Book Review: Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer

Now that the formal announcement is out of the way, I have to find something to celebrate this blog surpassing 1 Million Page views. I’m going to review an audio drama, rest assured. But I have something else I have to do first. Something I should have done a long time ago. Robert J. Sawyer has always been one of my absolute favorite science fiction authors. And yet, I haven’t reviewed any of his books on this blog. That ends here and now. We are taking a look at Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer. 

Tom Jericho is a paleontologist who works at the Royal Ontario Museum. Life has certainly had its ups and downs for him. Though, lately more on the down side. Getting diagnosed with lung cancer will do that to a guy. But on the flip-side, aliens have arrived, and they come in peace. In fact, one of them, named Hollus, wants to have a chat with Tom. Hollus is part of a research crew that made a shocking discovery: the universe was created by an intelligent being. A being that they have decided to call God. And Hollus can back up these assertions. What follows in an unlikely friendship blossoming between a dying paleontologist and an alien scientist. They have many conversations about science, the universe, life, mortality, and the people who make it all worthwhile.

So, who is Robert J. Sawyer? I’ve already told you he is one of my absolute favorite science fiction authors. He is also one of the finest science fiction authors Canada has ever produced. He has won numerous awards over the years. But again, this is insufficient. So, I will speak about why I love his work.

Robert J. Sawyer constantly reminds me of why I love science fiction. His works constantly deal with big ideas. Ideas that expand my horizons, and make the universe feel like an even more wondrous place. And he explains them in plain language that is easy to understand. At times, it almost feels like he’s writing especially for me. No matter if it is designing aliens, imagining alternate societies, or contemplating the social ramifications of scientific discoveries. Sawyer is science fiction at its best. And there is a strong spirit of optimism and hope throughout his work. That isn’t to say bad things never happen. But Sawyer believes that we are more than capable of overcoming the bad times. Aliens can be strange, but they aren’t hostile conquerors. They’re curious, inquisitive, and just need a sympathetic ear.

Robert J. Sawyer’s books were some of the first truly adult books I read back in my teenage years. And he was a great start. Another big thread through multiple Sawyer books is the tension between science and religion. Robert J. Sawyer is an atheist, and a big proponent of rationalism and secularism. However, the plots of many of his books deal with scientific discoveries that provide evidence for religious phenomena. This doesn’t mean Sawyer is secretly pro-religion. Far from it. Science fiction is all about asking the question what if? And Sawyer’s work is no exception to that rule. What he’s doing is going “Okay, suppose we could prove this religious phenomena. And suppose it operated within the parameters of the natural world. How would that work, and what are the implications of that?”

I really mulled over which Robert J. Sawyer novel I ought to review first. The Neanderthal Parallax trilogy was my introduction to him. But if you know this blog, you know I fully commit to a trilogy when I say I’ll review it. I’ve got way too many audio drama creators knocking on my door to make that kind of commitment. Speaking of audio drama, I’d considered The Downloaded. Combine my two loves, and kill two birds with one stone. But no, that didn’t feel right. So, that left his standalones. No shortage of great choices, but what to pick? I dithered about it, but in the end, I went with what felt right. And that was the first Sawyer standalone I ever read: Calculating God.

Sawyer said that he was inspired to write Calculating God by thinking about Carl Sagan and Stephen J. Gould. They were two men who championed science and rationality. They were also both avowed atheists who lost their lives to cancer. Sawyer said he wondered what it was like for them as the end drew closer.

On that note, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say there was another reason for this review. I saw a post Sawyer made on Facebook. He said that a few years ago he was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. The good news is that, thanks to a regimen of chemo, radiation and stem cells, his cancer is in remission. The bad news is that mantle cell lymphoma has a 100 percent recurrence rate, and it’s incurable. Eventually, that remission is going to end. But Sawyer has said he has no plans of slowing down any time soon. Still, knowing that the cancer will come back sooner or later…that’s got to weigh on the guy. And I worried it would be in poor taste to pick this book under the circumstances. Still, not like this is the only of Sawyer’s books to touch on the subject. If I had picked Frameshift, we’d definitely still be having this conversation. But Calculating God no doubt was on his mind during the treatment.

Seeing that post lit a fire under me. I felt I had to get this review done so Robert J. Sawyer could see what he means to me. I didn’t want to wait too long in case…

But let us not dwell on that. Let us focus on what a wonderful book Robert J. Sawyer gave us. As I noted, much of the book is devoted to the conversations between Tom and Hollus. Naturally, this does include them discussing the evidence Hollus and her fellow scientists have uncovered. However, they also touch on other subjects as well. There’s an amusing scene where Tom introduces Hollus to Star Trek; as a means of discussing humanity’s ideas about aliens. Upon seeing Spock, Hollus essentially says “That is not an alien. That is clearly a human with pointy ears.” To which Tom says “Hey, cut them some slack. They had a limited budget.”

Robert J. Sawyer is a huge fan of Star Trek: The Original Series and Planet of the Apes. But he’s not above poking fun at both series. And the friendship that Tom and Hollus develop is genuinely quite sweet. Hollus is also a paleontologist, and has come to study Earth’s fossil record.

Sawyer certainly knows how to make some memorable aliens. Forhilnors, the species Hollus belongs to, have spherical bodies, six pairs of legs, and eyestalks. Twisting their eyestalks together is their equivalent of laughing. The books say they look a bit like spiders. But then I saw some official art of Hollus on a recent edition of Calculating God. Here, let me show you. 

It didn’t escape my notice that Forhilnors bear more than a passing resemblance to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Knowing Sawyer, something tells me that wasn’t accidental. And Tom is the one who disputes Hollus’ claims. So, he’s Doubting Thomas. I always thought it was unfair that Thomas got singled out for doubting. If you read the gospels, all the disciples doubted that Jesus was really back.

If you’re wondering about the blue alien, that would be a Wreed. They have thirty-seven fingers, and thus use base thirty-seven for math. Humans use base ten, and Forhilnors use base 8. As a result, Wreeds can’t do any meaningful math. Thirty-Seven is a prime number, so you can’t meaningfully divide it. However, morality comes as simply to them as two plus two does to you and I. Unsurprisingly, the Forhilnors were the ones who made the ship Hollis and her fellow scientists traveled on. The Wreeds just came along for the ride.

An example of this. On the subject of abortion, Wreeds’ advice to humans is to use protection first. But if that fails, it is okay to get an abortion. Tom points out that some humans would say using birth control is immoral. This completely baffles all the aliens. Sawyer has pointed out the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church’s stance on birth control in several of his novels. I went to Catholic middle school and high school, though my family is Methodist. So, believe me, I heard it all. Amusingly, one time I drew a picture of Hollus during some down time in religion class. Turns out my mental image was a bit off the mark, but I’m still fond of that drawing. The teacher saw it, and liked it, and asked what it was. I just said it was an alien from a book I was reading, which was technically true.

One of Tom’s flashbacks hit me like a gut punch. He talks about something that happened when he was a kid. The ROM was having a contest to win a bunch of dinosaur merchandise. If it was about dinosaur trivia, Tom would have had it in the bag. But it was an art contest. Specifically, about making a marionette. Tom tried, he really did, but he just couldn’t make it work. So, another kid won, and the kids didn’t even know the correct names for the dinosaur! Yeah, that one really hit home. I had something very similar happen to me when I was a kid.

A big subplot running through the novel is that the employees of the Royal Ontario Museum are doing their best to make it a great museum. Unfortunately, the museum director has some different ideas, and seems determined to undermine them at every turn. Without getting too specific, because I like being gainfully employed, I’ve had to deal with similar things at my place of employment. Looking back often gives us a new perspective on books.

But on a lighter note, Sawyer always does a fantastic job making Canada sound like a magical place. Robert J. Sawyer is a proud Canadian and a big champion of Canadian science fiction. He said that, early in his career, he was advised to never set his novel in Canada. On the grounds that novels set in Canada wouldn’t sell. Sawyer decided to defy this advice, and he had done perfectly well for himself.

Now, Calculating God did attract a little controversy. Skeptical Inquirer published a review where they accused Sawyer of promoting creationism. They even included quotes from the book that seemed to support this. But you see, there was a slight problem. Those quotes were uttered by the villains of the novel. The ROM is putting on a special exhibit of the Burgess Shale. It is a set of exceptionally well preserved fossils from the Cambrian Era. I got to see some of them at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. They are truly quite the sight to behold. The creationists want to destroy the fossils, by shooting them, to destroy evidence of evolution. They are presented as unambiguously bad for doing this. Oh, and did I mention that one of them is named Falsey? I mean, Sawyer wasn’t being subtle about his actual views.

Frankly, that was no different than those Fundamentalist Christians who ranted about Harry Potter. The ones who quote it to claim it encouraged bad things. But conveniently left out that the quotes were coming from Voldemort. You know, the bad guy.

Now, in Calculating God, one of the big pieces of evidence the Forhilnors have is that our universe is the only one in existence. This is a variation on the fine tuning argument. The claim that the universe is uniquely suited to support life, and therefore, someone must have made it that way. But that argument falls apart in the face of the multiverse hypothesis. If our universe is merely one roll of the dice, then it isn’t all that special. Actual science supports the multiverse hypothesis. Sawyer himself has said he doesn’t believe in the fine tuning argument specifically for this reason.

However, this goes back to what I said about science fiction asking the question what if? Suppose it could be proved that ours is the one and only universe. What are the potential implications of that? That was the question Sawyer was asking. And the God of this novel is very different compared to the one Christians believe in. But that is for the spoiler’s section.

So, we’re about to get into it.

Last chance if you want to turn back.

If everyone who wants out is gone, here we go.

So, what does God look like? Kind of like a shoggoth. Black and kind of globby, but also with lots of tentacles. Like a cross between a squid and a spiral galaxy. God does save Earth from getting fried by radiation after Betelgeuse goes supernova, but for purely selfish reasons. God needs the DNA of humans, Forhilnors, and Wreeds to be combined so that it can reproduce. So, essentially, what we are presented with is a variation of the Deist idea of God. That is, the watchmaker who created the universe, and then left it alone. Only occasionally popping in every now and again, if at all. Certainly doesn’t sound like Christian propaganda, now does it?

But what might irk some readers is how Tom decides to join Hollus’ expedition to meet up with God. This means leaving his wife and son behind. The novel makes it clear that Tom does indeed love his wife and son. He constantly thinks about them, and how they’re going to handle things once he is gone. But he’s got very little time left by this point, and he is a scientist at heart. Plus, at least their final memory of him would be him somewhat healthy and functional. Better that than him being bed ridden and with a bunch of tubes and wires sticking out of him. That’s just my two cents on the matter.

And we simply must talk about the audiobook. It is narrated by Jonathan Davis. He is one of the absolute top of the line narrators in the audiobooks world. But he isn’t alone. Robert J. Sawyer personally introduces the novel before it begins. I loved hearing about the things that inspired him to write Calculating God. He has such a friendly, personable tone. It’s like he’s in the room with you. The music at the beginning and end of the audiobook is beautiful. It was performed by Michael Whalen. He has produced the intro and outro music for countless audiobooks. Quite frankly, he needs to release an album of all the audiobook music he’s made. Sometimes, I’d relisten to the audiobooks just to hear the music again. And to hear Sawyer’s introduction again. 

Fun fact, this audiobook won the Audie Award for Best Science Fiction Audiobook in 2009. 

A lot of people consider Calculating God to be Robert J. Sawyer’s best book. I don’t know if that is true. Like I said, there’s just too many good options to only pick one. But I do know that it is an excellent book, and that you should absolutely pick it up if you have not already.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. 

A Million View for The Audiophile

It’s been a little over a decade since I started this blog. I always had a goal of surpassing 1,000,000 page views. I took pride in the many posts I made along the way. I hoped that at least a few people would enjoy what I had to say. Turns out, quite a few of you did. I always kept my eye towards that 1 Million. It was the summit of the mountain I scaled view by view. I didn’t know what I was doing at first, but I found my footing, and I found my rhythm. And at long last, I have planted my flag upon the summit. 

It brings me great pride to announce that The Audiophile has officially surpassed 1 Million page views. 

It still doesn’t feel real. My longstanding goal finally achieved. I suppose a look back is in order. I got my start writing for Alternate History Weekly Update and Amazing Stories. There were so many amazing stories being produced on podcasts like The Drabblecast, Lightspeed Magazine, and the Escape Artists. However, the search function was a bit shoddy. So, I decided to do something about that. Make curated lists of reviews to help highlight such stories. I also started reviewing books as well.

The Alternate History Weekly Update achieved its goal of 1 Million views in 2016. But it wasn’t long after that when site owner Matt Mitrovich decided to close it down. He wanted to focus on his YouTube channel. I’d already started The Audiophile by that point, but that really gave me the incentive to spread my wings and fly.

I continued the work I’d been doing, and I designed my own alternate history flags. Some of my flags even proved surprisingly popular. But my reviews just weren’t getting the traction I wanted. And it took a lot of investment, in time and focus, to make those lists. So, I shifted my focus towards novels and comic books. I steered clear of superheroes. Not because I disliked them. I’m quite fond of superheroes. But I’m also quite fond of stories with a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. My focus, true to my roots, tended towards alternate history and historical fiction. I also highlighted a few European comics. Honestly, the European comic scene is filled with tons of underrated gems. Especially when it comes to historical fiction and science fiction. But I didn’t turn up my nose to American comics. Plenty of hidden gems there as well.

Then I joined Reddit. Before that, I’d been primarily sharing my reviews and flags on Facebook and Twitter. Reddit completely changed the game. I had access to a wider audience, and a very engaged one at that. I could share across different subreddits. In doing so, I introduced this blog, and the works I reviewed, to readers who might never have encountered them otherwise. My old reviews got a boost in views.

My first major spike in views happened when I decided to do a retrospective of the works of Rick Riordan. That meant Percy Jackson, its sequels, and its spin-offs. I shared it on the r/camphalfblood subreddit, and it was a major hit. I had intended to also do a retrospective of the works of DJ MacHale. That would mean Pendragon, The Morpheus Road, and The SYLO Chronicles. However, fate had other plans for me and my blog.

I had discovered the audio drama community. There were so many wonderful shows. Each one a new present to unwrap. I knew I had to review them, but I kept putting it off. Enter a fellow named Ivan Mirko S. He asked me to review his audio drama The Program. I would often make long, and very detailed, lists of recommendations on the r/audiodrama subreddit. I said yes, but I had to complete a few other reviews first. That, and I was writing a short story for a contest the Journey Into Podcast was holding. My story placed third, and got produced as an episode.

I knew exactly what my first audio drama review would be. A show that completely blew things out of the water. A show that is still very important to me. I’m talking, of course, about 1865. I quickly followed with reviews of The Soyuz Files, Zero Hours, and Lights Out. The Program was a bit like The Audiophile. A little rough at the start, and struggled to find its footing, but really took off when it hit its stride. IMS appreciated my honesty and insight.

Oh, and he was not the last person to ask me for a review. Far from it. I soon had creators from across Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter knocking on my door asking me to review their audio dramas. I discovered many wonderful audio dramas I might not have otherwise found. Poe Theatre on the Air, SPR: Superhuman Public Radio, The TEMP, and Human B-Gon just to name a few. Sometimes I’d see creators asking if people would give their shows a review, and I’d already have the presses fired up.

I’ve had readers tell me they notice I tend to ignore a lot of the really big shows of the audio drama world. But those same readers tell me that’s exactly why they love my reviews. I wasn’t consciously ignoring the big shows. I just go with what looks good to me. The whole reason I started reviewing was me thinking “This is absolutely fantastic, and I think more people should know about it.” But as I continued reviewing, I made a point of trying to seek out audio dramas that, in my view, didn’t get enough attention. I always hoped my reviews could help lift them up.

Sometimes my reviews attracted big names. S.M. Stirling himself left some lovely comments on my reviews of The Peshawar Lancers and On the Oceans of Eternity. I had a German games studio ask me to review their visual novel 1-800-SUPER. I even had a couple of guys from Canada physically mail me their indie comic for review.

But I haven’t just reviewed audio dramas. I’ve also started acting in them. I got to play Slenderman and Ratatoskr in Residents of Proserpina Park. I’m also working as one of the producers of Residents of Proserpina Park. I’ve also been cast in a very exciting historical audio drama. But you’ll hear more about that in the, hopefully, near future. And of course, I now have my own audio dramas, an anthology called The Books of Thoth. As of this writing, it is just shy of 7,000 Downloads.

I’ve come a long way in those ten years or so since I started this blog. I built a community and found my people. I don’t intend on stopping, but I have slowed a bit. I’m devoting my attention to making more episodes of The Books of Thoth. I’m also working with Residents of Proserpina Park. And I do have my day job as an edutainer at the Shreveport Aquarium.

But though my output has slowed, I’m not going anywhere. There’s plenty of audio dramas and audio books yet to review.

But how to commemorate this auspicious occasion? What can best represent how far I have come? I mulled this question over quite a bit. But I kept coming back to the idea of community and the friends I made along the way. So, here is a collage of audio dramas. This isn’t every audio drama I reviewed. I limited myself to the ones I enjoyed to varying degrees. I worried myself silly about the order. But in the end, I went with what felt right to me. 

Thank you all for listening, and for reading. This million isn’t just for me, but for all of us. Creators and readers alike. I wouldn’t be here without all of you. I stand at the summit of one mountain, and look to the summit of the next. Here’s to a million more page views to come. 

The Audio File: A Fox’s Guide to Deurbanisation

I’m back with another requested review. This one has talking foxes, rediscovering roots, and even a bit of chicken korma. So, without further ado, let’s get into it. We’re taking a look at A Fox’s Guide to Deurbanisation. 

Rusty is a fox that has lived in London his entire life. He and his friends get by scavenging food from rubbish bins. Chicken korma is their favorite. But lately, Rusty has grown disillusioned with urban life. His mom died from asthma caused by the smog and pollution, and his dad got run over by a taxi. Rusty’s dad was from the countryside before he met Rusty’s mom and moved to the city. Rusty wants to get back to nature and reconnect with his rural roots. Well, he hasn’t really experience true wilderness before. Still, he’s going to find the forest his dad grew up in, and reconnect with his estranged family. How hard can it be? And he’s going to record it all as part of a podcast he’s making.

This was another audio drama I received a request to review. Series creator Lisa Emily Petersen emailed me requesting a review. It took a while, between my day job at the Shreveport Aquarium, working on The Books of Thoth, and working on the new season of Residents of Proserpina Park. But I finally managed to get around to listening to A Fox’s Guide to Deurbanisation.

The audio drama this most reminds me of is Lights Out. They’re both dramdies that follow casts of semi-anthropomorphic animals. That is, the characters physically look like regular animals, but mentally, they’re basically human. And get into human-like shenanigans, with a animal coat of paint. Lights Out is a true gem of an audio drama, and I was delighted to find an audio drama that reminded me of it.

Amusingly, there is a kernel of truth to A Fox’s Guide to Deurbanisation. Scientists have observed some foxes adapting to life in urban areas. In fact, some scientists believe we’re witnessing the birth of a new subspecies of red foxes. These urban foxes are smaller on average. Easier to blend in and hide that way. And they primarily subsist by scavenging scraps of human food. Though, no word on whether they consider chicken korma superior to other curries. Also, as far as we know, none of these foxes have figured out how to create podcasts.

In some ways, this audio drama feels like an analogy for the experiences of diaspora kids. Children of immigrants grow up hearing stories about their parents’ homelands. It isn’t uncommon for them to wonder if the grass might be greener in the lands of their ancestors. Of course, it's also far from uncommon for them to discover that their parents’ countries have plenty of issues of their own. That, and these diaspora children discover they aren’t always welcomed with open arms, or automatically considered a member of the tribe.

I also see some parallels to…well, people experience a quarter life crisis, I suppose, but even that doesn’t feel quite right. The type who will convert to a new religion, like Buddhism or Paganism, and advocate getting back to nature and living in harmony with Mother Earth. Okay, Rusty isn’t quite that hippie dippie. The point being, they’re the type to take up farming, or living off the land, only to discover that it's actually much harder than they expected. 

A particularly tragic example of this was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He decided to try living off the land in the Alaskan bush. He was constantly starving, he couldn’t get back to civilization because he miscalculated the flooding of the river, refused to use a map and then probably starved to death. Though, some people think he accidentally ate a poisonous plant. 

On a brighter note, one of the major themes of A Fox’s Guide to Deurbanisation is that people are often more than they seem. Characters are frequently introduced in a way that paints them as one note, and often in a very unflattering light. However, later on it will turn out that they have hidden depths. People, and foxes, are complex and multifaceted.

Now, let’s talk about the characters. Rusty, of course, is our protagonist, and host of the in-universe podcast. We never find out how exactly he’s able to operate all of that podcast equipment without opposable thumbs or flexible digits. But details, details. He’s still the number one fox podcast creator. He’s also the only podcast creator who is also a fox, but hey, less competition. Rusty has high hopes for his journey into the wilderness. Suffice it to say, reality hits him like an eighteen wheeler and top speed.

Most of Rusty’s friends think he’s completely crazy out his head. However, he does have one supporter: his best friend Finnick. Get it, like a fennec fox. Anyway, Finnick initially seems like he's the typical best friend character. That is, always supporting Rusty, and having everything about him revolve around Rusty. However, Finnick has more of a spine to him. Rust and Finnick fall head over heels for Amber the Sexy Fox. And yes, that is how she’s listed in the show credits. She’s the most beautiful vixen either of them has either seen. 

Naturally, they have a slap-off. Apparently, that’s a thing foxes actually do to establish dominance. Finnick wins, and he had earlier advocated to Amber should be the one to pick which of them she wants. Nice foxes, it would seem, do not finish last. Of course, we later learn that Amber is into polyamory, so the point is a bit moot. But it was funny to listen to Rusty having to be kept up all night by Finnick and Amber…making baby foxes.

Yeah, despite the premise involving talking animals, A Fox’s Guide to Deurbanisation is not a kids show. Nor is it appropriate for kids. Besides the sex scene, there’s a bit of swearing, references to affairs, and references to alcohol. All well and good, but I do have to ding them in one regard. During the “not for kids” warning we are advised to keep our cubs out of the den. While this is technically acceptable, the more common name for a juvenile fox is kit. Though, points for having Rusty refer to himself as a tod, one of the terms for a male fox.

And another point for having Lucy the Canada Goose sing the sea shanty “Heave Away.” In my day job at Shreveport Aquarium, I will occasionally play the role of Captain Bones the Pirate. Sometimes, to get the kids excited, I’ll get them to do a pirate dance while I sing sea shanties. “Heave Away” is one of my go-to’s. Though, at times Lucy kind of sounded…well, back when Hugh Laurie was best known for A Bit of Fry and Laurie, his attempts to imitate an American accent were a bit off. Like, it was clearly American, but didn’t sound like any of the American regional accents. In fact, at times he sounded a bit constipated. Lucy kind of sounded like that to me, minus the constipation.

I also loved Fitzgerald the Cat. He was a lovable rouge who helped Rusty get out of several jams. I enjoyed the scene where he introduces Rusty to the wonders of wine, and tells him that humans engage in cannibalism every Sunday. They should probably not have been drinking that, given that wine is highly toxic to cats and foxes. Then again, in large enough quantities, it is to humans too. And based on a throw away line, foxes like to eat chocolate, another toxic substance, to get high. In fact, Rusty and his ex-girlfriend were going to move in behind the M&M store. So, uh, yeah, Rusty dodged a bullet on that one.

So, once Rusty makes it to the countryside he has to deal with fox hunters. I know that it is possible to obtain guns in Britain, but significantly harder than in America. For example, in British crime shows, a suspect using a gun is incredibly shocking. In American crime shows…it’s a pretty typical Thursday.

Now, obviously, Rusty reconnects with his family. However, that’s going to be part of the spoilers section. So, if you don’t want any of that, turn back now.

Last chance, sure you want to continue?

Okay, with that out the way, let's get into it.

Rusty’s country cousins are an eclectic bunch. We’ve got his Aunt Hillary. She drinks a bit too much, and she’s having an affair with a badger. But she seems reasonably…decent, I suppose. Then there are his cousins Cricket and Minnow. They consider literal dog shit to be the height of cuisine. He does have another cousin named Flint who shares his love of podcasting. Flint practically worships the ground Rusty walks on. And then we have Elder Estelle. She’s the oldest fox in the area. Why, she just turn four not to long ago. Wait, if four is considered old, how old is Rusty supposed to be?

And rounding out the group is Uncle Graham. Graham is very surly and a bit of a curmudgeon. You see, long ago he loved a beautiful vixen. And he even won the slap off for her paw. Unfortunately, she was a foodie, and the other fox wooed her with some delicious chicken korma. The two of them ran off to London together, and Graham never forgave his brother for stealing his girl.

Surprise! Rusty’s mom was the vixen that came between Uncle Graham and Rusty’s dad. And that’s why Graham taught everyone in his clan to shun delicious chicken korma, and embrace literal dog shit. Granted, the fact that his wife is having an affair with a badger probably doesn’t help.

So, yeah, we started off with fish out of water humor, and we end with family drama, but still comedy. And it all still works.

I enjoyed the scene where Rusty tells off his family for looking down on him for his city ways. I’ve had similar issues with my own family not understanding my interests. And yes, that includes both creating and reviewing audio dramas, and my work with the aquarium.

But it was nice he was able to patch things up with everyone in the end. It was especially amusing that Amber’s slightly hippie-ish methods worked. Just talking things out and using I statements. For example, instead of saying “You’re a dickhead” say instead “I feel that you’re a dickhead.” Actually, that’s not how that’s supposed to work, and Amber says as much, but it was funny that they actually went with that joke.

I also love how the audio drama ends. After everyone has made up we are treated to the sounds of the forest, which transitions to the sounds of the city. The message being that home isn’t a physical place. It’s wherever the people who love you and care about you are. And, you know, having access to chicken korma doesn’t hurt.

So, there you have it. A Fox’s Guide to Deurbanisation is a fun, lighthearted audio drama about a city fox trying to reconnect with his rural roots. It’s got humor, heart, and a cast of fluffy red foxes. Listen to it today, preferably with some chicken korma on hand.

Well, I think that should do from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: Residents of Proserpina Park: Season 5

By now, it should be pretty obvious that I love Residents of Proserpina Park. I mean, I was a voice actor in two previous seasons. So, there’s really not much more to add here. Straight to the point. We’re taking a look at season five of Residents of Proserpina Park. 

This is the flashback arc. The framing device is that Alina and the gang are at the coffee shop that Drew works at. Jessica and Sam are telling stories. They talk about how Junichi and Jessica discovered the park. They talk about the adventures they had with various creatures. They talk about how Junichi and Sam fell in love. But most of all, they talk about how they decided to make their own creation. And of the price they paid for their hubris.

So, this is the season where we finally get answers to long standing questions. Let’s start with the new creatures. Now, way back in season two, we were promised a creature from regional folklore. Sara Roncero-Menendez, who voices dog, mentioned that her family is from the Cantabria religion of northern Spain. It has Celtic heritage, and a slightly different culture from the rest of Spain. This also factors into their folklore.

We did get the Tooth Mouse, which is the equivalent of the Tooth Fairy in a lot of European countries. But that didn’t really feel specific to Cantabria. Well, come season five, and the promise is finally delivered. We get to meet the Ramidreju. It looks like a green weasel, and its nose is exceptionally good at sniffing our buried gold. They’re only born once every 100 years, usually to a family of ordinary weasels. Oh, and they can cure any illness you have. You just need to rub the Ramidreju all over your body.

Okay, now we’re talking! And what’s more, it even proved to be important to the overall plot of the season. It was encountering the Ramidreju that gives Junichi, Jessica, and Sam the idea to create their own creature. Specifically, one that can grant their wishes, and make their lives easier.

I’d been advocating having the leshy appear as far back as season one. Well, I finally got my wish this season. Leshy are forest spirits, and protectors of the forest, from Slavic Mythology. Think of them kind of like the Ents from Lord of the Rings. Residents of Proserpina Park showed a side of the leshy I hadn’t thought about before. You see, houses are made of wood, boats are made of wood, baseball bats are made of wood…sometimes. The point is, a lot of very hard things, and things that can do a lot of damage, are made of wood. An angry leshy would be a very scary sight indeed.

I was also quite happy that we got to hear the Legend of the White Snake. It is one of my favorite stories from Chinese Mythology. It’s about a magical snake who falls in love with a human, and takes the form of a human so she can be with him. They open a medicine shop together, and all is well, until a mean Buddhist monk comes along. He revealed the White Snake’s true nature, and her husband died of shock. She was able to bring him back to life, but then the monk sealed her away, and they were separated forever.

There’s a subtext to this story that often gets missed in retellings. It came from a time when Buddhist and Taoists were competing for influence in China. Obviously, White Snake is a pro-Taoist tale. The main villain is a Buddhist monk, after all. But from this same era, we also have Journey to the West. In that work, the main heroes are on a quest to retrieve copies of the Tripitaka, and they’re sent by Buddha himself no less. Well, Buddha and Guan Yin. By contrast, Laozi, the founder of Taoism, is portrayed as a total moron who fails to notice that many of his students are literally demons.

We also get to hear the story of Stingy Jack. He was a man so wicked that neither Heaven nor Hell wanted him. As a result, he was forced to wander the Earth, with only a turnip lantern to light his way. Irish immigrants brought this story with them when they moved to the United States. But they swapped the turnips for pumpkins. And that’s where jack o’ lanterns came from. I bring this up because The Moonlit Road, another podcast I absolutely adore, also did a retelling of Stingy Jack. And they released it around the time Residents of Proserpina Park’s episode came out. It was an amusing parallel.

Another amusing coincidence came with the cast for this season. One of the Aos Si is voiced by Cameron Gergett. I had previously cast him in The Books of Thoth. He came recommended by the creator of Brave New Frontiersman. Specifically, I cast him as the homeless man in “It Was the Best Day Ever.” It was the first time I had encountered one of my actors in an audio drama that I hadn’t previously heard them in.

The Aos Si are one of the many names for the faeries from Irish Folklore. But don’t let that fool you. Faeries in Irish Folklore are kind of the yokai from Japanese Folklore. They’re kind of like minor gods. In some tellings, they’re descended from the Tuatha Dé Danann, the gods of Irish Mythology. In other words, the Aos Si are not something you want to mess with.

We also get more insight into Jessica and Junichi. Jessica spent most of her life as an outcast, and a frequent target of bullying. Junichi and Sam were pretty much the only friends she ever really had. One of her goals with Pelu is hoping that he’ll be able to give her more friends. We also learn that Sam lost his mom to cancer fairly recently. I mean…wow. Is Sam ever going to catch a break?

I also noticed some interesting parallels to other works of fiction. Yes, there’s an obvious one to Frankenstein. A group of college students focusing more on if they can do something, rather than if they should, and paying the price. But I also noticed parallels to The Magicians by Lev Grossman. For those who don’t know, it follows a young man named Quentin Coldwater who is accepted into a magical college called Brakebills. He learns magic, makes friends, goes to a Narnia-esque land…and deals with depression, anxiety, insecurity, and general ennui. Yeah, the books are a deconstruction of both Harry Potter and Narnia.

The second book in the series, The Magician King, has a plotline the follows The Hedge Witches. They had magical potential, but failed the Brakebills entrance exam. So, they start experimenting with magic on their own. And much of that experimenting also involves digging into ancient mythology. This ultimately culminates in them attempting to summon a pagan deity, in hopes that they can make a transaction with it. Without getting into spoilers, they learn that they’ve been messing with forces they barely understand, and pay a dear price for their hubris.

This season of Residents of Proserpina Park probably wasn’t referencing The Magicians. But it was an interesting parallel I noticed. If nothing else, you should read The Magicians if you haven’t. They are very good books.

Now, all that being said, I did also have a few critiques of this season. At times, it felt like Sam’s relationship with both Junichi and Jessica developed a tad fast. It felt like we were jumping around in time a lot, and that there was missing connective tissue. Granted, I kind of understand why this is. Angela Yih probably didn’t want to cover too much territory that she’d already done with Alina and Alina’s friends.

Then there was the episode where we finally meet Hades. We’ve met gods, such as Anansi, on previous occasions. But this is the first time we’ve encountered one of the Olympians. That’s a completely different weight class of mythical being. So, I was expecting those scenes to be fittingly grand and ominous. But when we meet him, Hades just sounds like a regular dude. It feels very underwhelming and anticlimactic. Also, the trip to meet Hades was a little underwhelming. One instant we are in the park, and then boom, we’re in the underworld. Granted, this is going to be rectified come season six.

But how would I know that? Well, Angela Yih has taken me onto the production staff for season six of Residents of Proserpina Park. I’m helping to write the scripts and produce the episodes. I’d like to thank Angela Yih for this opportunity.

I’d also like to thank Angela for helping to promote The Books of Thoth. We recorded a bonus episode of Residents of Proserpina Park where she interviewed me about this blog, reviewing audio dramas, my day job at Shreveport Aquarium, and my work on The Books of Thoth. It was really fun to get to do, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

And so, with that, we’re all caught up to the present. Season five of Residents of Proserpina Park is the flashback arc that reveals how the main plot was set into motion. We get to meet several exciting new creatures, and get some insight into returning characters.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.