Tag: magic

Review of The Red Panda Adventures – Season 4

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Review

Superhero Audio Drama - The Red Panda Adventures - Season FourThe Red Panda Adventures – Season 4
By Gregg Taylor; Performed by a full cast
12 MP3 Files via podcast – Approx. 6 Hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: Decoder Ring Theatre
Podcast: September 2008 – May 2009
Themes: / Fantasy / Superheroes / Mystery / Crime / Adventure / Marriage / Toronto / Magic / South America / Dinosaurs /

“I’m not implying mystic threats, foreign powers and shadowy organizations aren’t important. But sometimes they do disconnect us from the street.”

After four years and 48 episodes Gregg Taylor’s writing is still amazingly fresh. It’s super-quotable too. As I listen I find myself writing down, here and there on scraps of paper, lines of dialogue. That’s terrific writing folks. Is it kind of sick that I even enjoy the commercials?

“I like all of those words.”

Speaking of words, in the opening lines of the new season Kit Baxter is no longer just the red panda’s “driver” now she’s his “fiance”! Another change is the introduction of a new sponsor (fast and easy weight loss dot com). Still around are the charming birthday wishes and other greetings from family members around the world who spend their dollars on keeping the Red Panda show going.

I’ve got a detailed episode by episode review below (minus any serious spoilers)…

Episode 1 – “The Third Wave”
The season 3 finale of The Red Panda Adventures set up a Nazi scientist called Professor Von Schlitz to be the major villian for Season 4. So it wasn’t too shocking to have him take the first scene of episode one The Third Wave, of Season 4. As the show begins Schlitz and his new pilot are headed toward a secret lair in the jungles of South America. All is proceeding normally. Then SLAM! A twist I didn’t see coming. This opening shocked me! First there was the introduction of a new superhero, a man named “Captain Tom Sunlight” (played by Christopher Mott) – apparently an ally of The Red Panda’s. Second, I realized just how much Von Schlitz is a pastiche of two Raiders Of The Lost Ark villains (Belloq and Toht). An auspicious beginning. With this episode The Red Panda has now done something previously “unthinkable.” The rest of the episode deals with a frightening 1930s phenomena – with the title of the band of villains taken from a 1967 high school history class experiment.

Episode 2 – “The Mask of Death”
This episode feels like the Red Panda Version of The Taking Of Pelham 123 but with zombies! A train station full of passengers is held for ransom. The arch-villain involved is another tenured teacher, Professor Zombie! playing junior panda member Harry is rather obviously female (and not male) – this is a problem I can’t see around. Finding child actors of talent are difficult, adults playing children ditto.

Episode 3 – “Murder In The Castle”
The scenic Casa Loma is the setting for this season’s locked room mystery. A locked castle mystery actually as an unexpected murder that interrupts Kit’s romantic evening with her groom-to-be. This episode feels like a Nero Wolfe plot (minus the many confusing characters). Does old RP have a rooftop orchid garden?

Episode 4 – “The Gathering Storm”
A full-scale dimensional breach imperils 1930s Toronto and only Red Panda and his trusty side-kick are up to the task of patching it back up. This episode clearly demonstrates the way magic is handled in the Red Panda universe. Scientists, especially ones named Chronopolis, can wrap their heads around the mystical arts and mystical objects – sometimes they just can’t control them.

Episode 5 – “Trial By Terror”
Barton Meyer, an orderly at the Queen Street Lunatic Sanitarium, meets an old resident who claims to have been “born here.” The Electric Eel (performed by Scott Moyle) is home at last! With his incredible powers, and made up entirely of energy, he’ll team up with a few imprisoned residents/patients at the mad house (The Genie and The Jackrabbit). But this dastardly team-up doesn’t want to kill the Red Panda, they want to put him on trial in order to determine his sanity. The results? An electrifying episode.

Episode 6 – “The Boy In Blue”
Constable Andy Parker, voiced by Brian Vaughan, best known from previous episodes of RPA for his crush on Flying Squirrel (like pretty much everyone else who listens to the show) takes center stage in this tale of police corruption. Is Parker working for The Syndicate or is there a more innocent explanation for him palling around with dirty cops? Which reminds me, all this Parker/Syndicate has got to be a nice little shout out to Richard Stark. I tell you that Greg Taylor packs a whole lot of goodness into each episode. Another thing to take note of in this episode is the new “Pappy” moniker Kit Baxter is floating for her husband-to-be.

Episode 7 – “The Golden Idol”
A new superhero is prowling the streets of Toronto. He’s got super-strength, can fly and seems more than capable of replacing the Red Panda – the only question is: Why? Christopher Mott playing the ever excitable Mad Monkey makes an appearance – meaning he steals the show – in this case almost literally. Fun stuff!

Episode 8 – “I Dream Of Genies” Modern technology allows banks to secure their vaults better than ever. 17 stories into the sky they’re safe aren’t they? But can they stop a heat ray wielding villain on a flying carpet? Probably not. There’s a very cool audio montage in this ep. That’s something I don’t ever remember ever hearing before! Actor Brian Vaughan returns, reprising his super-villain role as The Genie from Seasons 2 and 3 (and 4).

Episode 9 – “Jungle Of Terror”
Paying back a favour to their superhero buddy, Captain Tom Sunlight, Red Panda and Flying Squirrel fly into a South American jungle. There they discover a strange gateway, an old enemy, and some very large and very hungry fauna. This episode feels inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. This is a cool away adventure. I hope RP and FS can do more of these next season.

Episode 10 – “The Crimson Death”
Returning from South America with her fiance, the Flying Squirrel is all aflutter about her upcoming nuptials to her partner in crime-fighting. Luckily, there’s been a series of mysterious murders in Toronto while they’ve been away; solving them will be the perfect distraction from her wedding jitters. Her first stop: A visit to the Queen’s Street Lunatic Asylum. Whoever is responsible has some mean-ventriloquism chops, is invisible and wields fire. What an odd combination! This is the shortest (and probably weakest) episode of the fourth season – but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. There’s plenty of wonderful character development in between all that invisible, fire-throwing, voice-chucking menace.

Episode 11 – “Endgame”
Tied up and hanging above a vat of acid Commander Varkin has the Red Panda and Flying Squirrel just where he wants them – now for the speechifyin’. Varkin (voiced by Gregory Z. Cooke) is a Blowfeld type villain – he fills us in on the season spanning conspiracy – and unleashes a lot more than hot air. But that isn’t the dynamic couple’s only problem, it seems that a vat of acid and a world domination speech aren’t enough for Varkin as a dangerous virus and secret partner will keep Squirrel and Panda busy. The perfect penultimate play? Possibly!

Episode 12 – “Operation Cold Feet”
Kit Baxter’s even more antsy with her impending wedding just days away. But what’s up with all the false Red Panda sightings? They don’t seem to bother the real Red Panda. But when a fake Flying Squirrel makes a newspaper appearance Big Red nearly chokes on his toast! In this episode we finally learn the true identity of the Red Panda! For the previous 47 episodes Gregg Taylor has managed to side-step revealing our hero’s real name. Even characters who should have known the name of the man “who wears the mask of the Red Panda” have carefully not spoken it up to this point. He’s been called “Pappy” and “Puddin” by Kit Baxter, “my dear boy” by his fellow wealthy peers Toronto, really everything but “hey you.” It’s a name that’ll be remembered with the likes of Lamont Cranston and Bruce Wayne.

Happy Canada Day everybody, go celebrate with some RED PANDA!

Here’s the podcast feed:

http://decoderring.libsyn.com/rss

Posted by Jesse Willis

3 FREE Audiobooks from Random House Audio

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

Random House Audio - 3 Free AudiobooksRandom House Audio is offering three FREE audiobooks to folks who subscribe to their monthly newsletter. HERE is the link to the website where you can sign up. An email confirming your subscription will include a link to where you can download all three audiobooks. All three are in the MP3 format. The audiobooks are:

Merrano Of The Dry Country Approx. 58 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA] Based on the story by Louis L’Amour
The master storyteller once again brings the Old West to life in this action-packed, full cast dramatization. Violence and prejudice are brewing in the drought-stricken land of Mirror Valley, where death turns friends into enemies and enemies into friends. From 1990.

Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, No. 1) by Mary Pope Osborne – Approx. 39 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Where did the tree house come from? Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them back to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark, or will they become a dinosaur’s dinner? From 1992.

Percy Jackson And The Sword of Hades by Rick Riordan – Approx. 77 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
First published in a back to back paperbook version for World Book Day in the UK. This short novella takes place between Books 4 and 5 of the Percy Jackson series. As far as I can tell this is its fist audiobook release.

[via Mary Burkey’s Audiobook Blog]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Imager by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Fantasy Audiobook - Imager by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.Imager (The First Book of the Imager Portfolio)
By L.E. Modesitt, Jr.; Read by William Dufris
2 MP3-CDs – 18 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9781400161805
Themes: / Fantasy / Magic / Politics / Coming of Age / Economics /
| MP3 Audio Sample |

L.E. Modesitt, Jr. has published over 50 novels, both science fiction and fantasy. Imager, his latest novel, is the first time his work has appeared on audio.

Imager is the start of a new fantasy series called “The Imager Portfolio”. It’s the story of Rhenn, who at the beginning is an apprentice portrait painter. In a life-changing event, he realizes two things: First, he can no longer continue in his profession, and second, he is an “imager” – a person who can make things real by visualizing them in his mind. Imagers are not common, but common enough to be feared and respected in Modesitt’s world.

After this, the novel takes it’s time in following Rhenn grow into his new-found ability. He climbs the ladder as an imager taking various and interesting training that use his ability in unique ways. My first thought was not that an imager would make a good bodyguard, but imaging something into a person’s body makes for quick defense – or a potent offense.

William Dufris is wonderful as always. The novel is not quick paced, as if Modesitt is using this volume to firmly create the world for future volumes. Dufris is as engaged a narrator while relating the details as he is during the exciting bits. A pleasure to hear!

Tantor will be publishing the next two volumes of this trilogy, and I will be listening!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

Seth Wilson

SFFaudio Review

Proven Guilty by Jim ButcherProven Guilty
By Jim Butcher; Read by James Marsters
Audible Download – approx. 16 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Published: 2009
Themes: / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / Magic / Chicago / Wizard / Faeries / Vampires / Black Magic

By the time most fantasy series reach their eighth novel, they’re usually showing their age. For proof, one need look no further than Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, in which the eighth book, Path of Daggers, is seen as the beginning of the cycle’s decline, although some would place this event significantly earlier. In any case, Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series certainly doesn’t follow this trend. In fact, Proven Guilty suggests that the series just keeps getting better.

The novel initially follows the series formula: Chicago wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden faces a series of seemingly-disconnected incidents which, as the plot progresses, reveal themselves to be connected in a sinister way. The White Council is on the lookout for black magic; monsters from the big screen are wreaking havoc at a horror fan convention; and Molly Carpenter, daughter of Harry’s good friend Michael, is in some kind of mysterious trouble. Harry must juggle all these fly balls and, as usual, keep himself from getting killed. He’s aided by the usual cast of supporting characters like officer Karin Murphy and the elemental Bob the Skull., and White Court vampire Thomas.

Harry soon discovers that the faerie courts of Summer and Winter have taken an interest in recent events. Perhaps this is why I enjoyed Proven Guilty so much, since it evoked themes from the other faerie-centric novel in the series so far, Summer Knight, which is also one of my favorites. Butcher writes about the fae as if they are both inscrutably beautiful and incalculably terrifying. In general, the Summer Court tends to side with the “powers of good”, while the Winter Court allies itself with “evil”, but faerie politics aren’t quite that simple. Summer can be incredibly crafty and deceptive, while denizens of Winter are prone to occasional acts of kindness and sacrifice.

This moral ambiguity cuts to the heart of the success of Proven Guilty. Themes of morality, self-control, parenthood, and responsibility abound. Butcher’s early novels felt like little more than exciting detective thrillers with a supernatural twist–entertaining, witty, humorous, but lacking any real depth. In later Dresden Files novels, Butcher has cultivated a heightened emotional sensitivity. in Proven Guilty, this manifests most prominently in Harry’s complex relationship with the Carpenter family. Without giving too much away, suffice to say that the execution of a young boy at the hands of the White Council for misuse of magic holds more than a hint of foreshadowing.

James Marsters, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, narrates the novel flawlessly. His hard-boiled narrative style perfectly fits the book’s genre as a detective story, and his dust-dry rendition of Harry Dresden’s dialogue captures the wizard’s lonely character perfectly. Marsters also handles the female characters deftly, avoiding the pitfall of overacting that some other male vice actors fall prey to.

Readers might get away with reading Proven Guilty as a stand-alone novel, since it does a passable job of weaving backstory into the plot in an unobtrusive manner, but it’s worth reading the Dresden Files series from the beginning. Unfortunately, books six and seven (Blood Rites and Dead Beat) haven’t yet received the audio treatment, though they’re schedules for release sometime in the coming months.  It’s well worth plodding through those two volumes in print.

Also take a look at SFFaudio’s favorable review of Small Favor, book ten in the series, which I’m immensely looking forward to once I’ve read the intervening White Night.

Posted by Seth Wilson

Review of Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

Seth Wilson

SFFaudio Review

Furies of Calderon by Jim ButcherFuries of Calderon
By Jim Butcher; Read by Kate Reading
Audible Download – 20 hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher:  Penguin Audiobooks
Published:  2008
Themes: / high fantasy / Roman / elementals / barbarians / farm boy

Best-known for his urban fantasy Dresden Files series, Jim Butcher has also penned a relatively unsung series of high fantasy novels called the Codex Alera, of which Furies of Calderon is the first. In several interviews, Jim Butcher has stated that his Codex Alera series grew out of a writing challenge–to take bad or cringeworthy themes and transform them into a good story. Brave soul that he is, Butcher chose to tackle the banal trope of the Lost Roman Legion and, of all things, Pokémon. Before you run for the hills screaming, let me assure you that he has succeeded in his task, crafting a rousing adventure that sets the tone for what promises to be an exciting series.

First, let’s deal with the elephant, er, Pokémon, in the room. Rather than the cute furry monsters that emerge from pocket-sized balls tossed into the air, as in the Japanese juggernaut, Butcher’s interpretation of Pokémon takes the form of elemental beings called furies, which humans can summon at need to perform various magical tasks, including combat, flight, scrying, and healing. Furies feel so natural to the world of the Codex Alera that if I hadn’t mentioned the Pokémon allusion you probably wouldn’t have noticed it.

The other defining feature of the Codex Alera is its Romanesque setting. The land of Alera, a rough equivalent to the Roman Empire, is populated by folks with Latinate names like Gaius, Fidelius, and Amara, and terms like princeps and cursor will be familiar to even a casual student of Classical history.

Despite these two gimmicks, however, Furies of Calderon is fairly standard high fantasy fare. Several characters and storylines play out, but the book’s real protagonist and character of interest is Tavi, a fifteen-year-old farm boy in the valley of Calderon which, because of its strategic geographical location, becomes the site for an impending battle between the lords of Alera and the neighboring barbarian Marat tribes. Tavi lives with his aunt and uncle on their steadholt, the basic administrative unit in the fertile valley, but dreams of joining the Academy in the empire’s capitol city. Say it with me, people, Star Wars. The fascinating thing about Tavi, though, is that, unlike all other Alerans we meet, he lacks even the slightest furycrafting abilities. His uncle Bernard and aunt Isana are no Owen and Beru, and when the threat of invasion looms they both take decisive action to defend their beloved valley of Calderon. Meanwhile the cursor Amara speeds to the valley to try to warn its citizens of their impending fate, pursued by her traitorous ex-tutor Fidelias, whose name ironically stems from the Latin root fides, meaning “faith”.

These adventures are fun and engaging, to be sure, but the real strength of Furies of Calderon rests with its character interaction and development. Tavi is an archetypical hero in the sense described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, but he’s also a fifteen-year-old boy with raging hormones and conflicting loyalties. Tavi’s lack of furycrafting remains a mystery throughout the novel, as does the question of his parentage, leaving plenty of room for further development in future novels. Bernard and Isana both possess a fierce integrity and loyalty to land and family. In some ways, the stand-out characters are the villains. Fidelius is crafty and treacherous, true, but like any good fictional villain he believes he’s fighting for the good of the land of Alera. The motives of the enigmatic Odiana, a water-crafter in the service of Fidelius, defy easy articulation. Al the characters in Furies of Calderon whether “good” or “bad”, act according to their own personal compass of principles. The one exception is the bloodthirsty and barbarous Kord, a farmer in the valley who dabbles in the slave trade. He alone seems to be one of those cardboard villains whose sole purpose is to be knocked down.

Because its events are mostly centered around the valley of Calderon, which feels more like an early medieval territory than a Roman province, Furies of Calderon will largely disappoint readers expecting the political intrigues and machinations of TV dramas about the Classical world like Robert Graves’s I, Claudius or HBO’s Rome. If anything, the setting most closely resembles the late Roman Empire, when Europe was in transition from Roman rule into the tumultuous Medieval period. Calderon is ruled by a count, and there’s even a province called Aquitaine, which is a clear allusion to Roman Gaul. Some pivotal scenes in the book’s opening and closing pages hint that the series will move in this direction, though, so Classicists should not lose heart.

Given that my only exposure to Butcher’s writing thus far had been his gritty, cynical depiction of modern-day Chicago through the eyes of wizard Harry Dresden, I harbored fears that he wouldn’t be able to write in the more elevated style required by High Fantasy. My fears were unfounded. Butcher’s writing is competent throughout, and easily matches the style of other authors in the genre, although it lacks the lyricism and resonance of the genre’s best.

For some reason, dramatic portrayals of the Roman world in English always employ British actors, with Emperors and Senators speaking the Queen’s English and slaves speaking a Cockney dialect. Because of this trend, the British accent Kate Reading adopts for her reading of Furies of Calderon feels right and natural. She conveys particularly well the emotional depth of the teenage Tavi as he battles with internal and external forces throughout the novel, and she also brings the complex Odiana to vivid life.

Furies of Calderon is an imperfect novel laden with fantasy clichés, but it holds enough originality and depth to warrant a thorough listen. Those who happen to enjoy those fantasy clichés, as I do, will find it a rewarding experience. Furthermore, the novel holds promise that the rest of the Codex Alera series will capitolize on the underplayed features that make Furies of Calderon so noteworthy.

Posted by Seth Wilson

Review of Small Favor by Jim Butcher

psyne

SFFaudio Review

small_favorSmall Favor
By: Jim Butcher Read by James Marsters
Book 10 of The Dresden Files
Audible Download – 13 Hours 50 Mins [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible / Buzzy Multimedia
ISBN-10: 0143143395
ISBN-13: 978-0143143390
Themes: / Fantasy / Mystery / Magic / Private Detective / Wizard / Noir /

No one’s tried to kill Harry Dresden for almost an entire year, and his life finally seems to be calming down. For once, the future looks fairly bright. But the past casts one hell of a long shadow. An old bargain has placed Harry in debt to Mab, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, the Queen of Air and Darkness-and she’s calling in her marker. It’s a small favor he can’t refuse…one that will trap Harry Dresden between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, and one that will strain his skills-and loyalties-to their very limits. It figures. Everything was going too well to last…

Before I start let me say that I am HUGE fan of the Dresden series having read all the paperbacks and watched the failed television series. That being said Buzzy Multimedia and James Marsters actually manage to improve the book each time they release their audibook version of a Dresden novel and in my opinion Small Favor is their best effort yet.

The 10th Book in the Series opens with Harry enjoying a peaceful moment with his friends that soon comes to an end when he is reminded in a very Dresden-esque way that he has a debt to repay and the favor is being cashed in. Harry is quickly thrust into a situation full of plot twists that has him squaring off against evil faries, demon possessed people, and in the middle of the largest supernatural power grab ever. Whats worse is he is tasked with saving a crime lord who he has grudgingly partnered with in the past.

The “Small Favor” referenced in the title is a debt owed to an evil fairy who in the opening of the book has Harry’s back pressed literally up against a wall. Faced with angering Mab, fighting off a fairy Hit Squad looking for blood, and an angry Detective Murphy; Dresden wisely shuts up and commits to the favor. What unfolds is an amazing ride with a decisive battle for the future of mankind being waged and Harry is in the middle of it and like most of the other books in the Dresden series Small Favor focuses on this conflict and the difference that one intuitive magic wielding detective can make.

One part Sam Spade two parts Merlin that is the recipe for Harry Dresden a detective able to put the pieces together and is not afraid to charge in staff blazing. As with Jim Butcher’s other novels in the series Harry is able to follow clues that others would miss and often times it leads him the right direction, if not a moment or too late. Intuition aside the thing I like best about Harry is his ability to face overwhelming odds with a well placed quip. Small Favor is also a bit of reunion of sorts with some of the most notable characters from the series making an appearance; Johnny Marcone, Hendrix, Kincaid, Ivy, The Denarians, Lucio, Michael and the other Knights, Thomas, Murphy, and even mouse.

With epic battle scenes and rich attention to detail; the world of Chicago comes alive and it is hard not wonder if there are indeed evil fey, demons, and holy sword wielding knights waging war in the streets. One of the best things about the book and the series in general is the perspective the story takes. Written as narrative it feels more like recounting of past events rather than a piece of fantasy. This perspective combined with the masterful reading of James Marsters makes this an incredibly enjoyable book and even better audiobook.

When Buzzy Multimedia selected James Marsters to read the book they must have held a casting call or something because he has the perfect voice. He absolutely embodies Harry Dresden furthermore James Marsters doesn’t just read the story he acts it out. For instance when it says in the book that Harry roared out FUEGO James Marsters actually does just bellowing it like he was hurling a fireball at an evil Fairy or Demon.

Attention to detail is apparant throughout the book and there do not seem be any errors in recording, mispronunciations, stumbling over words or anything to disturb the listening. In addition to the excellent production quality the audio levels were very clear and even throughout and when James Marster’s got loud there was no crackle in the speakers.

The worst thing about this book is that is comes to an end. As I said in the begining I am a huge fan of the Dresden series and while I believe that the first-time reader could start with Small Favor and enjoy it thoroughly. It is probably best if the first time reader begins with the first book as there are details about each of the major character’s explained throughout the series. That said if you are a fan of the Dresden Files series pick up Small Favor if you are not yet acquainted with the series do yourself a “small favor” and start at the begining with Storm Front.

Posted by Mark Flavin