Some Podcast recommendations Part I
One of the ways I've found to multi-task is to listen to a podcast novel while I'm working on crosswords or sudoku at lunch. Because I have so many books (and because I'm basically cheap), I've been trying to find as many free books as possible. Podiobooks has been a great resource, though I also like to subscribe to the direct podcasts to get some of the additional conversation and flavor of the podcaster as well (podiobooks are the more edited "chatter free" versions).
The genres I tend to be the most interested in (at least recently) are urban fantasy, historical fantasy/fiction, and some sci-fi. Most of these installments are 60 minutes or less, which are perfect for a lunch hour, bike commute to/from work, and gardening.
My favorite short story podcasts are well-known to most people familiar with podcasting:
Escape Pod, PodCastle, and Pseudopod. I have several others in my feed, but haven't had a chance to get to them (with all of the other stuff out there). I have listened to a few episodes of Adventures in SciFi Publishing, which has interviews with some of my favorite authors, as well as tidbits, factoids, and other reviews. One of my favorite podiobook authors also alerted me to the Drabblecast, which also has short stories and some fun commentaries.
Most of my time, however, has been consumed with full-length narratives. Some of these have gotten me so caught up that I not only listened outside of my assigned lunch/bike/gardening times (I do have to have time to actually read, too!), and I absolutely hated to see them end.
The Prophet of Panamindorah by Abigail Hilton (also a finalist for a 2009 Parsec Award)
Corry (Correlian) showed up in our world two years ago speaking a strange language and afraid of cars and planes. He's been in an orphanage, and most recently, in a group home, trying to remember who he is. He runs into a Fauness in an orange grove, and manages to follow her back to Panamindorah. He is quickly thrown into the political and dangerous battles between various shelt nationalities: cliff fauns, wood fauns, swamp fauns, wolf shelts, giant cats, and others [from the dictionary: "shelt: a two-legged creature having a humanoid body from the waist up and resembling some kind of animal from the waist down. Shelts have pointed, tufted ears"].
At first I found the story a little difficult to follow, and Abby's reading pace seemed a bit fast. But that didn't last long. The world of Panamindorah and its history is compelling and complex enough to keep me interested, and the action is pretty well-paced throughout the book. There was one episode where I found myself riding much harder on my bike because I was so worked up about the scene that I was hearing. Despite the fact that the story is broken into three books, I still didn't want it to end.
Murder at Avedon Hill by P. G. Holyfield
Arames Kragen, a monk of the Aaronic Order, and his student, Aarin, come upon the town of Avedon Hill on their way to a monastic conference. The only way through the mountain pass is by permission of the lord of the manor, who has currently barred the way to all travelers due to the murder of his House Mistress. Arames manages to strike a bargain wherein he and Aarin may proceed through the pass if he solves the mystery surrounding Greta's murder.
I came late to Avedon hill, after having heard promos in other podcasts I was listening to. I regret that, though I did have the benefit of hearing it all at once rather than having to wait until each episode came out. There was something about the promos that made me tthink the story was more like the Betrayal at House on the Hill board game. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. This is not your father's murder mystery. This is a world of political intrigue, of a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business, and a world of vampires. Or at least a few vampires. Again, I really hated for this novel to end.
Oh yeah....Murder has some of the best music in podcasting. Holyfield chose music by Shira Kamen ("Wild Wood"), and I like it so much that I bought the disc.
Avedon Hill has a different reading than Panamindorah; this one is partially cast, with various other podcasters reading different parts and Holyfield providing general narration. I grew to really enjoy Abby's voice, and don't think Panamindorah would have been any better for me having a full-cast audio. She plans, though, to get more voices for her next work, so we'll see how that turns out. On the other hand, I also did enjoy the guest actors for Avedon and other podcasts I listen to (it's a fairly small community, at least in my familiar genres, and many of the voices in these narratives are also authors that I will introduce in Part II).