Month: January 2012

The Best of Podcastle 2011

written by David Steffen

Podcastle’s going strong under the continued editorship of Dave Thompson and Anna Schwind. In 2011, they published 52 feature length episodes (from episodes 138-189), and 9 flash episodes (flash episodes 58-66), as well as 4 special feature stories from the Alphabet Quartet.

Generally, it was a pretty strong year, I think. I had plenty of material to fill the list with. There was one episode that got under my skin in a bad way, that I had trouble shaking, but I want to keep these lists about the positive, so that’s all that I’ll say about it here.

1. As Below, So Above by Ferrett Steinmetz
I’m surprised this one didn’t appear on the Drabblecast. Bloodthirsty giant squid point of view character, mad scientists, all with a nice mix of theology.

2. The Parable of the Shower by Leah Bobet
Modern Biblical story that begins with an angel visit… in the shower. Fun stuff.

3. The Ghost of Christmas Possible by Tim Pratt and Heather Shaw
I’ve seen so many adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that I’d thought I’d never see another one that really seemed original. But this one pulled it off. It’s a mashup of the original and William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki the Ghost Hunter who is called in by Ebenezer to investigate the strange visitations.

4. The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
Fair warning: this is a very sad one. A son’s story about growing up with an immigrant mother. The characters in this one seemed especially genuine.

5. Abandonware by An Owomoyela
A boy finds an apparently prophetic computer program in his dead sister’s belongings.

6. Stereogram of the Gray Fort, In the Days of Her Glory by Paul M. Berger
Two perspectives on a set of events taking place after the humans have lost the war with the Fae.

7. Hart and Boot by Tim Pratt
This story is based on the known life of Wild West outlaw Pearl Hart and her mysterious partner in crime, Joe Boot. This takes the known events of her life and fills in the gaps.

Honorable Mentions

A Hunter’s Ode to His Bait by Carrie Vaughn

Balfour and Meriwether in the Adventure of the Emperor’s Vengeance by Daniel Abraham

Beyond the Sea Gates of the Pirates of Sarskoe by Garth Nix

 

 

Award Eligibility 2011

written by David Steffen

Hey everybody, just a quick post to talk about voting eligibility for my work for the Hugo (and John W. Campbell). Now, I am not crazy enough to think I have any real chance at either, but I figure there’s even less chance if I don’t tell people what I’m eligible for. So, here’s a quick breakdown of everything that I might be eligible for. If anyone feels inclined to nominate me, you are my personal hero!

If you don’t know what the Hugo or Campbell awards are, or if you just want to know more details about how you can vote and so on, go here to find out more.

John W. Campbell Award

This is my last year of eligibility for the John W. Campbell new writer award. This year I had four stories that make me eligible, the same four short stories eligible for the Hugo.

Best Fanzine Hugo

Diabolical Plots itself for the Best Fanzine Hugo.

 

Best Short Story Hugo

Fruitful at Digital Science Fiction

The Infinite Onion at AE

Helpers at One Buck Horror

The Quest Unusual at Daily Science Fiction

Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

written by David Steffen

Overview

The original Deus Ex game was one of my favorite games of all time. That one came out in 1999, and was a first person shooter (FPS). At least, the basic format was FPS; really it allows a much more versatile gameplay experience. In that game you played nano-augmented anti-terrorist agent JC Denton. Each mission of the game involves specific objectives, but those can be reached in a variety of ways, whether by playing the usual FPS blast-through-the-front-door strategy, or shutting down the security system by hacking, or bribing a guard, or through stealth. You can read an article I wrote about it here.

Then, in 2003, a sequel was published under the name “Invisible War.” I’d rather not talk about that one. It was a huge disappointment after the great first one. If you see a cheap copy, save it for something else instead.

Then “Human Revolution” came out in 2011. This story takes place in 2027, 25 years before the first game in the series, before nano-augmentation is available, in the age of mechanical augmentations (think hydraulics and dermal plating instead of nanites in your bloodstream). Your character is Adam Jensen, head of security for augmentation designer Sarif Industries. In the opening scenes, Sarif industries is attacked by a team of supersoldiers. Adam is severely injured in the attack, losing several limbs. The only way to save his life is through augmentation. Six months later, while he’s still recovering, Sarif calls him back into duty. The company has been attacked again, and they want to make use of his new augmented abilities to handle it.

The overall gameplay is similar to the original Deus Ex, with the versatility of gameplay allowed, and with augmentation upgrades.

I’ll have one section with a general spoiler-free review, followed by one that has spoilers (including help with the boss battles).

Spoiler-free Review

Human Revolution is much better than Invisible War. It sticks much more to the gameplay and style that made the first game so popular. As is often the case, it doesn’t quite recapture the novelty of the original. For one thing, part of the appeal of Deus Ex was a plot full of conspiracy theories, involving every popular theory from Area 51 to the Illuminati to the Knights Templar, and so on. I don’t know if they just used them all up for Deus Ex, or what, but I felt like it lost a little bit.

The augmentations are still fun, and they’re a completely different set. Some are cooler than the original game, some less so, so there’s plenty of new room to explore in that area. Some abilities are definitely improved–especially auto-regenerating health as a default augmentation. In Deus Ex, if you got injured, you’d have to just search for med kits, and there would not be much you could do if you couldn’t find any–you could easily get stuck in an area with only certain death awaiting you.

One thing that’s quite a bit different is the hacking abilities. In Deus Ex, improving your hacking skill just gave you a time limit while in a hacked system. Improving your skill was choice, but it took no real strategy or skill. In this game, every time you hack, you have a layout of network nodes. To break into the system, you have to break into the node of the computer that holds the passwords. To get into that node, you have to break into other nodes to get to it. With each node, there is a chance that the security system will catch on, and will start tracking you, at which point you have only a short period of time to finish your hack. So that adds some extra challenge and strategy. And there are plenty of opportunities for hacking, from doorways to PCs to security hubs, and so on.

Really, there’s only one thing that’s wrong with the game: the boss battles. Apparently they outsourced the programming work, and you can tell, because the boss battles are almost entirely unlike the rest of the game. I get the impression that they gave the game engine and set of weapons to the third party and told them nothing about the rest of the game. Tough boss battles in a standard FPS are expected. In most of those games, you are expected to play as a killing machine and the bosses are built to be a challenge for that kind of tough character. But in this game, it is completely valid to play a nonviolent stealthy style of gameplay. So it is a very unpleasant surprise when you hit that first boss battle and you have an inventory full of non-lethal slow-loading weapons, and a set of augmentations that only help you be sneaky. In Deus Ex, there were fights that were like boss battles, but there were always other ways to resolve them without an actual firefight. I did manage to beat all the bosses in Human Revolution, so read the next spoiler section if you want to know how I beat each of the bosses.

Spoiler Section

I took the nonlethal approach through most of the game, though I did slip into violence in 2 or 3 places where I was cornered by large amounts of armed enemies. Non-lethal, slow-loading weapons (some of which are short range) aren’t so good in such situations, so I tried to keep a shotgun in my inventory.

Through most of the game, I kept the following in my inventory (I upgraded my inventory size to the max very early on):
–stun gun (short range non-lethal)
–PEPS (cone of effect non-lethal)
–Tranquilizer rifle (long range non-lethal)
–shotgun (lethal, very effective at short range)
–revolver (lethal, upgradable to exploding bullets, compact with explosive power)
–gas grenades
–EMP grenades
–ammo for all those weapons, as much as I can carry

And I usually use the non-lethal takedown augmentation which is pretty much free to use, whenever I can get close enough to use it without being seen.

There are a couple big experience bonuses you can get if you play the way that I do:
Ghost–No hostile sees you on your way to the objective
Smooth Operator–You don’t set off any alarm on your way to the objective

Boss Walkthroughs

Barrett–This first boss fight really caught me off guard. I admit, I went to look online for some times. None of which I found particularly helpful. This boss fight starts in a particularly irritating way–with a cut scene that leaves you standing in plain sight in front of the boss. Barrett is a tank of a man, slow moving but with an automatic weapon grafted onto his arm and packing a heavy arsenal of grenades. Don’t bother trying a takedown on him, he will pick you up and take a big chunk out of your health in the process. The room is medium size, with plenty of pillars to hide behind, and a couple offshoot rooms. Since you start the fight in plain sight of Barrett, hiding behind the pillars doesn’t make him forget where he last saw you. Just because he’s built like a tank doesn’t mean he’s that stupid.

So, after dying about 50 times in an hour of gameplay, I finally found a strategy that I could make work. It helps that the room is well-stocked with equipment, but first, you have to get Barrett off your tail so you can get a second to put something together. Keep in mind, too, that after you kill Barrett you will still be in the room until you choose to leave, so if you want to drop some of your inventory to make room for other equipment, feel free to do so (this is true for any of the boss battles).

Okay, so here are the steps that I took. For this to work, all you need to take into the room is a stun gun with a few darts:
–As the fight starts, duck behind the pillar to the right to get out of Barret’s line of fire.
–In that corner you’ll find gas barrel. Pick it up, wait for a gap in Barrett’s firing pattern, and throw it at him, hitting him directly if possible.
–The gas will throw him for a loop, while he’s disoriented duck into the corner room that was on the far right side (from where you started). If you’re quick he won’t see you go back there and he’ll just wander around the main room shouting at you.
–Back in that room is a weapons locker with a shotgun (thank goodness!) and some shotgun ammo. Pick those up.
–Outside the room is an explosive barrel. Peek around the pillars, wait until Barret is nearby and facing away and hit him straight on the back with the explosive barrel.
–From here, the stun gun is your friend. Don’t get too close–he will throw you down. Just get close enough that your targeting reticle turns red, then zap him. He’ll be disoriented for a few seconds.
–Quickly use the quick-inventory button to switch to the shotgun. Fire off 3 or 4 shotgun blasts to his head.
–Switch back to the stun gun and zap him again, repeat with a zap and several shotgun shells. Three or four zaps with shotgun blasts to follow should finish him off.

Federova–I learned my lesson from the first fight, and started toting the shotgun and revolver. Also, it’s a very good idea to get the dermal plating augmentation that gives you electricity resistance.
Federova is the stealthy one of the group. She has a cloaking augmentation, she has some hard hitting attacks, and she loves hit-and-run attacks. But, the stungun-shotgun combo works well on her too. The fight takes place in a server room with a thin layer of coolant on the floor, which is handy because when she cloaks and runs away from you you can follow her rippling footsteps. She tends to attack, and then try to avoid you, to recharge her batteries, so if you can catch her, that’s the best time to attack. Or, you will usually get a voice warning from Eliza (another character in the room) when Federova is going to charge you. Either way, zap her with the stun gun, fire a few shotgun headshots, run and regroup.

Oh, and that electricity augmentation is useful because she can zap you through the coolant.

Lather , rinse, repeat, and you should have no problem.

Nammir–This one is BY FAR the hardest boss fight. Especially if you make the same mistake that I did in an earlier quest. As the game goes on, your augmentation glitches get worse, with your head’s-up display keeps twitching. You were given the mission to go to the LIMB clinic to update your biochip. You better hope you avoided that mission or this fight will be much, much harder. That biochip has a backdoor in it that lets the bad guys shut off your augmentation. And that’s ALL your augmentations, even the ones that you started the game with. That means no health meter, no ammo display, no takedowns, no radar. And it happens when you’re fighting the character that is easily the most augmented person in the game.

It took a while to get the hang of this, but I found a strategy that seemed to work pretty consistently. One little extra bit of help is that you can carry a turret into the fight area to help you a little bit. In the main area of the level, there’s a turret in the middle of one of the streets. Behind is a security terminal. If you hack the terminal, you can turn the turret against enemies, and if you have the strength augmentation you can carry it to the fight area.

Before you leave the area, get your biggest gun ready, and frag grenades if you have them. I used my revolver (with exploding bullet upgrade), and I had two frag grenades. You have a moment at the start to get off a few attacks. I tossed a frag grenade, and fired off a couple shots, then I got out of the center of the room. The center of the room is the most dangerous, that’s where you’re most vulnerable. Get to the outside wall and just start doing laps. Luckily, his strategy is pretty easy to counter. He doesn’t fire while he’s giving chase; he chases, fires off some shots, but not while he’s chasing. If you see him ahead of you, fire off a few shots, then turn and run. If you hear explosions or sounds behind you, turn, find him, fire off a few shots, then turn and run. Repeat, you might want to keep a few saves if you can get the occasional breather. I think that your health regeneration aug still works, but it is a little hard to tell since your health display is faulty.

If you can make it through this fight without augs, you have made it through the hardest part of this game, by far.

Hyron–And the game finishes on the easiest boss fight. Which is at the end of the easiest level of the game. The only enemies in the final level are dumb zombie-like humans that rely only on melee attacks and only charge directly at you.

The real target that you want to kill in this boss fight is behind a wall of bullet-proof glass, so you first have to take out the security system. The security system consists of three human drones that are in pods around the central pillar. The pillar is protected by three turrets that are on a rotating track that runs around the pillar. Everything becomes significantly easier if you take out the turrets. I did so with the revolver which has an exploding bullet upgrade. Each turret took maybe 4 or 5 hits. Now the room’s unprotected for the moment. There are three computers in the room which you can hack to open each of the pods. You might have found the login passwords in the level, in which case you can use those, otherwise you can hack them like normal, then blast the drones as they are revealed. When each one is opened, some zombies will come out and attack you, but they’re easy pickins. Once all those are out, then the floor will electrify in intervals (which you can ignore if you have the electricity immunity upgrade). A few security bots will come out, so if you have some EMP grenades or explosives you’ll probably want to take those out. Eventually some explosions will shatter the bulletproof glass, and then your target is unprotected.

 

Daily Science Fiction: October 2011 Review

written by Frank Dutkiewicz

First review of the New Year! But what about last year? We have a list of our favorites, but before we tell you which ones we liked the best, let us tell you what we thought of these.

 

A sorcerer learns the hard way the lesson of ‘ends justifying the means’ in “Wider and Deeper” by Carma Lynn Park (debut 10/3). The sorcerer seeks the energy of the dark ones deep within the earth. He intends to feed of their power but reaching them is difficult. He manipulates creatures to tunnel, but doesn’t think of the consequences of letting loose his creations.

The story is told like a parable. The creatures are tools, and tools left alone can be instruments of destruction. I confess, I was not a fan of how this story was told or how it shaped up. I’m not sure if there was a moral in it. If so, I missed it.

 

A young girl reflects on her parents in “Where Sea and Sky Kiss” by Dan Campbell (debut 10/4). The protagonist of this tale is the child of widowed parents. The two were brought together by her birth, both losing spouses in tragic accidents. The closeness the two had for each other fades, the distance between them growing wider when they move to anew home. The young lady wishes for them to be close , and with the help of items stored away , hatches a plan for them to fall in love again.

I confess, the moral and deeper meaning of this piece was lost on me. A second reading did not help. Perhaps others will find the appeal of it, but I must say, it was not a tale for me.

 

Silence is the canvas of magic in “Canvas” by M. K. Hutchins (debut 10/5). The protagonist is part of a very talented family. They are capable of wonderful magic, but a deadly plague threatens to take them and all in the land. The protagonist cannot reach the silence to save his nephew. Desperate measures may be the only way out of these desperate times.

“Canvas” is set within a difficult to grasp premise for me. It is a solemn and distant tale told without clear parameters of what is possible.

 

The author contemplates “If Wishes Were Fishes” by Amanda M Hayes (debut 10/6), and brings a quite cute story to life. A goldfish at a Chinese restaurant swallows a coin tossed into its pool and takes on the wish that accompanies it.

“If Wishes” is a novel take on this common phrase. The reader follows the fish, now transformed into the coin, and sets about making the wish a reality. Well told for such a brief tale.

Recommended.

 

A man’s hopes and dreams rest on the outcome of a concert in “A Concert of Flowers” by Kate O’Connor (debut 10/7). William Reis is a planet surveyor when he encounters a species of flower that sings when it blooms. He envisions a potential moneymaker, but the risks are high. The music the flowers make is beautiful. If only he can get others to believe in him.

“A Concert of Flowers” is written in series of flashbacks. The story starts at the beginning of the concert, the moment William has been working toward. Each flashback is set as a potential setback for William, yet he perseveres, betting on himself and his idea.

I must say I liked the idea of flowers that sing. Ms O’Connor did a nice job of making them believable to me. However, the story was really about William and fulfilling his dream. As a story about perseverance, it kind of works, but I’ve read better tales of inspiration. But, for a self-described new writer, I must admit this tale is one any writer would be proud to write.

 

An alien race plays host in “The Human Guest” by Marge Simon (debut 10/10). The alien race tells of the coming of men. At first, they tolerate the new arrivals, then a single human inserts himself into their collective just as mating season commences. The aliens are too polite to refuse. To do so is anti-social.

“The Human Guest” is a distant and dark tale. The nameless human is the worst humanity has to offer. The aliens come off as very human but with a different culture. Details in the story are vague (which was for the best). I found it well-written, just don’t expect an uplifting tale.

 

Vincent reflects on his life on his deathbed and takes pity upon his robot servant, Jonas, in “The Farthest Coast” by Jeremy Lightner (debut 10/11). Vincent has led a good life but knows his death will mean the end of Jonas. He tries to convey his feelings to his servant, wishing Jonas could have a life as fulfilling as his own. But Jonas has a different idea on what makes a life fulfilling.

“The Farthest Coast” is a moral told as a story. The touching moment of Vincent having pity upon Jonas reverses as the tale progresses. I found myself resenting Vincent’s feelings getting turned to mud. The point of the story was taken but I felt as if the author was making a commentary of what makes for a ‘good’ life.

 

Sir Hugh stops to ask peasant Matthew directions to his Lord’s Castle in “The Quest Unusual” by Dave Steffen (debut 10/12 and reviewed by James Hanzelka). He wants to hunt dragons for him. This is unusual since Sir Hugh is a dragon. Now Matthew has a problem does he put his Lord in danger, or deny Sir Hugh and endanger his own life

One of my favorite stories is Ray Bradbury’s “The Dragon”. This is a lighter look at the same subject, with a similar wry twist at the end. Very well done.

 

The main character in “California Gurls” by S. A. Rudek (debut 10/13 and reviewed by James Hanzelka) is trying to convince his partner of the value in music, specifically Katy Perry. His partner is more concerned with dwindling resources in the post apocalyptic world. The bigger question is “will the pair find what they need to survive?”

I didn’t care for the voice in this story, but that’s a personal taste thing. Aside from that, I thought the author did a pretty good job of creating the setting and developing the story in a short format.

 

Phoebe reconnects with her mother after the collapse in “Free Lunch” by Will McIntosh (debut 10/14). The story opens with Phoebe finding her husband having sex with a fourteen-old student of hers, in their bedroom, while her mother-in-law sits in the kitchen. Her decision to leave immediately seems like a no-brainer, but a collapsed civilization makes her pause. She has only one place to go, to parents who disowned her 19 years before. But the journey to her childhood home is an eighty-mile hike through a bamboo forest, and information of what life is like beyond her town is skittish.

“Free Lunch” is a prequel to McIntosh’s novel “Soft Apocalypse.” The story is set in a Georgia twenty years after an economical collapse. Rogue scientists have unleashed bio-engineered bamboo and tailored viruses to quell an upcoming nuclear war. The bamboo has choked the land. Life has gotten harder and people are living a life under siege. But the collapse isn’t complete. There is some form of commerce that still exists. Cars (rare that they are) still travel on the roads. Farmer markets survive but it is clear there are less people around and opportunities are slight.

Early in Phoebe’s trek, she comes across a man named Rumor offering a free meal. Suspicious, yet hungry, she accepts his offer. Rumor is recruiting others to join his tribe. They appear to have everything they need. The catch? Phoebe must allow herself to be infected with the Happy virus. Sensing a cult, she politely refuses, but Rumor’s offer is an open one.

The mood of “Free Lunch” starts off dim and gradually becomes darker. Phoebe finds her mother, alone and starving. Food has become scarce and money has lost its value. At first grateful to find her mother alive, it doesn’t take long for old tensions to resurface between the two. Without many valuables, Phoebe is left with the only thing she has worth trading. Life in a cult, infected with a mood-altering virus, doesn’t seem so bad now.

If you are a fan of Will McIntosh, or have bought , or plan to , a copy of “Soft Apocalypse”, this story is a must read. His writing is smooth and premise intriguing. The story is a lesson on how desperation can dismantle a person’s self-respect. If you are after an uplifting tale, steer wide of this one. Phoebe has no good choices to make in this depressing piece. If you do read it, try not to get too immersed into her character. You’ll want to take a shower if you do.

 

The children of colonists on a new world love hearing the Spidersong by Alex Shvartsman (debut 10/17). The spiders of the alien world are large, hunting and killing the people from Earth. Only the children can hear their songs. They have become the early warning system to the adults, saving them from harm’s way. Only the children can hear the spiders and know what they think. They share a telepathic ability with them, and a kinship the adults aren’t aware of.

“Spidersong” has a twist I won’t dare reveal. The tale is a deceptive tease into the perspective of children who have an ability the adults aren’t privy to. The story is a set up for the reader. Nice piece, I enjoyed it. Keep an eye on those kids.

 

The protagonist writes a letter to her sister on life in the country in My Dearest Miranda by Jamie Lee Moyer (debut 10/18). The letter describes how she and the staff endure trolls, pixies, goblins, and like. Her husband soothes the help and the widow next door in his private parlor for hours at a time (it is difficult to calm down excitable, and lonely, women, after all). Life in the country is much harder than the city.

This work of humor (written as a letter) follows the exploits of a very naà ¯ve woman. Admittedly, I chuckled a time or two. This delightful tale was indeed funny.

 

An angel appears before Amy, just as her friend said it would in Amy’s First by Henry Szabranski (debut 10/19). A small angel greets Amy in her bedroom. The corporeal being has an important message for her, just as her friend predicted. Thanks to her friend, she knows just what to do.

“Amy’s First” is a delightful little tale. The twist caught me completely off guard. Well executed.

Recommended.

 

A man must decide which sword to choose in Selecting by John M Shade (debut 10/20). A bloodthirsty prince is waiting outside while the protagonist searches the armory, contemplating on his choice of magical sword. Based on the names of the blades, most would be useless, but the sword of Vengeance calls to him.

“Selecting” has the flavor of Fred Saberhagen’s Swords series. In fact, you could call it a parody of the late author’s work. I rather liked it, and loved how the author chose to end this great piece.

 

Sea Charm by Ann Chatman (debut 10/21 and reviewed by Dustin Adams)

When a story ends, and I don’t get it, I figure there’s something I missed. Being a fairly smart guy, I believe I should get every story, so when I don’t, I feel a general washing away of the entire tale. After reading the author comments, and thinking hard about the tale, I believe I’ve pieced together what happened.

A young girl is saved by a merman who so captivates her, she seeks the aid of an old sorceress to assist her in being united with her savior. The old woman leads us to believe this is a common occurrence. Or at least, that young girls seeks her wisdom. This portion of the story trails off as the old woman visits a seal creature in order to inquire of the merman’s intentions. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for “this latest girl”.

I won’t reveal the ending, in case I’m off with what happened. However, I did appreciate this story as I read along. I gave “Sea Charm” three rocket dragons.

 

Junk Silver by Michael Canfield (debut 10/24 and reviewed by Dustin Adams) is an interesting story, worth four rocket dragons, but it suffers one major flaw, which is I’m unable to picture what is going on.

Taken purely at word for word value, it’s nifty, and intrinsically ironic, which is always a fun combo in a story. However, if you’re looking for a traditional story from which you can picture the characters and surroundings, this isn’t it.

To sum up: Two custodial engineers are on earth cleaning the seemingly physical vestiges of the internet wasteland and various other garbage. The conversation, which is the bulk of the plot, is inane but interesting with various factoids throughout.

 

A woman continues to construct paper animals for her vanishing boyfriend in Like Origami in Water by Damien Walters Grintalis (debut 10/21). Johnny is losing digits. They are disappearing and no one knows why. His girlfriend is his only comfort. He craves her origami and displays them about their apartment.

“Like Origami” is an emotional tale. The story is told from Johnny’s girlfriend point of view. She holds her feelings in, not daring to let them free. She endures, as she watches her dear Johnny waste away.

It is only the mysterious illness that makes this tale a work of speculative fiction. Any person, who had a loved one that succumbed to a long illness, could identify with this story. It is the protagonists attempt to withhold her feelings that make this tale such a strong emotional one. The origami figurines her Johnny loves so much, stand as objects of indictments to her character.

The editors of DSF announced that this tale was nominated for the prestigious (?) award. I hope it wins. It will take an outstanding story to beat it.

 

Tomorrow’s Dawn by Milo James Fowler (debut 10/26 and reviewed by Anonymous) focuses on a man traveling on a lunar tube and sitting opposite him is a member of a subjugated alien race. The man remembers an incident where an alien suicide-bombed a lunar-tube when he was a child, killing many and he picks up clues that the alien in front of him is going to repeat this act in only a few moments…

I found this story a little predictable. I guessed how it would end mostly because of the effort put in to sustain the perceived threat level. That said the message of the story is clear and important and I think that side of things was handled well.

 

In Radical Therapy by Edward Gary Kratz (debut 10/27 and reviewed by Anonymous), a young man is referred to a specialist for his problem–namely he believes himself to be a shapeshifter. More than that, he is a shapeshifter who is having difficulty controlling his shifts. It is his hope–and protected by therapist/patient confidentiality–that the man he is seeing will be able to help him. First however, he must convince the man that he is in fact a shapeshifterâ€

If the guy has this problem, and there is a shapeshifting community (suggested by the story) then surely he would seek help via them?

The story was written with a fly-on-the-wall point of view (POV) and avoids dipping into anyone’s thoughts. The whole emotional side of the story is dialogue and facial expressions and for two good reasons. If you dipped into the head of one of them specifically you’d reveal the twist that happens near the end too early, and if you dipped in the head of the other you’d have some terminal POV problems at the end. The problem with handling the POV such is that it doesn’t really draw you in–at all.

The story didn’t really work for me.

 

Robbie fights his own war against the great menace of creatures adults never see in I Kill Monsters by Nathaniel Matthews Lee (debut 10/28). Robbie is one kid exterminator. Monsters are everywhere; in the closets, under beds, hiding in the basements (always in the basement). They are menacing, scary, and in Robbie sights. With his trusty baseball bat, he bashes the creatures whenever he sees them. Adults are blind to them but aren’t about Robbie’s odd behavior. Robbie doesn’t care, but when a new kid comes to town and offers Robbie a chance to make two bucks, the monster killer discovers the world is a lot scarier than he thought.

“I Kill Monsters” is humorous horror action tale. Mr Lee plays on the childhood fear that monsters are indeed real. The story has a tone that reminded me of the classic Bill the Galactic Hero. I found myself grinning at it throughout. The story is just plain fun.

 

A teacher’s once living students drag him back into the Classroom of the Living Dead by James Van Pelt (debut 10/31). The protagonist’s former pupils have forcibly shoved their teacher into their class. They are now zombies and ask for one thing from him, “brains.”

Mr Van Pelt has taken a new spin on the zombie trend with a unique usage of a pun. Pretty clever, even for a teacher.

 

The Best of the Best Publication Out There

In one of their daily emails, DSF provided a link to one of their reader’s blog with his top ten list of his favorite stories from DSF. Mr Anonymous thought we should do the same so here is our favorites, dating all the way back to DSF’s first issue.

Frank Dutkiewicz

1)ÂÂÂÂÂ Buy You a Mockingbird by Eric James Stone
The most powerful flash fiction I ever read

Â2)ÂÂÂÂÂ Questions by Jacob A. Boyd
A wonderful tale of the afterlife

Â3)ÂÂÂÂÂ A is for Arthur by The Alphabet Quartet
Merlin meets Shakespeare. I don’t know which author wrote it, but they deserve an award for their efforts

 

And to round out my top tenâ€

Flint’s Folly by J Chant

Blivet for the Temporal Lobes by Dave Raines

Y is for Yellow by the Alphabet Quartet

Grinpa by Brian K. Lowe

Ten Speeds at the End of the World by Gunevere Robin Rowell

Her Majesty’s Guardian by Donald S. Crankshaw

Rinse or Repeat by Sylvia Hiven

Â

James Hanzelka

1) The Quest Unusual by Dave Steffen

2) Paying the Tab by Brian K. Lowe

3) Outer Rims by Toiya Kristen Finley

Deathbed by Caroline M Yoachim

Still Life by A. C. Wise

Writing on the Wall by Vaughan Stanger

Imaginary Enemies by Colum Paget

Barb the Bomb and Imaginary Boy by Julian Mortimer Smith

Vision, Values and Mission by James Van Pelt

Shark’s Teeth by T. A. Pratt

 

Anonymous

1) Shroedinger’s Outlaw by Matthew W. Baugh

2) If Wishes Were Fishes by Amanda M. Hayes

3) Starlight Cantata by Brian Lawrence Hurrel

Palindrome by Will Arthur

The Artwork of the Knid by John Parke Davis

Our Drunken Tjeng by Nicky Drayden

The Girl Who Asks Too Much by Eric James Stone

The Wish Writer’s Wife by Ian McHugh

Exit Interview by Patrick Johannsen

 

There is a reason why I gave Dave Steffen’s story The Quest Unusual to reviewer James Hanzelka. James is an avid reader of Daily Science Fiction but rarely keeps up with what’s going on here at Diabolical Plots. He wasn’t even aware the author of that piece was the same person who runs DP. But just to make sure, I asked if he was familiar with the author and wanted to know what made Dave’s story special. His explanationâ€

”â€the main reason I chose the piece is it reminded me of one of my favorite stories, “The Dragon” by Ray Bradbury.”

ÂSo Dave’s piece was chosen by preference and merit alone. For that, we deserve to see that smiling face, again.

 

 

 

 

The Best of Pseudopod 2011

written by David Steffen

Another year has passed, which brings us to another year’s worth of “Best of” lists (see previous lists, including of previous years of this podcast here). First up, is Pseudopod, the horror branch of the Escape Artists podcast tree. Pseudopod was on hiatus for the first few months of 2011, but they have been publishing stories at a steady rate again since March, and there are plenty of stories to make a list from. This list picks out my favorites published in 2011, which covers episodes 220-262, and includes some promotional stories to promote a listener incentive collection written by the Alphabet Quartet, and quite a few “Flash on the Borderlands” flash collection episodes. I only considered stories that were available on the main feed, not stories which were part of listener promotions.

One story written by me was published by Pseudopod in 2011. The story is “What Makes You Tick” and was published as one of the stories in Pseudopod 228 Flash on the Borderlands VII: Tableaux and Displays. (I didn’t consider that story for the list, but I figured I could get away with a quick shameless plug)

(54 stories, including What Makes You Tick, including ___ Flash on the Borderlands episodes, including a promotional Alphabet Quartet episode) So it will be up to a top 5, with 3 honorable mentions. Episodes 220-262. Not considered for this list was my story What Makes You Tick which was published in Pseudopod 228: “Flash on the Borderlands VII: Tableaux and Displays.”

 

The List

1. The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson
Excellent classic horror, all the more notable because it is still effective a century later. A ship encounters an unseen speaker on the dark ocean, and that speaker tells a story of a shipwreck and a horrible fate.

2. To My Wondering Eyes Did Appear by Larry C. Kay
Christmas horror! We’ve all heard of Santa Claus, but what about his lesser known brother Rumple Klaus? A dark story with shades of Krampus and Black Pete. A story of a remembered childhood encounter told by one sister to another. Where this story really shines is its strong, realistic characters.

3. Pageant Girls by Caroline Yoachim
Childhood beauty pageants are a subject ripe for horror adaptations. A brief look into another world, where the living dead can enter.

4. Dearest Daughter by Kate Marshall
A really good unreliable narrator story. The story seemed very straightforward at first, even a little too straightforward, but at several points during the story new information become available that made me revise my understanding. This can be done badly or done well; here it is done very well. Much of this one is open for alternate interpretations, which makes it very fun to discuss and re-read.

5. Pieces by M.C. Funk
A terrible and twisted love story all the more disturbing because it seems to be a metaphor for the worst kind of relationship.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Terrible Lizard King by Nathaniel Lee

Black Hill by Orrin Grey

Little Monster by LynnCee Faulk
At first, this story seems all too familiar, but the author makes it unique.