View from Valhalla

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.

Posted in Podcast Reviews

originally published May 28, 2012

Title: Tainted Roses
Author: Mark Kilfoil
Genre: Steam science punk fiction (well you listen and come up with a better genre)
Released: 3 May 2012 – 26 May 2012
Located: iTunes, Every Photo Tells 
Formats Available: podcast
Rating: PG-13/R – for violence

I’ve been a fan of the Every Photo Tells Podcast since it’s inception. I’ve even written for it on a number of times. In fact, I’m a pseudo-member of the staff as the first line editor. However, since this story fell outside of the normal guidelines, I never read it (or heard it) until it was released. The final episode was released earlier today.

So, on to the review.

Synopsis: Pricilla and her mother are saboteurs and assassins. They’ve just completed a job and have stolen a ship to aid in their escape. Unbeknownst to them, the ship carries a stowaway. A young lady named Elizabeth who happens to have a unique set of talents herself. A young lady, that just happens to be the daughter of their last target. Have Pricilla and her mother gained an ally or inherited a whole new set of problems as they continue to their next job? (This synopsis was created by me. I apologize now and implore all authors to make sure your have a good synopsis for your story.)

Production: The production of Tainted Roses is good. Very good. Most of the episodes of Every Photo Tells are stand alone and contain a minimum of effects and production elements. Because Tainted Roses is a novella, the producers of Every Photo Tells (namely Mick Bordet and Katharina Maimer) are given a bit more of a story to play around and have fun on. Though not overpowering, there are a number of special effects and a new theme song that I truly hope Every Photo Tells will consider continuing with.

Grade: A

Cast: The cast for every episode of Every Photo Tells is the same and consists of the aforementioned Katharina Maimer and Mick Bordet. In Tainted Roses these two find a groove and ride it to the end. Mick, in particular, seems to have a lot of fun with the variety and number of characters he is prevailed upon to voice and both do a fine job and provide their audience with a podcast that is a pleasure to listen to.

Grade: A

Story: Mr. Kilfoil made Tainted Roses very authentic, at least in my opinion. His characters were written with an element of fun and the awkwardness of one male character reminded me greatly of .. um.. a friend I had in high school… yeah.. I’ll stick with that story.

Grade: A-/B+

Verdict:  I greatly enjoyed Tainted Roses. I am not overly familiar with Mr. Kilfoil’s writing, but I can honestly say that after having heard Tainted Roses, I am definitely looking forward to hearing/reading more from him. This story greatly combined standard science fiction with steampunk and other popular genres. I enjoyed this blending and I believe many of you will too.

Disclosure: I’m very familiar with all the parties involved with putting this story together. Ms. Maimer and Mr. Bordet are both good friends and supporters of this blog. Ms. Maimer can be found on twitter at @kmlaw, Mr. Bordet can be found @mickbordet. I met and followed Mr. Kilfoil because of Ms. Maimer and have found him to be funny and opinionated. You can follow him @encaf1. Regardless of my relationships with these people, if this story would have sucked, you would have heard it here first.

Posted in Podcast Reviews

originally published May 21, 2012

Title: Paraffin Winter
Author: Peter Chowney
Genre: fiction
Released: 12 January 2009
Located: iTunes, Podiobooks
Formats Available: podcast
Rating: R – for violence and adult situations

This is another podcast I picked off of Podiobooks.com site on a whim. Authors, I don’t know about others, but be aware, I will choose a book by the title. Quite possibly even over the cover art. I know.. I’m weird.

So, on to the review.

Synopsis: Paraffin Winter is set in the South Coast UK town of Poole in the long, cold winter of 1963. This was a time when the country was still struggling with the after effects of the war, a time of fried spam dinners, starting handles and paraffin oil stoves, a time when the population eyed each other suspiciously across the class divide. Many young men had survived the war with high hopes and experience of killing: not a happy combination. The enlightenment of the nineteen-sixties had not yet begun.

Struggling to keep their heads above the icy water, Ronnie and Jenny Delaney are getting by. But then, when Ronnie allows himself to be dragged into investigating a murder, his past catches up with him and he soon finds that he’s out of his depth, in a mire of protected interests that stretch all the way up to the Government. It’s going to take someone cleverer than Ronnie to get to the bottom of this one. And that someone is closer than he could ever have imagined …

Paraffin Winter is a book about a murder, and tracking down a killer. But it’s also about Britain in the early 1960s, about relationships, about social class, and about how everything was about to change as the 1960s unfolded. For Ronnie and Jenny, for the abandoned heroes of the second world war, for the whole of Britain, nothing would ever be the same again. (Stolen from Podiobooks.com)

Production: The production of Paraffin Winter is quite good with a couple of largish exceptions, the largest being the outro music. At least to me, the music used (which is also the opening music, but there used to good effect) is faded in at a moment where the song shrieks. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one to notice as before the end the music is brought in a few bars earlier which made all the difference. I remember only one repeated line. Perhaps two. In a work this large, that is quite good.

Grade: B+

Cast: Paraffin Winter is a self read by the author. Mr. Chowney does more than an adequate job in voicing the characters in his story. He does both male and female voices in a unique way. Though I’m far from acquainted with accents of the U.K., I expect that Mr. Chowney calls some part of the London area home.

Grade: A-

Story: Paraffin Winter starts out strong with a series of events that are both macabre and challenging. The story is told in the first person perspective of Ronnie Delaney. Ronnie is a simple man that somehow becomes embroiled in the proceedings. This is unique in itself as he is a simple, undereducated delivery man. The story holds your attention and keeps moving forward; until that is, the perspective changes half way through to Ronnie’s girlfriend, Jenny. Once Jenny takes over the story, things slow down dramatically but continues until almost the very end.

Paraffin Winter is also a large story. With 27 eps, many in the 45 minute range, the listener will need to set aside a good amount of time to finish this story.

Grade: C-/D

Verdict: While the story started strong for me, the plodding quality of the plot overall makes me say give this one a pass. The second half of the story slowed the pace to a crawl. Truthfully, if it wasn’t for the pending review, I might have given up on this one. Something I rarely do.

Disclosure: I’ve never conversed with Mr. Chowney in any fashion. Nothing was offered or accepted in return for this review.

Posted in Podcast Reviews

originally published May 14, 2012

Title: Boone Barnaby
Author: Joe Cottonwood
Genre: Young Adult non-spec ficc
Released: 12 January 2009
Located: iTunes, Podiobooks
Formats Available: podcast
Rating: PG – For mild language and violence

Currently I’m listening to a number of podcasts. A good number. Not a single one had the decency to finish this week. So, as my deadline quickly approached, I pulled up Podiobooks.com and looked at authors I’ve enjoyed. I then realized there was one story by Joe Cottonwood I hadn’t heard yet. That’s all it took.

So, on to the review.

Synopsis: If you liked Clear Heart, I think you’ll like this one too. It’s got great characters, it’s down-to-earth, it’s fun. And better yet, this one’s friendly to children. Boone Barnaby is about three boys testing the limits of life in their scrappy little town. It’s about collecting garbage, climbing trees, catching a criminal, and talking to dragonflies.

Boone Barnaby lives in a small town full of large characters: San Puerco, California. There’s Boone’s father, who loves Studebakers and doo-wop, and who has a habit of walking around the dark streets of town late at night carrying a can of gasoline. There’s Boone’s friend Danny, who has nothing—sometimes not even a home—but who wants everything, even if he has to steal for it. There’s Boone’s other friend Babcock, who finds trilobites and organizes a picket line and looks like a wet coconut. There’s Walt, the soccer coach, who drives a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. And there’s Boone himself, who has a few problems: His soccer team is thrown out of the league. The dogcatcher is after Boone’s dog. The town hoodlum is throwing rocks. Boone’s father is arrested for burning down houses. The adult world doesn’t seem fair, but with the help of his friends—Danny and Babcock—Boone tries to make things right and maybe learn just who he is and what he stands for.

Boone Barnaby is Part One of the San Puerco Trilogy, three award-winning novels that have been loved by adults and children alike, about the adventures of three boys in a town of cranks and dreamers—and adventurous children. “This warmly engaging story is resplendent with humor, irony, thoughtful introspection, and well-paced plotting.” —School Library Journal.

Joe Cottonwood lives in the scrappy little town of La Honda, California, which has its own share of cranks and dreamers—and adventurous children. He has written four award-winning novels for children including the best-selling Quake!, four novels for adults including Famous Potatoes and Clear Heart, a book of poetry, and numerous songs. He has worked as a plumber, electrician, and carpenter and currently makes his living as a building contractor. He recently discovered that he has been writing podcasts all his life, though he didn’t know it until podcasts were finally invented. (Stolen from Podiobooks.com)

Production: Once again, Mr. Cottonwood keeps the production pretty straight forward with the story being read by a handful of people. Each episode contains two chapters opened and closed by a piece of music and a musical interlude between chapters. Uncomplicated and straightforward. And done very well.

Grade: A-

Cast: As mentioned previously, this is a group read. I won’t call it a full cast podcast, but it is far from a self read. If you’ve listened to any of Mr. Cottonwood’s other podcasts, one or two of the other voices will quite probably be familiar. This cast does a nice job of telling the story. Not perfect, but good.

Grade: B

Story: When I listened to Babcock, I had several people mention Boone Barnaby to me. However, no one mentioned to me that Boone Barnaby was an earlier story with many of the same characters that takes place in the same small California town of San Puerco. I hesitate in calling it a prequel, because in reality the stories are unrelated, however, the many of the characters are in both stories, and they are younger in Boone Barnaby.

Grade: A

Verdict: While I definitely enjoyed Babcock more, I still definitely enjoyed Boone Barnaby and have no problem recommending it. This story is more formulaic in several aspects, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. This story is easily suited for children of 10 and above. I believe most would enjoy it.

Disclosure: Mr. Cottonwood did leave a comment on this blog when I reviewed Babcock, but that is the only communication I’ve ever had with him. I was offered nothing in return for this review.

Posted in Podcast Reviews

originally published April 30, 2012

Title: Betrayed – Book 2 of the Turner Chronicles
Author: Mark Eller
Genre: Fantasy/Alternate Universe
Released: 4 April 2012
Located: iTunes, Podiobooks
Formats Available: podcast, ebook
Rating: R for graphic violence and sexual situations

Many months ago and many podcast reviews ago, I reviewed Traitor by Mark Eller. I really enjoyed it. I eagerly awaited the sequel. And waited. And waited. Finally, the wait was over and Mr. Eller released Betrayed the second in the series. Now the only question was, was it worth the wait?

So, on to the review.

Synopsis: The War is over. Isabella has won, and the Talent Master is dead. Aaron Turner now lives in N’Ark, Isabella’s capital, where he mourns his murdered wife and son. All he wants is to tip a bottle, stare at walls, and recover.
But they won’t leave him alone.

The Isabellan government and slavers both want him dead. Savages look to him as their prophesied savior. His lawyer wants to control him. His neighbors and friends have been murdered, and a once dead shaman declares him a servant of her One God.

Aaron has to make things right. His honor demands it.

Dusting off his guns, he sets aside his grief, readies his Talent, and declares a one man war against a nation that has betrayed him, the Clan, and itself.(Stolen from Podiobooks.com)

Production: Mr. Eller does a proficient job with the production of Betrayed. There are instances of repeated lines, and I did notice a few places where atmospheric noises leaked in, but I doubt the average listener will have anything to complain about while listening to this story.

Grade: B+

Cast: Mr. Eller does quite a nice job reading his story and has that quality of many of the best narrators that while not overly inflecting his voice for different characters, still completely differentiates them by simply using his voice. I truly enjoyed listening to his reading of his story.

Grade: A

Story: This is a sequel. You really need to read/listen to Traitor, before listening to Betrayed. Don’t jump in on the second story. You’ll miss a lot and Betrayed will suffer for it. However, this is a extremely tight story and is done very well. Where Traitor happened on a very small scale, focusing on Aaron Turner and the small towns he lived in. Betrayed focuses on a larger stage, both in number of important characters and in the amount of traveling. Mr. Eller promises this will continue and the third book will happen on a world scale. The graphic violence and graphic imagery described did indeed make me squirm and I strongly encourage you to listen to this one out of the hearing of small children.

Grade: A

Verdict: Loved it. Much better progression of the story that I had anticipated and am greatly enjoying where this story is going. I encourage those of you that enjoy alternate universe stories to give this one a listen.

Disclosure: I’ve never met, talked or tweeted with Mr. Eller. Nothing was offered or accepted in return for this review.

Posted in Podcast Reviews

originally published April 17, 2012

Title: Interview with a Wizard
Author: J.A. Areces
Genre: Harry Potter alternate earth magical fantasy
Released: 17 December 2007 – 20 April 2008
Located: iTunes, Podiobooks
Formats Available: podcast, ebook
Rating: PG – 13 for violence

Like almost every other person on the planet, I was a big fan of the Harry Potter novels. I discovered them fairly early on with only the first book of the series in print and followed the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione as each new novel was released. When I stumbled across Interview with a Wizard on Podiobooks, I hoped it would have some of that magic and decided to give it a listen.

So, on to the review.

Synopsis:

On Halloween night, the greatest vacation spot in the world is about to be scared to death. A dangerous and mad wizard has escaped from jail, and there is no one who can identify him. With only seven days left before Halloween, Jesse and wizard special agent Ch-U-Ch race to solve the mystery, but time is quickly running out. (Stolen from Podiobooks.com)

Production: Interview with a Wizard is mostly good production interrupted by moments (episodes) of truly miserable production. The music the author chose was fine, until he changed it. Then changed it back. Then played it through a large chunk of one episode.I didn’t find it irritating enough to quit listening to the story; however, if it had occurred in episode one, it might have been a different story. The only reason I don’t grade it lower is because it isn’t consistently bad. The times it is however, I believe earns it the grade given.

Grade: C-

Cast: Mr. Areces does Interview with a Wizard as a self read. Overall, he does a fine job. Some might have a bit of difficulty with his accent, but anyone that complains about accents needs to realize that not everyone sound like them. It is obvious English isn’t Mr. Areces first language. However, he does a commendable job with the language with both the writing and the reading.

Grade: A

Story: I had a hard time with Interview with a Wizard. In some aspects it seemed terribly derivative of Harry Potter and other fantasy novels. Yet in other aspects, it seemed more of an original story that is simultaneously providing tribute to those other stories we love so much. On that account, I’ll let others provide their thoughts.

Grade: B-

Verdict: I have a hard time here. I with good conscience really don’t know whether to recommend Interview with a Wizard or not. Some will find it derivative and irritating; some will find it a fun and original tribute. I admit, I found it both. In places. In other places I will also admit that I was yelling at the story because of a few production decisions. I guess my best advice here would be to give this one the 4 ep test if you find the synopsis interesting. Oh, and by the way, yes, this is young adult safe.

Disclosure: I’ve never met Mr. Areces and I was offered nothing in return for this review.

Posted in Podcast Reviews

originally published April 10, 2012

Title: Dark Currents
Author: Lindsay Buroker
Genre: Fantasy with Steampunk elements
Released: 21 March 2012
Located: Podiobooks, iTunes
Formats Available: podcast, ebook
Rating: PG – 13 for violence

Several months ago, many regular readers of the blog will remember that I found a new podcast novel written by Lindsay Buroker and read by Starla Huchton. You might also remember I greatly enjoyed it and had few complaints concerning it. Well, that book was The Emperor’s Edge, and now I’m here to review it’s sequel, Dark Currents.

So, on to the review.

Synopsis: It’s been three months since former enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon and the notorious assassin Sicarius thwarted kidnappers and saved the emperor’s life. The problem? Nobody knows they were responsible for this good deed. Worse, they’re being blamed for the entire scheme. With enforcers and bounty hunters stalking them, and the emperor nursing a personal hatred for Sicarius, it’s going to be hard to earn exoneration. (Stolen from Podiobooks.com)

Production: Dark Currents is produced by the same team that produced The Emperor’s Edge, Darkfire Productions. Many of the same superior production qualities that I enjoyed with The Emperor’s Edge are still present in Dark Currents. However, there are a few more background artifacts during the reading. This might have been something that was uncontrollable and impossible to remove. Regardless, they did catch my attention and momentarily pulled me out of the story. Also, in one ep the outro music appears several minutes early and leaves a gap at the end. This definitely messed up the ending of that ep, at least for me. Hopefully, this issue has been corrected.

Grade: B-

Cast: As with The Emperor’s Edge, Dark Currents is read by Starla Huchton. And once again, she does a superb job. Each of the characters retains their individual flavor from the original story and, remarkably, so do many of the periphery characters.

Grade: A

Story: You may remember that I stated during the review of The Emperor’s Edge that the steam elements seemed unnecessary. Well, in Dark Currents, Ms. Buroker has upped the steam and the need for it. This second story makes the steam elements more much necessary and common. This story takes place outside of the city for the most part. I found myself enjoying the story very much, but realized that the setting of the first book was one of the things I greatly enjoyed about it.

Grade: A

Verdict: I enjoyed Dark Currents. Immensley. I might have even enjoyed it more than the first. I love watching the relationships between the characters evolve. I hope to see the trend continue in the next several books. I heartily congratulate Ms. Buroker on the story and Ms. Huchton and the lads at Darkfire for bringing it to life.

Disclosure: I’ve never met Ms. Buroker. Since the review for EE, i have begun following her on Twitter (@goblinwriter). I was offered nothing in return for this review.

Posted in Podcast Reviews