Tor.com started a new story podcast last week. Seeing as how I have a handy-dandy new Android that makes listening to podcasts easy (no copying from computer to device!) and an evening of bus rides to pick up my grandparents’ car from the shop, it seemed like an appropriate thing to occupy my time. Though Tor.com Story Podcast
really doesn’t have much pizazz, so I hope they change it to something a little more exciting.
The first episode has John Scalzi reading his story After the Coup
, set in his Old Man’s War universe. While the story won’t win any awards (at least if award judges think like I do), it was a perfect story for listening to. I’ve found that stories that are too complicated don’t work as well in audio format. It’s much easier to follow who is saying what and doing what on the printed page.
After the Fire
starts off with a multi-person conversation, a conference between diplomats to an alien world and a military veteran stationed on their ship. The diplomats need the veteran and his militarily-enhanced physique to engage in a martial arts competition against one of the aliens’ fighters. Not so much as a substitute for engaging in war with them so much as … well, I never did quite figure out why either side cared to have a champion engage in one-on-one combat.
And the bulk of the story is a blow-by-blow description of the three rounds of fighting between Harry, the former soldier, and an amphibious alien with armor-plated skin.
I did get a little annoyed with the every word I say has to be clever banter between the characters. I’m this mission’s mushroom.
I don’t know what that means.
It means you keep me in the dark and feed me shit.
Every statement in the dialogue is someone trying to be witty. First, people who do that in real life are annoying. Really annoying. We call them douchebags and they wear pink shirts with the collar turned up. Second, that’s the kind of conversation held between drinking buddies or a group of friends at Sunday brunch. It’s not the kind of conversation that professional diplomats and military technicians hold on a diplomatic mission when conducting business. I’d get it if someone tried to be clever every once in a while, but all the time? No.
Despite that paragraph, I still recommend the story for listening while you are going about your day. Good for when you want brain candy and don’t want to think. Biff! Wham! Kapow!
Title: After the Coup
Author: John Scalzi
Narrator: John Scalzi
Publisher: Tor.com
Format: MP3 podcast download
Length: 50 minutes
