Tag: quest

Nova Star Hunters

SFFaudio Online Audio

Nova Star HuntersRik O’Neill, from Nova Star Hunters, sez:

Hi Jesse,

I came across your site today and am having a read through now! I wanted to let you know about a show I’ve been producing – the show is called ‘Nova Star Hunters.’ I’d love to get your thoughts on it. My inspiration in creating the show were the Saturday morning cartoons I watched as a kid (Transformers, He-Man!) Where a paper-thin plot provides an excuse for action. My idea was to create a similarly ‘fun show’ but with characters who go on a journey and have some depth.

Here is my response:

“Hi Rik,

First let me say your name is spelled very coolly. If I were ever to name one of my hypothetical children ‘Rick’ I’d drop that lame ‘C’ too. Rik. It looks cool, it sounds cool.

I too enjoyed the 1980s Transformers cartoon, but I’m afraid I thought He-Man was complete crap.

Re: Nova Star Hunters. Just from the title it even sounds like a 1980s TV show. I can almost picture a Dirk Benedict-like hero in a shiny tin-foil spacesuit.

After listening to the first episode I would almost guess Nova Star Hunters was more inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy or Red Dwarf than from Transformers. Here are my thoughts:

-I like the idea of an actor creating a character voice by pinching her nose. That’s fun stuff! And a talking cat, that sounds like a cat – nice one.

-The title song is also fun, very 80s.

-Many audio dramatists seem to think having an omniscient narrator is a big no-no. It may be unfashionable, but I like what you’ve done with it!

-The first episode produced about five full laugh out louds, several broad smiles, and about two-dozen smirks. That’s a very good score.

To sum up, I think you’ve a good chance of achieving your goal. I’m posting this to SFFaudio now.”

Podcast feed:
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/novastarhunters

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Armageddon’s Children by Terry Brooks

SFFaudio Review

Fantasy Audiobook - Armageddon’s Children by Terry BrooksArmageddon’s Children
By Terry Brooks; Read by Dick Hill
12 CDs – Approx. 14 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1423322568
Themes: / Fantasy/ Post-Apocalyptic / Demons / Elves / Quest /

The first entry in Terry Brooks’ new Genesis of Shannara trilogy, Armageddon’s Children starts things off brilliantly. It is immediately engrossing, capturing the listener’s attention from the first minute clear through its cliffhanger ending. Set on an Earth where civilization has been mostly destroyed by war, diseases, and by demonic entities it is a world inhabited by mutants, demons, elves and humans, all hiding from an inevitable end. Post-apocalyptic fantasy is an odd sub-genre but Brooks pulls it off well, mostly combining the feel of post-apocalyptic science fiction with the trappings of fantasy.

Like many stories of this size, there is more than one main character. Armageddon’s Children has four: Logan Tom, a Knight of the Word is the foremost protagonist. Here has been given a mission to find a mysterious “gypsy morph” and lead it and a few human survivors to salvation. Logan, like most of the characters, must overcome self-doubt and accomplish his mission if humanity is to be saved. Another character, Angel Perez, another knight is sent with a tatterdemalion to find, and help save the elves. Hawk, a street urchin leads a small group of children. Kirisin, an Elf, is chosen to tend the Ellcrys, a sentient tree from the original Shannara series. The fates of all these characters are all intertwined and each must succeed in their respective quest if humanity and elfkind are to survive the looming destruction of the Earth.

Dick Hill, the narrator, is one of the better readers I’ve heard. Though the novel builds upon characters and ideas from earlier books in Brooks’ series, it stands on its own quite well. I haven’t heard or read many of them, yet I never felt as I were missing anything while I was listening to Armageddon’s Children. Indeed, the only complaint I have about the audiobook is a very minor one. This is a marketing problem. It is annoying that “Shannara” is not mentioned anywhere on the cover of the audiobook, despite the fact that it is the third largest word on the paperback version’s cover. Simply put I loved the audiobook of Armageddon’s Children and I can’t wait for the next in the series to be released.

Posted by David Tackett