Comments on: EP107: Eight Episodes

By: dblanchard

dblanchard — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:33:46 +0000

I just listened to “Eight Episodes” a couple days ago, and today saw this in the news:
http://www.physorg.com/news143818456.html

Spooky.

By: House Episodes

House Episodes — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:57:42 +0000

Nice site

By: InstaHippo » Episodes

InstaHippo » Episodes — Thu, 01 May 2008 01:08:13 +0000

[...] Eighteen months later, the fledging Web network declared bankruptcy, and a small consortium acquired its assets, including Invasion of a Small World. Eager to recoup their investment, the new owners offered all eight episodes as a quick-and-dirty DVD package.3 [...]

By: Now playing in my Zune podcasts... Escape Pod - Noticias externas

Now playing in my Zune podcasts... Escape Pod - Noticias externas — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:53:53 +0000

[...] I just listened to EP107 which was a dramatic reading of a Hugo Award nominee short story (titled “Eight Episodes” by Robert Reed, no relation) that will make ya’ think. It’s an interesting perspective [...]

By: Reed Me : Now playing in my Zune podcasts... Escape Pod

Reed Me : Now playing in my Zune podcasts... Escape Pod — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:59:17 +0000

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:26:48 +0000

Fantastic read! But yes, I do see some similarities to the work of Douglas Adams here!

By: Libro: Nominados a mejor cuento corto por los premios Hugo 2007 « La Calavera

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:15:02 +0000

[...] Episodes – Robert Reed – Asimov’s Junio 2006 (Texto) (Podcast) ¬øQu√© pasa si el esperado mensaje de nuestros vecinos estelares es a trav√©s de una serie de [...]

By: rubso

rubso — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 01:04:18 +0000

Being a fan of short SF and an occasional Triology reader, I was surprised not to have heard of Mr. Reed until today when I finally got to listen to this one.
This to me is an easy to read /listen-to style. Loved the reader…

By: paul griffin

paul griffin — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:40:29 +0000

ooh a review,
I really enjoyed this episode, one you got past the reading off it (as someone said like a entry on wikipedia) and it made me want to to cancel the thing itself at first but I’m glad that i did not.
Thanks for podcasting all these hugo nominated stuff, its excellent.

By: jweldin

jweldin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:56:51 +0000

… and yes, I meant “This reader is difficult” and “too much mental…” not “to much mental…”

I should probably read my own post before pressing submit next time. Sorry.

By: jweldin

jweldin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:54:49 +0000

I agree with santana. This reader difficult to take. It seems like to much mental work to listen to him tell the story. His accent and tone make it very hard for me to “just hear” the story. After three attempts to get through the story without drifting off into my own thoughts, I gave up.

By: Dave (aka Nev the Deranged)

Dave (aka Nev the Deranged) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:04:43 +0000

This story had a sort of suspense for me, not because I wasn't sure what would happen (I figured out the gimmick almost immediately), but because I wanted to see how the author would get there. Ultimately, it wasn't a standout, but it wasn't bad either.

I, too, remember the story about the helmet-AI that was a poet and a patriot... that one was awesome.

By: artm » Qotd

artm » Qotd — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:51:46 +0000

[...] Robert Reed, Eight Episodes [...]

By: PopePat

PopePat — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 18:04:50 +0000

I am a fan of this reader (he won me over with his rendition of the thinking-talking starship trooper helmet several podcasts back) and a fan of this story. A refreshing difference in point of view helped keep this from being just another staid invasion story. At every turn I was cognizant (in the back of my mind) of the story’s continual efforts to leave things up to interpretation. Sometimes I hate that when done badly, but this was done well.

By: SFFreader » Blog Archive » Audio Hugo Nominees

SFFreader » Blog Archive » Audio Hugo Nominees — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:55:08 +0000

[...] Best Short Story: Impossible Dreams by Tim Pratt The House Beyond Your Sky by Benjamin Rosenbaum Eight Episodes by Robert Reed Kin by Bruce [...]

By: Luis Filipe Silva

Luis Filipe Silva — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:42:58 +0000

It was possibly the fist time I “read” a Robert Reed story through to the end – I know it’s a good author with interesting, thought-provocking ideas, but somehow his style doesn’t do it for me, and I’ve tried several times, and will keep on trying. So thank you for providing this opportunity

The story is engaging, and the option of presenting it as an article was a very good one. The worst part came near the end (spoiler warning!), when Reed suggests that the series misterious authors might have been the aliens themselves – a bit too obvious. He should have left it at that, would have made for a greater effect, and he didn’t have to try and explain everything…

Anyway, Steven, your podcast is getting better every issue – the stories, the narrations, etc. I hope you keep it up. It’s something I always look forward to hear about…

All the best.

By: mikec

mikec — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 03:53:25 +0000

It was a great story but I have to agree that the narration worked against it. There is deadpan delivery and then there is simply dead delivery. It reminded me of being back in high school when the English teacher forced people to take turns reading aloud… what a disservice to the writer! But in the end I’m glad I kept listening.

By: Icepick

Icepick — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:40:11 +0000

As with many SF stories, I found I liked it more at then end than in the middle. While I thought I knew where it might be going, I found that I was far more enchanted with the idea than the telling of the tale.

I thought the narrative device was clever.

By: Jack

Jack — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 15:29:08 +0000

I disagree with mot people on most counts. I enjoyed the story, I liked the narrative device employed and I thought the reader was pitch perfect.
It reminded me of the first short in the Animatrix, with the soft vox computery voiceover.
I thought the premise was novel and can see why this was nominated for a Hugo, it seemed current enough to seem like a fresh take on existing themes. In that sense, telling it from an omniscient remove kept it from being “another contact story” or “another little alien story”. Aiding that was the loose end like the scientists and such that I think are details that keep the “omniscient remove”, there would be a lot of loose ends and dead end tangents in a simple encyclopedia entry for the Kennedy assassination, don’t you think?

I liked the narrators inflection, I think it fit perfectly with the assignment, apart from a few quotes from the show it’s not like she’s acting or given the opportunity to emote, it’ not the piece for that, in fact her kind of cool, but slightly ‘just wait, there’s more’ delivery was a perfect match for the story, good ear, Steve!

This kind of What-Ifery makes for some of my favorite SF, a break from real-time or firt person adds to the variety and diversity of the podcast, don’t you find?

By: Martin Rundkvist

Martin Rundkvist — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 10:49:51 +0000

I liked this one. The po-mo uncertainty of the TV show's "ontological status" was neat. I hate po-mo academe, but I like it in fiction every once in a while.

Didn't quite understand where the three young bright suicides fit into the plot.

By: santana

santana — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 03:34:21 +0000

I cannot stand this reader. Every sentence has the same singsong pattern. When I heard his voice start reading this story, I turned it off immediately because I knew my teeth would be on edge within a minute.

By: Scooter

Scooter — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:11:56 +0000

Enjoyed this very much, but is it really appropriate to rate this ‘G’? Nothing is really stated explicitly, but there’s the a pretty strong implication of sexual content.

By: kaufman

kaufman — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:18:14 +0000

I was disappointed to hear that the long-living mother ship spent billions of years waiting to produce the equivalent of Odyssey 5, when it would’ve been more effective to at least shoot for a Firefly.

By: Loz

Loz — Tue, 29 May 2007 10:53:10 +0000

I’m one of those who found the one step back approach a handicap to enjoying the story, I don’t know whether MarBelle’s deadpan delivery was also a factor (although I liked that story he read a few months ago) but it just came across as a story that neither the author or the reader was that interested in telling me. I’m surprised this is a nominee for an award, even though I don’t particularly follow the sci-fi industry or the Hugos.

By: Ilahdus

Ilahdus — Tue, 29 May 2007 08:38:56 +0000

This was the best for a while! Not quite sure why, but I just did not have my thoughts wandering off while listening -- as it is very often the case. Of course it was partly because the story was easy to follow (I have English as a third language, which might add to that effect), but I also did like the story.

In general, I dislike too detailed stories, especially if the details seem forced and unreal. This one just flowed naturally. Definitely saved my (otherwise lousy) morning!

By: Omar

Omar — Mon, 28 May 2007 05:17:04 +0000

I loved this story, mainly because I It reminded me of my infernal hatered for Networks that like to cancel my favorite shows ( are you listening fox?) I’ve also be thinking about diversity in the SF world. As a hispanic american, who is also an evangelical, I notice how few people like me there are in this world of yours. I asked my friends at church what they thought of Sci Fi, and they answered, “well, we like Lord Of The Rings.” I wonder If its that sci fi has become like a gentlemens club, with very limited membership to only the people who know the secret handshake, or are we (hispanics evangelicals, blacks, ect.) to caught up in the present to care what the future might look like.

By: L33tminion

L33tminion — Sun, 27 May 2007 09:53:46 +0000

I thought this was a fabulous story. I really enjoyed structure of the story, but I’m a big fan of that sort of multi-layered abstraction.

By: bmfrosty

bmfrosty — Sun, 27 May 2007 05:30:13 +0000

There was a small reminder of a Douglas Adams quote:

"Due to a terrible miscalculation of scale, the entire battle fleet was swallowed by a small dog."

But it did read like a Wikipedia entry. Neat idea, but the flow just didn't click. Maybe it would have worked better in HTML.

By: mjn9

mjn9 — Thu, 24 May 2007 22:17:01 +0000

PS- I just sent you a$60 check because I’ll be listening to a lot of these and I’m not sure I trust PayPal….

By: mjn9

mjn9 — Thu, 24 May 2007 22:09:17 +0000

I enjoyed this story. Wasn't there an old Twilight Zone or something about a tiny little alien invasion?

You've introduced me to podcasts and I've thoroughly enjoyed every story I've listened to. These are GREAT for my dreadful Atlanta commute! Thanks for this great site!

By: MikeK

MikeK — Thu, 24 May 2007 22:01:13 +0000

Interesting story. It was nice to see some classic space-oriented SF slipped into an otherwise more (post)modern story. Initially the level of abstraction didn’t really work for me. I actually found myself thinking I would’ve enjoyed the straight-up “Invasion” story more than the Wikipediafied (can I coin a new word here?) retelling Mr. Reed produced. Once I saw where things were headed, I changed my mind, but I still found myself wondering what such cleverness robs from a story. A sense of wonder and amazement was the first thing that came to mind. A story of ambiguous alien contact via a crummy TV series told through a dry article seems less viscerally appealing than a story about the actual alien contact as it occurs, even if it happens via a crummy TV show. Maybe I’m not being fair; I might dismiss this hypothetical story as amateurish, if I even read it at all. I generally like experimental storytelling and even dry articles, but something about this story made me ponder the idea that clever style sometimes hinders a good story more than it helps. Despite the questions the story raised for me, though, I really enjoyed it. Thanks!