Maureen O’Brien, of the Maria Lectrix podcast, has been podcasting SF novels faster than a Corellian can make a Kessel run. But for April 1st 2008 she’s turned her attention to a shorter piece called Despoliers Of The Golden Empire. This is an extremely compelling tale (that you ABSOLUTELY DON’T WANT TO RESEARCH before listening to – trust me) – Maureen sez of it:
“…a very good story by Randall Garrett, and it makes a very good comment on sf as a genre….it was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, for April Fools’ Day.”
And “Randall Garrett was known for his skill in writing adventure science fiction, alternate world fantasy mysteries, and stories full of great humor and horrible puns. This story, first published in Astounding in March 1959 under the pseudonym ‘David Gordon’, is truly characteristic of his body of work.”
I agree, this is a fun story, very pulpy – deliberately so – it even has its own Wikipedia entry (which is quite rare for a short story) – but don’t click on it until after you hear the story.
Despoilers Of The Golden Empire
By Randall Garrett; Read by Maureen O’Brien
5 Zipped MP3s or Podcast – Approx. 2 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Maria Lectrix
Podcast: April 1st 2008
A seasoned military commander travels to another world to find the metal that brings power, and ends up bringing down a barbaric empire.
Subscribe to the podcast via this feed:
http://marialectrix.wordpress.com/feed
P.S. This story is full of de-spoilers. So please don’t de-spoil the story for others, okay?
Posted by Jesse Willis
It’s good to be reminded of this podcast from time to time. Thanks.