to contact the producer / author
      E.g. personal email / publisher email / publisher address / publisher phone number / work email / work phone number. – pip@pjballantine.com
    7. What category you think the nomination belongs to i.e. Fan awards, Professional awards – Fan
    8. GENRE – science fiction, fantasy or horror – Fantasy
    9. Contact details of the person making the nomination e.g. email or/and phone number – (Place your own contact info here)
    10. Other details about the work, that might be relevant
      e.g. the media it appears in – radio, web – Weather Child was released in podcast form beginning in February 2009 and concluding in July of 2009.
    11. Where to get a copy of the work: Author’s website: http://weatherchild.com/category/episodes/page/3/ Podiobooks.com: http://www.podiobooks.com/title/weather-child and on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/weather-child/id304696541
    12. Any other comments you wish to add (add your own reasons here if you choose. This is optional)

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  • Podcast Review #13: Ravenwood

    Title: Ravenwood
    Author: Nathan Lowell
    Genre: Fantasy
    Released: 4 January 2010 – 19 January 2010
    Located: Podibooks, iTunes
    Formats Available: Podcast only at this time

    If the name Nathan Lowell doesn’t seem familiar to you, now would be a very good time to rectify that. I reviewed Mr. Lowell’s Quarter Share, the first book in his Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series, back in PR#6. Since this time, Mr. Lowell has been awarded a contract by Ridan Publishing with Quarter Share to be released later this spring.

    As stated in PR#6, I have been following Mr. Lowell on Twitter (@nlowell) for some time now. When he announced that for National Novel Writing Month he had excepted a challenge by Mur Lafferty to write something completely different, in half the allotted month, my curiosity was piqued. Ravenwood is the novel resulting from that challenge.

    So, on to the review.

    Synopsis: After twenty winters on the road, Tanyth makes one last pilgrimage in her quest to learn all she can about the herbs and medicinal plants of Korlay before settling down to write her magnum opus. Her journey is interrupted when she stops to help a small village and learns that much of what she knows of the world may not be quite as it seems. (stolen from Podiobooks site)

    Production: Mr. Lowell knows when to leave a good thing alone and continues with his “less is more” production style with Ravenwood. I only truly noticed one element of production added to Ravenwood. Occasionally, Tanyth will see a scene through the eyes of another character, to highlight this occurence, Mr. Lowell changed the resonance of the audio a bit. I mentally viewed this as a paragraph set off by the use of italics. I liked this device, and after having heard it several times realized it wasn’t my headphones going bad or my hearing being even more screwed up than I initially thought.

    Mr. Lowell always chooses a musical theme for his novels that really seems to capture the feel and the essence of the story. For Ravenwood, Mr. Lowell chose a piece of music from composer/artist Ivan Chew entitled The Hill. As I shared with Mr. Lowell, this is the first piece of podcast music I have ever found myself humming and/or whistling throughout the day. One final element worthy of note: Mr. Lowell did once again forego the use of a The Story So Far device, for which I am grateful.

    Cast: Mr. Lowell continues doing a straight read for his stories, and again, I can’t think of a better way to hear this story. Mr. Lowell’s style of reading is very conducive to allowing the listener to immerse himself in the story. While Mr. Lowell uses different vocal inflections for his characters, he makes no effort to change his voice, and I find it very interesting that he doesn’t need to. There wasn’t a single instance where I was left wondering which character was speaking.

    Story: Mr. Lowell’s first venture into fantasy is appropriate for the man that created science fiction without conflict. While there is conflict in Ravenwood, there is no quest, there is no evil force loose in the world that seeks the domination of mankind. What there is, is a story of an aging woman that finds, that no matter how well you know yourself, there is always more to discover. There are also many good people that she encounters, as well as a few assorted miscreants.

    Verdict: Ravenwood is a very good story. An excellent story. If you’ve been hearing about Mr. Lowell for a while and haven’t given him a listen because you don’t care for Science Fiction, now is your chance. However, if you have been a fan of his Golden Age series, you will find Mr. Lowell is just as comfortable in a middle aged woman’s small clothes as he is in a spacer’s ship tee and boxers. Unequivocally a Must Listen.

    Disclaimer: I currently follow Mr. Lowell on Twitter. He will always answer questions and is very affable. I was not asked to write this review and received nothing in the way of compensation.

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  • Podcast Review #11: Chasing the Bard

    Chasing the Bard

    Title: Chasing the Bard
    Author: Philippa J. Ballantine
    Genre: Alternate History/Fantasy
    Released: 3 March 2008 – 11 August 2008
    Located: Podiobooks, iTunes,Author’s site
    Formats Available: Podcast, iPhone App, Kindle, and dead tree version through Dragon Moon Press (available at Amazon and other fine retailers)

    As I recounted in PR#1, I started listening to fiction podcasts with a story by Tee Morris. This led me to see if he had anything else available. He did. Morevi: Remastered. One of the principal talents in this podcast was Philippa J. Ballantine. I went on to discover she was also an author and podcaster, and she had a very good story of her own available. Namely Chasing the Bard. (Later, I found out that Weaver’s Web, her very first podcast novel is also available.) [recanted from Podcast Review #5: Weather Child]

    Although I wrote the above introduction more than a month ago, and for a different podcast novel, it remains true and there isn’t much I could have done to improved upon it, so I didn’t try.

    The intervening weeks have brought much change, and unfortunately, not all for the good. But more of that later. For now let me state that Chasing the Bard was the first full length story of Ms. Ballantine’s that I had listened to, and from the very beginning I was intrigued. I’ve always enjoyed historic fantasy that takes the world we live in and asks, “What if all those old faerie stories were true?” Chasing the Bard does a fair job of answering that question.

    So, on to the review.

    Synopsis: Born into the human world with a gift; a gift that brings him to the attention of powers both dark and light from the World of the Fey, it is his burden to defend all the world.

    Sive, the goddess of battle, hopes that he may be able to change the fate of her people.The Fey are dying, killed by something beyond the boundaries of worlds, and Sive will do anything to save them. So she enlists the help of her trickster cousin Puck to guard the child, and watch him grow into his gift. But a dark power imprisoned by human and Fey, plots to destroy both worlds, and unmake all that they have created.

    Can one boy stop the destruction, even if he is William Shakespeare?

    Production: I believe this was Ms. Ballantine’s first podcast novel for which she used a cast and a fair amount of production. In my opinion, the greatest compliment you could pay anyone in this situation is by saying, “I never would have known that.” And indeed, I never would have guessed that Chasing the Bard was the first story that she tried to produce at this level. All production values are well done and the story is easy to listen to with all the dramatic elements adding to the story, and none getting in the way. I also will make notice that I believe this is the last podcast for which she included a TSSF. (Silently doing a happy dance.)

    Cast: Ms. Ballantine out did herself on this one. The cast page on her site lists fourteen separate voice talents for this piece of podio fiction. Every single one of them nailed their parts. More impressively (especially because I believe this was one of the first two I ever subscribed to and waited for the stories to drop), at least to me, is that not a single episode dropped late. Indeed, many of them were released early. How big of deal is this? Well, to me, not that big, as I really don’t mind waiting for a good story. BUT, I also can’t imagine the herculean task it would be to coordinate this many pieces of audio into a coherent story. Good show! I would be remiss however, if I didn’t point out that Will Shakespeare was voiced by Tee Morris, and truly, he made it his own.

    Story: Chasing the Bard is an interesting mixture of history, fantasy, and delving into the historical fantasy that IS William Shakespeare. I quite enjoyed the way the story was laid out and the way it came together. Ms. Ballantine avoided most of the snares I’ve noticed many stories written in this genre stumbling upon. Namely, the overpowering need of the other to justify the actions of the character with the history. Please don’t misunderstand me, the history is very important, but if I were wanting a historical account, I would have paid more attention in class. Well, although that isn’t quite true (I loved history), I would look it up in a book. When I listen to fiction, it is to be entertained, not to be educated. Now if I get an education along the way, that is great, but when an author makes me feel like I’m back in the classroom, I walk away. Ms. Ballantine makes you feel the period and envision it denizens without ever wallowing in the history.

    Verdict: Chasing the Bard was one of the first two books I ever purchased because of what the author gave to us for free. Ms. Ballantine continues to deliver content that I would gladly pay for and if you haven’t listened to CTB yet, you need to make time to do so.

    Disclaimer: Philippa Jane Ballantine, known and loved as Pip, was the second person I followed on Twitter (@philippajane). She is a wonderful and warm person with an amazing capacity to care across miles (or kilometers) of ocean. She is one of my best friends. However, I received nothing in return for this review, and if anything had been offered, I would have refused.

    Aside: I’m stepping WAY out of format here and coming to you with my hat in my hand asking for your help. Ms. Ballantine’s frequent collaborator and I purpose best friend, Tee Morris, suffered a tragedy this week. His wife, Natalie Morris, passed away suddenly. Through the generosity of the podcasting community, many of the bills inherent in this situation have been covered. If you have donated, I thank you. Profusely and from the bottom of my heart.

    However, Tee has a young daughter, Sonic Boom, that will now be relying on Tee solely for all her worldly and emotional needs. I know, absolutely and beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Tee is more than up to the task. However, I ask that we don’t make him go this alone. A ChipIn account was created by Ms. Ballantine in order to help her friend and to provide for Sonic Boom in the future. It is doing well, but in this case, too much is impossible. Can you help? You can donate here: http://teeandserena.chipin.com/sonic-booms-trust

    Also, there will be an online charity auction to benefit Sonic Boom taking place on 27 February, 2010. If you care to donate an item or service, please do so at donations@theboomeffect.org. If you would rather bid, you can do that also at http://www.theboomeffect.org

    Items are showing up regularly, so be sure to subscribe with your RSS catcher to make sure you find the item that catches your fancy. ALL money raised will be going to Sonic Boom’s future. Thanks again, and God bless you.

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  • Podcast Review #10: Max Quick 1: The Pocket and the Pendant

    The Pocket and the Pendant

    Title: Max Quick 1: The Pocket and the Pendant
    Author: Mark Jeffrey
    Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
    Released: 25 March, 2005 – 23 June, 2005
    Located:Podibooks, iTunes, Author’s Site
    Formats Available: Podcast, eb00k (multiple formats including .pdf), iPhone app, and both paperback and hardback dead tree version, all formats linked to from the author’s site.

    Mark Jeffrey’s Max Quick 1: the Pocket and the Pendant is the first podcast that I listened to in order to review. All previous reviews were for podcasts that I had all ready listened to and enjoyed. I had asked on Twitter what podcasts would the people I follow on Twitter recommend. Mark Jeffrey’s name came up and I realized, that although I had known of Mr. Jeffrey, I had never listened to anything by him, and decided I needed to rectify that.

    Before we get started with the review, let me sidetrack a bit in case there are some among you that are unaware of who Mark Jeffrey is.

    Way back in time, almost a full 5 years ago (not quite, but getting closer) there was a world without podfiction. It was a sad world. It was a cold world.

    Podcasts had begun to be more prolific and even Apple jumped into the new market by making iTunes a suitable podcatcher back in June of 2005 with version 4.9. Still, podcasts were usually “talk radio” for geeks, by geeks. I mean, do you know how to make iTunes subscribe to a podcast that isn’t available in the iTunes store? (Yes, I do, but I’m a geek! It isn’t hard however.)

    And then came the genesis of podfiction. The more or less recognized BIG THREE. Names you probably know. If not, you should. Tee Morris with Morevi, Scott Sigler with Earthcore, and Mark Jeffrey with Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendant. If you listen to and enjoy podfiction, you might want to say thanks to one or all of the above. Also, don’t forget Evo Terra for coming up with the idea of a repository for all of these wonderful stories. Namely Podiobooks.com. (Now, if I have any of this history wrong, PLEASE feel free to flagellate me about the head and shoulders, or at least drop me a comment with a correction.)

    So, on to the review.

    Synopsis: WHEN TIME mysteriously stops, young Max Quick must travel across America to find the source of this ‘temporal disaster’…

    Along the way, he and his companions encounter ancient mysteries, quantum Books, and clues to the riddle of stopped Time.

    But the more Max learns, the more it seems that his own true identity is not what he once believed. Now he must race against a clock that can no longer tick, before the very world itself is altered forever… (Stolen from the author’s site.)

    Production: Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendant is one of the first pieces of podfiction I’ve ever listened to that has a constant soundtrack going, rather like a movie. Contrary to what I first imagined, it is not a distraction, although, I don’t know if I can say that it truly enhanced many of the elements of the story. The starting theme is used throughout and is nicely done. I can also do another little happy dance a la Snoopy because Mr. Jeffrey went without a The Story So Far.

    Cast: Mr. Jeffrey keeps it simple with a straight read. Occasionally, I’ll listen to a story that would have benefitted by an audio drama format due to the fact that you can’t tell which character is speaking. Although many of Mr. Jeffrey’s characters sound similar, this never was an issue. It was done well and was quite enjoyable to listen to.

    Story: The Pocket and the Pendant was enjoyable for me on many levels, but I did have one small issue with it. I categorized it above as Young Adult. That in and of itself wasn’t my issue. I like many young adult novels. I like the simplicity of the characters motivations or perhaps it is just the straightforward telling. Regardless, this is where my problem comes in with Max Quick. Maybe, rather than calling it a Young Adult novel, I should call it a Family novel. What is the difference? Well, some of the concepts are a bit difficult to follow and as a father of a young adult (well, barely pre-teen) I know that some of these concepts would require a bit of explanation for him and many of the 12 year old crowd I have taught over the years (yes, I have been a teacher too).

    Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the story. I really did, but at times the audience was in question, at least for me.

    Verdict: Mark Jeffrey’s Max Quick series is now on it’s third book. After having listened to The Pocket and the Pendant, I will definitely be listening to the next one in the series (at this time, the third in the series has not been turned into a podcast). What better verdict is there than to say the first one in a series makes the sequels a must listen? (I pray to God that the sequels don’t turn out to be a Matrix mistake.. ewww!)

    Disclaimer: I have never met Mr. Jeffrey. I have never tweeted with Mr. Jeffrey. In fact, before writing this review, I didn’t even know that he was on Twitter. (According to the author’s site, he can be found on Twitter @markjeffrey.) Nothing was offered, or accepted, as compensation for writing this review.

    Next week: Chasing the Bard, by Philippa J. Ballantine.

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  • Podcast Review #5: Weather Child

    Title: Weather Child
    Author: Philippa J. Ballantine
    Genre: Alternate History/Fantasy
    Released: 6 Feb 2009 – 31 July 2009
    Located: Podiobooks, iTunes, Author’s site
    Formats Available: Podcast only

    As I recounted in PR#1, I started listening to fiction podcasts with a story by Tee Morris. This led me to see if he had anything else available. He did. Morevi: Remastered. One of the principal talents in this podcast was Philippa J. Ballantine. I went on to discover she was also an author and podcaster, and she had a very good story of her own available. Namely Chasing the Bard. (Later, I found out that Weaver’s Web, her very first podcast novel is also available.)

    At the end of 2008, I had recently finished listening to both of the above named podcasts and was eager to find something to fill in the holes. This “filling in of holes” actually seems to happen to me quite often as one or another of the podcasts I am listening to always seem to be ending. (I’m still hoping for that one really good book and/or podcast that never ends.) I am always hopeful that I’ll stumble upon something that will be at least as good as whatever I was listening to previously.

    In this case, I didn’t think that was very likely as the two mentioned podcasts are two of my favorite stories to date, and I really was sad to see them end. Luckily, as timing would have it, in February of 2009, Ms. Ballantine began releasing Weather Child as a serialized podcast.

    Before beginning the review, I will admit that I had been anxiously awaiting Weather Child from the first time I heard Ms. Ballantine describe it. I am enamored with lands and environments that I am unfamiliar with, and Weather Child takes place in New Zealand, a place that I’ve never been, but am anxious to visit. Interestingly, the setting of the story has affected the story in the “real world”. Ms. Ballantine had shopped it around to the major publishers and was told that U.S. readers wouldn’t be interested in a novel taking place in New Zealand. Truthfully, when I heard this, I was aghast. Ms. Ballantine fits in the very rarified category of “interested in anything she does” for me. So how much are we as readers missing out on by some blind New York publishers?

    So, on to the review.

    Synopsis (Stolen from Podibooks.com): Step back in time and sideways into an alternate world, where magicians and seraphim are found only on the shores of the Long White Cloud. Between two world wars, Jack and Faith find themselves unravelling a conspiracy to turn the Awakened children of Aoteroa to dark purposes.

    Production: Phillipa J. Ballantine has been podcasting for a while now and is actually used as voice talent on a number of podcasts. Weather Child was her third podcast novel and her production skills have risen with each one. The production of Weather Child is simply beautiful with music and sound effects that add to important scenes and are never extraneous. Ms. Ballantine has a wonderful flair for the dramatic (and yes, I do mean that as a positive) that is shown through the production. Each element is painstakingly and precisely placed to good effect.

    AND… Weather Child was the FIRST podcast novel I had listened to that COMPLETELY did away with The Story So Far (extra points awarded) and proved to me that TSSF is indeed unnecessary.

    Cast: According to the Weather Child cast page, there are five voice talents in Weather Child. Each one is used effectively, but for the most part, Weather Child is a narrative and is beautifully shared by the author. The principal male talent is Tee Morris. Ms. Ballantine and Mr. Morris are old friends, and whenever they podcast together, it is always worth a listen. (As I know Chris Lester, P.G. Holyfield, and Dan Sawyer (others?) have all ready discovered.)

    Story: Weather Child is a beautiful and deeply personal story. Ms. Ballantine has drawn from her own family history to flesh out some of the characters, and it is an investment that is palpable. I love a well done historical fantasy, and Weather Child is very well done indeed. This is a story that exudes pain and sorrow, but never loses faith in the possibility of redemption. It is a dark tail, and not one I would suggest for young children. However, it also one of my very favorite stories of any time, in any genre. And I am woefully despondent because I can’t purchase a dead tree version. (yet? Still hopeful.)

    Verdict: Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Weather Child sucks. Yep, it has sucked the pleasure of any lesser story dry. Honestly though, Weather Child is a MUST LISTEN, my highest rating.

    My wife, who does not listen to podcasts (she has a 2 minute commute and we have a toddler) grew tired of my incessant raving about Weather Child and decided to give it a listen a couple of months back. It was great fun to see her immersed in the story that I so loved. She asked hopefully upon finishing, “Is there going to be a sequel?”

    I have also coerced several other non-podcast loving acquaintances to give it a listen as well. To date, I have received 100% positive feedback.

    Philippa Jane Ballantine, known and loved as Pip, was the second person I followed on Twitter (@philippajane). She is a wonderful and warm person with an amazing capacity to care across miles (or kilometers) of ocean. She is one of my best friends. However, I received nothing in return for this review, and if anything had been offered, I would have refused.

    As an aside, Ms. Ballantine has been awarded a contract for two novels with ACE Publishing and is finishing her second novel for them now. As part of her book deal with ACE, they have right of first refusal on all of her catalog, so it is possible (and for me very hopeful) that Weather Child might still see a big house, U.S. publishing.

    Next: Nathan Lowell’s Quarter Share

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