Escape Pod‘s 100th short story has just aired and what a story it is, Nightfall by Isaac Asimov!!! This is one of the most popular Science Fiction stories ever written, and though it is not my personal favorite it is a solid tale. Time to ruminate… Escape Pod is just 4 episodes shy of its 2nd anniversary and Steve Eley, the chief bottlewasher and cool guy largely responsible for the podcast, has announced that they’re adding a new podcast to the EP family – an all Fantasy fiction podcast – this means Escape Pod will be going all Science Fiction – no more fantasy stories in Escape Pod come-mid year! Now if you haven’t listened to every episode, as I have, you may be wondering where to start mining the archives. I’m going to invoke Sturgeon’s Law, and give you my opinions on which 10% is definitely not “crud.” Thus presented in order of appearance is my…
Complete and unbiased biased guide to Escape Pod‘s top 10% of short stories:
#1. EP007 “The Trouble With Death Traps“ by Marjorie James Read by Stephen Eley |MP3|
#2 EP017 “The Life And Times Of Penguin” By Eugie Foster Read by Mur Lafferty |MP3|
#3. EP037 “Craphound” By Cory Doctorow Read by Jesse Thorn |MP3|
#4. EP043 “Little Worker” By Paul Di Filippo Read by Jonathon Sullivan |MP3|
#5. EP054 “Tk’tk’tk” By David D. Levine Read by Paul Tevis |MP3|
#6 EP056 “The Clockwork Atom Bomb” By Dominic Green Read by Jonathon Sullivan |MP3|
#7. EP073 “Barnaby in Exile” By Mike Resnick Read by Paul Fischer |MP3|
#8. EP078 “The Shoulders of Giants” By Robert J. Sawyer Read by Stephen Eley |MP3|
#9. EP090 “How Lonesome A Life Without Nerve Gas” By James Trimarco Read by Frank Key |MP3|
#10. EP100 “Nightfall” By Isaac Asimov Read by Stephen Eley |MP3|
And though I didn’t have them in the running with regular episodes I have to mention one Flash Fiction (AKA Story Grenade) as an Honourable Mention:
EPFlash017 “The Teammate Reference Problem in Final-Stage Demon Confrontation” By Constance Cooper Read by Frank Key |MP3|
Do you have a different opinion on the best 10% of Escape Pod‘s first 100 stories? List em below!
Congrats to Escape Pod on 100 stories. I’ve always been impressed that it’s a paying market for authors, while a lot of ‘casts (like mine, Dateline Jasoom) remain the equivalent of fanzines. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. :)