Hamilton and Burr 2.0

In “The Harbingers” first season, the two leads are the two stereotypical love/hate relationship between grad students in the field of anthropology. Two ideals clashing together. It’s very reminiscent of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about rivalry between two founding fathers. It’s slightly tweaked for a more modern audience. Burr believes staying quiet and passive is better than pushing for radical change. Hamilton thinks that without radical movements, nothing would get done toward building a better future. Sounds like modern day political discourse in the United States, right? The two leads have similar beliefs, with Amy Sterling being the more Hamilton-coded character. The male lead, Adam Blackwell, takes Burr’s indecision to act and adds privilege to the equation.

The final scene of episode four where Adam goes over Amy’s head with a group project is handled so well by the actors. You hear the betrayal in Amy’s (Lauren Grace Thompson) voice as she calls Adam an asshole. The confusion from Adam (Andrés Enriquez) over doing something Amy helped to inspire, thinking she’d be proud is also so out of touch you wonder how anyone can be that dense. It’s a classic case of misunderstanding and miscommunication found at one point or another in practically any romantic comedy.

The Harbingers Mystery: Ancient and Present

As noted above the premise of two rival magicians butting heads may sound identical to the one from “The Prestige.” In practice —specifically the dialogue — “The Harbingers” has more in common with “Inception.” If you’re a person who thought Christopher Nolan’s movie about a reverse mind heist was mostly exposition pretending to be dialogue, don’t dismiss this audio drama offhand. In fact, audio may be the only medium where this kind of information-rich dialogue works. Gabriel Urbina’s use of metaphor to explain concepts is masterful. The dialogue sounds organic and keeps the listener engaged.

One example of this is when Adam describes the language of the Harbingers. How transporting a cup of coffee through magical language isn’t as easy as willing the cup to another location. You have to learn the word for coffee and cup. One needs to accurately describe the correct cup so another isn’t transported instead. Keeping the coffee in the cup is another factor of a spell. It’s basically computer code where specificity is not just important but integral to making a piece of software work properly. This only makes sense, given that computer code is sometimes compared to learning a new language in terms of difficulty.

The Subtle Twist with Big Ramifications

Maybe it’s because I listened to this as it released, but starting at episode nine onward the show dipped slightly in my enjoyment. After episode eight, my desire to resume week after week waned until the last couple of episodes. Another reason for a lack of interest could be the approximately two month break from December to February. When it returned, I wasn’t a weekly listener like before. I think I binged like three episodes in a row. Afterward the release dates seemed to get farther apart. If you’re listening to this all the way through in a couple of sittings, you probably won’t have this problem. It’s just the nature of entertainment industry.

What really got me hyped for season two were the final two episodes where the two co-leads’s motivations are flipped on their heads. The best part is scene with the lawyer where their decisions on what to do next flip-flops. It’s great character writing. Like the Hamilton and Burr parallel above, Amy and Adam learn from each other while still staying true to who they are. This kind of motivational twist can easily go wrong. How many times have you experienced a story where the morally good character is secretly the villain. It’s the unreliable narrator cliche as opposed to the trope. I’ll end this review the way the first season does by teasing the city of Atlantis and then cutting to end credits. For me it’s the rating. For you it’s only a couple of days.

Rating: Ground Breaking (9/10 or 4.4/5 Stars)

The post The Harbingers Review appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

DC Comics and the House of the Random Penguin

The fourth audio dramatization from Penguin Random House and DC Comics has a turnaround time of three years going from the end of the source material to the movie adaptation and the audio adaptation. That’s two years more than the previous entry, “New History of the DC Universe,” which only had a year between the story ending and the dramatizations publication date. So far, I’ve reviewed the first and listened to the second. Those stories were “All-Star Superman” and “Kingdom Come” respectively. And, of course, there’s the most recent entry of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.”

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow — Hero’s Journey Tropes and Broadway Musical Motifs

If you were to listen to the first two chapters — you may walk away with deja vu inspired by a galaxy far, far way. Early chapters of “Woman of Tomorrow” follows the first few story moments found in Joseph Campbell’s plot framework, the monomyth. More specifically they are the hero refusing the call to adventure and then accepting it. The adventure is a revenge story for the character Ruthye, whose father died at the hands of Krem of the Yellow Hills in cold blood. Pretty standard beat in this type of plot structure. A hero refusing the call isn’t necessary for a story of this type to advance. Sometimes it’s better for pacing to go from everyday life and start of an adventure immediately. “Woman of Tomorrow” is not one of them. The first couple of episodes start slow for a super hero story in today’s long-running Marvel Cinematic Universe and barely year-old DC Studios. People who say most MCU movies end the same and they’re sick of it, then bash a film like “Thunderbolts” for doing something different are there for clicks and views from outrage culture. As the saying goes, you can’t please everyone.

One aspect of the first couple of episodes that felt unique was the music. The opening instrumental was somewhere on the continuum of Broadway musical on one end and film score on the other. Perhaps a more apt name would be the diegesis spectrum. I honestly expected someone to start singing. That feeling of anticipating a musical number any second was a short-lived sensation as the story found its footing around episode three. Not without bumps along the way. However, those bumps didn’t vanish. The musical score, despite finding a nice balance, did not hold back when the moment called for it. More on that later.

Supergirl Adapting to the Beat of Multiple Genres

The middle chapters borrow the stylings of several classic and modern storytelling genres and are episodically successful to varying degrees of success. From a western/suspense mix to an inverted time bomb trope, “Woman of Tomorrow” knows how to stay true to the essence of the material that inspired it while still subverting expectations. The first adventure leads Supergirl and Ruthye to a planet akin to the region fought over by the Hatfield and McCoys. Based solely on the classic Western story beat of a stranger rolls into town and saves the townsfolk from the gang of evil misfits, you expect Supergirl to be that stranger. Hell, describing it that way probably put a Clint Eastwood western in your head. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say there’s a lot more depth beyond the obvious black and white morality found in those old movies.

There are other examples, but I’ll let you experience Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow yourself should you get yourself a copy. The full-cast audio production is available wherever audiobooks are sold. You can find it on Audible using this affiliate link and help support the site at the same time. Now, let’s close a time loop and talk about adaptations

Details and Flashbacks in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Having not read the comic, I’m not sure how faithful it works as a one-to-one adaptation. I can however tell you that converting a visual medium to audio works best when the images aren’t essential to understanding the story. With so many moments set in the past that feel part of the present in the audiobook, it was hard to grasp what was a taking place in the past or current day. I imagine this is easier to follow in the comics, but for an audio listener the struggle is real.

Early on while listening, I looked up chapter synopses of the book to make sure I was understanding what happened in those sections. This was helpful for me, but did the audiobook a disservice as so many details (important or not) were left out. In short some stories work better in a visual medium. And, if we’re talking about a beat for beat recreation of the story, then this dramatized audiobook would be easily forgotten. However, that doesn’t mean they didn’t capture the heart and soul of the comic book.

What is a Faithful Adaptation?

Despite all the little things mentioned above, I did enjoy the story. Chapter eight by itself is worth whatever metric you’re using to determine quality. Retelling Supergirl’s time on Krypton and having a heartfelt monologue that brought tears to my eyes makes this audiobook better than those I’ve listened to before in the series. Maybe it was the source material being more modern than those from the 90s and mid-2000s, but my emotional reaction is something the others can’t claim. A lot of the credit goes to the composers, Sam Ewing and Alexandre Côté, and their cinematic score that Jonathan Roberts mixes together with the rest of the audio to great effect. It’s powerful when it needs to be, but not overwhelming either in volume or the mood it elicits. Whether you tend to put more emphasis on a character’s appearance than their performance, there’s a Supergirl here for everyone. A woman of tomorrow, who comes today.

Rating: Low Groundbreaking (8.5+/10 or 4.3/5 Stars)

The post Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow Review appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

A relatively new show in this style, “Tales of Fists and Fireballs” does something unique with their anime-inspired audio drama. It tells not one story, but many. And not in a serial format, but anthologized. For this audio drama anthology, the creator — Aaron David Harris — recommended three episodes. They are: “Creatures of the Noise” from season one, and “The Blood Promise” and “Gammie’s baby” from season two. These sample episodes are different from each other, but are easily described. While all episodes have anime tropes in them, only one feels like a translation of an actual anime. That episode is ‘Gammie’s Baby,” which I would describe as: “Gundam” meets “The Prestige” with a love triangle plot. You could pick any story about a rivalry between two people and a love triangle so long as giant fighting robots are used to try and solve the conflict.

Fists and Fireballs in Gammie’s Baby

The rivals are two grandmothers who are tired of sharing their grandchild with each other. They also hated each other to start, but the granddaughter is the catalyst for what happens in the audio drama. The story resolves more or less how one would expect for this type of plot, where the person caught in the middle is the prize and not the one choosing between two people as a love interest. A lopsided love triangle if you will.

The scene where the two women come together is a bit tragic, but ultimately ends happily. The granddaughter’s performance carries the scene and got me right in the heartstrings. In terms of emotional impact, “Gammie’s Baby” takes the prize of being the most impactful of the three episodes. For second place, I’d have to give to the “Creatures of Noise” for its classic story of an unbreakable friendship across lines meant to divide.

Iron Vampiric Creatures Promise Giant Noise

“Creatures of Noise” is the first episode of the podcast and it’s essentially “The Iron Giant,” but with an alien instead of a robot. Not much to say aside from the story was engaging enough for me to remember the basic plot. It’s something not many stories can do after a long gap between listening and reviewing. That alone makes it better than a lot of audio dramas, where sometimes it feels more like a checklist than me enjoying the story. It’s one of the qualities that gives an “Internally Consistent rating (8/10) a push into “Ground Breaking” territory (9/10). The same can’t be said for the last story: “The Blood Promise.”

The first episode of “Tales of Fists and Fireballs'” second season has a classical premise found in stories like”Trophy Case.” While I didn’t enjoy that particular 19 Nocturne Boulevard episode, it at least took some risks. “The Blood Promise” feels like another take on perhaps the first story about humans hunting other humans for sport. While “Trophy Case” doesn’t add much, its themes about toxic masculinity and ignorant misogyny at least fit the tone and time period of the Richard Connell story which clearly inspired it. That story is “The Most Dangerous Game” published in 1924.

“The Blood Promise” in addition to feeling like a retread is disjointed. The opening scene introduces a mother who loses her child because she’s a vampire. The community fears for the child’s safety. We then fast forward to the homage of “The Most Dangerous Game.” Despite it initially feeling like two different stories mashed together, there’s a subtle sense of wanting to replay it back. Unfortunately it doesn’t come with the first listen and by that point, the interest may be gone.

Tales of Fists and Fireballs Rating

High Internally Consistent (4/5 or 8.5-/10 Stars)

The post Tales of Fists and Fireballs – An Animation-inspired Anthology appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

Thriller Pacing, Yet A Slow Wind and Truth

I read maybe the first ten chapters after getting the hardcover for Christmas. What I found most peculiar was the shortness of the chapters. They generally never went over five pages per chapter, three page turns at the most. Yet despite the length of the chapters being short for a fantasy book, getting through a chapter was as taxing on me as if it were ten pages per chapter. Most people think short chapters means the pacing will be fast as it is in most thrillers. Here Sanderson performed a miracle, but not in a good way.

The ten day preparation for the contest of champions, despite being the main plot and having the most scenes dedicated to it, are the more lackluster ones when compared to Kaladin and Szeth’s journey. Their journey is forgettable at best, confusing at worst. These elicited emotions last all the way through the end when I went back and forth on whether [spoiler]Kaladin died[/spoiler] or something cosmic happened. It’s both, I think. A quick google search shows I’m not the only one confused by his destination. Forums related to the cosmere are modestly filled with questions and theories on what happened to Kaladin in “Wind and Truth”? The one redeeming quality Kaladin and Szeth’s journey has are the discussions of mental health representation. Something I’ve always like about the Stormlight Archive, even if people complain about how Kaladin is depressed all of the time.

Memorable, Engaging and Wasted Character Arcs

Out of the main POV characters which started in “The Way of Kings,” Shallan gets the short end of the stick in this book. While I wasn’t a fan of her condition (if you know, you know) at first, the concept grew on me during books three and four of Stormlight Archive as we learned more about why Shallan is the way she is. In terms of how memorable each character and their corresponding sections in the book, Kaladin barely beats Dalinar. Both their character arcs in a similar way, but I found Kaladin’s journey with Szeth more engaging than Dalinar’s trek into the spiritual.

Adolin’s adventure to help a small kingdom fight off the enemy had a few moments near the end which gave “Avengers: Endgame” vibes, but failed to capitalize on it at the right moments in my opinion. The most interesting character is Renarin because he reminds me of myself. Obviously there’s a bit of bias, but characters seem to either be someone readers can aspire to, or someone readers see themselves as, even if they don’t want to admit it in the case of villains.

Autism and Autistic-coded characters

Sanderson has confirmed Renarin Kholin is on the autism spectrum. Even without that knowledge, his character and the way he sees himself and the world is textual evidence of his diagnosis. The brother of Adolin and son of Dalinar is almost too aware of his autistic traits. While the word autism or autistic isn’t in the book once, it’s clear Sanderson did his research to do an accurate a take as possible. Renarin’s point of view (POV) scenes were where I identified with a character the most.

Kaladin, being a POV character with more time on the page in terms to the series, goes through a similar mental health journey with Szeth. But what takes Kadalin books to figure out, Renarin figures out quickly. So if you’re a journey person or one focused more on destination, your preferred method of experiencing a story is represented.

Wind and Truth: The Wait Begins

Unbeknownst to me when I started this journey, this ten book series is split into five books each. Books six through 10 are a long way off at the time I publish this review. I’ve heard anywhere from five to 10 years from various sources. Ending the first half of the series the way Sanderson does is more than a tease its insulting to readers. A good portion of Wind and Truth’s” last chapters are basically withholding information from the reader in the same way Kelsier from “Mistborn: The Final Empire” did before his actual plan was revealed. It’s that but taken to an absurd level where it feels like Sanderson is stroking his ego more than giving any sort of closure. He does this more than a handful of times in an attempt to hype the person up. However its far too many to have an impact as the sheer number of times the character of Wit/Hoid has a revelation and then doesn’t tell the audience is far too many. The last five books will need to really hit home if any of the blatant and borderline cheating the reader or listener is to be justified.

Rating: High Internally Consistent (7.5+/10 Stars or 3.9/5 Stars)

The post Stormlight Archive Part 1 Finale: Wind and Truth appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

Disclaimer: This review came with a monetary donation.

In Vampire Russia, Adventure Choose You

This vampiric choose your own adventure audio drama isn’t exactly new. We’ve seen this in audio drama before. Not often, but enough to make this story told in second-person POV not have as much novelty as it perhaps once did. The Fairy Tree audio drama immediately comes to mind, but I imagine there are more out there.

What makes “Not in Front of Dinner, Darling” different is the added layer of role play to the story. Unlike a choose-your-own-adventure story, a role play is much more confined by the plot and therefore there’s less agency for the person watching, reading or listening. Despite this limitation baked into the form —Walter Thornburgh as the writer, editor and voice of Cervantes — balances the prerequisite of giving the listener just enough room to role play in this dark satirical vampire world — while also keeping the plot progression logical. There were only a handful of times when I said or thought something that the next line of dialogue ignored. This is to be expected from a role play story, but I’m shocked at the number of times my rhetorical responses actually clicked with the rest of the plot. For an over two-hour production broken into five episodes, that’s saying something.

Gay Misogynistic and Homophobic Lesbian Vampires

These aren’t your typical vampires. These particular creatures of the night are somewhere past the vampires from “Twilight,” but still have a good portion of their identity in the classical world. Think a much less serious version of the Netflix “Castlevania” show and your’e in the right ballpark. Instead of treating homosexuality as something those in power hate or fear, this vampire role-playing story satirizes the queer identity with over the top sexuality. Imagine every gay or lesbian character cliche in a television or movie and multiply it by 10.

While the performances of the two main vampires — Edmund and Cervantes — are overtly sexual, their characterization isn’t what one initially expects from the gay man stereotype. Granted it’s only a couple of steps away from being a cliche. For example, one of them is a self-declared misogynist and is repulsed by lesbian sex because they are women, not for any reason of hate. In addition to the juxtaposition (of which there are more), the side characters feel more fleshed out than some non-interactive stories. It’s not a small cast either.

Premise and Execution

Looking past the format and to the story itself is difficult. While the gimmick of the role-playing format here is good, the story is not so much. It still has its moments and I’m not saying it’s bad by any means. It’s just that compared to the role-playing aspect, the story seems to be third on a three-level list. The style is tied with the characters and the plot, which the latter feels ripped straight from an Agatha Christie story. “Not in Front of Dinner, Darling” uses its role play format quite well. Thornburgh cleverly uses the lamb’s POV i.e. the listener’s to get away with having tired tropes or stereotypical characters. There’s the surfer bro, a forbidden romance, and someone in a toxic relationship with their partner.

All in all, the writer uses the role-playing format to great effect, the story at times can feel more chaotic neutral in tone instead of chaotic good. While it never dips into chaotic evil, it plays dangerously close to the edge. Lastly, the ending feels rushed and the first two episodes could’ve been shortened or skipped entirely. The main event doesn’t begin until the third episode. Thankfully the episode of chapter breaks are clearly marked with instrumental music. If you’re listening to the definitive edition on YouTube, it’s easier to find your spot if you remember how many musical cues you’ve heard.

Rating: Low Internally Consistent (7.5+/10 Stars or 3.7/5 Stars)

The post Not in Front of Dinner, Darling: A Vampire Role Play appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

This is review came with a donation. Also spoilers below for two major plot points. They’re blacked out, but can be seen if you hover over the text.

Immersive Sound and Rough Starts

The first two chapters of this audiobook* are hard to get into on first attempt if you’re not a fan of narrators and narration in your audio fiction. Even though the narrator is a legend with a recognizable voice across media, what he narrates is quite mundane. Plus, the sound effects do a lot of the heavy lifting when no narration is needed. It honestly felt like the creators covering up a problem with the story by having a famous actor be the narrator. The writing is not bad by any means. It just feels like it’s overcompensating for something subpar.

*affiliate link

The sound in the opening alone is a true cinematic experience. There are no words spoken, instead relying on the listener’s imagination to populate the scene. When the literal and metaphorical bomb drops, you are in awe at the audio quality of the explosion. It’s truly an IMAX experience for your ears. The story then skips into the future as we meet one of our two main characters: Jessica Flood. The introduction to Jess is reminiscent of Rey’s introduction in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Both characters are scavengers, but their motivations for survival are polar opposites. While Rey survives to meet her parents again, Jess does it to find her missing daughter, Emily.

The emotional core of Helios doesn’t start until the end of episode two when we get the first bit of dialogue between characters. From there, the story explodes with backstory, characterization, dynamics, twists and suspense. Unfortunately it lasts about as long as that explosion sound effect. With only seven chapters, it can feel disappointing to reach the end when you’ve been so engrossed in the story. If only all stories had that “problem.” Supposedly there’s more to the story based solely on the credits. Nothing has been announced as of this review’s publication. It’s a great first act to a larger story that may end prematurely. At least the journey there, despite its less than stellar beginning, kept your ears perked and your attention focused solely on the audio drama.

Voice Actors in Helios

In addition to a recognizable voice as the narrator. Even if you don’t know his name (Nick Tate), it’s a voice you’ve heard at least once in your life. Tate is also the voice of Jessica’s father. Her voice actor, Cindy Dolenc, plays Jess as more than just a single mother wanting to find her child again. A trope we’ve seen or heard, whether it be the television series “Lost,” some other story about a parent losing their child, or a child losing their parent.

A couple of moments confused me. One involves Tony. The other has to do with Emily. Both are spoilers. However, let’s just say when Jess discovers Emily dead or close to it, it’s disorienting to have them be healed in the next episode. Either that wasn’t who I thought or there’s a character whose introduction wasn’t foreshadowed. I suppose the scene could’ve also taken place before the story’s opening scene, but the point remains that it threw me out.

Jess and Tony’s voice actors have good chemistry. The writing also helps. I wasn’t a big fan of how they executed the twist. foreshadowing that Tony’s ship is actually a space station earlier, Aside from the placement of the scene or adding more foreshadowing, I can’t think of any other way to make the scene before Tony and Jess speak again work. I was immersed in that it got me thinking. However when the thoughts and questions take over and the story becomes background noise, then there’s a potential problem for some people.

Rating: High Internally Consistent (4.1/5 Stars) (8.5/10 Stars)

The post Helios: A Relationship Across Wavelengths appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

Imagine a world like “Bladerunner,” but populated with both humans and magical creatures. It’s an interesting blend of two seemingly opposite sub genres. They work well together here for the most part. Where a cyberpunk story typically looks forward in time with technology and backward in how it does interpersonal and societal relationships, an urban fantasy takes something usually associated with an older period and brings it in the modern age. An evolutionary timeline looking something like this:

Exposition and Narration

The first episode introduces the listener to Fei, a secret agent for a magical organization. Episode two we meet Riz the werehorse and vigilante. Two seemingly different stories that share only the world they both inhabit. They as might as well be two different stories. Once episode three rolls around, the main cast is more or less together. After that moment, however, is anything but smooth sailing. The use of narration for the action scenes in episode one in particular over rely on the written word to do a lot of heavy lifting. Some lines are needed (to an extent), but are written or awkwardly voiced. Such examples include the mention of plugging in a usb drive and the of typing code in episode one. The specifics aren’t important, but they are needed to understand the context. It’s hard to make a usb insert sound effect and have it be recognizable as that without narration. Whether its important to the overall story is something I unfortunately cannot answer, as the worldbuilding and understanding said worldbuilding were difficult to grasp.

The primary struggle I had with this audio drama boils down to listening habits. I listened to the first season at least three times. Each time, I zoned out around the same parts. Quite frankly, I was bored. Boredom by itself makes one look at all the “problems” the story has, thus resulting in less enjoyment. Obviously this is not ideal for a story in any medium, but when you add in misunderstanding of the assignment it becomes even harder to justify the time spent. Not understanding what’s going on is far worse than missing a worldbuilding detail, especially in audio drama.

Netflix’s ‘Bright’ as Podcast, Project Gnosis as Movie

If there was a comp title for “Project Gnosis,” it would Netflix’s “Bright,” but in a cyberpunk world. The Netflix original movie from the director of “Training Day” was a movie more wide than deep according to critics. Full disclosure: I have not seen “Bright.” Based on trailers and plot summary — the urban fantasy film gives District 9 vibes. Unlike the alien allegory for apartheid, “Bright” had 60 million more dollars in their budget on the low end or 76.2 million dollars on the high end. “District 9” made close to 211 million dollars while “Bright” made approximately 99 million dollars, according to Screen Daily. Obviously ticket sales aren’t a 1:1 comparison with number of streams on Netflix, but it’s about the closest we’re going to get to comparing any monetary value (inflation factored in or not), before looking at pre- DVD, Blu-Ray and video on demand sales.

There’s a clear anime/manga influence with “Project Gnosis” and since anime and manga are a visual medium, somethings don’t translate well into an audio-only medium. Perhaps this is one of those cases where a movie should’ve been an audio drama and the audio drama a film/TV show. I can’t speak for how a “Bright” audio drama would go, but the subtext of race relations and other social justice issues is something a lot of audio drama includes explicitly or implicitly.

Project Gnosis Season Two: A Fresh Start?

Season two has similar issues to the first. Both start off with a new character on a mission followed by that character meeting another in a subsequent episode. The people this new character meets are the cast of season one. For this new character—Yeo—meeting the old cast is a job to complete, and by complete I mean exterminate. From there, there are more ups and downs that provide contrast compared to the first season to differentiate the new from the old.

One way is the sound effects, which includes a scene in episode three that rivals a typical action scene from a movie, but is anything but average for the medium of sound. The sparring match between two characters is a stand out moment, but there’s nothing that comes close to replicating or outperforming it. The switch from Peter Havran as the sound designer to Spyce MT and MultiMadea for season two is a difference that is felt.

Transition to Season Three?

One of the last scenes of season two was mostly setup for season three, which drops sometime next month (May 2026). The scene itself is reminiscent of a meeting of the gods where they recap and add more context for certain moments. This epilogue of sorts goes on a bit too long and dampens the effect of intrigue the creator is probably going for to hype people up. If the trajectory of season one into season two is indicative of season three’s story and sound quality, then I imagine we’re in for a treat.

Rating: Internally Consistent (3.7/5 Stars) (7.5+/10 Stars)

The post Project Gnosis: Multicultural Cyber Fantasy appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

An Ode to Victorian Fiction

One can pitch this premium audio drama found on Audible*, Spotify and Apple Books multiple ways. One such way is to call it Victorian literature fan fiction. From Sherlock Holmes to Dorian Grey, “The Black Veil” is a smorgasbord of tropes found in the secret history genre. The “this is the true tale of …” stories commonly associated with characters like Robin Hood and King Arthur. One of them is even a key part of the worldbuilding.

The story starts with a prologue scene of Jack the Ripper killing a woman. We then skip to the aftermath of the crime as constables start working the scene. We are then introduced to a blind woman named Miranda Griffin. Accompanied by Dr. Bell and Mahomet Singh—an obvious blend of Sherlock Holmes and Watson with the detective as the doctor—the three travel to gather the thirteen treasures of the island of Britain. Jack the Ripper is also searching for the objects, which can grant one wish if all thirteen are collected.

The Black Veil: Victorian … Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball V?

If that last sentence reminded you of another story, you aren’t alone. If not intentional, it’s hard to not think of the “Dragon Ball” manga for those who’ve read it or watched the show. But, it’s also engrained in our culture so people have at least heard of “Dragon Ball.” More specifically I’m talking about the original series’ first saga, which is more or less a retelling of the “Journey to the West” legend from China. While both the manga/anime and this victorian-inspired audio drama have similar story beats and share a common trope of wish-granting objects, the tone of them could not be more different. In short “The Black Veil” is to Victorian literature as “Dragon Ball” is to “Journey to the West.”

The biggest difference between these two retellings/adaptations by far is the setting and tone. Where one is whimsical, the other is dark and brooding. There aren’t a lot of humorous moments in “The Black Veil.” This decision works in the story’s favor. Since the first season is an amalgamation of classic Victorian literature, it makes sense why the tone lacks levity. Literary classics like “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” “Moby Dick,” and “The Hound of Baskervilles” give this fictitious collective of real stories a sense of breadth. If you like depth in your stories, or both working in equal measure, there are some episodes here that feel bloated. “The Demon Whale” is one that immediately leaps to mind.

Serial to Novel Back to Serial with an Episodic Garnish

Those who know their literary history will be aware that serializing novels was the norm for most 19th century English literature. Charles Dickens’ “The Pickwick Papers” is often heralded as the first serialized story. The first non-serialized novel written in English is considered to be “Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe in 1719 by many, though there’s some debate on the subject. Novels from countries other than England had a much earlier starting point dating all the way to before the common era (BCE).

“The Black Veil” uses the tenets of serialized fiction, one of those being story’s told in installments, but adds episodic elements to create something both new and old. There’s a certain monster of the weak flavor that ties up the romps through victorian novels into the main storyline. The balance between the main plot of stopping Jack the Ripper from assembling the magic items and the episodes of victorian-style adventure is skewed in multiple directions. It’s to the point where you aren’t sure what it’s trying to be.

Neo Victorian Literature

Some of the added details not from the original stories adds a complexity to some of the character cameos. “The Black Veil’s” take on “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” involves mental time travel for example. There are a few other examples of changing the story as people remember it, but the above is probably the first instance of this type of creative liberty taken. The time travel, for reference, happens in episode five.

Episodes one through three have more to do with older classics like the Arthurian legend and stories from Ancient Greece than later episodes. The fourth episode, appropriately titled “The Sign of Four” is inspired by the Sherlock Holmes novel of the same name. Doing basic research on the novel shows both stories share character names in common and take its basic premise, incorporating it into the story “The Black Veil” is trying to tell.

A Black Veil Over the End

It’s not until the very last episode when the audio drama transitions into its climactic conclusion. Episodes 10-12 are more of the same — taking known stories and either subverting or consolidating them into the narrative. What some of these episodes do differently from previous ones is it often combines two different stories together. An episode called “The Lochness Monster” sounds like it might have to do with Scotland and the legend of Nessie. However, it has more to do with arthurian mythology and I’ll just leave it at that for spoiler reasons.

These final few episodes suffer from a quicker pace than the rest of the story up until that point. When coming from the slower middle, it gives the listener a sense of whiplash. Suddenly we’re going mach 10 on a limited runway as the writer rushes to wrap up the main story regarding the treasures and Jack the Ripper. By the end of the series, any catharsis is lost because so much has happened in the span of a two episodes. We start the series with a blind woman sleuth, a creative way to do scene descriptions. Other characters are introduced, overshadowing the detective. By the finale, she’s helpless and needs to be saved. It’s hard to talk about without spoilers, but the big twist with Miranda works as a cool little revelation. Unfortunately it feels disconnected from the main story, weakening the impact of both as a result.

Rating: Internally Consistent

*Affiliate Link

The post The Black Veil Review: Victorian Era Fan Fiction? appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

Rural Modernity

“From Within” is set during the great depression. Unfortunately that detail can easily be overlooked in its epistolary audio format. They appear only at the beginnings of scenes. It’s a blink and you’ll miss it moment that doesn’t detract from the story, but does require a more careful ear. By contrast, “Land’s End” is set in modern day and uses sound effects rather than narration to set the scene. Each method of conveying information works and they aren’t mutually exclusive in a single story. However, I prefer the more immersive option of letting the sound design do the heavy lifting and save narration for times when it’s more beneficial to use it instead.

In that same vein of similar stories, “Land’s End” also reminded me of the 1985 thriller starring Harrison Ford called “Witness.” A movie about an amish woman and her child going up against a corrupt police department when the son witnesses a murder. Their only ally is a policeman named Detective Captain John Book. In 2023, Amazon released an Audible Original adapting the story to audio. Mac Rogers of “Steal the Stars” and “Quiet Part Loud” wrote the script for the adaptation. The clash modern and rural lifestyles is the obvious comparison to make between “Land’s End” and “Witness.” Aside from a similar setting these two stories don’t share much else. The plot and tone of “Land’s End” could not be more different.

The Queer Meta Narrative

This is one of those instances where the behind the scenes are more interesting than series itself. The audio drama was funded in part by Arts Council Agency of England and The Inevitable Foundation. The show has received praise from Lauren Shippen of “The Bright Sessions” and Johnny Simm of “The Magnus Archive.” The mission statement as it were feels more like a checklist than having any bearing on the story.

The goal of this production was to provide “a reflection on pastoralism, heritage, and the often-unseen queer lives in rural communities. Its activism-driven narrative touches on the politics of land ownership and the legacy of shepherding opens space for conversations rarely heard in mainstream media. The story succeeds in each one of these ideas successfully in some way. Perhaps not in the intended manner, but an approach that does make for good storytelling components. Combining them together, however, gives the listener a sense of whiplash. It tries to do too much in just five episodes. Each issue being tackled could be its own story.

It sets up three different stories—forgets about one of them, doesn’t address the other, and waits too long to handle the third. It loses the land’s rights protests thread early on, transitioning into the mystery of why some of the sheep are starting to grow canines. By episode three we get a homosexual relationship between the shepherd and scientist (named Isaac in one episode and scientist in another in the transcripts).

Final Thoughts

This one of those audio dramas where it’s two different stories stitched together with yarn from a bootleg arts and craft’s store (yes I’m aware of the pun). Despite the disconnect between a story about queer relationships in rural parts of the world, “Land’s End” does the horror and suspense well — just not enough to overlook the issues I have with it.

Ending on a positive note, the grants Tin Can Audio won to create this work went to a good place and spent on the right things given the subject matter. Even though the final product leaves more to be desired, you can’t say the funds were wasted.

Rating: 7.5/10 Stars

The post Land’s End: A Shepherd’s Tale appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.

This was an expedited review/came with a monetary donation

A Brief Follow-Up to “Untold Virginia”

Before starting the review proper for “The Hexings,” it’s time to address an issue with “Untold Virginia.” When I originally wrote the review I was in the phase where I didn’t care about completed stories. People were perhaps too eager to wait for a season to finish before submitting a request. I wrote my review of “Untold Virginia” when not all episodes had been released. And those last few episodes changed my thoughts on the show. Where before I gave the show high praise for doing something unique. Its story was easy to set up with I assumed a predictable yet satisfying end involving two friends making a podcast together and that friendship drifting apart. What I got by the end was a horror audio drama. An effective one, audibly, but it didn’t match the show’s promise at the beginning.

The Hexings: A Podcast on Research vs. Reporting

This transitions nicely into my general thoughts on “The Hexings.” Both stories more or less follow a similar style. The most obvious difference is that “The Hexings” is focused on one character instead of two. The main character, Emily, is a digital sociology professor who studies trends found on TikTok and other internet challenges. She looks at everything from the dangerous Tide Pods challenge to the mildly inconvenient planking. While she references real and relatively recent challenges, the writer — Laura — doesn’t really add much detail to make me believe she is a digital sociologist. Emily’s knowledge and skillset seem more attuned to reporting than academic research. This by no means detracts from the story’s verisimilitude. What it does affect is suspension of disbelief. The production feels almost too neat in how everything plays out, like it’s trying too hard to sound like a realistic investigative podcast. It walks along the line between sounding like an actual true crime podcast and something created in a controlled studio environment, but it does so in a zigzag pattern. There are times where the production value goes in one direction that it doesn’t fit what’s happening in your ears.

While Emily’s expertise as a college professor of sociology might be hard to swallow, her investigative reporting skills are not. At times, she acts more like a reporter than a sociologist. It’s something the writer hangs a lantern on in episode four when a discussion between her and an interview subject brings up the topic of what the difference between an investigation and research is on a fundamental level. As Emily says in the episode, Academic research includes “pre-written research questions.” She has to go through an “institutional review board” for approval. She’s not “exploring dark tunnels and discovering sigils.” Ultimately, Emily sways back and forth between a reporter and a researcher. The result is her process is more fluid than her starting question of what is the hexing challenge.

A Supernatural ‘Hysterical’ with Shifting Focus

The backstory of “The Hexings is straight forward and condensed to a single episode. Emily won a grant to “find new ways to reach audiences to share academic research.” She chose to make a podcast focusing on internet challenges. One challenge catches her attention. The Hexings challenge, in which a person acts possessed in the middle of class. Emily’s introduction is through her daughter and the school she attends. A girl named Abby reportedly had a seizure in the middle of class with no history of epilepsy in her family. From there, the story sprawls out going in every direction to try and find the truth on whether something demonic is happening in the small midwestern town.

“The Hexings” first season is nine-episodes long and can be split into thirds much like a three-act screenplay. Episodes 1-3 are the first, 4-6 are the second and 7-9 are the pièce de résistance that ties it all together. The investigation doesn’t really start until the second act when Emily decides to simplify her investigation and have her question be about what happened to Abby after the incident in class. However, this shift in the story doesn’t stay focused for long.

Multiple Hexings Lead to Another Podcast And…

Much of the middle episodes are there as connective tissue, serving only one function. The third episode has Emily investigate a former psychiatric hospital repurposed into a school. From there, she investigates some occult and religious symbols, learns about Mothman and ultimately discovers what happened to Abby. Don’t worry no spoilers here.

This sweeping change in attention by Emily makes it difficult for the audience to keep track of the clues and how they relate to each other. The writer of “The Hexings” podcast does their best to connect them, but there are some tangents that don’t lead anywhere important and serve only to bridge some gaps in story logic. This is compounded with the mixing of real and fictional anecdotes, which usually adds some mystery to a story like this. The kind where you aren’t sure what’s real. Instead, the blend of real-world events and urban legends trades mystery for a sense of wonder. The latter having a lighter tone than the darker former.

Overall, while the journey may have some bumps along the way, this podcast has a similar problem to “Untold Virginia.” Both have a good third act, but one for a different story set up at the beginning. In the case of The Hexings,” it fits better than “Untold Virginia.” However, better doesn’t automatically mean good. For what it’s worth, I did enjoy the mystery of the show for most of my time listening. At times, the primarily solo narration became white noise. The one thing keeping it from completely fading into the background was the censorship beeps of people’s names. That would bring anyone back, even if it becomes somewhat obnoxious at times. I understood it within the context of the story, and while you gain the ability to bring the story into the listener’s foreground, you lose the immersion. Two things that can coexist together. To end on a positive note, the theme song works well in terms of visualization. I could see words appear in my mind’s eye with names of the crew coming onto the screen like a creative lyric video for a song.

The Hexings Podcast Rating

Low Ground Breaking (8.5/10+ Stars)

The post The Hexings Podcast: Fictional “Hysterical” Witchcraft appeared first on Audio Drama Reviews.