The lesson of how horrible war is can’t be repeated too many times. Especially when we keep sending people to kill and get killed.

It’s important to never forget the dehumanizing effects of war, both on the people fighting and on the rest of the population.

We’re all terribly impressed that you, the author, can come up with a whole world and backstory in your head, and then dribble out just a little bit of it in obtuse lingo. Wow. Awesome. Never seen anybody do that before.

Protip: If you’re gonna make me work that hard to try to figure out what’s going on, there better be a damn good payoff. And this story lacked that. Meh.

When I listened to this story, my initial response also was, “Yes yes, the horror of war and the dehuminization of our fellow creatures, how trite.” Followed closely by, “Where are the spaceships??”

But I found this story really worked its way into my thoughts. When I dwelled on it, I’d keep coming back to my initial response, until I began to wonder if it was simply a defense mechanism on my part – a cynical response to hold off the horror that Hurley’s story forced me to witness.

ATTENTION: BROAD GENERALIZATION AHEAD
And so, I begin to think that maybe the point of “Wonder Maul Doll” is to break through that barrier of cynical detachment that we in our culture wrap ourselves in, in order not to face some of the horrors occurring elsewhere in the world. It’s easy for those of us living in the United States to brush past such things. After all, we usually aren’t worried about a car bomb exploding during our shopping trip to Target, or being detained by soldiers when we pop out to Starbucks for a latte.

And while there were no sympathetic characters per se, I think I understand that the soldiers behaved in a manner that would keep them alive in such an insane situation.

I appreciate Ken_K’s comment (and thank you for your service, sir) but when situations like Abu Ghraib occur, it is a reminder that soldiers can respond in an inhuman manner. It’s a credit to our culture that such incidents are isolated. Hurley never says that the situation in the story is representative of the entire world. She just puts us so fully in the tale that it engulfs our entire experience of what that world offers- just like the soldiers in the story.

The flesh-melting chemical weapon, I think, was Hurley’s way of reminding us of the physical horror of combat. We are so inundated with bullets in our entertainment, guns have become unreal. Conversely, most SF movies (and some books) use some sort of energy weapon that basically sanitizes the killing.

So, I have come to understand that the issues I have here aren’t really with the story, it’s with what the story has made me see. Now the challenge is – what do I do with this knowledge?

It comes across as a cheap sketchy story leading to a twist at the end.

I don’t think it was well written. Not that I’ve written any stories myself, but this one didn’t make sense to me as I listened.

Let me start with what I should have in my previous comment: your reading was fantastic! Even though I didn’t much enjoy the story, your interpretation was subtle, thoughtful, and masterfully executed. I was, as always, very impressed!

I certainly understand – and agree with! – the author’s points about dehumanization and truly reprehensible actions taken in war, I guess I feel the way they were conveyed was counter-productive. It felt as if the author was saying, “War is horrible and no one should ever have to experience it, so let me describe it to you in gruesome, blow-by-blow detail!” It felt, in some sense, like it was trying to vilify violence by celebrating it. (But then again, I feel the same way about many “anti-war” films, so it very well could just be me.)

This is an odd sort of piece, no real protagonists, you are meant to feel as if the characters are real monsters – even the ones who are off stage – and it comments on the monstrous actions taken by people who would swear they’re in the right.

I disagree with Brave Space Monkey – although Sci Fi here can have a positive spin, I’ve always felt that Science Fiction is about social commentary provoked by reasonable technological advances bringing our own society into relief. Though we might disagree with the message here, I think the author does that.

Imagine the detachment of a soldier when even a completely innocent child could be a bomb of chemical sludge that would wipe out her whole battle group – even if the child himself doesn’t know it. Over time those deaths – however justified – would easily lead to the sort of detachment and activity these soldiers show.

Errrg. I think I need a shower, now.

What the hell was the point of that?

I generally don’t much go for graphic violence, though I’m not against it per se. It can often be a very powerful tool in fiction for making important points. Maybe I missed it, but what was the point in this orgy of gore?

I guess maybe we’re supposed to take away a now-trite lesson about the “horrors of war,” and how it’s a terrible thing, etc. etc. Yet in some way it feels that the author is expressing exactly the OPPOSITE message, rather reveling in the over-the-top violence and carnage. The story reads not so much as a condemnation of violence, but a celebration of it.

So I ask again, what the hell was the point of this?

I thought of this as I wrote my early response/post.

I come to EscapePod to here EscapePod stories, I go to Pseudopod, for Pseudopod type stories (and the white street society stories).

Each Podcast suites a different mood/mode for me. The format of the podcasts allows me to access each type of podcast at my will, when I want.

What got me on this story was it felt more like a pseudopod story invading my escapepod space. Which is far more upsetting that the other way around. Something evil found its way into my happy place…

Do I want you to never post a story like this again. No. But I want you to know that this story didn’t sit right with me. Not that I didn’t like it (I didn’t). I don’t like every story I hear (nor do I except to). This story didn’t feel right.

This story was more troubling than the other for the graphic violence, and no sense of a “hero”. I disliked everyone in the story, I didn’t hear one character I thought was redeemable.

I wondered if having a male voice read the story would make is more (or less) disturbing… Not sure. Would I have enjoyed this story if it was on pseudopod? Maybe.

Was the story inspiring – no, but it did provoke a response – this one.

One question – I didn’t quite follow what it was this group of soldiers were looking for in these “treaty violations.” They were looking for “organics,” but it seems like these “organics” had been somehow genetically modified. And the soldiers and the people back home seemed to have some kind of implants that were messing with their reproductive system. Aside from that, I have no idea…