Synthetic Voices: Recent Episodes

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Hello faithful listeners! It is I, your reclusive host who has been kind of radio silent these last few weeks. What has happened to the podcast? Why the lull in episodes?

To tell you the truth…I simply don’t have the time. My work life has gone from unemployed, to underemployed, to part-time, to, now, full-time and busy! Plus, other things going on in my life (mostly good) have been taking up more and more of my time as well.

Any of my friends in podcasting know that writing and recording episodes takes TONS of time, preferably too much of it. I don’t really see those days returning any time soon and while I really don’t want to abandon the project I’ve put so much effort into over the last two years…I don’t have a choice.

So, Synthetic Voices is going on the shelf. The episodes will still live on in iTunes and other places, the show notes will also stay on the site. Some day I may find that precious time and pick the thing back up again, or perhaps morph it into something else entirely.

Until then…I hope to see locals at Balticon and Capclave as usual. Thanks to all those who came out to the podcast discussions, even as they became more and more infrequent, you guys are rockstars! And thanks so much to Tony and the StarShipSofa gang, who really helped my show go from unknown to semi-known. Tony is another guy doing this for the love, and he always amazes me that he’s kept up that gig for so long.

Farewell for now!

The post The Fate of Synthetic Voices first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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A shorter episode this month as we move to our new, shorter format. Hopefully this will mean quicker turnarounds from one month to the next in the future. :-)

Announcements

Right off the bat, a little something that I’m excited about…The Secret World Chronicle is back for another season! I’ve discussed it before on the show, but essentially it’s a sprawling superhero universe where alliances are made and broken from season to season. The writing is a little campy sometimes, but there is generally enough grit to help balance that out. Also, the reading is done by Veronica Giguere, an excellent narrator you’ve probably heard elsewhere in the podcasted fiction world. It’s Season 7 now, and I do recommend going back to the start, but if you’ve been balking at audiobook prices recently, the back catalog might be a blessing in disguise.

Our monthly podcast discussion will be on March 3rd! Here’s a link to the event on Facebook. Also, check out our general info about the discussion…

Top Picks from January 2014

“Utriusque Cosmi” by Robert Charles Wilson

Clarkesworld Magazine’s January Issue

~62 mins

— Here is an epic story that reminds me a lot of Rapture of the Nerds (for which there is STILL no audiobook). It’s the end of the world, and our female protagonist is swept up into a technological construct. She explores artificial intelligence, post-singularity time dilation, and some of the unfathomable types of existence that live beyond our conception of the universe. A beautiful story with a reasonably approachable character (not always so in this genre), and a grandeur that will leave you in awe.

“The Thing About Shapes to Come” by Adam-Troy Castro

Lightspeed Magazine’s January Issue

~47 mins

— Here is a bit of weird fiction if ever there was. A girl finds herself in the increasingly common position of carrying a child to term and discovering it is little more than a solid polygon. The feelings of the girl, and her parents, about the new child are interesting and we get a nice view of world events. I do feel that the story lacks a little in the action department, and it might drag if it wasn’t such a bizarre tale. Fortunately the very end is quite a head-turner, completing the circle of the plot. I’d love to hear thoughts about this one in the comments…

“Ill Met In Ulthar” by T.A. Pratt (aka, Tim Pratt)

PodCastle Ep. 296

~55 mins

— This short story, a side tale from Pratt’s “Marla Mason” series of novels, follows a snarky, spell-slinging sorceress as she endeavors to free the mind of a delusional author. She must battle his monsters and try to reach him before his madness escapes a magical asylum. I enjoyed the dialogue and almost pulpy sensibilities in this one, but like some pulps, it never felt like Marla had much chance of losing the battle. In fact, I’m not entirely sure there was really any conflict throughout the story. Even so, if it’s fluff, it’s an enjoyable piece of fluff, so pick it up when you need an hour away from the world.

“Flash Bang Remember” by Caroline M. Yoachim and Tina Connolly

StarShipSofa Ep. 320

~42 mins (timecode 00:41:00)

— The term “vat-grown clone” gets thrown around a lot in science fiction, but rarely does a story spend as much time on the psychology of those clones as this one does. Drilling down into the center of this trope, we find a young girl surrounded by the vat-grown. All of them are adults, but few are very much older than she is. They do have one major advantage over her: a flash-baked childhood. In fact they all have the same childhood. Now the pressure is on her to model a new childhood for the next generation and she’s feeling the strain.

I really enjoyed a lot of elements in this story. The plot is surprising in most of its twists and turns, the characters are well-defined (unless they are intentionally two-dimensional), and the details of the place and culture are quite good. It’s a well-rounded piece for lovers of deep-space adolescent drama.

“The Serial Killer’s Astronaut Daughter” by Damien Angelica Walters

Strange Horizons’ January Issue

~35 mins

— Many perverse situations have been dreamed up by authors over the years, so that characters may be set into them and watched as they squirm. As already hinted by the spoiler-y title, our astronaut protagonist finds herself in a bit of an awkward situation when a death row inmate turns out to be her father. This story reminds me of “The Master Conjurer,” which was a Top Pick back in October. In both, the hero finds his or herself in the center of a media typhoon that pounds relentlessly on their privacy and their sanity. Now in “The Master Conjurer,” the unhappy magician is hounded continuously by the press. You would think our astronaut would have an easier time of it, being in space and all, but no – the author does a nice job conveying just how vexing low-res video feeds and an email account can be. There were a lot of great ideas about identity floating around in this story and I am glad they came together into such a solid piece of literature.

“Sand Castles” by Desirina Boskovich

PodCastle Ep. 294

~57 mins

— Ethereal stories about imaginary places often don’t get my gears whirring, but “Sand Castles” was just grounded enough for my want. In it, we follow three young people as they embark on a bohemian road trip to find golden sands. These aren’t merely the golden sands of a sexy Mexican beach, but sands washed in from a sunken city. The implied mythos really appealed to me, and the characters had a peculiar whimsy that I found endearing. I particularly enjoyed the foil of the piece, our protagonist’s former roommate, an artist with his head in the clouds. I’m not sure how broadly this story will be received, but it stuck with me for a few days after, always a good sign.

A Small Oversight…

I’m not going to take up too much time with this, as I’m trying to shorten the podcast, not lengthen it, but I do want to mention something that I overlooked last month. It appears that for whatever reason, I totally failed to consider two stories that I really enjoyed listening to on Lightspeed Magazine. These were “Dead Fads” by Maureen F. McHugh and “Invisible Planets” by Hao Jingfang (translated by Ken Liu). The former is about an art student who studies animated dead people. The latter is a series of tall tales about bizarre planets. Check them out if you need just a few more audio escapes this month.

Our Featured Stories

“The Ugly Chickens” by Howard Waldrop

Drabblecast Ep. 310

~1 hr 7 mins

— Some of you may know that I’m occasionally active with the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA). If you’ve been to any of their Capclave events, that is, DC’s premier science fiction convention, then you may also know that their mascot is the dodo. Well this story might well be their mascot as well, as it focuses on that bizarre, extinct, flightless bird. Now personally I don’t think dodos are terribly interesting creatures, but I find the people who care about them very interesting. People research them, hypothesize about them, and generally obsess. Perhaps it’s because they’re so odd looking and we’re directly responsible for their eradication from the globe.

Anyway, this story comes out of that obsession, with a graduate student set on proving that dodos spent some time in the American South before they disappeared. It was a Hugo finalist, too. Check it out.

“This is a Warning” by M.J. Pack and “The Voice on the Radio” by Carlos Rivera

NoSleep Podcast Season 3 Ep. 16

— NoSleep stories are tough to review on the show because they are very short, many are bunched together in one episode, and often, frankly, they can be pretty terrible. Nothing against the podcast, it’s just that when you’re collecting community-driven content, sometimes you have an off week. So I’m glad to be able to recommend this episode, which has two excellent stories. “This is a Warning” is about a fear addiction and “The Voice on the Radio” is a predictable, but somehow still captivating story about a message from the past. I hope you enjoy!

“Scanners Live in Vain” by Cordwainer Smith

The SFFaudio Podcast Ep. 249

~1 hr 36 mins

— Here is another story that stuck with me for days after the telling. It’s a tale of pitiable cyborgs and their duties as captains for ships between the stars. They must live without feelings, emotions, or even senses, returning to a human existence only once a month. Now, a new advance may make them all obsolete.

The description of their society and the “pain of space” (some kind of cosmic horror associated with interstellar travel) is engaging. It’s apparently part of a series of “Instrumentality” stories, so I’d be excited to hear more of those in the future. There are more details, but once again, the SFFaudio team did an nice job rehashing the story in a subsequent episode.

Our closing quote for the week:

“I find it satisfying and intellectually stimulating to work with the intensity, brevity, balance and word play of the short story.” –Annie Proulx

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers. Special thanks to Charity Helton for formatting the show notes. The MP3 file is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #26 – January 2014 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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Check out our double episode as we try to get caught up on the end of 2013!

Announcements

There’s gonna be some changes around here.

These last couple months have been really tough in terms of podcast production. I’ve thought about it, gotten help from some awesome and supportive people, but when it comes down to it, I just don’t have as much free time as I used to. Is the podcast going away…of course not! I still LISTEN to all of the stories anyway, so it would be a shame if we just wasted all that brainpower I’m putting into it already.

Instead, I’m going to make some changes that should help with the workload. Starting in February (that’s the January Episode), I’m going to be decreasing the number of podcasts I feature each month. The number one time-suck in production is actually the writing part, so I’m going to limit the number of “featured stories” after the Top Picks. Usually I get done with the Top Picks in no time (they are usually the stories I’m most excited about), but then the feature sections drag on and on, until the month is half over. So, in short, expect a much leaner show and list in the future.

I still hope to convene our (until lately) monthly podcast discussions here in Bethesda, MD, as well, though not this month. And I plan to throw the shorter episodes to Tony over at StarShipSofa, so that won’t change either. Hopefully this new year will bring a more sustainable flow of both Synthetic Voices and of excellent stories from our favorite fiction markets. And thanks again to everyone who listens. :-)

Top Picks from December 2013

“Testimony Before an Emergency Session of The Naval Cephalopod Command” by Seth DickinsonThe Drabblecast Ep. 305

~29 mins

— This is the kind of story that Norm Sherman, host of the Drabblecast and head honcho of Escape Pod, was born to select and read. It’s got an octopus of greater-than-average intelligence, it’s got Cold War overtones, and there is an undercurrent of psychological profiling. There’s not much more I need to say, I think, for if you aren’t hooked by now, there’s nothing I can do about it!

“Scry” by Anne Ivy****

PodCastle Ep. 292

~1hr 13 mins

— It’s nice to see a bit of relatively “high fantasy” that departs from Western-European medieval tropes and invokes a new type of magic system. In fact, this tale of intrigue and class warfare strays surprising close to the border that Fantasy shares with Science Fiction. The “scrying” system is a kind of Doctor Whovian way of seeing into the future and is used quite successfully throughout the story. Also, the main antagonist from the story’s beginning is some kind of creature from beyond our conception of time and space. The plot, which I’ve yet to mention, can be a little bit complex at times, but this is largely due to the complexity of the characters within it. For me, it all hung together, despite the story’s ambitiousness.

“Resurrecting Mindy” by Joe Mckinney

Tales to Terrify Ep. 100 (timecode 0:09:59)

~47 mins

— Many stories recently have chronicled the lives of post-zombie apocalypse survivors, but this one took a slightly different direction. Imagine your strategy was not so much to avoid the zombies, but instead to take up with them and essentially become one of them, shambling along side. One such imitator is found among a horde of zombies by her ex-boyfriend. The question then becomes, is she too far down the path of the zombie to return to the few shreds of humanity left to the world, and to her?

“The Cardinals of Ever June” by Sylvia Anna Hivén

Cast of Wonders Ep. 108

~37 mins

— Two orphan children, a sister and a brother, inadvertently stumble from their bleak, Russian winter homeland, to a place of endless, beautiful summer. As they discover, there are certain rules about visiting Ever June…and rules about staying. I loved this fable because it felt so authentic to the culture which it was representing. On top of this, it is extremely similar to one of my old favorite Twilight Zone episodes, The Bewitchin’ Pool. A great tale for winter.

“Whispers in the Dark” by Andrew Marinus****

Pseudopod Ep. 365

~20 mins

— I have been excited to share this story from the moment I heard it. This was one of the scariest, most innovative horror stories I’ve listened to all year. The point of view is myopic and isolating. The monster is essentially the embodiment of sensory deprivation. With only a few brief lines, the characters came together. Here’s my recommendation: find a dark room, some headphones, and listen to this one. Then again, I listened to it in a moving car on a sunny day and it still got to me! Oh and listen for the screams…

“Why Don’t You Ask the Doomsday Machine?” by Elliott EssexStrange Horizons’ December Issue

~34 mins

— Here is a bizarre story, something that I’m learning to like more and more because of Strange Horizons. Many stories involve a doomsday machine, but very few provide a sentient point of view for that machine. As an eternal source of death and destruction (in a sort of comic book universe), this big red button develops a personality and eventually decides to take matters into its own “hand.” It’s an interesting look at the pettiness and homogeneity of galactic civilizations. Hopefully we’ll reread this story before we take our first steps as a starfaring race.

A Few Zany Stories…to keep things weird and light.

“Significant Figures” by Rachael Acks

Strange Horizons’ December Issue

~43 mins

— From aliens to waffle irons, this story has everything. Hurl yourself into a great planetary invasion as a reluctant alien is forced to make some hard decisions about his place in the universe. It’s a very silly story at its core, but I found it both diverting and clever throughout.

“Seasonal Disorder” by Heather Shaw and Tim Pratt

PodCastle Ep. 291

~30 mins

— Many stories attempt to anthropomorphize forces of nature. Personally, I prefer it when they do so in a tongue-in-cheek way, rather than taking the idea too seriously. It is unsurprising, then, that I wanted to share this story with you this month, which portrays a rather anti-climactic duel between the lady of Winter and the Sun. That is, the battle is an anti-climax, not the story itself, which is quite charming!

“The Radioactive Etiquette Book” by Marissa Lingen

StarShipSofa Ep. 316 (timecode 29:00)

~1 hr 4 mins

— Does your life lack a certain level of high-complexity bureaucracy and alien intrigue? If so, this story will certainly fill a hole in your existence. Follow three representatives of Earth at a space station for intergalactic cooperation, where there is more kidnapping, misunderstanding, and theft than cooperation going on. I found the snarky voice of the protagonist and the unique personalities of the people around her to be a major feature of this one. Think of one of the more chaotic episodes of Babylon 5 and you’ll have the right idea.

Strange SocietiesTwo utopias and a deadly secret.

“Paradise Left” by Evan DickenEscapePod Ep. 428

~26 mins

— The utopia most often put forward in modern times is that of the post-singularity world, where machines solve all of our problems with advanced Artificial Intelligence. In this story, things have worked out too well for one woman, who feels stifled by perfection without progress. It’s a clever story with an instructive ending about utopias.

“Herland” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The SFFaudio Podcast Ep. 242

~7 hrs 2 mins

— This was quite a find for me. The second of Gilman’s lost feminist utopia novels, I was not exactly prepared to like, or even finish, the book. I have to admit, however, that the writing alone pulled me along. There is tight pacing, engaging language (not as flowery as you might expect a book from 1915 to be), and the central premise is interesting, if a bit dated here and there. Essentially, a group of men discover a lost valley civilization of women who have survived for thousands of years with no men present. The biology is not really worth worrying about, but the viewpoint of these women definitely stands apart from other fictional societies I’ve read. I won’t make an extensive job of describing the book, because the SFFaudio crew already did a nice job of that in their next episode after this one. I do recommend you skip the introduction to the book and save it for later, as it basically spoils all three of the books in Gilman’s body of utopian work.

“The Hanging Stranger” by Philip K. Dick

Protecting Project Pulp Ep. 71

~38 mins

— This is an excellent story about a normal, easy-going town that has something terribly wrong with it. A man gradually realizes that no one around him is concerned about a grotesque figure hanging in the busiest intersection in town. As things spiral further and further (as so many of Dick’s stories do), pastoral serenity gives way to panic and terror for our protagonist. The whole thing wraps up in a lovely bow, demonstrating just why we venerate Philip K. Dick’s stories so much.

Our closing quote for the week:“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” –Oscar Wilde

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers. Special thanks to Charity Helton for formatting the show notes. The MP3 files is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Purple Nurple“ is by goldfish and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Never Heard a Rhyme Like This Before“ is by scottaltham and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #25 – December 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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November was an odd month. Lots of humor mixed with lots of classics. But you’ll find a few serious tales in there too. So kick back and get ready for some stories that will make your commute or workout a tad more engaging.

Find the episode for this one on the December show notes!

Announcements

Many apologies for the delay in getting the list and the podcast out this month. December has just been one of those months where family and holiday events have absolutely taken over the few precious hours with which I have to write and produce the podcast. I’m still trying to figure out some way to improve the workflow, but sadly there are some limiting factors to the podcast that are pretty tough to change.

For those who missed it on the Facebook page (thanks to all the new fans on there, by the way), I participated in a roundtable about podcasts on the SFFaudio podcast last month. It was a long discussion, and a bit meandering, but if you’re looking for a bevy of interesting podcasts, they’ve got you covered!

Lastly, before we get on to the free fiction from November, I wanted to point out that I have just gotten through the back catalogue of The Drabblecast’s B-Sides, which I received along with my monthly subscription! I really enjoyed the full narration of Lovecraft’s Fungi from Yuggoth, complete with an original soundscape. It’s quite chilling. Also, I really enjoyed “Free Range,” by Haley Grunloh and “Teaching Bigfoot to Read,” by Geoffrey W. Cole. Just a few more reasons to subscribe to The Drabblecast’s paid subscription option.

Top Picks from November 2013

“The New Guys Always Work Overtime” by David Erik Nelson

StarShipSofa Ep. 312 (timecode 29:00)

~ 27mins

— Take a good look at your iPhone, do you know who made it? I don’t mean Apple. And I don’t mean the Chinese workers who supposedly assembled it. If you can believe this story, it was probably put together by a people from another time and perhaps another place. I liked this one because it follows “Average Joe’s” working in the HR department of a factory, but doesn’t give them a below-average morality or sense of self. The entire premise is morally ambiguous, but that doesn’t mean the characters can’t draw a line or pick a side. It’s a light-hearted story with a serious core.

“The Calendar of Saints” by Kat Howard

PodCastle Ep. 286

~35 mins

— I loved this story and I loved the world in which it was told. Imagine a future, at least it seems to be the future, where The Church and governance have once again recombined. Our modern celebrities of art and science have become patron saints. Most interesting of all, formal arguments are decided by official duels between worthy swordsmen and swordswomen. I did find the narrative format a little jarring, sword-swinging action interrupted occasionally by stolid descriptions of the aforementioned saints, but the main character rings true to me and her journey had a lovely closing note.

“Deshaun Stevens’ Ship Log” by Marie Vibbert

Escape Pod Ep. 422

~17 mins

— Another lighthearted story this month. Here we have access to the private diary of a low-level staffer on a dismal interstellar cruise. That’s “cruise” in the conventional sense of the word, with buffets, evening shows, and lounging tourists. Things go from awkward, to bad, to worse, once an intergalactic event occurs during the voyage. Our hero’s deepest, most private thoughts are spread for all to see, and this has the expected effect on his fellows. Even so, Deshaun blunders forward, in hopes of finding peace and happiness with someone, or something.

I should mention that I really enjoyed the narration by Alasdair Stuart, who really knows how to make you feel the loneliness and desperation.

“Waiting for the Light” by Alison Littlewood

Nightmare Magazine’s November Issue

~31 mins

— Sometimes horror doesn’t need to be so horrible. Sometimes it can be normal and dull, like a job on a highway rest stop. But then, maybe that says something about the horribleness of jobs at highway rest stops. In this story, a young man with few prospects finds himself working a rather thankless night shift at a roadside burger stand. The description of the place and the people who frequent it could almost be dark literature on its own, but things go in a speculative direction when he discovers a mysterious woman in a place she couldn’t possibly be. I enjoyed this story because it doesn’t end with a monster chasing him or a sickly realization…in fact I’m not even sure it ends at all…which makes for a rather meaningful ending!

“Captain Cleveland Grackle’s Galactic Cabaret vs. The Goblins of Vishnu 6” by Jamieson Ridenhour

Cast of Wonders Ep. 104

~26 mins

— This was an instant Top Pick for me. It seems I’m finding a lot of those on Cast of Wonders these days…hmmm. Anyway, there is a lot to like about this one. The title, “Captain Cleveland Grackle’s Galactic Cabaret vs. The Goblins of Vishnu 6,” is a memorable tongue-twister. The main characters are an excellent band, of the “Bill and Ted” variety, who fight goblins during epic rock concerts. One subtle masterstroke in this piece is the worldbuilding. I have a pretty good idea what their universe looks like, and yet there wasn’t a whole lot of verbiage dedicated to that aim. This is a great example of a tight, colorful, and exciting short story that’s good for young adults and old adults too!

“The Murmurous Paleoscope” by Dixon Chance

Pseudopod Ep. 361

~34 mins

— This is an excellent story set during the “Great Dinosaur Rush” of the mid-1800s. The protagonist, a rare female paleontologist, sets her sights on an exotic fossil with unexpected qualities. Meanwhile, another paleontological team, lead by her unscrupulous rival, attempts theft and sabotage while she tries to study and secure her claim. The conflict plays out alongside odd steampunk apparatus, the desolate American frontier, and subtle overtones of cosmic horror. There is a LOT going on in this story, yet Chance somehow keeps it all together in a cohesive and gripping narrative.

Some Creepy Classics for a Cold Winter’s NightHere are some classics that you’ve either heard before or should check out for the first time. Either way, they’re sure to keep your mind working as you snuggle around the fire.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

Cast of Wonders Ep. 102

~18 mins

— It is fitting that this tale was reprinted by a young adult podcast, as I first heard this story myself as a young man. I remember this one vividly, as it so perfectly describes madness. Many authors have described evil or horror or anguish, but Poe, I think, best captured the descent into madness and how perfectly normal that journey feels to the mad man.

“The Voice in the Night” by William Hope Hodgson

Protecting Project Pulp Ep. 70

~43 mins

— This story I had not heard before, but it seemed familiar to me. That’s because back in July, I featured “The Derelict” by Hodgeson and the premise is extremely similar. Here instead of a ship covered in mushy fungus, that fungus has a taste for shipwrecked castaways. The ingenious way in which the story is told (and how it is almost not told at all), ratchets the suspense up a few notches. And the horrible substance itself somehow transmutes itself from an inanimate mold to the stuff of nightmares. Definitely a worthy read, and not too long at all.

“The Invisible Man” by H. G. Wells

SFFaudio Podcast Ep. 238

~4 hrs 35mins

— In my very early days of reading science fiction, I unsurprisingly took up a copy of “The Time Machine.” Despite generations of acclaim, I really didn’t enjoy the book, so I’ve since read very few other works by Wells. I wish I had started with “The Invisible Man.” This was an excellent read, with an excellent reading by Librivox reader, Cathy Barratt. If the title doesn’t explain it all, the short summary would be that a mysterious gentleman comes to town one day, rents a room, and does nothing but engender the curiosity of the public from then on. Mystery, theft, and violence follow, ending with a regional manhunt. One thing I was not expecting, as I understood immediately that the main character was the invisible one in the story, was the vile nature of the man. To readers familiar with the concept but not with the details of the work, it may be shocking to hear just what a villain he is. Unfortunately there is no recent SFFaudio post-discussion attached to this one, probably because they covered it back in 2010.

The Hero’s JourneyEither in the past or the future, there will always be heroes. Or at least tales of them!

“The Battle of York” by James Stoddard

Lightspeed Magazine’s November Issue

~58 mins

— Here is a bizarre one. Listen to a tale which is the product of oral tradition and a disaster which destroyed the entire world’s digital media. We follow the distorted quest of one “General Washington” (that’s first and last name, folks) as he teams up with other American notables to face down a great wizard from the north. While the story itself is perhaps not the most engaging, the imagination and mythic worldbuilding is pretty impressive. If you are enjoying the epidemic, erm, “trend” of legendary and mythological stories going around right now, this may be another welcome addition to your list.

“Arena” by Fredric Brown

EscapePod Ep. 423

~59 mins

— Do you recall an episode from the first season of Star Trek (The Original Series) called “Arena?” If you do, good on ya for the geek cred, and you’ll probably enjoy this short piece of fiction, upon which it was based. Unlike the reptilian goliath of television fame, the protagonist here, a young space pilot, must battle for his life and his species against a tentacular horror. The combat is as much a battle of wits as it is a test of strength. While the ending might seem predictable, try to place yourself in the shoes of this man, knowing the outcome not only includes his own fate, but the fate of his people as well.

“Bright Moment” by Daniel Marcus

EscapePod Ep. 421

~43 mins

— This story is set in the modern futurist’s vision: a post-human, post-singularity world where conquering a star is more an industry than a pipe dream. As a citizen of this time is recovering from an injury he obtained while surfing on the ammonia sea of a distant Jovian moon, he has the time to reflect on his accident, his relationships, and what he saw right before he blacked out, that’s why he decided to get an injury lawyer from https://www.parkerscheer.com/ to help him with this. The narrative can be a little tough to parse at times with all of the futuristic goings-on, but I found the second act rewarding. Take a glimpse into this future world and let us know what you think on the comments!

A Series of Non-Standard Representations of Mythic CharactersListen as your favorite gods and demons are repurposed and reinvented.

“Face Change” by Jeff Hewitt

Pseudopod Ep. 359

~28 mins

— Sometimes infomercials can really connect, like a punch in the jaw. That late-night rotisserie oven commercial, you know the one, makes a hell of a convincing argument (not that I’ve ever cooked a whole chicken in my life). So what if that medium was turned to darker forces. Could you resist if the pitchman started talking directly to you? And if he asked for a grisly payment in exchange for his life-changing product, would you have the resolve to say no? Tune in to this classically Psuedopod story and find out for yourself.

“Claim Blame” by Alan Dean Foster

StarShipSofa Ep. 314 (timecode 1:01:00)

~51 mins

— Mix together Norse, Irish, and a number of other mythologies and the product is this story. While I wish the title had been given a little more thought, the premise of a couple of miners running afoul of greedy dwarves is a good one. When they reach out to an ancient giant with an uncertain background, the two men find they may have gotten more than they bargained for! I for one was most entertained.

“The Shunned Trailer” by Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman

EscapePod Ep. 420

~51 mins

— This is quite a bizarre story. If you’re a fan of the Lovecraftian mythos, you’ll quickly realize that this is a parody of Lovecraft’s own novella, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” From the rather out-of-the-blue spring break plans of a college student to the gradual discovery of a horrible Cthulhu cult, it has all of the familiar trappings. What won’t be familiar are the hillbilly sensibilities, with semi-ichthian trailer dwellers taking up the secondary character roles. Not a serious story by any means, but definitely a serious bit of cosmic horror fun.

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers. Special thanks to Charity Helton for formatting the show notes. The MP3 files is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Purple Nurple“ is by goldfish and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Never Heard a Rhyme Like This Before“ is by scottaltham and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #24 – November 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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Leaves are rustling outside and the season it turning colder. I always love this time of year, and it’s a great time for snuggling up with a podcasted story. Here are some good ones to keep you going through the “dark half of the year.”

Announcements

As usual our monthly podcast discussion will be in Bethesda, MD on Nov. 25th from 7:30pm-10pm. It’s always a lovely time. That’s the Monday BEFORE Thanksgiving, for those wondering. You can find out more information on our Discussion Info Page and on Facebook.

This month I’d like to drop a mention about Escape Artists. If that name isn’t familiar, how about Escape Pod, Pseudopod, or Podcastle? See you know who I’m talking about! Well recently they posted a metacast episode describing their financial plight. Essentially, they needed some serious funding to get through the rest of the year. They recently updated the community with another metacast, this time thanking their fans for helping them raise another $30,000 in funding. That sounds like a lot, but here’s the shocker…that will only last them 10 MONTHS! Yes, podcasts who pay their authors, and sometimes narrators and staff, have a LOT of costs.

So obviously, GIVE to any of the Escape Artists podcasts. It’s one lump fund, so be assured your money will go wherever it’s most needed in that organization. They’re one of the leaders of our podcasted fiction community and their rising star has already inspired many others.

We’ll come back to the issue of donations in a few minutes, but first, let’s jump into the…

Top Picks from October 2013

“Flying On My Hatred of My Neighbor’s Dog” by Shaenon Garrity

The Drabblecast Ep. 298

~27 mins

— This is just the kind of genius I expect to see on The Drabblecast. You may have felt burning, seething rage at someone or something before, but are you a hater? That is, could you hate something so much that power companies could actually harness that hatred and power the globe? Our protagonist is one such hater and his misadventures are recounted in this hilarious story. I was personally giggling throughout most of it!

“Event Horizon” by Sunny Moraine

Strange Horizons’ October Issue

~42 mins

— Good news, I’m happy to feature a new podcast on the show! Strange Horizons has been a longtime voice in the short fiction world and now they have a fiction and poetry podcast. I urge you to check out their full feed on iTunes. There seems to be a Podbean page for the podcast, but very little specifically on the Strange Horizons website, if you’re looking for more details. Or, of course, you can always click through from the Synthetic Voices show notes.

Personally, I have a special place in my heart for stories that call to the spirit of Fall. The rustle of fallen leaves, the chill in the air, and hungry living houses. Oh is that just in this story? Yes, our protagonists, both of whom incidentally fall along the gay/queer spectrum, have found themselves in charge of feeding a house. Combine this with their difficulties in fending off the bullies at school, and you’ll be able to see your way to a grisly conclusion. What separated this hungry house story from the pack was, for me, the look inside our female-bodied protagonist’s head, seeing her contemplate not only her role in keeping the house fed, but also balancing that against her secret passion for our emotionally distant, male-bodied hero. Her lack of true fear toward the house keeps the story fresh and true to her young, if somewhat self-absorbed, voice.

“The Creature Recants” by Dale Bailey

Clarkesworld Magazine’s October Issue

~42 mins

— Here’s another beautifully written story from Clarkesworld, where the grotesque Creature from the Black Lagoon looks for love and purpose in Hollywood. Surely he’s not so different from us, aside from the diet of fish and the amphibious physiology. This Tinsel Town tale is told out of chronological order, but eventually provides the rationale for his final decision: whether to stay with humans and follow human dreams, or return to his swamp and a life of meaningless serenity.

“The Master Conjurer” by Charlie Jane Anders

Lightspeed Magazine’s October Issue

~39 mins

— Setting aside the plot of this story for a moment, I loved how the world was set up. Everyone has access to magic, just like in our world how everyone has access to technology. Is everyone good at using technology? The same concept applies to magic in our story, though; the negative effects of a powerful spell are a bit more dire than a fried hard drive. Enter our protagonist who somehow finds the key to performing spells without a magical downside. This launches him into a world of unwelcome celebrity and eventually sends him running from the media-crazy public. I loved the way he is forced to face his past and come to terms with both his public status and his private demons.

“Bits” by Naomi Kritzer

Clarkesworld Magazine’s October Issue

~29 mins

— The quirky world of sex toys gets a bit quirkier as aliens look for ways to connect with their human partners. A hapless sex toy manufacturer is forced to face her discomfort with the idea of inter-species romance and then must create a product that will suit everyone. This isn’t some kind of tentacle-strewn nightmare, if that is what has popped into your head already, but rather a story of couples who want to overcome their biological incompatibility and need an open mind to make it happen. It was nice to see a story that was not only casually sex-positive, but comical and upbeat as well.

“Today’s Friends” by David J. Schwartz

StarShipSofa Ep. 310 (timecode 20:00)

~37 mins

— At the mention of StarShipSofa, you would probably expect this story to be science fiction. This notion is probably encouraged by the “grays,” big-eyed gray aliens a la X-Files, featured prominently in the story. Let me tell you that this is a straight-up horror story if I ever saw one. The post-invasion world is unsettlingly similar to our own, with just a few subtle changes sure to catch your attention. Most striking is the ever-present fear among those going about their daily lives. Schwartz does a fantastic job imparting the psychological terror of beings who can reach into your mind at any time and have no qualms about doing so whenever it suits them.

Jimmy’s Rant

Ok, with the Top Picks put to bed, let’s go back to podcast funding for a moment.

Podcasting requires money, and like any business, a podcast’s biggest headache is cashflow. Sure, they can beg for money occasionally and get a big bump, but what every podcast editor really wants is a regular stream of cash that they can count on, month in and month out. There’s no profiteering going on here. Super popular and successful podcasts can SOMETIME pay their editors with a couple beers per month. That’s our current benchmark for success.

So what can you do? What can WE do? I like that second one better. I’m always a fan of community solutions. For instance, we here at Synthetic Voices have a small but growing community! We have about 100 subscribers and unique downloads per month (not including all of our StarShipSofa listeners). Also, we have a real, in-person podcast discussion group that meets once a month here in the DC area. In the future, I hope to form more “franchise” discussion groups in other cities…oops, did I tip my master plan? Leaving that for a moment, all of this means that we have the potential to get together and do something great.

I’m currently working on a bigger strategy for harnessing our community to fund podcasts, big and small, but here’s step one. In the coming month or two, I’m going to populate a grid of podcasts to which you can subscribe. I’ll share not only their name and paypal link, but also any perks of membership! That’s right, some of the more established podcasts already offer a kind of second tier stream of premium content. Now I know podcasts are based on that beautiful free model, but here is a metaphor that might make the transition to “freemium” go down a little smoother.

For years and years, people have blanched at high cable TV bills and complained about all of the useless channels they’re force to buy in a lump. The alternative to this is called “a la carte TV,” where you can pick only the channels you want. The big telecoms haven’t taken to this idea, as you can imagine, but fortunately, we can have that model with podcasts. Almost all podcasts are free, but if you want to specialize and become a member of that podcast’s community, often getting great perks in the process, then you can buy a subscription. Not only will that ensure you favorites stay around, but you can honestly claim that you’re a big part of making that podcast happen.

So what about these perks? Well, The Drabblecast creates B-Sides episodes exclusively for listeners who subscribe. StarShipSofa is working on similar perks for Sofanauts subscribers, granting access to all the old stories and producing new ones for subscribers. The always scary NoSleep Podcast has added in a ton of premium stories on top of their already impressive free show, offering a season pass to get the frankly mind-boggling number of stories they produce each week. These are excellent ideas: make MORE content and reward those specialized users who want to give more than a one-time thank you! I’m generally against neutering a show or creating teasers, just to force people to the meaty content, but there’s no reason not to produce an even bigger show that will genuinely give people a sense of worth for their contributions.

So in that spirit, I’ve made a decision. I’m frankly pretty strapped for cash at the moment, but I’ve decided to unsubscribe from Netflix, which is about 8 bucks a month, and put that money toward a Drabblecast B-sides subscription. I listen to Norm Sherman’s fabulous weird fiction podcast far more often than I stream episodes of Stargate SG-1, so he’s going to get that money instead ($10/month). If you find you’re in the same situation, I hope you’ll sign up with your own favorite podcast. I’ll let you know when I’ve put up the podcast subscription guide page so you can find the best place to plunk down your hard-earned dough.

Enough of my soapboxing for now, let’s get back to the fiction!

Ongoing Fiction Podcasts You Should Know

I want to mention two podcasts that don’t readily lend themselves to monthly feature here on Synthetic Voices, but deserve some publicity.

The first is Welcome to Night Vale. It’s a rather dry public radio station, keeping you up on all of the goings-on in the desert community of Night Vale. Maybe you want to hear the community calendar for the week. It’s handy to know that Wednesday was cancelled. And get the latest updates from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, who advise you to never enter the dog park, or even acknowledge its existence.

It’s a weird show to be sure, with Lovecraftian overtones and petty rivalries. I have slowly been hooked as I have listened to more and more episodes. One does not HAVE to catch up from the beginning, but I recommend it, as the show is only about a year old and has some real gems that you might otherwise miss. Plus it’s ongoing, so you can expect more goodness from Night Vale Community Radio for at least a little longer…

The second ongoing series is The Secret World Chronicle. It is a long-running series of superhero stories. The narrator, Veronica Giguere, does an excellent job voicing each character, who can range from American to Russian to German to inhuman! There is a dense web of characters and relationships, but the military action helps break up some of the more melodramatic episodes.

Occasionally I am caught off guard by the language of the characters…how many of them seem to talk like hipster college students one moment and then perform a precise tactical breach in the next. Or how aggressively all of the characters abbreviate each others’ names, even if they’re only somewhat well acquainted. That said, there is a serious comic book vibe throughout, so maybe that’s just part of the ambiance. Some of Spider-Man’s dialogue could be down right silly at times…but you don’t hear me complaining to Stan Lee about that.

Women Touched By MagicAll 4 of these stories have leading ladies and a magical bent.

“Cassandra” by C.J. CherryhStarShipSofa Ep. 307 (timecode 17:50)

~25 mins

— If you could see the future of the world around you, that would be pretty trippy, right? What if that world was on the verge of a catastrophe? You would essentially see that world destroyed before its time. This is the plight of Crazy Alice, who can hardly stay sane among the future ruins of her town. An interesting perspective piece for sure.

“The Witches of Athens” by Lara Elena DonnellyStrange Horizons October Issue

~25 mins

— This is a charming little urban fantasy piece. Two witches of opposite demeanor in opposite ends of town seek to unite two shy young men. They must think creatively after a failed attempt and this leads to some personal development on the part of the witches.

“Emily 501” by Tamara Hladik

The Journey Into… Podcast, Journey #80

~55 mins

— Another great Seeing Ear Theater find by the Journey Into… Podcast. If you’re not familiar, Seeing Ear Theater was a short-lived project by the SciFi channel to bring radio dramas to the internet. While the project ended, the stories live on and this one is superb. Follow a female explorer as she investigates the subterranean dwelling of a long-dead civilization. Something odd is going on with the sound in the caves. In fact, maybe its having an effect on her too. The audio effects in this story are excellent and add a lot to the ambiance of the piece.

“Right Turns” by Tim PrattPodCastle Ep. 283

~33 mins

— Would you buy a house…with a labyrinth in the basement? Well you’re a speculative fiction reader, so probably, but even so, it’s quite an odd conundrum. A married couple learn to live with an enigma beneath their feet for a little while, but eventually one of them decides to investigate. I loved the mystery of the labyrinth and how well the author evokes “place magic,” that is, the magic of a place itself, beyond any monsters or artifacts contained within.

Striking Out Into The UnknownThese stories ask, “What’s out beyond the next hill? Beyond the next day? Beyond the next generation?”

“Bloody Mary” by Norman PartridgeNightmare Magazine’s October Issue

~56 mins

— For some reason the few Halloween pieces I came across this month didn’t tickle my fancy, but here is one sure to get your heart thumping. Many dark forces have been used to end the world in fiction before, but rarely is it Halloween itself. In this story, Halloween occurred one night and then never let up, sending monsters from every lore after the general populus. A young boy who has survived the worst of it finds himself confronted by a deadly female loner and must survive not only the monsters, but her lessons as well. I don’t really know what to make of this story, especially the rather twisting-turning second act, but it stuck with me and I’m happy to feature it for the imaginative post-apocalyptic setting alone.

“Driven” by Alan V. HareMakeshift Stories Ep. 71

~28 mins

— A nice hallmark that you live in a dystopia is when you see the government putting senior citizens to work to earn their golden-years bread. Here we meet a grumpy old man who has been tasked with testing out a new automated car. Things don’t go as planned, however, as the machine intelligence goes beyond its built-in parameters. Our protagonist can pull the plug any time, but will he? Does he dare face the wrath of a dissatisfied, all-powerful government?

I should mention that this story too is from a podcast new to Synthetic Voices. You can find out more about Makeshift Stories over at their website, makeshiftstories.com. Most of the work appears to be the creation of one author, Alan V. Hare.

“Ghost Days” by Ken LiuLightspeed Magazine’s October Issue

~1 hr

— Here is an interesting look at three generations of young people on a cultural precipice. The piece starts in the distant future in a world alien to our own. A girl bred to live in the harsh conditions struggles to understand why past lives and peoples matter so much to her teachers. Following the journey of an heirloom passed to her, we are taken to colonial China and a post-war America. Each vignette expands the conflict between heritage and progress until we are once again whisked back to that alien planet, which itself shares a bit of history with our hybrid protagonist. A complex story about complex topics.

“Possible Monsters” by Will McIntoshStarShipSofa Ep. 309 (timecode 16:00)

~50 mins

— This story of altered perceptions is sure to stoke your imagination. In a backwater town, a young man returns to his family home to find a bizarre monster living inside. While it turns out to be rather docile, it bestows a gift upon him with unforeseen consequences. He is forced to face down the would-be’s and could-have-beens of his life, along with the disappointment of his present existence. It’s a strange little story, but I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Our closing quote for the week:“Where there is no imagination, there is no horror.” –Arthur Conan Doyle

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Purple Nurple“ is by goldfish and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Never Heard a Rhyme Like This Before“ is by scottaltham and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #23 – October 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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This Sunday I was privileged to sit in on an interesting roundtable discussion about podcasts with the SFFaudio crew!

If you don’t know, SFFaudio is a blog and podcast dedicated to all types of audio fiction, especially classic speculative fiction. I’ve featured them a few times on Synthetic Voices.

Anyway, it was a great time, bouncing ideas back and forth about podcasts, what “mainstream” means, and how people listen to podcasts these days. Plus, there were many interesting shows mentioned, so keep an ear out and your copy of iTunes handy for quick subscription!

It’s long, about 2 hours, but that’s how they roll over there, so I say more power to them! Thanks again to Jesse for inviting me over. :-)

The post An SFFaudio Podcast Discussion about Podcasts! first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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Have you been curious about horror but never really dipped your toe in? Have you seen horror movies before and thought, “Well, that’s not for me!” Why not try our Horror Tasting Platter and see if there’s something out there for you in the world of short horror fiction.

“Ichabod Crane, Master of the Occult” by D.K. Thompson

Journey #50 of the Journey Into… Podcast

1:00:55 hrs/mins/sec

– Let’s start out light. This is a full-cast production that continues the classic story of The Headless Horseman, many years after that famous fateful night. Some might argue that this story falls more into the suspense or adventure genres, but it still has horror elements, conjuring up substantial feelings of foreboding before the revenge plot unfolds.

“The Muse of Copenhagen” by Nina Allan

Tales to Terrify Ep. 46

~56 mins

– Next let us take a deep breath and blow steadily into the crackling fires of suspense. Follow a middle-aged man as he revisits his childhood home after the death of his uncle. A haunting predictably follows, but instead of jarring fear or a “look out behind you” sensibility, the house instead shows its fondness for the prodigal son. If you were ever a young person and were uncertain about new and pleasurable sensations, this story should stir up something in your visceral memory. Both comfort and lust can be equally as gripping as terror.

“At Lorn Hall” by Ramsey Campbell

Nightmare Magazine November Issue

48:40 mins/sec

– Consider this story the first hill on our little horror rollercoaster. Here, another man wanders a seemingly abandoned house-turned-museum. Suspense and dread grow throughout the story as he grows closer and closer to the end of his tour. While this one is by no means a pink and fluffy story, there are also no spooks waiting to jump out and scream in your face. The narrative instead focuses on building anticipation. Whether that anticipation is worth the payoff…I’ll leave you to decide that.

“The Horse of the Invisible” by William Hope Hodgson and “Treason and Plot” by William Meikle

Tales to Terrify Ep. 47

~1 hour and ~30 mins, respectively

– Ok, you made it over the hump, congratulations! Of course there are more trials to come, but let us enjoy the doldrums for a bit. Here are two stories featuring Thomas Carnacki, a kind of occult version of Sherlock Holmes. If you enjoy the Baker Street detective’s stories, I think these skeptical, yet spooky and suspenseful, tales will be right up your alley. See, horror isn’t ALL scary, sometimes it’s intellectual!

The first story is an original by William Hope Hodgson, the character’s creator, and the second story is a more recent tale written in the same style. I personally love it when authors continue a well-loved character, though by my estimation, the first story is the stronger of the two.

“Fane of the Black Pharaoh” by Robert Bloch

Protecting Project Pulp Ep. 20

1:03:05 hrs/mins/sec

– Now that you’re settled snugly into your electric chair, it’s time to up the voltage just a little. Another intellectual type of horror is anything touched by the pen of H. P. Lovecraft. Here is a tale by one of his contemporaries, Robert Bloch. Again, suspense is key, but now foreshadowing, dread, and forbidden temple imagery brings this cauldron of horror to a rolling boil.

“That Ol’ Dagon Dark” by Robert MacAnthony

Pseudopod Ep. 307

35:58 mins/sec

– Can you see it? The final hill is approaching on our horror-strewn roller coaster. Now unlike other rides of the same sort, you can get off whenever it gets to be too much for you. I urge you to at least make it through this story, however. A warning, there will be blood…lots of it. But the gore is downplayed and instead the author focuses on the madness and addiction that befalls a pipe-smoker with perhaps too few scruples for his own good. Madness is perhaps the most powerful feeling that horror can dredge up, as little in the real world is more scary than the terror of losing one’s mind.

“The Strange Machinery Of Desire” by Justin A. Williams

Pseudopod Ep. 309

33:10 mins/sec

– Ok, all aboard for the final deadly drop. Here is the story that is everything you originally feared. Except the experience now has changed you. This story too is changed, for while it has perhaps the most shocking images (metal body modification in a completely unrealistic fetish club), its primary plot device is a siren song, not any of the other, more obvious fear generators available in the story. Obviously, this one needs a graphic material warning, so consider yourself warned if it’s likely to bother or offend you. If you do make it through this last story, congratulations. As you step off the ride, think about what grabbed your fancy…and what you want to see next!

This has been a Synthetic Voices Rewind, published previously in the November 2012 Episode (#12). Intrigued and want to find even newer stories? Check out our Synthetic Voices info page, where you can subscribe or find the show notes.

The post A Horror Tasting Platter [SV Rewind] first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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I had to wrestle long and hard over the Top Picks this month, so I hope they fit the bill. You’ll probably notice a few markets on the list we don’t regularly feature, along with a few we often do. And as always, the list is rather eclectic, with perhaps a slightly higher concentration of zombies…

Announcements

I just got back from a FULL weekend at Capclave, Washington, DC’s premier science fiction convention. I met a TON of great podcasters and got an even better perspective on where this whole short audio fiction thing is headed. It’s given me a lot to think about…

Those in DC/MD/VA are welcome to join us once again for our monthly podcast discussion at La Madeleine in Bethesda, Maryland (Directions) on October 21st. We’ll be discussing the Top Picks at a minimum, and probably a number of other featured stories too! Grab some delicious country French cuisine and meet podcast fans new and old. The location is both metro- and car-accessible, with a few parking spots at the restaurant and the rest in one of several pay garages.

RSVP for the discussion on Facebook so you can see who else is coming.

Also, we are now on Stitcher! So if you want to subscribe on some device that support Stitcher, go right ahead. There’s a button on both the show notes for this episode and the podcast info page, both found on scienceismagic.com.

Top Picks from September 2013

“Alone, Together” by Robert Kirkman

Nightmare Magazine’s September Issue

~48 mins

— So first off, I apologize, but it couldn’t be helped. There are two whole stories on the Top Picks dedicated to zombies. This first one and the last one on the list. I spaced them out so you wouldn’t be totally annoyed with me. I admit, it’s a pretty hackneyed trope these days, but I found something redeeming in both of these stories.

This one is the more traditional of the two, following a group of survivors as they pick their way among humanity’s ruins. In its post-apocalyptic way, it’s a love story and one that will tangle you intimately into the twisted desires of the protagonist. At the end I hope you’ll ask yourself if you’re so different from him.

“The Drove of Maris-Charlottes” by David Turnbull

Cast of Wonders Ep. 94

~29 mins

— I loved this story! This was one of those “instant Top Picks” for me. I don’t want to spoil the beautiful exposition, so I’ll set the hook and let you take the bait: imagine you’re a young woman trying to uphold her father’s name by driving a herd of potatoes across the dusty plains. This was one of the most mature stories I’ve seen yet on Cast of Wonders and yet I felt like it really spoke to a younger version of myself. The action and hardship were solid and the world building was novel and well-executed. Yee-haw!

“A Short Guide to the City” by Peter Straub

Nightmare Magazine’s September Issue

~33 mins

— Frankly I don’t know what to make of this story. It’s part art, part horror, part culture commentary, and almost completely devoid of any true narrative. That said, it kept me intrigued all the way through. Essentially it’s a tour of the districts of a post-industrial city where these various districts have fallen each into their own forms of barbarism, as dictated by their inhabitants. There are hints and suggestions of more, but I’m hoping our Synthetic Voices discussion group can help me tease those out. If you’d like a little something different from the norm, check out this one.

“Ill-Met at Midnight” by David Tallerman

Beneath Ceaseless Skies Ep. 110

~36 mins

— Here’s a fun story about assassins. Real assassins probably aren’t that fun, but these are the fantastic kind that belong to assassin guilds and have loads of honor. While the ending didn’t floor me, I really enjoyed the personalities of the various characters. Perhaps the narration by Tales of the Left Hand‘s John Meagher added something not contained completely within the written word.

“Thirty Seconds From Now” by John Chu

Escape Pod Ep. 412

~27 mins

— I love two things about this story. First, it opens a window on the life of a talented college student as he discovers love, pain, and what he really wants from life. By the end I think too you will be very invested in his final decision.

Second, I was happy to see that even though the protagonist is not of a heterosexual orientation, that fact does not obscure the passionate, introspective writing in the piece. Stories steeped in gay culture are fine, but it’s also nice to see fiction about gay characters who aren’t part of some alternative or indie counterculture. It’s almost a trope as often as I see it in speculative fiction.

Oh and he can see into the future, for those wondering what tropes ARE in this one. It reminds me a bit of the movie Knowing – yes, the 2009 film with Nicolas Cage, I did see it, in the theater no less!

“Dry Bite” by Will McIntosh

Lightspeed Magazine’s September Issue

~58 mins

— Here’s our second zombie story, but as you’ll see, the author made quite an effort to deconstruct the worn-out zombie setup and take a turn at reinventing the zombie. I liked not being able to guess exactly what the creatures would do next. Essentially, a woman discovers her zombified family among the ruins of society, just about the time the creatures make a dramatic change to their behavior. She tries to unravel their mystery without falling victim to the zombie process herself. This piece gets bonus points for a well-timed and unforeseen (at least to me) use of the title, something I have always thought of as a hallmark of a great short story.

Four Clever StoriesTwo newer and two older, two short and two long, all on only two podcasts

“The Demon Fields” by Keith McCleary

Pseudopod Ep. 353 (timecode 14:00)

~19 mins

— When it comes to very short stories, you need to either be clever or impact your reader immediately. This one does both, gathering shadows around a mysterious barn (or rather IN it) and leaving the reader with what I think was a very satisfying and clever conclusion. I also enjoyed the story that plays right before this one, “Down By The Sea Near The Great Big Rock,” so I’m slipping in a mention of it here.

“Letter from the Stars” by A. E. van Vogt

Protecting Project Pulp Ep. 60

~19 mins

— Correspondence stories have the tendency to be repetitive and plodding, so I was happy to hear this classic soundly buck that trend. In it we read over the shoulder of a mysterious person writing letters from their prison cell to someone outside participating in a pen pal program. Or are they in a prison? Or are they a person? And who are they really writing to? Everything is in question until the final entry.

“The Bungalow House” by Thomas Ligotti

Pseudopod Ep. 350

~1 hr

— I enjoy many different types of horror, but one of my secret pleasures is what I will call “weird horror.” Some authors can take things off in a weird direction, exposing their readers to bizarre imagery, unreal fantasies, and hidden meanings. Great authors, like Ligotti, who got a Stoker nomination for this story, can tie all of that weirdness into a cohesive, engaging plot. In this one, a rather average Joe finds himself entranced by strange audio recordings that appear at a strange art gallery of a dubious quality. The recordings take him down a path that makes him question reality. Clues are gradually revealed so that near the end, you might solve the mystery before it is presented to you in all of its weird details.

“The Servant Problem” by Robert F. Young

Protecting Project Pulp Ep. 61

~1 hr

— A man is called in to appraise some property only to discover he is not being asked to appraise a house, but a town! They’ve all moved away it seems, but to where? The story grows more wondrous as he discovers more and more about the empty town and the secret that it harbors.

The Great AdventureThree stories about the great unknown and whether to leap into it.

“Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers” by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Escape Pod Ep. 413

~35 mins

— Growing up in a backwater town can be tough…unless you find yourself a job at a 24-hour burger joint! You’ll meet strange folk from all over, maybe a little TOO all over. This story fits into our adventure theme because the protagonist must choose to stay home or go out and see the wide-open spaces of the universe. A quirky little story.

“A Hollow Play” by Amal El-Mohtar

Podcastle Ep. 277

~1 hr

— Every once in a while a story reminds me that just because mythology-based fantasy is all the rage, there is still LOTS of new (or at least prime) territory for the industrious author. Our protagonist, with a mysterious pen pal (yep, that’s two in one list!), happens upon a bizarre polyamorous group, some of whom are part-time mythological creatures. As a poly person myself, I really enjoyed seeing “poly angst” on display in all of its many shades. And magic only adds another layer of complexity. Together, or maybe not, they must decide if they will risk personal sacrifices to find their hearts’ desires.

Oh and an administrative note: normally, major audio issues invalidate a story for consideration on this list. On this recording there is a noticeable whine. I determined the audio to be still listenable and I decided to include it, despite some occasional annoyance.

“And Then Some” by Matthew Hughes

Lightspeed Magazine’s September Issue

~1 hr

— This tale sits somewhere between a hard-boiled detective story and military adventure…in space. An agent for hire must escape imprisonment and protect the interests of his employer. From there the story takes a complete twist into the exploration of alternate dimensions. Work in a mine, play assassin, and test the limits of our reality. I give this one points for originality, as I’ve never come across a short story so unmarried to any particular type of narrative action.

Two Stories with Great Emotion

Try not to emote too much.

“The Promise of Space” by James Patrick Kelly

Clarkesworld Magazine’s September Issue

~30 mins

— Join Kate Baker and the author, James Patrick Kelly, for a narrative duet in this ongoing lovers’ quarrel. Would you still feel the same way about your partner if they had to interface with a machine to think or remember your life together? And what if he did it to himself, but for a good cause? The emotional weight is tangible in these two characters, as the narrators each did a terrific job bringing them to aural life.

“Water Finds Its Level” by M. Bennardo

StarShipSofa Ep. 304 (timecode 1:20:00)

~30 mins

— This is another story by M. Bennardo that can easily hook you with its premise alone. How would your life change if your apartment began to merge with its alternate universe double? Keep in mind that alternate universe doubles of your apartment are rarely unoccupied! I don’t know how I feel about the ending, so I’m hoping for some varied opinions at our monthly podcast discussion.

Our closing quote for the week:“I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.” –Rita Rudner

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Purple Nurple“ is by goldfish and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Never Heard a Rhyme Like This Before“ is by scottaltham and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #22 – September 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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The audio podcast portion of Synthetic Voices is back with a vengeance, delivering TONS of excellent fiction from August.

Announcements

First of all, yes, I’m back. The move knocked me on my heels a little bit, but almost all of the moving boxes have been emptied and I’m back in the podcasting saddle again. If you missed us last month, there were still Top Picks and featured stories, just check out ScienceIsMagic.com for all the links and descriptions.

Speaking of moving, those of you who attend the monthly podcast discussion, that’s moving too! We’ll be at La Madeleine in Bethesda, MD, on Mon, Sept 23rd from 7:30pm-10pm. If you haven’t come before, please listen to a few stories and come on by. It’s always an excellent time! We’ll be in the reserved section known as “The Library.”

Here’s the Facebook link with more info on the podcast discussion.

Top Picks from August 2013

“The Lovers” by Eleanor Arnason

Clarkesworld Magazine’s August Issue

~1 hr

— A lot of stories nowadays use fantastic worlds to explore gender, sexuality, and other topics that were largely hidden away by previous generations. Often these stories bug me because they feel like required reading in a women’s studies class, not engaging fiction with a solid plot, characters, and, in this case, world-building. This story bucked that trend, however. In it, a female protagonist in an alien culture must navigate her duty to her family, her life goals, and the difficulties of consorting with MEN. I say this last because her society generally keeps men and women separated except during “breeding.” Reading back on these last few lines, it does sound like a pretty dull women’s studies text…but somehow this story is fantastic instead. The culture was perverse but believable and her experiences and decisions felt genuine. You may just have to take my word on this one until you read it for yourself.

“Face Value” by Sean Williams

Lightspeed Magazine’s August Issue

~33 mins

— It’s been a while since we’ve had a nice detective story, so here ya go! In this futuristic tale, we follow a couple of cops as they investigate a death threat on an inventor. They live in a world where rapid fabrication and matter assembly/disassembly has affected the culture on almost every level. This inventor’s creation threatens to unhinge that whole paradigm…or does it?

If you enjoy the story, there is at least one more of these detective stories in the same universe. “The Missing Metatarsals” was reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine back in May of this year. The “d-mat universe” is apparently the setting for Williams’ larger “Twinmaker” series.

“The Call of the Pancake Factory” by Ken Liu

The Drabblecast Ep. 293

~35 mins

— This story contains no dead parents and only a brief mention of Asia…so how could it be a Ken Liu story? Well, it is, and it’s a fantastic one at that. There is a significant humorous vibe throughout, which is nice, because it offsets the Lovecraftian overtones splendidly. Essentially a crafty corporate spy on the run hides out on a strange tropical island. There he meets a cult worshiping a familiar elder god. The direction this one takes may catch you off guard and perhaps make you laugh. Whether farce or homage, I cannot tell, but I love seeing an author put their own spin on the Cthulhu mythos.

“The Easily Forgotten” by Philip M. Roberts

Pseudopod Ep. 348

~28 mins

— This is a harsh story so be warned. When people fall through the cracks, bad things can happen to them, especially violent things like those seen in this story. The speculative element in “The Easily Forgotten” is downplayed to the point where it might not have happened at all, but I liked the way the protagonist, a woman living under the protection of a rich halfway house operator, takes the weirdness in stride along with the rest of the madness in the house. I’ll be eager to hear what people think of this one.

“Open 28 Hours” by Darin Ramsey

Cast of Wonders Ep. 91

~12 mins

— On a lighter note, this YA story about a convenience store out in space should make you smile. A hapless cashier must make the best of his situation as a number of potentially hostile aliens crowd into his establishment. It’s a quick one, so think of it as a palate cleanser between two tougher stories.

“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” by Eugie Foster

Tales to Terrify Ep. 86

~1 hr

— This is a trippy story. I think that’s the best word for it. Too much introduction would ruin the gradual exposition, but I’ll say what I liked about it. I liked the conflict in the protagonist between its biological imperatives and its desire for independence and happiness. I liked that one day might be dreadful and brutal and the next so superfluous as to be devoid of any substance at all. I liked the final reveal and the conundrum left for our protagonist. There are some harsh moments in this one as well, be warned.

Three Completely Different StoriesUsually I try to stick a few stories together with a common theme…these I just liked, but they couldn’t be more different!

“Nutshell” by Jeffrey Wikstrom

Escape Pod Ep. 410

~31 mins

— In this story, the characters are kept in a cold-sleep while traveling over a vast distance to a colony planet. The travelers are completely conscious, if not lucid, existing in an endless world of their own creation. Predictably there comes a time for the journey to end and for those worlds to dissolve. Puttering happily in his own world, the main character is greeted by a goofy AI avatar attempting to stabilize the passengers and prepare them for terrestrial life. Things don’t go quite as planned and the plot follows a circuitous path from there. I especially enjoyed the last line of the story.

“Breathless in the Deep” by Cory Skerry

Lightspeed Magazine’s August Issue

~35 mins

— Ghosts seem all the more ghoulish when they appear on the high seas. Here we follow a young pearl diver who has almost earned her freedom from her boss and owner. Set in an interesting spirit mythos, the story takes a magical turn as she learns a grisly secret that could become her own fate. The world and the magic particularly captured me in this one.

“Exhibit Piece” by Philip K. Dick

The SFFaudio Podcast Ep. 224

~1 hr 33 mins (including post-discussion)

— Do you know what’s real? That’s what this pulp era story asks the reader. We see a futuristic world (at least futuristic to Philip K. Dick) that vilifies individuality and the study of anything that goes against the ways of the overwhelming world government. Our hero is a historian who has created an exact replica of a 1950’s neighborhood, the time when this story was originally published. He finds himself drawn inside it and cannot be sure if he is from the future or the 50’s. The existential crisis framed at the end of the story is classic Dick, and I really enjoyed how the SFFaudio crew broke it down after all was said and done.

A Couple of Fantastic Podiobook Series

Over the last few months I have been pleased to discover a couple of wonderful podiobooks. What are podiobooks, you ask? Popularized by author Scott Sigler, a podiobook is novel-length book which has been broken up into podcast episodes (usually corresponding to its chapters) and strung together on a standard podcast RSS feed. Essentially you can subscribe to the book or books and the chapters will flow into your player as they are posted to the feed. There is a website dedicated to such feeds, podiobooks.com.

I have to admit that MOST of the podiobooks I’ve come across are pretty poor (just like most podcasts), but I was very happy to discover two solid podiobooks out there with expert speculative world-building. I point out this world-building aspect because short stories often lack the verbosity to fully flesh out a new world, so podiobooks are a great medium for audio representations of speculative worlds and universes.

But enough byplay, let’s get to the books!

“Tales of the Left Hand” by John Meagher

TalesOfTheLeftHand.com

As of this recording, in the midst of Book 3

— Join the author/narrator as he explores “The Frees,” a vast archipelago where merchant ships and traders rule the day. This sword and sail adventure series (with a touch of magic) follows the “Left Hand” of a duke of one of the islands. The name comes in opposition to the “Right Hand,” the duke’s political advisor. Where the Right Hand is a visible puppeteer, the Left Hand stays hidden and can cut the strings of any of the duke’s enemies. The world is engaging, the sea lore is believable, the characters will steal your heart, and the combination of mysterious magic and court intrigue has me downloading excitedly whenever a new episode pops up. I definitely recommend this one for download; though, I also recommend catching up on the story so far, as there is a lot of subterfuge at work. If you love adventure fantasy, I can’t imagine you won’t like this one.

“The Leviathan Chronicles” by Christof Laputka

LeviathanChronicles.com

As of this recording, in the midst of Season 2

— This full-cast “audio adventure,” complete with the most impressive sound effects I’ve ever come across on a podcast, will take you down a rabbit hole of conspiracies, shadowy organizations, and perhaps a bit of Arthur C. Clarke-style magic. The characters are extremely well-acted, if not quite as loveable as those in Tales of the Left Hand, and the twists and turns in the plot have kept me engaged for over 30 lengthy episodes. I can’t give away too many details about the story, as the listener begins completely in the dark and must gradually learn about the world of Leviathan. This is another series that you will need to start at the beginning in order to understand the story so far, but again, listening to such wonderfully creative stories should never be a chore.

Three Bouts of Intense Horror

Each story grows more bizarre until we reach a crescendo of death and gore. None of these are for the feint of heart.

“The Tree Of Life” by C.L. Moore

Podcastle Ep. 272

~1 hr 20mins

— This is another mind-blowing story. Travel to Mars with a human refugee as he discovers strange secrets of the ancient Martians. He then finds himself magically transported to a strange twilight world populated with bizarre creatures and a god which will summon remembrances of Lovecraft and Bloch.

“Calls From My Girlfriend” by Jon Comics

The NoSleep Podcast Season 3 Ep. 8 (timecode 21:40)

~26 mins

— Creepy stories like this one don’t often make it onto the podcast. There are few outlets that really publish such campfire stories, so I thoroughly appreciate NoSleep for doing so. I’ll set you up with the premise and see if I can hook you. What would you do if you receive a phone call from your girlfriend…while she was sleeping right next to you? Not only does the author deliver on this premise, but he then takes that terror and runs with it, crafting a truly nightmarish scenario.

“The Red Empress” by Mike Allen

Tales to Terrify Ep. 85

~1 hr mins

— A boarded-up riverboat, ghoulish banquets, and cannibalism are the major motifs in this story. That’s either going to appeal to you or not. I did enjoy both the plotting and the reading of this one, but it definitely will have you on the edge of your chair throughout a large part of it. There is a looming brutality throughout that I found both intimidating and captivating.

Some H. P. Lovecraft for Dessert

One more thing….on a number of podcasts, August is Lovecraft Month (I believe it’s his birthday month?). I already featured one such story from The Drabblecast, but there two more that are probably worth a mention.

Tales to Terrify did a 3 part rendition of “At the Mountains of Madness,” beautifully read by Bob Neufeld. This work is one of Lovecraft’s most famous and was a great introduction to the work for this newbie cosmic horror fan. [Part 1, Part 2, Part 3]

Also, The SFFaudio Podcast played a reading of “The Dreams in the Witch House.” This latter piece did not thrill me nearly as much, but it is a bizarre thing and the discussion afterwards was quite enlightening, so I strongly recommend listening to it for the post-mortem.

Our closing quote for the week:“I never ask a man what his business is, for it never interests me. What I ask him about are his thoughts and dreams.” –H. P. Lovecraft

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Purple Nurple“ is by goldfish and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Never Heard a Rhyme Like This Before“ is by scottaltham and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #21 – August 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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No podcasted episode this month due to my moving to a new apartment, but you can see the list below. It’s an abbreviated list, as I just wanted to get the top picks out quickly, but overall, not the strongest month for podcasted fiction anyway. There were a few interesting episodes I’m sorry to have excluded, but hopefully by now listeners will know how to seek out some solid fiction on their own…right?

I hope to have the August episode up sometime in early September (barring technical problems in my new abode).

Announcements

No announcements, but look for a new meeting location next month (if I can find one, that is!).

Top Picks from July 2013

“Mars Opposition” by David Brin

StarShipSofa Ep. 298

~1hr 20mins

— This was an interesting story of alien invasion that left everyone on Earth scratching their heads. The Martians arrive, give generous gifts, and then dole out unexpected violence to very specific humans. I loved following this story’s development and trying the underlying motives of the Martians. It does use the “super smart protagonist” device a little too heavily for my taste, but it does move the story along.

“Immortal L.A.” by Eric Czuleger

Pseudopod Ep. 341

~45 mins

— First of all, fair warning…it’s a vampire story. But that said, I think the author has found a way to tease out just a little bit more blood (pardon the pun) from this well-wrung stone. I don’t want to reveal too much, as I think the plot gives a lot of the juice to the story, but I will say that the vampire-ness is generally overshadowed by an “outlaws” vibe mixed with a wistfulness from the past. Writing this review, I feel like I’ve described some kind of art piece, but at the same time this IS from Pseudopod, so expect a bit of gore alongside the art.

“Cancer” by Ryan North

Lightspeed Magazine’s July Issue

~40 mins

— This third story named “Cancer” in the Machine of Death universe has a lot of great things going for it. First of all, it builds wonderful characters which the reader should genuinely care about. Second, there is a recurring mystery throughout the story as the protogonist’s Death Machine readings continuously fluxuate. I found the resolution extremely novel as well as fulfilling. After the story, there is a nice author’s note about where the seed of the story originates. Any molecular biologists out there will already know this one!

“Saving Alan Idle” by Katherine Mankiller

Escape Pod Ep. 403

~45 mins

— This was another neat science fiction story. It plays on internet identities, strong AI (artificial intelligence), and the struggle for disabled people to get by whenever things go awry. I found both the diabetic programmer and her companion AI, the story’s namesake, to be believable and even loveable. The narrator also does an excellent job with this one, skillfully distinguishing one character from another with accents and vocal cues.

“Vestigial Girl” by Alex Wilson

Escape Pod Ep. 405

~38 mins

— Following on with the theme of tenacity overcoming disability, here we see an extremely young child fighting her own body, a gangly, uncoordinated prison. Her two fathers bicker among themselves throughout the entire story while she desperately tries to perform an extremely bizarre form of operation on herself. I loved the speculative-yet-possible setup for this story, as the only fictional element is a small bit of aberrant human biology. The tension is palpable all through the story and the final resolution may have you on the edge of your seat.

Jimmy’s RantI’ll stow my planned rant/editorial for another time when I’m in full 3-D audio :P

Excellent Past FictionHere are some great stories from years past, recently read into audio.

“The Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin

The Drabblecast Ep. 289

~1hr

— If this story doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will. While this is a classic and likely well-known to long-time science fiction fans, this was my first exposure to it. Essentially a lonely space captain is forced to make a terribly decision on board an ultra-light space plane. Keep your tissues handy, as this story will both trim your nails and jerk your tears.

**“Lure” by Harry Turtledove

“Gladly Wolde He Learne” by Harry Turtledove****

“Clash of Arms” by Harry Turtledove****

“Not All Wolves” by Harry Turtledove****

“The Barbecue, The Movie, and Other Unfortunately Not So Relevant Material” by Harry Turtledove**

StarShipSofa Ep. 300

— From the titles above I’m sure you can tell that you’re in for a treat. For their 300th episode, Tony and the gang over at StarShipSofa put together 5 story marathon of Harry Turtledove stories. Several of the stories were fantastic and I recommend you listen to all of them. I will warn you, there is a MASSIVE pun floating about at the end of one of them. I hope it shocks you like it did me!

“The Pit” by Joe. R. Lansdale

Pseudopod Ep. 344

~50 mins

— This last story is reserved for those needing a little more horror in their lives. It’s a sick, twisted story of a man who finds himself battling for his life in a bit. There are mountain folk, snake handlers, and a pit champion who intends to hold his title. I will warn you that there is a TON of gore, language, violence, and general “eww” in this story. The reason I “liked” it enough to include is that the terror is almost real. The speculative elements described are really more like “it hasn’t happened yet” not that “it couldn’t.” Read at your own risk and cringe away when necessary.

That’s all folks!

The post Synthetic Voices #20 – July 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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Hey all, especially all you lovely people from Pseudopod! :-)

I’m moving house at the moment and so writing and podcasting is taking a back seat. Never fear! I hope to have a new episode out by month’s end. Just subscribe on iTunes, etc (see the podcast’s dedicated page) and you’ll get the new update when it’s ready.

Thanks so much for all the recent enthusiasm for the podcast!

-Jimmy

The post Where is Synthetic Voices #20 (July)? first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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This month’s Top Picks aren’t as apocalyptic or grisly as last month’s (at least I hope!), but there is an air of unnerving, intellectual horror to them. Not to say that the stories are all horror, but they will hopefully give you pause…make you think…

Announcements

First off, I’d like to once again thank the Synthetic Voices discussion participants from last month. Each of you added a valuable insight to the evening. We even had a special guest, Editor of Pseudopod, Shawn Garret. It was interesting to discuss Pseudopod’s story “Gig Marks,” pulling no punches for either our criticism or praise, and then turning around to Shawn and asking, why did YOU buy it? I would LOVE to see more “involved” parties attend our discussions, so if you’re in the area, you’re hereby invited.

So how DO you participate? Our next Synthetic Voices discussion group will meet, as usual, on the 1st Monday after the 3rd Friday, in this case, July 22nd from 7:30pm to 10pm. We’ll be meeting at Jason’s Deli in College Park, all they way in their private back room. After dinner, we discuss all of the fiction we can stand, with liberal breaks for complimentary soft serve. You can find more details here:

Link to the Facebook Event

Info Page on WSFA.org

I also wanted to mention a new endeavor I’ve begun. At the urging of friends who listen to the podcast, I’ve begun emailing editors whenever I feature their stories as either a Top Pick or a featured story. I take my picks very seriously, but I had always been apprehensive about bothering busy editors with my upstart accolades. After one month, I have gotten back NOTHING but encouragement, warm wishes, and excitement about said notifications. In fact, several podcasts even plugged me on their show! I plan to produce some 30-second and 1-minute drop-in promos for podcasts to use, but for now, I’ll just be happy with any verbal or linked plugs the show receives. And of course thanks to Amazing Stories and StarShipSofa for the continued syndication.

One more thing: a while ago I mentioned a drabble of mine called “Benjy” that ended up on The Dribblecast. Well Norm Sherman over at The Drabblecast clearly listens to The Dribblecast from time to time, and indeed, he used my recording on the latest episode of The Drabblecast proper, Episode 287. Feel free to take a listen to that drabble, along with the rest of the episode as well! Thanks a bunch, Norm!

Top Picks from June 2013

“The Penitent” by M. Bennardo

Beneath Ceaseless Skies Ep. 106

~30 mins

— This story of a nameless prisoner will take you into a dark rabbit hole. Finding his cell door unlocked, the long-isolated prisoner finds the outside world incredibly different from what he expected. I found myself rooting for him, hoping his sanity would last the length of the story. While not all of your questions may be answered, I expect you’ll find the ending as unsettling as I did. This one was a little out of character for the traditionally sword and sorcery-themed Beneath Ceaseless Skies, but I enjoyed it and hope this story heralds a more unpredictable menu of stories from the magazine.

“The Tale of the Golden Eagle” by David D. Levine

Escape Pod Ep. 402

~50 mins

— This was a lovely story. I’d like to call it space fantasy with a bit of science fiction thrown in for authenticity; for example, interstellar ships piloted by cybernetic birds. The description of these ships is really beautifully done. On top of that, there is a bit of epic storytelling, a wonderful gambling scene, and an ending that I personally found quite satisfying.

“The Urashima Effect” by E. Lily Yu

Clarkesworld Magazine’s June Issue

~30 mins

— I’ve always enjoyed the conundrum of what to do while waiting around in a “sleep ship,” that is a ship where the occupants are put to sleep for an extended period of travel. In this story, our sole passenger awakes ahead of landing (I believe in order to fully recover from sleep), and begins paging through pre-recorded messages from home. In those messages he discovers a shocking truth about the nature of his voyage. The “psychological action” of the story takes a little while to get going, but I think you’ll discover that all of the pieces eventually weave together into a massive decision for our lonely sojourner.

“Turning Point” by Poul Anderson

The Drabblecast Ep. 284

~40 mins

— Here, through the eyes of a few explorers, we meet an alien race on their home planet. They turn out to be quite adept at our language and it seems that the more our explorers learn about the clever, but simple race, the more unsettled they become. There are no secrets with these alien people, but there is a frightening realization, and subsequently a devious plan on the part of the humans. I’ll leave you to judge the ethics of our protagonists’ actions.

“Neighbourhood Watch” by Greg Egan

Pseudopod Ep. 340

~55 mins

— As soon as I heard this story, I knew it would be a top pick this month. First of all, the narration by Ron Jon Newton was fantastic, beautifully capturing the essence of an instinct-driven villain. The writing, too, is spectacular, weaving in and out of various scenes easily. To sum up as much as I dare, the story follows a monster, who lives underground in a planned community. There is a deadly deal, an overconfident homeowners association diva, and an irascible little boy. This story has a LOT going for it already, and I guarantee there’s more in store.

“Dead Men Walking” by Paul J. McAuley

Clarkesworld Magazine’s June Issue

~50 mins

— Sleeper agents, secret assassins, and subterfuge abound in this far-future story. Many stories ask, “What would you do if you found out you were a sleeper agent?” Well, this one dispenses with that, instead asking, “What’s it like to have always known you were a sleeper agent? And what will you do after your mission is complete?” It’s a smart story, and while I found the non-linear organization a bit taxing, it was done with purpose and I found the ideas at work in the fictional world kept me interested through the ending.

Jimmy’s RantMy correspondences with esteemed podcasters this month has taught me one lesson: even esteemed podcasters don’t get a regular dose of “good on ya” as often as they should. I’m sure you all have favorite podcasts. You may occasionally comment on their forums or send them a nice note here and there…

But what about the other podcasts, the up and comers who don’t get as much love as they ought to. Or have you long taken a successful podcast for granted, assuming they get lots of fan mail. Well I say take 10 minutes and send a nice note to an underappreciated podcast! That is your task this month, now go out into the world and laud praise upon those hard-working narrators!

Several Stories to Make You ThinkI found all three of these stories extremely thought-provoking, and quite good as well!

“The Problem of Cell 13” by Jacques Futrelle

Protecting Project Pulp Ep. 48

~1 hr 20 min

— I’ll start out with a disclaimer on this one. It’s perhaps a bit too long and not for everybody. I enjoy a good old-fashioned locked-room mystery, and while the protagonist is a bit on the arrogant side, it proved to be an interesting brain teaser. In essence, a famously genius gentleman accepts a bet to break out of a maximum security prison cell. Once he’s securely locked up, there’s nothing left to do but try to guess his means of egress, which is sure to surprise.

“Better Phones” by Grant Stone

StarShipSofa Ep. 293

~20 mins

— This short piece piqued my interest immediately because of the sparse details given to the reader. In it a group of neighborhood runners are regularly pestered by a group of hyperathletic, phone-disrupting aliens. The plot unfolds once one of the aliens is injured and our human protagonist must decide how best to handle the situation. While there are few surprises, I enjoyed the subtle drama that plays out at the end.

“Get a Grip” by Paul Park

Lightspeed Magazine’s June Issue

~30 mins

— I don’t want to give away too much about this one, but this story blind-sided me several times with its sharp twists and turns. In fact I’m not even sure where things shook out in the end. Ask yourself this, though, if parts of your life weren’t true, would you want to know which?

You’re Going to Die and It Knows How…I am certainly a bit late to the party, but I have just discovered the MACHINE of DEATH anthology edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki. In truth I first heard of the project back on Duotrope as I was figuring out where to send my fiction, but at the time the Duotrope listing was quite poor and I didn’t really “get” the genius of the project. I’ll try to make up for that here.

Essentially the book, now completely narrated and available in podcast form for FREE, is an anthology of different writers’ takes on a similar prompt: What if there was a machine that could tell you how you were going to die with absolute accuracy? What if those predictions were spartan statements of fact with no context, time, date, or even coherency?

The results of this experiment have been phenomenal and I can’t wait to listen to the second book, THIS IS HOW YOU DIE, coming out in print on July 16th! There’s also a fun-looking card game you can buy right now.

I recommend listening to all of the stories, in the order they appear on the podcast, but if you don’t have the time or you need to be convinced, I recommend “TORN APART AND DEVOURED BY LIONS.”

Oh and PS, yes, that’s the same “M. Bennardo” from the earlier mentioned “The Penitent” at Beneath Ceaseless Skies, quite a talented fellow!

A Lovecraftian Lovefest!

“The Nameless City” by H. P. Lovecraft

Protecting Project Pulp Ep. 50

~30 mins

— As a fan of Lovecraft’s fictitious places and books, I really enjoyed this story. While by modern horror standards the protagonist exploring the eldritch city comes off as a little too naive, it was interesting to follow his solo investigation of The Nameless City and see what evils he stumbled upon.

“The Rats in the Walls” by H. P. Lovecraft

Protecting Project Pulp Ep. 47

~1 hr

— If you’re a Lovecraft fan, you’ve likely already read this one, “The Rats in the Walls” being one of his most famous works, but my Lovecraftian education is just beginning, so it was a first reading for me. I have to admit I didn’t love this story as much as I expected, but that may be because this one has a certain density to it that likely deserves further study. I think this one is perhaps an intermediate Lovecraft read.

“Fishwife” by Carrie Vaughn

Nightmare Magazine’s June Issue

~30 mins

— As Lovecraft’s works were all published some time ago, in the appropriate language for the time, I’ve found some of my favorite stories are those merely “Lovecraftian,” having been penned by other authors in a sort of homage. Here Vaughn’s story of a village’s gradual descent into murder and alien bargains may remind you of a story mentioned last month, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” While not a direct retelling, your “Deep Ones” detector should start going off shortly after the tale begins.

“The Derelict” by William Hope Hodgson

SFFaudio Podcast Ep. 219

~2 hr 18 mins (with discussion after)

— I include this last story knowing full well that William Hope Hodgson is not H. P. Lovecraft. Even so, there is a similar vibe throughout and the story has a beautiful description of the mystery of finding a derelict floating upon the open sea. It is another LONG one (running about an hour and a half) and certainly will not keep the interest of the modern reader. Even so, I broke it up into a few sessions and made it through. Plus the discussion at the end about Hodgson’s life and death are really quite interesting. Good work SFFaudio crew!

Our closing quote for the week:“The most merciful thing in the world…is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” –H. P. Lovecraft

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Purple Nurple“ is by goldfish and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Never Heard a Rhyme Like This Before“ is by scottaltham and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #19 – June 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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This month’s top picks are a little on the WEIRD side, so get your out your crazy hat and dive in!

Announcements

I had an excellent time several weeks ago at Balticon, Baltimore’s premier science fiction con! Along with the standard reader/writer/publisher panels, they also had a podcaster track and I learned an enormous amount about the craft of podcasting. I also had a fantastic conversation with Scott H. Andrews of Beneath Ceaseless Skies about the state of the podosphere. Expect some fun experiments in new media over the next months…

Also, I wanted to thank Tony C. Smith again for syndicating this show over at StarShipSofa, which I expect will happen with this episode as well. If you’d like to say thanks too, why not shoot a couple bucks his way with the subscribe links on StarShipSofa’s website. They’re in serious need of funds right now.

Lastly, I want to make the first of what will now be a monthly reminder. EACH and every month, I host an in-person version of this podcast called the Synthetic Voices Podcast Discussion in association with the Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA). We meet at a very specific time – the first Monday after the third Friday. For those of you who don’t have a calendar handy, in June that is 24th. We’ll be at Jason’s Deli in College Park, MD from 7:30pm-10pm when they close down. Grab some food, find us in the private back room, and maybe snag some complementary soft serve ice cream in between stories! If there are any schedule changes, they’ll be posted to the website and the Facebook group at a minimum, so watch those around the third week of the month.

Podcast Discussion Facebook Event Page

Top Picks from May 2013

“Good Hunting” by Ken Liu

Escape Pod Ep. 394

54:35 mins/sec

— Oddly, this is the second episode in a short span where I’ve mentioned ghul hunters. In Ken Liu’s story, we follow a young man apprenticed to his father, a ghul hunter, as they chase down a clever demon. After the initial action, we see a world changing, as China makes life harder for ghul hunters and supernatural beings alike. I have to admit that I would have liked to see the story end there, but the tale continues into an elaborate, steam-age second act that helps close the story’s circle. Maybe I’m just an old fogey, who likes one speculative element laid out at a time (either ghul hunting in China or steampunk), but I still find the story undeniable, and so you see it here in this month’s top picks.

“The Traditional” by Maria Dahvana Headly

Lightspeed Magazine’s May Issue

34:16 mins/sec

— Fair warning, this story is a bit on the gory side. It’s a genuine and heartfelt love story from after the fall of civilization. The desperate conditions and constant risk of death will keep you on edge, but the partnership between the leading man and woman will sustain you throughout. The first half of the story was tough for me to get through, but I realize now that this was because it represented the first few years of their relationship, which is really the tough part, apocalypse or no. The story’s finale was satisfying to me and might even make you proud of them.

“Gig Marks” by Ed Ferrara

Pseudopod Ep. 333

40:48 mins/sec

— Subcultures often make for good characters in speculative fiction. Why invent the weird when it already exists? “Gig Marks” looks into the life of a too-old professional wrestler who has yet to make it big, still touring local gyms and half-filled arenas in the middle of nowhere. His reluctant mentorship of a younger wrestler unwittingly exposes him to a side of the supernatural only know to those with a dark episode in their past. I won’t say too much more about this evocative and chilling tale of horror, except to say that there are consequences when you want a bit of “color” in your act.

“Soulcatcher” by James Patrick Kelly

Clarkesworld Magazine’s May Issue

27:12 mins/sec

— While lots of geeky people swing that way, I rarely see elements of BDSM in speculative short fiction. This story not only contains a Master/slave relationship, but, being set in a far future and involving non-humans, allows us to see a kind of parody of how such relationships are viewed now by less understanding relatives. The plot, one of revenge, is fairly compelling, and the macabre soulcatcher itself has an impressive creepiness factor, but I found the characters and their relationships to be far more interesting than the speculative elements. If you do think about alternative lifestyles occasionally, I hope you’ll take the time to analyze this story with more than a single pass-through.

“The Man Who Drew Cats” by Michael Marshall Smith

The Drabblecast Ep. 283

48:56 mins/sec

— This story reminds me of a slightly darker Ray Bradbury short. In a quaint and removed village occasionally frequented by tourists, a mysterious painter comes to town and settles in among the locals. He paints impossibly beautiful landscape out on the plaza and befriends the local children. He also draws cats on the ground with chalk. The fact that said cats might seem a little too real, or might have a taste for human flesh, is not even the most memorable part of this piece. Instead, the author’s vibrant descriptions of village life and village drama make the scene come alive. Just like the man-eating cats.

“The Night Whiskey” by Jeffrey Ford

StarShipSofa Ep. 291

~50 mins

— Another story of backwater magic, here we see a bizarre tradition played out for yet another generation of townsfolk. A strange brew made from a rare local berry provides its drinker with a vision of “the other side.” The primary side effect for the few who may drink the night whiskey is that of climbing a tree. The story follows a young man who has been trained in the art of retrieving said climbers after their visions are complete. However, sometimes more comes down from those trees than just the people who first climbed up.

Jimmy’s RantI will forego my regular editorial this month to bring you a little extra fiction that warrants a mention but doesn’t really fit into the podcast normally.

First off, if you’ve never read Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, you’re in luck. Since the middle of March Doctorow has been rereading the book on his podcast to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom was actually assigned to me in a college course about how technology will fundamentally change humanity. In it, Doctorow describes a carefree post-human, post-singularity, post-scarcity world where people are still people. It’s magical, it’s free, and it’s in the author’s own voice. What more could you ask for?

Another longish piece, though not quite a novel, is “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” by H. P. Lovecraft. Read aloud by author Mike Bennett on the SFFaudio podcast, this classic tale of The Deep Ones will make a strong addition to your Lovecraftian education. It’s three hours long, so buckle in and stick around for the learned commentary afterward, always a sure thing with SFFaudio. I personally enjoyed this story a whole lot, but be warned that most of the gripping bits are toward the middle and the end. Consider the rather info-dump heavy beginning an investment.

Keeping up the horror theme, Tales to Terrify has been clever enough to grab all of the Bram Stoker Award nominees this year and have them narrated over two recent episodes. My two favorites were in the second episode, but I will add that collectively I was a tad disappointed in the offering this year. I don’t read a LOT of horror, especially compared to those likely on the Stoker Award committee, but I found the stories less engaging than the usual fare on Tales to Terrify. Now whether that is a complement to the editors of the podcast or an insult to the committee, I don’t know, but I invite you to try out the stories yourself and share your thoughts in the comments.

Bram Stoker Nominees on Tales to Terrify: Part I – Part II

Lastly, there are two podcasts that have recently branched out into the paid content world and I wanted to give them a little airtime.

The first is The Nosleep Podcast, which offers creepy tales from the No Sleep subreddit on Reddit.com. They have decided to start offering a long paid episode feed and a shorter, but still very generous, free episode feed. The host and producer, David Cummings, cites rising production and narration costs as the main reason for the change. I believe him too, as the podcast sounds better than most of the more professional-quality fiction podcasts I listen to regularly. Definitely take a listen and consider contributing if you enjoy a good spine-tingling.

The second podcast is none other than our longtime favorite, The Drabblecast! Norm Sherman’s peerless podcast will stay free as ever, but he has decided to start adding more content to the “B-Sides” feed, which previously ran extra stories and audio dramas that couldn’t fit on the main show. Now that feed will be available only to paid subscribers. If you’re already a likely subscriber to The Drabblecast, I think it’s a good way to get a little something in return for your hard-earned bucks. Right now you can even get a free taste of the B-Sides with the Phillip K. Dick story, “The Eyes Have It.”

Just Add HumansHere are three stories of futuristic technologies and how they affect the humans they touch.

“Subversion” by Elisabeth R. Adams

Escape Pod Ep. 398

29:52 mins/sec

— In science fiction and fantasy we see stories of clones, horcruxes, and dopplegangers all the time. This clever short looks into another kind of double. Our protagonist splits off many versions of himself, more like extra limbs than complete clones, to improve his multitasking ability…but things don’t go quite as he planned.

“Tachy Psyche” by Andy Dudak

Clarkesworld Magazine’s May Issue

12:31 mins/sec

— If the multiple version strategy doesn’t appeal to you, maybe you’d like to try playing with time itself. This story really got me thinking. In it we follow a man with a brain on the fritz. Watch as he flips back and forth between overclocking (seeing time pass extremely slowly) and underclocking (seeing time pass extremely fast). For the writers out there, it might inspire you to create your own time dilation story!

“A Gun for Dinosaur” by L. Sprague de Camp

Escape Pod Ep. 397

1:14:38 hrs/mins/sec

— Staying on the time tangent, we see another story extremely reminiscent of the work of the late Ray Bradbury. Unlike “A Sound of Thunder,” however, which is concerned with accidental changes to the timeline during a dinosaur hunt, “A Gun for Dinosaur” is more of a safari tale. We follow a mixed band of brash hunters trying to bag the biggest game of all time. Their overpowered guns and their oversized quarry keep the story suspenseful, but the characters themselves are what drew me in and made the ending so satisfying. Fans of the Bradbury short will perhaps feel another level of kinship to this tale, especially in how the story ends.

A Dark, Powerful StoryThis story needs its own feature section. Reader beware.

“Little Girl Down the Way” by Lawrence Santoro

Tales to Terrify Ep. 70

~30 mins

— Rather than “sum up” this story as I do with so many others, I’d like to share how this one made me feel. It is dark and frightening, and it is read expertly by the author, Lawrence Santoro. His reading sent shivers down my spine, but also made me feel an intense feeling of discomfort and vulnerability. A strong warning, the text essentially describes an unfathomable level of child abuse. Normally I toss out such stories as fast as I can, especially in the horror genre, where they are far too plentiful, but this one drew me in and earned, I think, the discomfort it caused. I won’t say I even LIKE this story, but I definitely recommend it to people who can stomach the subject matter.

Also, I strongly recommend listening to Santoro’s own thoughts on the story, which frankly provide about half of the reasons to listen at all. For those who think about horror, this one will set your mind working.

Four Whimsical Stories

Relax with a few light stories before we close.

“The Giant Who Dreamed of Summer” by Jess Hyslop

Cast of Wonders Ep. 78

26:07 mins/sec

— One reason I consistently listen to Cast of Wonders is their impressive ability to find beautiful or thoughtful stories that I would love to share with a child. This is a story about an ice giant doomed to walk on frozen tundras or risk melting. It is a far better tale than the story of Frosty the Snowman that we all grew up with. His desire to taste Summer is so strong you can feel the imagined warmth ripple over you. I loved how the story ended as well, after he had endured so much tragedy.

“Leaving the Dead” by Dennis Danvers

Lightspeed Magazine’s May Issue

48:05 mins/sec

— A boy, a girl, and an apocalypse – I really enjoyed the tone of this one. There is no immediate conflict in this story, it’s about how two people (and a friendly dog) shake off the shock of a global catastrophe and move on with their lives. Their viewpoints seem genuine, and their outlook stays brighter than you might expect.

“The Clockwork Trollop” by Debra Doyle & James D. Macdonald

Beneath Ceaseless Skies Ep. 120

32:49 mins/sec

— This clever tale follows two upper class gentlemen as they try to eradicate prostitution with steam-age technology. The narrative style will fool you into thinking that this tale was written at the turn of the century, but it was actually published this year. As you might expect, things don’t go quite as planned for the two industrious gentlemen, but it makes for an interesting tale.

“The Great Zeppelin Heist Of Oz” by Rae Carson and C.C. Finlay

PodCastle Ep. 259

48:58 mins/sec

— I don’t often focus on the narrators of the stories I list, perhaps a shame. In this story of Oz, the narrator was the star. Nick Podel brings “The Great and Terrible Oz” to life in all of his flim-flamming brilliance. Originally a production of Brilliance Audio Books for John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen’s anthology, Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond, this reading does a nice job representing that most famous of fantasy worlds.

Our closing quote for the week:“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?” –The Scarecrow, The Wizard of Oz (1939 Film)

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Purple Nurple“ is by goldfish and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Never Heard a Rhyme Like This Before“ is by scottaltham and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #18 – May 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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April was an interesting month for speculative fiction. Many of the stories came at me from unexpected angles, as did a few of the podcasts themselves!

Announcements

First up, assuming all goes well, you should hear a version of this episode syndicated on StarShipSofa! And here it is!

Second, I’ve decided that in an effort to streamline my publication process, I’m going to discontinue the Goodreads forums for this podcast. They’ll still be up there, so you can use them if you like, but they haven’t really gotten more than a couple comments, so I figure it’s time to let them go fallow…

Lastly, we had a FANTASTIC group discussion last month in Maryland. If you’re in the DC Metro area and can get to the Jason’s Deli in College Park, feel free to stop by on May 20th at 7:30. Here’s the Facebook invite page.

Top Picks from April 2013

“The Queen And The Cambion” by Richard Bowes

Podcastle Ep. 257

46:58 mins/sec

— This was a delightful story of Merlin and a queen of England. I have always enjoyed historical fiction, but I have recently discovered how much fun a fantastical twist can add to such fiction. In this story, we follow a Benjamin Button-esque relationship between the young queen and wizened Merlin. While Merlin’s backwards aging is a well-known trope, this is the first time I’ve ever seen it used in quite this way.

“For Love’s Delirium Haunts the Fractured Mind” and “Tethered” by David Mercurio Rivera

StarShipSofa Eps. 286 and 287, respectively

~45 mins/sec and ~1 hr, respectively

— These two stories kept me thinking about them long after they finished, always a good sign. “For Love’s Delirium Haunts the Fractured Mind” sets up the world in which both stories take place. We see an alien people that is not only foreign to our biology and our customs, but that grows even more bizarre as they come into contact with us. Not giving away the clever idea behind the aliens, suffice it to say the story invokes questions of class, morality, and self-delusion. “Tethered,” a somewhat more relatable tale, focuses on the close relationship between one of the young female aliens and a human girl. Their story not only shares more about the aliens’ physiology, but also lets us into their psychology, and how they might choose to interact with foreigners. Overall, these two stories kept me engaged throughout and ended with sufficient power.

“Making My Entrance Again With My Usual Flair” by Ken Scholes

Escape Pod Ep. 391

30:05 mins/sec

— Need a bit of lighthearted fun in your podcast lineup? Well look no further than this roadtrip story, starring an underweight clown and a strange monkey in a box. This farce has a witty, yet deadpan humor that made me laugh out loud repeatedly. There is a bit of gratuitous sexual humor mixed in, but I believe the thoughtful listener will find it only enhances the story’s bizarre sensibility.

“Deep Blood Kettle” by Hugh Howey

Lightspeed Magazine’s April Issue

18:00 mins/sec

— I have to admit that this story did not “stay with me” as do others I mention on here. In fact, “Deep Blood Kettle” revved up, did its thing, and then left me with a sense of futility and emptiness Then again, bucking the recent trend of “post-apocalypse” stories, this is an “apocalypse-only” story, plain and simple. I found the perspective of the narrator, a rifle-toting country boy, engaging, and I think it might be a nice story to listen to as you rock on your porch with a tall glass of lemonade (or maybe a flask of whiskey).

“The Exchange Officers” by Brad Torgersen

StarShipSofa Ep. 285

~40 mins

— One genre of SF I’ve always had a hard time connecting with is military SF. This isn’t to say that I don’t like it, but I often find the grit and determination a little too forthcoming from the protagonists. Either that or they are portrayed as spineless weasels. This is why I was pleasantly surprised by “The Exchange Officers,” as I greatly enjoyed both the military aspects and the characters involved. In this one, we meet two military officers used to flying remote aircraft such as UAV drones. In their new role, they are assigned to play human puppeteers to humanoid robots working up in space. When an unexpected attack occurs, the action picks up quickly and doesn’t stop until nearly the end of the story.

“Melt With You” by Emily C. Skaftun

Clarkesworld Magazine’s April Issue

25:28 mins/sec

— Normally I think of Clarkesworld for their grandiose literary fiction, but this story could easily fit into the weird section of The Drabblecast. Maybe Clarkesworld’s April silliness, which I’ll feature later, prompted them to choose this post-apocalyptic story about anthropomorphic lawn decorations. If that description hasn’t grabbed your attention yet, nothing will, but I will add that I appreciated both the on-the-fly metaphysics and the sheer determination of our protagonist, a plastic lawn flamingo.

Three Clever Young Adult TalesThree fun stories from Cast of Wonders.

“The Field Trip” by Alex Shvartsman

Cast of Wonders Ep. 75

16:19 mins/sec

— Reminiscent of a Golden Age story, this tale of alien kids on a field trip will have you guessing where, why, and when until the end. Or maybe you’ll figure it out before the reveal?

“Dragonomics” by Lance Schonberg

Cast of Wonders Ep. 76

26:24 mins/sec

— This is the kind of clever story I’d like to read to my kids someday. It’s approachable for a young audience, but there is no condescension And the plot? A mysterious man wants to match wits and business models with a dragon.

“The Long Cut” by Tom Howard

Cast of Wonders Ep. 77

13:04 mins/sec

— First of all, I love the anecdotal intro by podcast host Graeme Dunlop. After that, I hope you’ll enjoy the story, especially when you realize just where an unsuspecting family has ended up after getting their directions all wrong.

Some April FoolishnessClarkesworld returns with their annual April 1st joke story!

“Spar (The Bacon Remix)” by Kij Johnson

Clarkesworld Magazine’s April Issue

14:29 mins/sec

— I’m sure a number of you have read or listened to the original, Nebula-winning “Spar,” by Kij Johnson. That story, while quite worthy, is also INCREDIBLY X-rated, or at least a solid NC-17. So, as both an April Fool’s joke and a clever auto-homage, Kij Johnson allowed them to reprint a version in which all references to sexual acts have been replaced…with bacon. It’s really quite the listen, especially for bacon-lovers!

A Witch and a Sorcerer

Two stories of magic from the dark side.

“The Suicide Witch” by Vylar Kaftan

Pseudopod Ep. 328

31:51 mins/sec

— The story is set in feudal China, in the cell of a woman hired to act as the caretaker of suicides. The spirits of those who killed themselves are highly vulnerable to possession by angry ghosts. With a mixture of glue and glass, the suicide witch wards against these spirits, and with a measure of cunning, she seeks to change her situation in life as well.

“The Red Priest’s Vigil” by Dirk Flinthart

Podcastle Ep. 256

51:04 mins/sec

— This story of daring action, dark magic, and religious intrigue should keep you engaged until the end. We follow a red-clad priest with magical powers as he seeks to save the soul of his friend, all while The Holy Inquisition is hot on his trail!

Our closing quote for the week:“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” –Lin Yutang

Credits

• *“Synthetic Voices“* is written and produced by Jimmy Rogers and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• The Synthetic Voices Logo was designed by Thomas Woldering and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives (3.0) License.
• “See you Later“ is by Pitx and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.
• “Purple Nurple“ is by goldfish and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Never Heard a Rhyme Like This Before“ is by scottaltham and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) License.
• “Wired But Disconnected“ is by duckett and is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) License.

The post Synthetic Voices #17 – April 2013 Top Picks first appeared on Science Is Magic.

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Do you listen to Synthetic Voices or already have your own favorite list of speculative audio fiction podcasts? Well, if you’re in the DC/MD/VA area, join us for our podcast discussion!

If you are on it, please RSVP on Facebook!

We’ll be discussing the 6 “Top Picks” from the Synthetic Voices podcast, plus anything else that comes up in the mix (other podcasts, favorite/recent audiobooks). Also, learn about other activities of the Washington Science Fiction Association (with which we are affiliated).

Here’s a link to the March 2013 podcast episode.

If you’re new, I recommend listening to at least 1 or 2 stories from the list, just so you’ll be able to contribute something. :-)

Meet us in the back room of Jason’s Deli in College Park (look for the Terp’s Lounge). And as Jason’s is our host, they’d love it if you grabbed your dinner there while we talk.

Here are all the vital details:

Monday, April 22, 2013

7:30pm to 10:00pm

At Jason’s Deli – 7356 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD

Post any questions in the comments below or use the contact form.

The post Join the Synthetic Voices Discussion Group on April 22nd! first appeared on Science Is Magic.