From the Podosphere: February 2008

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver is a free podcast from BBC Radio 4. It’s a coming-of-age tale set in an unspecified prehistorical period. Young Torak’s father is viciously killed by a bear possessed by a demon. The boy is left alone in the ancient forest and sets out on an odyssey to a mystical mountain to ask the World Spirit for help. He encounters an orphaned wolf cub on the way and discovers he can communicate with it. The two of them encounter many perils and near-death experiences, including a narrow escape from the Raven Clan. Read superbly by Ian McKellen, the story (the first in Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series) is a stirring YA tale full of adventure, magic, and excitement. Paver’s beautiful, crisp, and highly-visual style is well suited to being read aloud. Listeners are immediately transported into Torak’s world, and the device of switching the point of view between boy and wolf cub is a delight. Don’t miss this one.

Originally published in the anthology Logorrhea, edited by John Klima, “Appoggiatura” by Jeff VanderMeer in Jason Erik Lundberg’s podcast, Lies and Little Deaths: A Virtual Anthology, is a fine, complex, evocative fantasy. Logorrhea assembled a collection of stories based on obscure or difficult key words. VanderMeer took on the challenge of producing a novelette with chapters entitled with all the other keywords in the anthology. “Appoggiatura” is about the lost city of Smaragdine and the search for “the green,” a mystical substance, an idea, a spiritual attainment—the green’s nature and qualities are continuously open to interpretation.

In the overarching story, we get 20 mini-stories, overlapping or just banging against the outer perimeter of the main story. A private detective, distressed holiday makers complaining about strange food aboard the ship, Siamese twins in a circus act, and much more. Honestly, I have no ideas what the story is about, but I nevertheless felt entranced by the rich world VanderMeer creates, the evocative language he uses to conjure it, and the oddly gripping thrust of the whole thing.

Full of ideas, allusions, Gothic worldbuilding, and a cast of peculiar characters, “Appoggiatura” pushes language to its limits. It’s a challenging listen, but well worth your time. My only gripe is that it was separated into 20 very short episodes, requiring listeners to hear the same introduction by Jason Erik Lundberg over and over. However, because each mini-story is so rich, it’s probably best to listen to it in short chunks. I enjoyed Lundberg’s excellent reading, too; kudos to him for getting his tongue around words like “Autochthonous,” “Eudaemonic,” and “Vivisepultre”!

This will be my final podcast review.* Other commitments, like the day job and writing my second novel and editing a journal, have gobbled up my time. I’ve enjoyed writing this column and listening to the many superb podcasts out there. I recommend that you check out for yourself the huge volume of free stories in the podosphere, which I am sure my success will draw your attention to.

[*Editor’s note: Do not fear, podcast fans, From the Podosphere will continue next month under the auspices of a new columnist. Stay tuned!]