Lone Wolf Sage Co

Posted By Mark Carpenter on January 15, 2010

Will here we go A.P. Stephens. A.P. asked me to review his book and I was pleased to be asked. Let’s start with the bad news first. The recording on this book is in need of remastering from an audio quality perspective. While I am aware that this is a first time effort by the author and narrator to produce an audio book it is my humble opinion that some back end effort to do this book justice is in need. The narrator has a great voice for the story, but the beginning of the book he is talking way to fast and the hiss and pops are really distracting since I listen to it load on my car stereo the pops shock me. I have a suggestion for him and it is to go to the podiobooks mentors and ask them how to fix the problems with the recording or bottom line is start again and rework at least the first five episodes. I believe the readership will greatly improve if they take the time to do it right. The story is certainly worth it and the narrator is gifted and has by now learned quite a bit about production.

Now for the story, Stephens has a great saga going on! He also does a great job with the details without over doing it. It is a killer plot line. He makes good used of the elves, dwarves, men, wizards and werewolves to boot you can’t get that in any cereal box! I will say that I enjoyed it as much as the lord of the rings saga. The only problem with the story is it was to short it left me wanting a lot more from this world. If he could produce the rest of the saga really fast it would be completely appreciated. Because I really enjoyed the story I am willing to forgo the bad for what is the better than good which is a great story. I hope he reworks the audio 1st book because it might or I might even nominate him for a Parsec award.

The White Shadow Saga: The Stolen Moon of Londor by A.P. Stephens

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The era of peace among the elves, men, and dwarves comes to an end when one of Londor’s twin moons disappears from the heavens…..Without the moon’s balancing effect, evil forces grow bold, and warfare, sickness, and chaos threaten life itself.

Hearing the prayers of desperation that ride on the violent winds, the ancient wizard Randor Miithra, servant to the elf-gods, takes it upon himself to mend the world he has sworn to protect. The task will not be an easy one, though, for the wizard, too, has begun to feel the effects of the world’s imbalance. As Randor struggles to maintain some semblance of his powers, he meets a secretive band of colorful characters from all walks of life, drawn together by a common goal: to find the stolen moon, whatever the cost. It does not take Randor and his motley company long to see that someone or something does not want the moon returned to the heavens.

The road is perilous….the stakes have never been greater….will they find victory…or will they only find their deaths?

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Tags: A.P. Stephens, Fantasy, Pod-novel, PODCAST, The White Shadow Saga

Posted By Hooked on January 7, 2010

One of the founders of Podiobooks.com and author Tee Morris and his young daughter Sonic Boom Have suffered the unexpected loss of a wife and a mother. While I didn’t know her I can sympathize with this sad event. I would like to ask all of my readers to give what you can. The fund was set up to cover the expenses and then a trust fund for Sonic Boom.
My heart felt condolences go our to Tee and his daughter.

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Posted By Mark Carpenter on December 31, 2009

 Seth Harwood is a remarkable writer; blending an action-packed thriller with a surprisingly hard-hitting emotional drama is not easy to create. Jack Palms struggles with the demons of  his past and we get to watch. Jack Palms 3 has some of the best action sequences I’ve heard, including a fantastic chase sequence through San Francisco’s Chinatown. I was also very pleased to hear multiple voice talents in the mix in these books, which lends the storytelling a lot of credibility. Seth Harwood’s productions remain light on the sound effects.

Jack Palms 3 by Seth Harwood

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This is where it boils down, eager listeners. JACK PALMS is back out on the streets of San Francisco after a brief stint in the hospital, and he’s ready to track down the man at the heart of the city’s problems, Alexi Akakievich. With the Czechs back in town, Detective Shaw more pissed off than ever, and a new batch of thugs on the loose, everything’s dialed up to eleven once again.

Will Jack make it through this? Will we see JACK PALMS 4? Listen now to follow this action-packed, episodic ride through mayhem on the urban streets. Forces collide, wills clash, and you’ve got to hear this one to believe what Seth Harwood has cooked up now!

Category: Blog, Podcast Reviews, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tags: fiction, Jack Palms, Pod-novel, PODCAST, Seth Harwood

Posted By Mark Carpenter on December 28, 2009

Again, another completely enjoyable book, thoroughly entertaining. There is something about this series that leaves me feeling happy for the whole day when I listen on my morning commute. I have enjoyed the interesting assortment of names, personalities, and events as well!

Full Share Nathan Lowell

A Trader’s Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper : Book 3.The Lois McKendrick runs headlong into trouble when a routine in-system transit goes bad. Ishmael and the rest of the crew must scramble to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it in order to keep the ship alive. Learn more about the officers and crew of the Lois McKendrick as they struggle to keep their ship and discover how Ishmael finds out how wrong he’s been about what it means to be a spacer in this latest Trader’s Tale.

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Tags: Full Share, Nathan Lowell, novel, Pod-novel, PODCAST, Science Fiction

Posted By Mark Carpenter on December 18, 2009

If you haven’t already listened to Seth Harwood’s first Jack Palms Novel, Jack Wakes Up, you should. It’s well worth your time. I couldn’t wait to hear the rest of the story.
This book hooked me from the beginning. ‘Jack Palms II: This Is Life’ is the sequel to the Jack Wakes Up by Seth Harwood. If you like your hard-edged crime stories seasoned with organized crime, dirty cops, and down and out heroes, ‘Jack Palms II: This Is Life’ is for you.
Harwood takes his washed-up, deadbeat actor Jack Palms, who is just trying to make something halfway respectable out of his life, and hurls him back into a world of gangsters, corrupt cops and politicians, and international crime rings. With every chapter, the tension is notched up, again and again. Jack Palms realizes that its not enough for him to have once been an action hero on the silver screen; this is life, and if he’s going to survive the mess that he’s got himself into, he’s going to have to become that hero.
Besides a couple of audio problems: A little hissing in the background while Harwood reads and a couple of minor editing problems this is a well done podcast. Let me just say I have a very good stereo in my truck and listen to stuff louder than others would.

Jack Palms II: This Is Life by Seth Harwood

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Jack Is Back! Yes, Jack Palms is back to bring you more of the action, suspense and excitement that you came to expect from the hit podiobook Jack Wakes Up.

In This Is Life, Jack Palms finds himself caught in a working relationship with none other than the San Francisco police. When one of their own gets killed and corruption invades the Hall of Justice, Sgt. Mills Hopkins hires Jack to poke around. Is Jack ready for his own brand of police work? Is San Francisco?

Follow Jack Palms as he tries to figure out if the life of a Private Eye fits him, hunts a cop-killer, and tries to solve a series of murders that leads him into the heart of San Francisco’s sex trade.

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Tags: fiction, Jack Palms, PODCAST, Seth Harwood

Posted By Mark Carpenter on December 11, 2009

Science Fiction

Nathan Lowell, your writing is truly masterful and your voice is perfect for these podcasts. Thank you so much for sharing your gift with the us.

An amazing series. I have gone through Quarter Share and all the available episodes of Half Share twice in the last week or so. I find myself going home so i can listen to the whole book and then relisting to it on my drive. I am Loving these books.

But mostly, I’m impressed by how real these characters are coming to be. The chapter introducing Sarah really brings this out suddenly, we’re not seeing characters speak their lines, but people interacting with each other in real ways.

Half Share by Nathan Lowell

Science Fiction

A Trader’s Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper : Book 2

After Ishmael Wang is promoted to the environmental section, he’s caught in a swirl of mystery, doubt, belief, lust and a really nice fitting pair of jeans. He has to come to grips with what it means to be a spacer while he’s still trying to figure out what it means to be a man. Join Ishmael, Brillo, Pip, and the rest of the crew of the Lois McKendrick as they help the newest member of the crew adjust to life in the Deep Dark.Half Share is the sequel to Quarter Share, also available at Podiobooks.com.Note: Some scenes in Half Share involve adult themes, nudity, sex and references to religions not based on Judeo-Christian traditions. Read at your own risk.

Category: Blog, Podcast Reviews, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: great book, Half Share, Nathan Lowell, Pod-novel, PODCAST, Science Fiction, Space, suspense

Posted By Mark Carpenter on December 4, 2009

Horror/Dark Fantasy

Good Story! It is my opinion a story with a very slow start. If I had followed Sigler’s advice, well, lets just say, good thing I didn’t do as I was told; cause, I would not have finished. I didn’t get into it until chapter 10 that is when it became a good listen. That being said my other grip is as follows: I understand that these are “donations accepted” audio books, but do you have to use the first one and one-half minutes of each episode with commercials? After hearing the sports company commercials so much I would never go to the store, it was simply not contagious or infecting. Sigler make the pain intensely real for the characters so real that the listener can almost feel it. Ouch! The research this accomplished author did shows and makes it quite believable.

Infected by Scott Sigler

Across America a mysterious disease is turning ordinary people into raving, paranoid murderers who inflict brutal horrors on strangers, themselves, and even their own families.
Working under the government’s shroud of secrecy, CIA operative Dew Phillips crisscrosses the country trying in vain to capture a live victim. With only decomposing corpses for clues, CDC epidemiologist Margaret Montoya races to analyze the science behind this deadly contagion. She discovers that these killers all have one thing in common – they’ve been contaminated by a bioengineered parasite, shaped by a complexity far beyond the limits of known science.
Meanwhile Perry Dawsey – a hulking former football star now resigned to life as a cubicle-bound desk jockey – awakens one morning to find several mysterious welts growing on his body. Soon Perry finds himself acting and thinking strangely, hearing voices . . . he is infected.
The fate of the human race may well depend on the bloody war Perry must wage with his own body, because the parasites want something from him, something that goes beyond mere murder.

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Tags: Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction, Scott Sigler

Posted By Mark Carpenter on November 29, 2009

Science Fiction

I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in a long time. This book doesn’t become some heavy, with evil plots no overdone space battles. WOW. I like how the events flow smoothly. It gives a nice feel to the story. It charts the everyday lives of these people. Really, there is plenty of drama in our real lives that we don’t need Star Wars or Storm trooper haunting our daily existence, and this book delivers that. I just enjoyed being among these characters. I like the nonchalant cohabitations of the sexes without everyone acting like each other as a sex object. I like the notion that being on a ship isn’t really different than being on a planet it has the potential to be pretty boring. the only antidote to that is to get involved and work hard.
There are a number of really good podiobooks and other podcast stories that I’ve listened to. But it is extremely rare for me to listen to any of them more than once. I’ve listened to Quarter Share more than once! There is a natural quality to the way that Nathan Lowell reads the story so it never seems like the story is being read, but like Ishmael is actually telling the story to you.

Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell

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A Trader’s Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper : Book 1

When Ishmael Wang is orphaned by a flitter crash, he must make some hard decisions about how to survive in a Company-owned universe. With limited time and fewer options, he lands a job as the newest hand on the Solar Clipper Lois McKendrick and learns there’s more to life than making coffee. Join Ish, Pip, Big Bad Bev, and the rest of the Lois McKendrick’s crew as they sail the galaxy in search of profitable trade.For more information on the book and the Golden Age, see http://www.durandus.com/golden

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Tags: great book, Nathan Lowell, Quarter Share, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Series, suspense

Posted By Mark Carpenter on October 19, 2009

First off let me say this, Phil Rossi has a way with words that allows you to visualize and experience the eeriness and darkness that haunts the Crescent station. But I think there was to much decryption. Crescent is an ominous space station floating beyond the frontier of conquered safe space. Maybe Babylon 5 gone bad? Phil Rossi is a great podcaster and I really enjoy his stuff and maybe I was expecting a little more than I got. I will say that I enjoyed it but wasn’t totally blown away.

I really loved the music and the additional soundtrack he gave of his original compositions when my wife purchased the book.

Crescent by Phil Rossi

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Some places are far darker than deep space. Places where the shadows smile. Where men go mad and lovers go missing. These stygian corners of existence are where reality is stretched thin and something hungry is waiting just outside the corner of your eye.

Turn out the lights, take a deep breath, and dare to visit one of these places.

Crescent is dark science fiction at it’s most visceral. Phil Rossi weaves a tale that is reminiscent of old school Stephen King but with a shiny, new set of tricks and an appetite to terrify. There’s sex. There’s corruption. There’s horror. And after you sweat your way through the first chapter, there’s plenty more to keep you awake at night.

Crescent features an original soundtrack written and performed by the author.

“… what is right now, my addiction — Crescent. I’m waiting to see what happens with the freakin’ story. *I* do this to people, other people don’t do this to me!” — Scott Sigler, author of Infested (Infection), Earthcore, and Ancestor.

“If you’re debating about subscribing to Crescent, I’ve got one question: Why are you hesitating? Just push the button that says “Subscribe” and hold on. This podcast is part Babylon 5, part Firefly, and part Blade Runner… only darker.” — Tee Morris, Author of Morevi, Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword, and co-author of Podcasting for Dummies.

“The writing is great, the reading is first class; the production – the use of atmospheric music and ambient sound like crowd noise is really effective.” — Mike Bennett, author of One Among the Sleepless

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Posted By Mark Carpenter on September 11, 2009

Dragon Ore by Brian Rathbone

Author Promo and Podioracket Blog Talk Radioshow

Clinging to life, Catrin Volker struggles to regain her strength as her foes go in search of even greater power. Ancient enemies threaten and forgotten alliances emerge in the exciting conclusion of The Dawning of Power trilogy.

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Tags: Audio Book, Brian Rathbone, Dragon ore, Fantasy, great book, novel, Pod-novel, PODCAST, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Series