Podcast Marathon

My wife was out of town all day last Saturday, so it was just me and my iPod Touch for the day. I listened to podcasts all day long, including these:

Guild of the Cowry Catchers, book 3 -- Full-cast novel, distributed via podcast. I listened to episodes 6, 7, & 8. It is turning darker as the story moves on.

Katia & KylieMac , episode 465 -- Two girls, an American and an Australian, who live in Paris. A great episode with frequent guest, Frog the Frenchman.

Tales of the JSA, episode 58 -- One of the best comic book podcasts out there. Terrific stuff.

A Podcast of Ice and Fire, episode 64 -- This was a listener call-in episode, all about the book series, crazy theories, favorite scenes. They even gave this blog a shout-out, when I mentioned the podcast in a previous entry.

Chaos Chronicles -- It has been great listening to Lian Dolan over the years, as her life has changed. This used to be mostly a mommy-cast, but the show has changed as Lian's life has changed. She published a novel last year, and is now pitching 3 separate TV shows. It's been fun following this unexpected journey.

Golden Age Superman, episode 26 -- I did not finish this episode on Saturday, because it was NEARLY FOUR HOURS LONG! Jon Wilson is one of my favorite podcasters, and he did a great here covering all the Superman activity from May, 1940. The comic books, newspaper strips, and radio, Jon covers them all in and entertaining and infomrative manner.

Book #62

Y: The Last Man, Deluxe hardcovers, vols 3 & 4, by Brian K Vaughn, Pia Guerra, et. al. Graphic novel.

Comic books are a medium, not a genre.

I like supeheroes, really I do. But some of the strongest stories being told in sequential art in the 21st century are not of the "caps and cowls" variety. And of these non-superhero books, Y: The Last Man may be the best.

A strange virus has struck earth, killing every male mammal on the planet. All except two, a man (Yorick) and his monkey (Ampersand). Desperately trying to reunite with his girlfriend halfway around the world, Yorick's journey has brought him under the protection of the mysterious agent 355. There seems to be hope for a cure to the plague in Asia, and he detours there. A pseudo-journalist has snapped a photo of Yorick in a pose that reveals his, ummmm, definite maleness. Will this photo be believed, which could hamper Yorick's efforts, or will it be dismissed as a hoax? Will a cure be found? Will Yorick find his girlfriend? These are the questions that are left to be anwered. These volumes take us through issue 48 of the series 60-issue run, so we are entering the last act. I look forward to finishing the series with volume 5.

Unfortunately, Guerra did not draw as many of the issues in this part of the run as I would have liked. Although the other artists tried to ape her style, her strong lines and ability to differentiate characters stand out among the other artists.

Comic books are a medium, not a genre.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

MY TEASERS:

"Bright spring dawn, with no traces of the night's gale, was scarce an hour old over Redwall when little Arven flung himsel fon Tansy's bed in the sick bay and began buffeting her with a pillow ... [w]ith a bound the young hedgehog maid was out of bed and attacking back with her pillow."

From page 58 of the YA novel Pearls of Lutra, by the late Brian Jacques. Talking animals having adventures!

Book #61

The Omen Machine, by Terry Goodkind. Unabridged audio.

In 2007, Terry Goodkind released Confessor, the last part of a terrific three-book arc that wrapped up the epic 11-novel Sword of Truth series. At that point, he indicated that he wanted to move away from fantasy and into modern-day novels. This he did with the thriller The Law of Nines, released in 2009. And although it did take place in modern times, there are many “easter eggs” for fans of the Sword of Truth books, and the novel is indeed in some way connected to the previous saga.

For whatever reason, Goodkind has returned to his fantasy roots with his latest novel, The Omen Machine. It is referred to on the cover as a “Richard and Kahlan novel.” The fact that it is not branded as as a “Sword of Truth” novel specifically does speak to the differences that this book has from its predecessors.

First the similarities. Without spoiling prior novels, this does take place shortly after the events of Confessor, and involves many of the surviving cast of characters from that and prior novels. The writing style is classic Goodkind: lots of descriptions, some speechifying, and his objectivist philosophy woven into the narrative.

They story of the novel is this: the people of one of the lands under Richard & Kahlan’s rule believe that prophecy should be used to directly guide people’s lives, while Richard and Kahlan believe differently about the role of prophecy, based on their experiences and understanding of how the gift works. A series of tragic prophecies delivered to ungifted people quickly come to pass, and the discovery of a heretofore unknown machine, hidden cunningly inside the Palace, that delivers the same omens, brings nothing but confusion and distress upon our heroes. Is this a new manifestation of the gift? Are people somehow being manipulated via this machine to bring forth predictions? Are these even real prophecy at all, or are these dark predictions being used as covers for murder and treachery?

On to the difference between this work and prior Richard and Kahlan stories. As interesting as the questions raised by this plot are, the tale operates on a much less grand scale. It is also surprisingly short. The Sword of Truth series consisted of 600-700 page doorstops, while this one checks in at around 400 pages. This is average length, perhaps slightly above average for say a modern thriller, but is much shorter than most epic fantasies. Perhaps that is the most striking difference – it is a fantasy novel, certainly, but not an epic fantasy. The geography of the novel, the timeframe of the novel, the stakes for the character, the literal size of the novel – all much smaller than one expects from a fantasy work, certainly from a fantasy work penned by Terry Goodkind. But I imagine it was these types of changes that prompted the branding decision in referring to this simply as a “Richard and Kahlan” novel. To talk in terms that are used more often in movies and comic books, this novel can be considered a “soft reboot” of the series, a good “jumping on” point for readers who find the combined 7,000 pages of the Sword of Truth epic intimidating.

This is not to say that these changes make the book unenjoyable. As a matter of fact, I thought it quite good, certainly more appealing to me than Goodkind’s attempt to go mainstream, The Law of Nines. There is something to the shorter form that moves the plot along at a good pace, while not skimping on the character moments and interactions that are fan favorites. The villain of the work was interesting, and a type of magic was at work here that we haven’t seen before in this world. That was good to see. There are indications of a villain behind the villain, pulling the strings, which certainly does lay the groundwork for this to be the kickoff of another series of novels for Goodkind set in the worlds of D’hara and the Midlands.

Top-of-the-List podcasts

I subscribe to an embarrassingly large number of podcasts. Some of them I let stack up for future listening, some I get to within a few days. But some I listen to as soon as possible after they download – they move immediately to the top of the list. Some of these are:

Geeks On! This is one of the earliest podcasts I found, and am still a loyal listener. Their shows don’t come out quite as often as I’d like, but when they do, I listen as soon as I can. The conversation between these 4 guys (and the occasional guest) is always thought-provoking, and the topics are always interesting. It rarely disappoints.

No Agenda Tech journalist John C. Dvorak and media veteran (including MTV) Adam Curry discuss news and politics, and also dissect the media’s role in that reporting. This bi-weekly show is well worth the 2+ hours they put out twice per week. It is equal parts enlightening, entertaining, humorous, and head-scratching. In the morning!

Tales of the JSA One of the best of the long-form comic books shows, Scott & Mike are covering the modern tales of the Justice Society of America, including the terrific run of All-Star Squadron. They are definitely fans, but not “fanboys” – when the stories stink, they say they stink. If you are a comic book fan, start here with your podcast listening.

The Tony Kornheiser Show I listen to the live stream of this local radio show (local in Washington DC, that is), but when I can’t the podcast is an ASAP listen. Since the radio station releases 24 hours to release the official podcast episodes – which is a problem for a sports and news show – I usually listen to the unofficial version, This Podcast Stinks.

Book #60

Soul of the Fire, by Terry Goodkind. Unabridged audio.

This is a re-read for me -- I read the series a few years ago, and then strarted listening to them a year ago or so with my daughter. We didn't quite finish this up during the Summer before she went back to college, so when she came home for an evening recently we knocked it out.

As is typical of this series, the actions of previous novels drive the plot in this one. Goodkind is a strong believer in cause-and-effect, and this aspect of his philosophy is on display here. This novel deals with "The Chimes," which were released at the end of the previous novel. The Chimes drain magic from the world, so all of the main characters (Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, Cara) are growing progressively weaker in the powers as the novel progresses, so the drama is whether they can banish The Chimes as much with their natural abilities and their magical abilities.

The characters are the people we have come to know, but their personalities and relationships are becoming more complex and layered.

In addition to being a (mostly) self-contained adventure, the spectre of the Imperial Order continues to grow as a backdrop. As readers, we are anticipating an eventual confrontation between Richard and Emperor Jagang. Goodkind does a good job of telling specific stories in a world that is definitely moving in a particular direction.

I love this series, and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, even though it was my second time through. Some of the foreshadowing I am sure I missed on the first read.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

MY TEASERS:

1. "Out of the corner of her eye, Kahlan saw the dark thing charge toward them, as Richard dove off her and across the bed."

2. "He stared at her for a moment, then sat on a bench at the foot of the bed and stuffed a leg into his pants."

From Chapter 25 of The Omen Machine, by Terry Goodkind.