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Category: Sci-Fi Page 11 of 12

Cover for Drabblecast 097, Daydream Nation, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 97 – Daydream Nation

Cover for Drabblecast 097, Daydream Nation, by Bo KaierFrom a small, dusty box similar to a contact-lens case, she took a fresh iDreams bindi, a self-adhesive circlet displaying the iDreams logo: a stylized human head wreathed in fluffy clouds and displaying a Third Eye…

This episode of the Drabblecast explores the relationship between technology and romance. In the Drabble, cryotechnology brings new dimensions to love, loss, and grieving. The feature, Daydream Nation, is a post-modern fairy tale exploring how the development of an iDreams caster, a device allowing users to broadcast crafted or purchased iDreams to one another, might affect courtship and relationships. After the story, Norm waxes poetic about the effect of our instant message society on “good old fashioned cheesy flirting.”

Cover for Drabblecast episode 93, Blue, by Richard K. Green

Drabblecast 93 – Blue

Cover for Drabblecast episode 93, Blue, by Richard K. GreenI had a dog, his name was Blue
Betchya five dollars he’s a good one too.
Come on Blue!
I’m a-comin’ too.

Glum weather in Baltimore inspires Norm to treat us all to a pair of melancholy stories. In Shane Shennen’s Drabble, “Ancient Apple Tree,” the passing of an old, faithful robot is mourned by nary an organic eye. Next, accomplished writer Mike Resnick (who appears in Drabblecast #67, “Malish,” and #102 “The Last Dog”) bases a sad tale of attrition and mourning on the traditional song “Old Blue.” Accompanied by Norm’s gentle rendition of the song, the story describes the mutual loyalty of a hermit and his canine companion in a harsh season. A grateful Norm confesses to his love of dogs after the song and story conclude. This is followed by feedback for Episodes #88 (“The Toys of Peace”) and #89 (“Starry Night”), which is generally positive.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 90, Far Far Away, by Jonathan Wilson

Drabblecast 90 – Far Far Away

Cover for Drabblecast episode 90, Far Far Away, by Jonathan WilsonThe bullet-riddled corpses of our dead crew-mates, all sixteen of them, are coffined up, and the coffins stacked as a makeshift ping pong table…

In Drabble News, Norm congratulates the Harper Collins Dictionary for adding the slang term “meh” (an utterance of indifference). For the Drabble segment, returning author and future editor Matthew Bey (responsible for Drabblecast #58, “Eggs,” among others) allows his strange nocturnal fantasies about pupating locomotives to cross into the listener’s daylight. Next, Norm reads from the work of Frank Key, the British surreal author whose ‘lopsided fiction’ has graced the Drabblecast on numerous occasions, including episode #190. The selection: “The Goat God.” The feature describes the Flying Dutchman space journey of the starship “Corrugated Cardboard,” and the strange transformations of its surviving crew. The crew’s destination: a tiny pink planet where blind, mute, magnetic love monkeys frolic. Do these wonderful mythical creatures even exist, or are they figments of the unreliable narrator’s imagination? Finally, Norm reads from the positive feedback heaped by readers upon Episode #86, “Half Sneeze Johnny.”

Cover for Drabblecast episode 89, Starry Night, by Philippa Jones

Drabblecast 89 – Starry Night

Cover for Drabblecast episode 89, Starry Night, by Philippa Jones“They were frozen in place, and their bodies blazed.  The angel was before them, and they were silent, burning with no heat…”

The episode opens with a Drabble by John Medaille, a veteran of Podcastle, the Dunesteef, and the “Three-Lobed Burning Eye.”  It discusses the depredations and terror experienced by survivors of a post-apocalyptic elevator failure. Next, continuing the theme of apocalyptic landscapes, Samantha Henderson –also a veteran of numerous podcasts as well as “Realms of Fantasy” –contributes her story, “Starry Night.” Evoking Van Gough’s famous painting, her story describes the consequences of a celestial event that illuminated, and then blinded, the renaissance village of Monte Verde. Surreal tragedy follows. After the story, reader feedback from the Double-Header, “Hush and Hark” and “Meta Science Fiction,” describes how disturbing and or amusing the audience found the stories. Listeners rated Trifecta 5 as middle-of-the-road.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 85, Trifecta V, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 85 – Trifecta V

Cover for Drabblecast episode 85, Trifecta V, by Bo KaierThe fifth of the Drabblecast’s Trifectas gathers three stories about addiction to love. Due to the subject matter, Norm issues a warning about it’s kid unfriendliness.  First, the narrator of Suzanne Vincent’s story, “Strange Love,” discovers the erotic secret behind the popularity of tattoos among space alien visitors. Next, Jim Bernheimer, (who had previously contributed the story “Reality Bites!”), offers “Cookies,” a quixotic tale leaving listeners to ponder whether we raise our kids, or they raise us.  Finally, “Forbidden Love,” by Ian Fossberg, describes the final quest of a familiar love-lorn character from our shared childhood.

Cover for Drabblecast 83, Floating Over Time, by Philip Pomphrey

Drabblecast 83 – Floating Over Time

Cover for Drabblecast 83, Floating Over Time, by Philip PomphreyShe was a machine, fabulously complex and durable and imaginative.  She was also alive…

This well regarded episode of the Drabblecast shares the poetic story of two complex individuals welcoming, dreading, and ultimately learning from the finality of their own end.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 78, Panel Discussion, by Jonathan Wilson

Drabblecast 78 – Panel Discussion

Cover for Drabblecast episode 78, Panel Discussion, by Jonathan Wilson

“So, where do you get your ideas?” he asked.
“I get my ideas from thinking about things.”
“Like what?”
“Like this panel.”

In this episode of the Drabblecast, we listen in on a convention panel sidetracked by the Sci-Fi version of “Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner?” The Bbardle is a hard rock tale of a geeky, sexy lady-stalker, the “Cougar at the Con.”

Cover for Drabblecast 76, Apologies All Around, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 76 – Apologies All Around

Cover for Drabblecast 76, Apologies All Around, by Bo Kaier“Pardon, Winston Sinclair, I am not here to sell you something. I am not here to buy something. Winston Sinclair, sir, I am here to apologize…”

Jeff Soesbe, graduate of The Viable Paradise Workshop, gives us a tender feature about a family of the future, and a unique robot with a special purpose. In Drabble News, Norm Sherman makes all the men jealous with the tale of a sexual powerhouse: a prolific, philandering Guinea Pig! Norm tells us more about the Mega-Beast Death-Match. Feedback is for Episode #70 “Reality Bites!” and Episode #71 “Perfect Down Further.”

Cover for Drabblecast episode 75, Trifecta 4, by Jonathan Wilson

Drabblecast 75 – Trifecta IV

Cover for Drabblecast episode 75, Trifecta 4, by Jonathan WilsonWe’re lying in the sun, letting our wings dry, when a thought suddenly occurs to me. “Do you think it’s fair” “What’s that?” says Bob. He’s sitting there beside me, fat and lazy, with his three tales flickering lightly in the spring breeze.

The fourth of the Drabblecast’s Trifecta episodes gives us three different views of the beginnings and endings of life. In “Ephemeroptera’s Lament,” mayflies look for love in their one-day life cycle. In “The Crack in the Cosmic Egg,” B.J. Harrison of “The Classic Tales Podcast” reads us a story of the end, and beginning, of everything. “No Strings Attached,” read by Steve Eley from Escape Pod, shows us the beginnings of a man’s new life. The show concludes with one of Norm Sherman’s original bbardle songs, “75 Lines,” a catchy tune referencing each of the first 75 episodes of The Drabblecast.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 73, All In, by Anthony Sullivan

Drabblecast 73 – All In

Cover for Drabblecast episode 73, All In, by Anthony Sullivan

The medical profession doesn’t talk about “The Treatment”…it came from Argentina, but the scientist was from Mumbai, or the other way around…

This episode’s Drabble shows us life by Etch-a-Sketch. The feature story for this episode is a dark drama posing the question “Is your body worth your life?” Norm Sherman announces that The Drabblecast has been nominated for The Parsec Awards, teases about the return of the Mega-Beast Super Animal Death-Match, and explains what a tanuki is.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 72, Exit, by T.A. Holly McCrea

Drabblecast 72 – Exit

Cover for Drabblecast episode 72, Exit, by T.A. Holly McCrea“Lieutenant,” she said, “Stevens obviously has it, or he would have quit this crap…”

Cover for Drabblecast episode 64, Thus Spake Bleerbo, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 64 – Thus Spake Bleerbo

Cover for Drabblecast episode 64, Thus Spake Bleerbo, by Bo Kaier

Planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy, he moved, helping people, saving lives, redeeming himself…and never finding the necessity to a speak a word…

Cover for Drabblecast episode 63, Time Shift, by Jonathan Wilson

Drabblecast 63 – Time Shift

Cover for Drabblecast episode 63, Time Shift, by Jonathan WilsonA few seconds (approximately 3.21, her processors told her) wasn’t a lot of time- a human brain wouldn’t have had the same opportunity for reflection…

Cover for Drabblecast episode 56, 33 Seconds, by Rick Marron

Drabblecast 56 – 33 Seconds

Inside the TecknoAir factory, deep within the Earth’s core, cheap was a necessity…Cover for Drabblecast episode 56, 33 Seconds, by Rick Marron

Drabblecast 53 – Sing

Cover for Drabblecast 53, Sing, by Rick GreenToday the Drabblecast brings you
“Sing” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

It’s a story about aliens, music, and strange frequencies!

 

 

Story Excerpt:

Child, you sing all the time- when you’re walking, when you’re eating, even when you’re laughing.  You people make the most beautiful music in the entire galaxy…

Enjoy!

Drabblecast #53 – Sing

Cover for Drabblecast episode 52, Sleep Age, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 52 – Sleep Age

Cover for Drabblecast episode 52, Sleep Age, by Bo KaierAround back there’s a smaller, dimmer lobby with a line of tired-looking people clutching their little blinking cylinders as they wait to have them verified to get their money…

Cover for Drabblecast 48, The Destiny of Man, by Kathleen Beckett

Drabblecast 48 – The Destiny of Man

Cover for Drabblecast 48, The Destiny of Man, by Kathleen Beckett

I know what they teach you in school, Bobby, but don’t let anyone tell you that the human race isn’t the greatest, most glorious of all earth’s creatures…

Norm presents his one-minute review of the monster movie, “Cloverfield.” The Drabble speculates on the Bleak Reaper’s off-duty recreation activities. The feature story, originally published in the print magazine “Futures,” is a “facts-of-life” monologue from a father to his son on an Earth crushed under the legless boot-heel of a strangely dehumanizing alien occupation. Concluding that no matter what heights humanity reaches, in the end we’re all worm fodder. Feedback for Episode #42, “40 Quarters,” was sparse and mixed, although the listeners certainly did emendate our vocabularies. Norm concludes with reminders that the “People’s Choice” award voting and the first annual Nigerian Scam Spam contest are both still wide open.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 45, The Fine Point, by David Steffen

Drabblecast 45 – The Fine Point

Cover for Drabblecast episode 45, The Fine Point, by David Steffen

Once you start to see them, they seem to be everywhere…

The Drabble News report, of a 5-year scientific study which showed staring at women’s breasts prolonged the lifespan of males, inspires a now-infamous skit. Norm details the riot among medical test subjects when the non-boobie control group was chosen. The feature story continues with theme of close observation of the Creator’s handiwork. The author, whose work has appeared in “Alien Skin” among other places, presents a disturbing tale of a crusty old misanthrope discovering a crude shortcut from an Impressionistic God, harkening back to the world’s creation. Is humanity ready for that knowledge? Feedback for Episode #39, “The Bee-Keepers,” was accidentally erased by Norm, but the forum comments were very positive, and stimulated a great discussion about parasites. Finally, the Drabblecast New Year’s Resolution is a raise in the submission pay rates.

Drabblecast 44 – The Arc of Hronos

Cover for Drabblecast episode 44, The Arc of Hronos

I’ve almost finished checking those measurements. That tooth—it looks homo sapien. This could be huge…

Norm presents, in his inimitable style, a one-minute review of his long-awaited movie indulgence, “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.” The week’s Drabble concerns an auto thief reaching the top of his game through — what else — nefarious means. The feature story’s author, Anden Sharp, gifted the Drabbleverse with Episode #32, “The Warden’s Last Day.” In the feature story, tragedy strikes the marriage of an archaeologist and her time traveler husband. Feedback for Episode #38, the Drabblecast’s first “Trifecta,” debated how well suited the story concepts were for their broadcast length, and was generally positive.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 39, The Beekeepers, by Brent Holmes

Drabblecast 39 – The Beekeepers

Cover for Drabblecast episode 39, The Beekeepers

The Tehtix move so damn fast – scientists can’t ever keep up… and populations never know what hit them…

In a mind-bending tale of parasitic worms, intelligent wasps and a symbiotic virus, author J. Alan Pierce describes an unusual alien invasion that preserves its victims forever. The story connects themes of dreams and communication. Mr. Pierce had previously written Episode #18, “The One that Got Away.” Finally, Drabble News recounts the story of an alleged alien virus, arising from a meteor falling in Andes. A real-life story of contamination in the same region as the feature story – co-incidence or premonition?  Feedback #34, “The Suit,” rounded out the episode.

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