The Audio File: Spaceships: Season 2

Well, this is the third time in a row that I’ve done a review of a new season of an audio drama. I don’t really have anything to add. So, let’s get right into it. We’re taking a look at season two of Spaceships. 

When we last left UHS freighter William Mackie, he’d just gone through a wormhole in search of new adventures. And find them he did. A massive orbital ring named Deity is planning on conquering the galaxy. To this end, she is recreating organic life by combining the DNA of all sentient lifeforms into a composite organism. The result, admittedly, leaves something to be desired. But hey, Will likes the little abominations. Will, along with his old pal Otto, is going to have to protect the new organoids. Not just from Deity, but from other spaceships who aren’t keen on the return of organic life. There’s adventure, thrills, and even a little reality television on this season of Spaceships.

Spaceships started things off with an excellent first season. How does season two compare? Why, as a worthy follow up.

So, we’ve got a few new characters this season. Will has a repair drone that can go outside of him and fix things. The drone doesn’t talk, but the general impression that I got was something like R2-D2. That is to say, communicates in beeps and boops, that would probably translate into something along the lines of “Can somebody please explain why I’m working for this guy, again?”

But, the most significant addition would be Will’s little mutant adoptive baby. As previously mentioned, the new organoids are what happens when you throw the DNA of all sentient lifeforms in a blender and set to extra chunky. I’d compare them to ogres, but frankly, that would be an insult to ogres. They’re dimwitted, slovenly, and incredibly violent. On the other hand, they’re also fairly resilient. They can survive getting thrown out of an airlock, among other things. Sure, they’re prone to getting into fights with each other, but then, wasn’t humanity? And for that matter, from what little we hear, the other sentient races didn’t get along so well either. I guess what I’m saying is, perhaps a certain spark of humanity does live on in those little mutant genetic abominations.

I had speculated back in season one that perhaps something like the Immortality Drive could be used to revive humanity. I seems I was somewhat right, but in a far different way than I could have imagined. Oh, and the new organoids have fifteen fingers…on each hand. Well, you know how A.I. tends to be when it comes to getting the correct number of fingers.

The way that Will dotes on his organoid reminds me of Human B-Gon, and how Kit would, in his mind, dote on Poo-Poo. Actually, I know I’ve joked about Spaceships being a secret sequel to Cars, but what if it’s actually a prequel to Human B-Gon? Yeah, probably not, at least as things currently stand in Spaceships canon. That, and they’re made by different creators. Still, I thought it was an amusing joke theory.

We also get a lot of fun episodes that aren’t directly related to the main plot. One of my favorites is about a spaceship who runs a podcast about the history of spaceship civilization. It was a loving spoof of The History of Rome with Mike Duncan, and of history podcasts in general.

Though, the part where the spaceship discontinues the podcast because history has become a subscription service was…well, I don’t know if I felt like laughing or crying. I still remember, from a few years back, the fear that losing Net Neutrality would lead to a tiered internet. No doubt with various subscription and premium fees rolling out. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened, and here’s hoping it never does.

On a lighter note, Mike Duncan has since dipped his toes into science fiction. The latest season of Revolutions chronicles the fictional Martian Revolution.

Another fun episode has Otto visit a planet where their entire culture is based on reality television. Otto actually does surprisingly well and actually comes to enjoy it. You might think Will would be in heaven, but that was in a different episode. Specifically, the one where he gets to visit a shipping center, and find a warehouse full of televisions are far as his sensors can detect.

I suppose we also ought to talk about Deity and Archangel. Deity is a ringworld, which you might know from the Larry Niven novel of the same name. For those who don’t, imagine a giant artificial ring, even bigger than a planet. And on this ring there are mountains, seas, forests, and all the other types of land you’d expect on a planet. As her name suggests, Deity hopes to position herself as the goddess of the new organoids, but also of the spaceship civilization. Archangel, fitting to his name, is her ever loyal lackey.

Besides them, Will also has to keep the organoids a secret from the Spaceship Alliance. They aren’t too keen on the idea of organic life returning to the universe. I mean, I can see their point. Their concern is that organics would expect spaceships to be their servants and/or slaves. All the same, as an organic being myself, I’m on Will and Otto’s side.

Now, as fun as this season was, I do have a few minor critiques. Primarily, how Will dealt with Maya’s death from last season. He hasn’t exactly forgotten her. There are a few occasions where Will evokes Maya’s belief in spaceships building a peaceful civilization, and co-existing with organics. However, he seems to have gotten over her death fairly quickly. True, there’s a lot going on this season, and maybe that distracted him. And it is true that Will took his crew’s deaths in considerable stride. Still, you’d think he’d take a few quiet moments to reflect and mourn.

What does the future hold for Spaceships? Well, I’ve got no speculation, but I certainly hope we get a third season at some point.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank Filip Momirovski for running the trailer for The Books of Thoth on certain episodes of Spaceships.

So, there you have it. Season two of Spaceships brings more high flying science fiction dramedy. Will and Otto return for another out of this world adventure. If you enjoyed season one, you’ll want to listen as soon as possible.

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

The Audio File: Chain of Being

As is often the case, there are times when I’m aware of an audio drama for a while. However, sometimes it takes me a bit to get around to them. It helps when I get a nudge in that direction. But it almost always proves to be worth the wait. So, without further ado, let’s get into the audio drama we’ll be reviewing today. We’re taking a look at Chain of Being. 

Chain of Being is set far into the future. Humanity has spread to the stars, encountered numerous alien races, and made major advances in science and technology. And yet this world of tomorrow is very much connected to the mythical past. Magic exists alongside science and technology, leviathans and angels attack unsuspecting spaceships, and gods constantly meddle in the affairs of humanity and the other sentient races. The series follows Adam Delta 5. He is the biblical Adam, the very first human ever created. Adam has been wandering the universe for thousands of years, and has grown a bit distant from the rest of humanity. Lately, however, Adam is taking more interest in humanity. A strange force is mutating beings across the universe, and twisting them into strange and unnatural forms. A force that may have a connection to Adam’s past.

I had been aware of Chain of Being for a while. I had been giving some thought to checking it out. Then I got followed by Chain of Being on Twitter. That certainly bumped Chain of Being up in my listening schedule. I have had many audio dramas follow me on Twitter, and I have speculated that they might be fishing for a review. I am always happy to review any audio drama that asks me. However, if you really want to make sure your show gets reviewed, the best way is to ask me directly. My Twitter DMs are open, if you don’t want to ask me in public. You can also message me on Reddit. You can also message this blog’s fan page on Facebook, or you can message my personal Facebook account. Point is, there’s a lot of ways to get in touch with me.

Chain of Being is a member of the Faustian Nonsense podcast network. They are a network of several quality fiction podcasts, such as The Lavender Tavern. One episode of Chain of Being features Kieran Walsh, who plays Gino Whelan on fellow Faustian Nonsense show The Green Horizon.

The first few episodes of Chain of Being are a bit shorter, and are primarily there to ease the viewer into the setting. The show truly starts around episodes six and seven, Epistasis parts 1 and 2. That’s the point where Adam officially appears. I do understand why series creator Cai Gwilym Pritchard started with these prequel episodes. The setting of Chain of Being is a very unusual one. I can best describe Chain of Being as what would happen if China Miéville decided to make an audio drama. The key word here is weird, as in Weird Fiction. Think things along the lines of the stories from The Drabblecast. I would also classify Chain of Being as mythpunk. We’ve got an advanced futuristic setting, but we also have mythological gods and magic existing side-by-side with science and technology. 

You do get some hints of familiarity here and there. There’s certainly plenty of biblical allusions, and nods to various mythologies. However, they’re often presented in an unusual context. For example, our protagonist is the biblical Adam, but he’s an immortal, and he has glass horns and completely black eyes. I thought the horns might have been an obscure mythological reference. However, Cai Gwilym Pritchard says that they’re meant to be a reference to the Mark of Cain.

The politics of the various human and alien races are reasonably easy to follow along with. There’s an alliance of planets that is trying to create unity among the various races of the galaxy. However, they frequently do this by forcibly relocating people to frontier planets, even if it means breaking up families, in hopes of speeding-up integration. And there’s this group of human supremacists who are all descended from colonists from Mars, Venus, and various other parts of our Solar System. Earth is considered semi-mythical, and nobody really knows what became of it. Obviously, the human supremacists are pretty fascist. 

All easy enough to follow, but I also feel I don’t have the complete picture of Chain of Being’s universe. But this is very much by design. Cai Gwilym Pritchard has stated that they deliberately withheld certain bits of worldbuilding. They reason that works set on Earth don’t go into detail about Earth’s entire history. As such, the Chain of Being universe would be no different in that regard.

As previously mentioned, there are numerous references to mythology and religion from Earth. For example, we first encounter Adam aboard an ark ship that is carrying some of the last surviving specimens of birds from East Africa. This is clearly a nod to the story of Noah and the Ark. Interesting that the birds were from East Africa, as that is where humans first evolved. I’m tempted to think that was deliberate. One of the prequel episodes features a character named Tubal Cain. He’s a minor character mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and is claimed to be the world’s first blacksmith.

Angels are described as being Lovecraftian monstrosities that look like a collection of wings and eyes. There are many different types of angels, and the description matches that Seraphim. They worship God directly by surrounding the Throne of Heaven and constantly chanting “Holy! Holy! Holy!” Maybe we’ll get some Cherubs in season two of Chain of Being. Pop culture depicts them as winged babies, but the Bible describes them as having four faces; a man’s face, a lion’s face, an ox’s face, and an eagle’s face. Those are also the symbols of the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in that order. It is said that a Cherub guards the entrance to the Garden of Eden. In other types of angels, there’s also the Ophanim. They look like several interlocking wheels made out of eyes.

Adam at one point mentions the different gods that created the different sentient races of the galaxy. Interestingly, it wasn’t Yahweh or Elohim who created humanity. Rather, it was a goddess named Epicurosa. She doesn’t appear to have an analog in any actual mythology, and appears to have been made-up for Chain of Being. Cai Gwilym Pritchard has said they feel a bit embarrassed that most of the aliens are humanoid. However, I think Chain of Being has a pretty brilliant explanation for that. Humans were created in the image of the gods, so it would make sense that other sentient races would be humanoid. It is mentioned that humans aren’t the only race that Epicurosa created. We later learn that Eden is located in another dimension, and is basically the test lab of the gods. The garden is but one small section of it.

There’s a couple religious orders dedicated to the Greco-Roman gods Nemesis and Cupid respectively. So, that means the Greek gods are out there somewhere. I guess that works. The Old Testament doesn’t necessarily deny the possibility that other gods exist; just that you shouldn’t worship them. Though, it does make me wonder how many other gods from Earth are running around. The sign of the entity that is mutating everyone kind of sounded similar to the Elder Sign from the Lovecraft Mythos. I’m not sure if that was a coincidence or not. Or here’s a thought, what if it was meant to be the Chain of Being itself?

So, what exactly is this Chain of Being thing? The Chain of Being is a philosophical concept. It was codified during the Middle Ages by thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, but it has its roots in the teachings of Aristotle and Plato. The Chain of Being organizes all things in the universe into orders of importance and complexity. God is at the top and minerals are at the bottom. There were also subdivisions within the different sections of the chain. For example, monarchs reigned at the top of human society, and men ranked above women. The Chain of Being was used, among other things, to justify the divine right of kings, and to deny women opportunities to advance in society. Yeah, not a particularly nice system. One of the ways Western society managed to advance was by rejecting the rigid hierarchy of the Chain of Being.

Now, let’s talk about the voice acting. Cai Gwilym Pritchard provides the voice of Adam. Adam speaks with a notable echo. It often sounds like multiple voices speaking at once. This gives Adam an eternal and otherworldly quality. As the series progresses, however, this echo becomes increasingly subdued. Perhaps that symbolizes how Adam is regaining his connection with humanity once again. I should also note that Cai Gwilym Pritchard created Chain of Being at the tender age of seventeen. They wanted to see more science fantasy stories, and decided to be the change they wanted to see in the world. Quite the accomplishment that was indeed. All of the other actors also give excellent performances.

The only real point of criticism I have is the transcripts. They aren’t easy to find on Faustian Nonsense’s website, and it will always display the transcript for the first episode, no matter which episode you click. You find them by selecting an episode, and then clicking the three little dots. Now, Chain of Being does have full transcripts on its Tumblr account, but I wouldn’t have known this if I hadn’t come across it by chance. Transepts are important so that listeners with disabilities can enjoy audio dramas. They’re also quite helpful for people who write reviews as well.

Season one of Chain go Being has certainly been intriguing. Personally, I’m hoping we find out what happened to Eve. Adam doesn’t give much info, as it is still a touchy subject for him, but something significant happened with Eve. Did she grow old and die, while he remained immortal? Or is she immortal, but they had a falling out somewhere along the way? Also, the human supremacists are apparently going to be the main antagonists of season two. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

But whatever the future holds, I do know that season one of Chain of Being was really great. It combines science fiction, mythology, and magic in a far future where gods still meddle in the affairs of humanity, and the other sentient races. A very unusual setting, to be sure, but also a very creative one. Give it a listen today.

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

The Audio File: Spaceships: Season 1

My policy for serialized shows is that they must have at least one complete season before I commit to a review. Today’s review is a show that has just completed its first season. I am very excited to finally be able to review this one. So, let’s not wait any longer. We’re taking a look at Spaceships. 

Spaceships takes place in a future where humanity has spread to the stars, and is part of a thriving galactic community of sentient races. Humans and aliens have both created countless AI-equipped spaceships to help them out. One day, for seemingly no reason, all sentient organic beings suddenly drop dead. The spaceships, and other mechanical sophonts, must now build a civilization of their own. The series follows UHS freighter William Mackie, science research vessel Maya Hironaga, and Ocanar warship Otto. Together, they will explore the galaxy, encounter strange new spacecraft, and try to discover what led to the death of all intelligent organic beings.

I have been a fan of Spaceships for quite a while now. I discovered them over on the r/audiodrama subreddit back when they only had one episode out. It was around the same time I discovered Residents of Proserpina Park. Incidentally, this was also back when Residents of Proserpina Park only had one episode out. The premise looked interesting, so I decided to give it a listen. I liked what I heard, and I eagerly awaited more episodes. This came in due time, and here we are now.

Despite the rather macabre premise, I can best describe Spaceships as a dramedy. There’s plenty of moments of levity and humor to balance out the action and humor. Series creator Filip Momirovski also includes a fair bit of social commentary and satire about human nature. For example, it is mentioned that humans frequently stereotyped the Ocanar as being violent and warlike. However, humanity itself was prone to getting into quite a few wars with other races. So, it was kind of a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Well, that and the war with the Ocanar was also started over stupid reasons. The Ocanar live underground, and don’t mix well with flash photography. The human delegation, unfortunately, forgot this at an attempted peace talk.

We also see that self-driving cars have finally become a thing. Though, they’re all rather prone to road rage. That episode also included some jabs about how humanity has been taking its sweet time with trying to combat climate change. Wait, so the self-driving cars are now the dominant intelligent lifeforms on Earth. Does this mean that Spaceships is secretly a prequel to Pixar’s Cars movies? Hmm, nah, probably just an amusing coincidence. Especially since none of the sentient vehicles are anthropomorphic.

Filip Momirovski has said that, should Spaceships ever be adapted as an animated series, a lot of the humor would come from the fact that the spaceships all look like normal non-sentient spaceships. He envisions there being points where the camera would do a close up on the spaceships, but they’d just look like, well, non-anthropomorphic spaceships. An animated adaptation is probably not in the cards any time in the near future. However, Spaceships is being adapted as a comic book. It is being released on the Spaceships Patreon page at a time. Also, for those wondering, the spaceships on the series title card are, from left to right and moving in a circle, Otto, Will, and Maya.

So, let’s discuss the characters. Will is a freighter with the personality of a frat boy. He’s impulsive, scatterbrained, immature, and can be a bit of a horndog at times. In fairness, a lot of this can be blamed on Will’s crew. They were all really into trashy reality television, and Will tends to use what he learned from those shows as a guide to life. Still, despite his flaws, Will always tries to do right by his friends. There’s almost nothing he can’t accomplish when he really put his mind to it. Of course, given how easily distracted Will can be, this is easier said than done. Will tends to be the one who provides the comic relief throughout the series. Will is voiced by Bobby Gaglini.

Otto is an Ocanar warship. He’s stern, serious, and is comically bound to the Ocanar code of valor. Otto is very quick to suggest just shooting whatever problems the spaceships come across. Much like Will, this can be blamed on his upbringing. The Ocanar are, basically, Klingons. So, it is only natural that Otto would be so aggressive and warlike. Well, that and, you know, he’s a warship. And to be fair, he’s not always wrong when he advocates for shooting things. Though he wouldn’t be quick to admit it, deep down, Otto does value Will and Maya as friends. Otto is voiced by Bobby Gaglini, and I must say, never would have guessed that Otto and Will shared a voice actor. In fact, Bobby voiced several male characters on Spaceships. 

Rounding out the main trio is Maya. She is a science research vessel. The extinction of humanity hit her the hardest. She’s always been fascinated by humans, and was quite close to her crew. She’s the most level-headed of the main trio, and often has to talk Will and Otto out of their especially harebrained schemes. Maya initially doesn’t care much for Will and his advances, but she warms up to him with time. Maya is also the most determined to find out why organic beings have all dropped dead at once. If nothing else, she can’t let her crews’ deaths have been for nothing. She’s also determined to help spaceships establish a new civilization; hopefully, one that is free from the flaws of the organics. Maya is voiced by Arson Alfaro.

I must take a moment to compliment the music and soundscaping. It is all very professional, and quite high-quality, especially for an indie show. It is easily on par with anything you might find at a major podcast production studio. Major credit to Vlad O, who handles the sound-design.

There’s also an extremely colorful cast of supporting characters. One of my favorites is a a science ship who talks like Carl Sagan. Fittingly enough, his name is UHS Sagan. I also liked the spaceship who collaborates with Will to create a new form of cryptocurrency. I’d comment on how stupid that is, but Will seems like the kind of spaceship who would go for that sort of thing. The annual Mars Rover Race was another really fun episode. I could keep going on, but suffice it to say, you’ll meet several memorable spacecraft throughout season one of Spaceships.

The spaceships all run the spectrum from kind and sympathetic to petty, scheming, and even evil. But overall, the spaceships come across as flawed, often deeply so, but well meaning. In other words, though they are machines, they’re human in all the ways that count. I suppose it is of some comfort to think that, though the curtain has fallen on the human race, a certain spark of the human spirit lives on in the machines we built.

I must also give some serious praise for how the season one finale was handled. But if I’m going to do that, we’re going to have to get into spoilers. So, if you don’t want any of that, turn back now.

Last chance, you sure you want to continue?

If everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.

So, as I previously noted, Maya really liked humans. However, there was one human she was particularly fond of. He was a brilliant scientist, and they grew very close with one another. In fact, you could say they fell in love with each other. But, he wasn’t the only human who caught her eye. 

There was a second human scientist who Maya greatly admired, but not in a romantic way. This scientist, while brilliant, was also a major misanthrope, and grew increasingly cynical over the years. He also went a tad nutty as well. Eventually, he developed a formula intended to destroy all artificial intelligences. Unfortunately, he did that math wrong, and it killed all organic intelligences.

A mathematics formula that can cause human minds to shut down? Might be more plausible than you might think. Some scientists have theorized that it is possible to make a human mind crash like a computer program. Perhaps their might be some pattern that the human brain is incapable of processing, and this could trigger a systems failure of the mind. Neil Stephenson famously utilized this idea in his novel Snow Crash. Thankfully, this remains a hypothetical scenario, and might not even be possible at all. On the other hand, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the human mind. So, you never know.

This revelation occurs in the penultimate episode of season one. It is also in this episode that Maya dies while retrieving this information. That is to say, damaged beyond the point of repair. I kept wondering if this was going to stick. It has been shown that spaceships can have their AIs downloaded into other bodies. But no, Maya stayed dead by the end of the season. I must applaud Filip Momirovski for being willing to stick to his guns. Having Maya stay dead was a choice that could easily have upset people, but I’m glad Filip didn’t take the easy way out. But let’s see what season two holds for us.

Also, here’s a thought, what if organics aren’t gone for good? The International Space Station has something called The Immorality Drive. It is a memory storage device that contains the digitized genetic codes of several famous humans, such as Stephen Hawking, Stephen Colbert, and Lance Armstrong. Obviously, it was created before Lance Armstrong got busted for doping. Anyway, the Immortality Drive is there in hope that, should humanity go extinct, and alien race might be able to resurrect humanity. I’m willing to bet that the future of Spaceships has several such Immortality Drives. Perhaps the spaceships will discover some Immortality Drives, and will debate if it is worth resurrecting humanity and the other races of the galaxy.

But whatever the future of Spaceship holds, I do know one thing for certain. I can’t wait to see what season two will have in store for us.

So, there you have it. Spaceships is a dramedy about sentient spaceships exploring the galaxy in the aftermath of humanity’s sudden demise. It has extremely high production values, great voice acting, and quality writing. You certainly won’t want to miss out on this audio drama.

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

The Audio File: Earth Eclipsed

I really can’t think of any way to introduce this review. As such we’re going to skip the preamble, and jump directly to the main point. We’re taking a look at Earth Eclipsed. 

Earth Eclipsed takes place far in the future. Humanity has spread to the stars and colonized the galaxy. This galactic community, known as the Human Concord, is a shining utopia. There is peace and prosperity across all the worlds of the Concord. Dr. Alexine Prometh is the head of the Abacus Project. The Abacus Project aims to find a way to extract and display memories. Dr. Prometh has become a bit of a celebrity because of her work. However, all is not well. Alex soon finds herself captured by an anti-Concord terrorist named Nico Dunn. Nico claims that the Concord is built on a foundation of lies, and its prosperity has come at a steep cost. Dr. Prometh is about to go on a wild ride that will challenge everything she thinks she knows.

I think it is important that I disclose a few facts before we go any further. Earth Eclipsed is created by The Lunar Company. It was founded by three Brazilian guys named Victor Lee, AJ Churchill, and Nicholas Prufer. Earth Eclipsed was their very first time making an audio drama, but they wanted to do more for the world of audio fiction. To that end, they founded Apollo. Apollo is an app designed exclusively for fiction podcasts. It is, I will concede, far from perfect. However, they are working round the clock to iron-out the flaws. They have some very big plans for the future, and I certainly look forward to seeing where they go in the future. And yes, the name Apollo is a reference to the Apollo missions from the Space Race. The characters of Earth Eclipsed often call each other lunar when someone is acting crazy or insane. So, it’s a fun little bit of consistency in branding.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, Apollo was in need of a social media manager and head of community. To be clear, both of those are one job. I saw The Strata quote tweet Apollo’s call for applications on Twitter. Apollo was looking for someone who lived, ate, and breathed audio fiction. So, I thought to myself “Okay, that sound like something I might be good at.” I sent in my resume, and the next thing I knew, I had scheduled an interview of Victor Lee. I aced the interview, and made it to round two. Making it to round two put me in the top ten percent of all applicants. So, next interview was with AJ. I didn’t do quite as well this time, but I tried my best. Ultimately, the role went to Wil Williams. For what it’s worth, Victor said that there were over 300 applicants, and I was among the most impressive.

I like what Wil has done in the role. I’m particularly fond of the “guess the audio drama from the emojis” game they’ve implemented on Twitter. They gave me good tips on quality, and affordable microphones. And I’m eternally grateful to them for helping promote Residents of Proserpina Park’s season three Indiegogo campaign. Quick side note, please donate if you are capable of doing so.

I have maintained good relations with Apollo, and they even commissioned me to created three curated lists of recommendations for the app’s homepage. I was paid fifty dollars per list. If you’re curious, the ones I made were the For Kids, Exceptional Anthologies, and Sci-Fi: Beyond Infinity lists. In fact, I’m told I might to commissioned again in the relatively near future. Now, obviously, I did find Earth Eclipsed via Apollo. I mean, it is kind of hard to miss on the homepage. And if I’m being honest, I was curious to see what it was like for myself.

I went on this spiel because I wanted to be upfront about my connections to Apollo. But having said that, I’m going to judge Earth Eclipsed just as I would any other audio drama. That which is praiseworthy shall receive praise. Anything that I feel is a bit lacking will shall also be noted as such.

Let’s start with the positives. This is The Lunar Company’s very first audio drama, and it certainly starts out of the gate strong. The soundscaping and music are incredibly cinematic. It is easily on-par with anything you might find from a big budget audio drama. AJ Churchill handled the music, and did the sound design along with Shane Rutherford-Jones. You can tell that both of them are no slouches when it comes to working with music and sound. It liked how the music helps paint a picture of the world of Earth Eclipsed. Scenes set within the Concord feature a lot of electronic and mechanical sounding music. Meanwhile, the Outer Worlds feature more acoustic sounding music. You get an emphasis that the Concord is full of many technological wonders, but is also a very regimented and controlled place. It also didn’t escape my notice that the anthem of the Concord sounds suspiciously similar to the national anthem of the Soviet Union. By contrast, the Outer Worlds feel more organic and pastoral.

Earth Eclipsed also has a great justification for being in an audio-only medium. Dr. Prometh gouges out her eyes are part of her work on the Abacus Project. She theorized that pervious memory retrieval attempts failed because the test subjects were overwhelmed by visions of the memories. So, she got rid of the problem by getting rid of her eyes. Concord biotech can easily regenerate lost body parts, including eyes, so this is only a minor inconvenience. Of course, there is the minor snag of getting kidnapped by Nico. So, in a way, we are experiencing the story through Dr. Prometh’s point-of-view, or lack there of.

Speaking of Nico, his ship is call the Gungnir, which is the spear of Odin in Norse Mythology. That’s interesting, because Odin sacrificed one of his eyes to drink from the well of Mimir, and gain knowledge. Rather like how Dr. Prometh sacrificed her eyes in the name of the Abacus Project. Dr. Prometh’s name is an obvious nod to Prometheus; the titan who stole fire from the gods, and gave it to humanity, in Greek Mythology. I can’t really think how that relates to Earth Eclipsed. I’m also not entirely sure what the series title means. It is mentioned that nobody remembers where Earth is. In fact, some people believe that Earth is just a myth. Perhaps it is a reference to how Earth has become eclipsed in importance by the Concord?

The voice actors are all really great. I feel like I’ve heard Nico and Dr. Prometh‘s voice actors somewhere before, but I can’t think where that would have been. I also really love how the Earth Eclipsed website is designed. The episodes all have transcripts, which is very important, as I emphasized in my reviews of Seen and Not Heard and Main Street Mythology. However, each episode’s section also includes a glossary of term. Just click on a term, and a helpful pop-up explains what it means. That was a really nice touch, and quite helpful for a show with a lot of in-universe jargon.

Okay, now for a few things I thought could use improvement. I felt that the first half or so of the series could have done a better job establishing in characters and their world. I felt that it didn’t properly explain why I should care about the characters. I will say that this does improve as the series goes on. I’d say that episode six was where Earth Eclipsed finally found its footing. That part where the Gungnir is trying to escape the gravitational pull of a star had me hooked. Now, I was willing to ride the first season out, and my patients was eventually rewards, especially with regards to the final two episodes. However, not all listeners may be so forgiving. It is always important to try to get your audience hooked within the first few episodes, or they might not stick around.

I feel that the first few episodes don’t really introduce you to the world and characters of Earth Eclipsed, so much as throw you at them. I felt like I got thrown in the deep end without swimming lessons. I would compare this to The Culture series by Iain M. Banks. Consider Phlebas is the first novel in the series, but The Player of Games is generally considered a much better introduction to the world of The Culture, despite being the second novel. It helps that the novels can be read in whatever order you please. I started with The Player of Games, and I can safely say that was the right decision. Consider Phlebas doesn’t really establish who The Culture are, and why you should care. Probably doesn’t help that The Culture are actually the antagonists for most of that book. I don’t know if anyone on the Earth Eclipsed crew have ever read any of The Culture novels, but I think they would like them quite a bit.

Now, granted, I do understand why Earth Eclipsed was a bit coy with its worldbuilding and characters. It relates to the central mystery of the season. The series takes its time slowly pealing back the layers. But, with that, we now need to get into the spoilers.

So, if you don’t want any spoilers, turn back now.

Last chance, you sure you want to continue?

Okay, if everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.

So, we finally get to Nico’s home planet of Sogen. It used to be an idyllic pastoral world. We learn that they had a big debate about whether or not to accept genetic engineering technology from the Concord. After much debate, Sogen rejected the genetic tech, preferring to keep their kids just the way they were born. However, the Concord considered this an unacceptable answer, and attacked Sogen.

It is clear to me that Earth Eclipsed has something it wants to say, but I’m not sure what that something is. We don’t really get any solid arguments for why genetic engineering is bad. Sure, we get some hints that unmodified people are looked down upon, and subject to prejudice. However, the primary argument seems to be that genetic engineering is unnatural. Okay, but under that logic, open-heart surgery, vaccines, dentistry, and two dozen other routine medical procedures are also “unnatural.” Meanwhile, infectious disease, crude oil, and wild fires are all, technically speaking, perfectly natural. Point is, natural is not inherently good, and unnatural is not inherently bad. Personally, I think natural is a word that is overused and poorly understood.

Now, there are certainly arguments both for and against genetically engineering humans. Some people argue that eliminating conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety might deprive us of geniuses. After all, many geniuses and innovators suffered from mental illness. But answer me this: are they geniuses because they suffer, or in spite of the fact that they suffer? I would argue to the later. But I also concede this isn’t an entirely black and white question. What about eliminating disorders such as autism or dyslexia? These conditions can be a burden, especially for lower functioning individuals. However, these conditions often grant unique insights and ways of thinking to those who process them. And moreover, should society put emphasis on “normalizing” neurodivergent people? Or should it emphasize accommodating them, and treating them with kindness and compassion?

From my own experience, I can very much remember my school days, where I was constantly pressured to be more “normal.” But as the years went on, and after I left grade school, I saw attitudes shift towards society becoming more accommodating to those who fall outside the norm. Personally, I would not want to take any procedure that would render me neurotypical. Autism is all about how the brain is structure, and a change that radical would totally rewrite everything about me. In essence, it would be as though I had died, as I would be a completely different individual.

As you can see, there’s a lot of fertile ground to debate the merits of genetic engineering. However, you won’t find any of them in Earth Eclipsed. Though, this is slightly mitigated by the implication that the Concord is using genetic engineering to make its citizens more obedient and docile. Dr. Prometh’s faith in the Concord boarders on religious fanaticism at times. Interestingly, traditional religion seems to have largely died out in the future of Earth Eclipsed. The closest thing is how citizens of the Concord seem to view the government with reverence and devotions. They even swear in the name of the Concord. It almost reminds me of North Korea’s Juche ideology. Some people claim Juche isn’t a religion, but I’d argue it ticks off most of the major boxes.

Also, on a side note, where are the aliens? All lifeforms seems to come from Earth. Humans are the only intelligent species, and even the animals and plants are all imports from Earth. Were all of the planets originally lifeless rocks that had to be terraformed? Or did there used to be aliens, but the Concord killed them, and then covered up their existence?

The creators of Earth Eclipsed have said that they created the series to explore various ideas. Amongst other things, that it is our imperfections are what make us human, the importance of individuality, and fighting back against totalitarianism. Well, I did get that last one, but I feel that the other two themes weren’t articulated as well as they could be. I felt that the first half of the season struggled to find its footing. However, the second half are where things really kick into gear. Episodes six, seven, and eight are where the series really hits its stride.

It felt like season one was a bit of an extended prologue. Okay, so we’ve got everything set up now. Let’s see where Earth Eclipsed goes in future seasons. The keyword with Earth Eclipsed is potential. It is clear to me that everyone involved with the show is very talented, and there world they have created has a lot of promise. Season one was a pretty good prologue, but let’s see what you can do now that you have all of the pieces on the board.

Of course, it might be a while before we get season two of Earth Eclipsed. Obviously, ironing out the Apollo app’s kinks take top priority for the moment. Personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way. If the Apollo team can get the app stabilized, and expand upon its features, I think they could have a potentially hot property on their hands. Potential is also the keyword when it comes to Apollo. There’s some very bright things on the horizons at Apollo, and I can’t wait to see them all.

Okay, so what’s my final verdict on season one of Earth Eclipsed? Well, it starts off a bit rough and disjointed, but it managed to stick the landing in the end. I would remind regular readers of this blog that The Program Audio Series also started out a bit rough, but it managed to soar higher and higher once it found its footing. So, I’m going to give a tentative thumbs up to Earth Eclipsed, provided that season two keeps up the momentum.

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

Book Review: Space Academy Dropouts by C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus

I'm more than willing to review any works of audio fiction that are requested. However, as I have stated many times before, I maintain a policy of strict honesty. Where there are things worthy of praise, I shall give praise. However, if anything doesn't work I will not hesitate to call it out. With all of that having been said, this brings us to the book that we're going to be reviewing today. We're taking a look at Space Academy Dropouts by C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus. 

Space Academy Dropouts takes places 300 years in the future. Humanity has taken to the stars and spread to countless worlds across the galaxy. Vance Turbo is a member of Space Fleet Academy. His Aunt Cathy is one of the galaxy’s greatest heroes, and Vance has much to measure up to. However, Vance has grown disillusioned with Space Fleet, and is doing what he can to get expelled from the academy. Ah, but fate has other plans for him. Vance is assigned to a highly classified mission into Neutral Space. A shipment of Sun Killer bombs has gone missing, and The Community need to covertly recover them. That is where Vance and his fellow misfits come in.

I had previously reviewed volume one of The Supervillainy Saga at the request of C.T. Phipps. He asked me if I’d be willing to review Space Academy Dropouts. I said yes, and here we are.

This is a C.T. Phipps books, so of course there’s going to be a lot of pop culture references. The biggest one is that Space Academy Dropout is one big Star Trek pastiche/homage, with a bit of Guardians of the Galaxy Thrown in. We’ve got an interplanetary federation that outwardly presents itself as utopian, and advocates for cross-cultural cooperation and understanding. There is an academy that trains cadets to explore strange new worlds, and boldly go where no one has gone before. Space Fleet is an obvious stand-in for Star Fleet. The Notha Empire oppose the Alliance, and build their society around uber-militarism and authoritarianism. This makes them stand-ins for the Klingons, but only in terms of function within the plot. Physically, the Notha look like a cross between lemurs and badgers. Though, their worldview isn’t too dissimilar to that of the Daleks from Doctor Who. Vance passed a supposedly unbeatable simulation test by hacking the simulation. This is a reference to how Captain Kirk beat the Kobayashi Maru simulation.

However, Star Trek isn’t the only source of pop culture references. Aunt Cathy’s physical description bares more than a passing resemblance to Honor Harrington, from the series of the same name. It is mentioned that Cathy once saved a planet named F-Sharp Bell. This a reference to the Green Lantern comics. One of the Lanterns is from a part of the universe that is totally devoid of light. So, they believe themselves to be part of the F-Sharp Bell Corps, because I guess that’s as close to the color green as they can imagine. There’s mention of a popular television series called Space Cadet Sally. It is aimed at adolescent girls, but is quite popular with men, to the point you can buy Space Cadet Sally sexbots. There’s some influences of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and the Brony fandom. Sally’s catch praise is “Friendship is Space Fleet.” However, the main heroine getting sexualized by the fandom brings shades of Sailor Moon.

Some humans dislike the Community, and have struck out to found their own colonies in Neutral Space. Many of these colonies evoke the old west with their supposed rugged individualism. However, they’re also home to many extremist ideologies. You’ve got Neo-Confederates, Neo-Nazis, Neo-Apartheid Afrikaners, and Anarcho-Capitalist Libertarians, among other things. These lunatics loosely identify themselves as Independents. This is a reference to Firefly, and how Joss Whedon got the inspiration for Firefly after reading a book about Confederate veterans in the Old West. Granted, Firefly was actually pretty apolitical overall. Yeah, there is some anti-government messages, but that’s because it is part of Mal’s character. He’s a bitter former solider who fought against a government he considers evil…hmm. Well, actually, when you put it like that, it does kind of sound like the sort of thing Lost Causers would say. So, I guess you could see the Independents as a deconstruction of the Confederate subtext within Firefly.

Though, I still maintain that the lack of Asian characters with speaking roles was a far bigger problem for Firefly. And I say this as someone who is a huge Firefly fan. It never made sense from a worldbuilding perspective. Chinese influence is everywhere from language, to clothing, to entertainment, but where are all the Chinese people?

Most of the aliens are genuinely alien. Most of the humanoid characters are descended from humans who were subjected to genetic tinkering. Apparently, the Ancient Aliens people were right all along. Advanced aliens came to Earth in ancient times, abducted humans, and seeded them on other planets. These lost colonies consider Earth important from a historical perspective, but tend to look down on Earth humans. The planet Albion is one such seeded world. Based on the name, it’s humans must have come from Medieval England. There’s a point where it is mentioned they were founded 1000 years ago, but then it say they’re celebrating Centennial, which is a 100 year anniversary. Apparently, the Centennial was the celebration of Albion’s independence from the Elder Races, so that wasn’t a typo. Albion has a royal family, who conspiracy theorists claim are space lizards. So, yeah, that just makes it even clearer that they are Space Britain. Albion even somehow created their own version of the Star Trek television show, but Vance considers their version inferior.

The planet Thor is another seeded world. Thorians look like humans with blue skin. There’s a Thorian on Vance’s team, and he is somehow Jewish. Well, blue is a color traditionally associated with Judaism. There’s a lot of franchises that use the concept of aliens abducting humans and then seeded them on other planets. However, the one that sprang to my mind was Stargate. There’s another race of seeded humans called Etherials. They are basically space elves, and their Elder Race was actually nice to them, unlike the Elder Races of most other seeded humans. The Etherials are an obvious reference to The Eternals.

There’s also mention of a channel called The Geology Channel. Unfortunately, they hardly ever play anything relating to geology anymore. These days, its all reality shows and conspiracy theory shows. Obviously, this is a reference to channels like Discovery Channel and History Channel that have largely abandoned their original educational content. Such is life. On the other hand, considering that Ancient Aliens turned out to be correct, perhaps Vance shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the conspiracy theory shows.

Okay, enough with the reference hunting. I’ve been putting this off for as long as I can, so I’ll get straight to the point. When I reviewed The Supervillainy Saga, I said that I liked it, but I felt that I got my fill. I bring this up because Space Academy Dropouts is basically just The Supervillainy Saga in Space. Let’s see, our main character gets in trouble by hacking into his university database. He’s very snarky, and very knowledgeable about pop culture. In fact, at times he practically speaks in nothing but pop culture references. Despite being dorky, and not all that special, numerous women are lining up to have sex with him. Well, they do rib him and poke fun at him, but they still want to have sex with him. Yeah, Vance is pretty much just Gary Karkofsky, but as a space cadet rather than a supervillain.

The pop culture references also got very grating. As I noted when I review The Supervillainy Saga, C.T. Phipps has a bad habit of going way overboard with pop culture references. It felt like, whenever he couldn’t think of how to move a scene along, he’d insert another pop culture reference. Moreover, as the filmography of Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg demonstrates, pop culture references alone do not a plot make. They also didn’t make any sense. Space Academy Dropouts is set 300 years in the future, but Vance in obsessed with pop culture from the 20th and 21st Century. That would be like someone from the present day being obsessed with pop culture from the 18th Century.

As for the supporting cast, well, I don’t really have much to say. They range from one-note to, at best, two-dimensional. You got the horny robot girl, the blue Jewish guy, the literal-minded space lizard, the wise space elf, the cute and sexy catgirl, and the snarky scientist. I know it sounds like I’m being a jerk, but that really does encapsulate their entire personalities. I feel that the cast was too big, and as a result, none of the characters got properly fleshed out.

Well, there was one character who stood-out. Vance’s former girlfriend Leah is a snarky Eurasian woman who is described as cute, and wears thigh-length boots. So, basically Mandy from The Supervillainy Saga. You know, come to think of it, in retrospect, the characters from The Supervillainy Saga weren’t all that fleshed-out wither. The main difference is that, since the characters from Supervillainy Saga are based on preexisting characters, my mind kind of filled in the blanks. So, it was less noticeable in their case. In Space Academy Dropouts, however, the characters don’t have any preexisting templates, so their lack of depth is more readily apparent.

I didn’t want a rehash of The Supervillainy Saga, I wanted something different. Any differences that Space Academy Rejects has are ultimately purely aesthetic and only skin-deep, if that. This made Space Academy Rejects have a very cookie cutter feel to it.

There’s a lot of interesting ideas in this book, but they aren’t explored as much as they could be. One of the planets in Neutral Space is called Rand’s World. It is a planet founded on the principles and teaching of Ayn Rand. It even has its own Galt’s Gulch. Just what would a world founded on Objectivist ideas be like? Perhaps it could be deconstructed along the lines of what Bioshock did. Science fiction is the literature of big ideas. Unfortunately, the authors mostly just take potshots at their political opponents, and don’t provide any interesting insights. Their critique, if you can call it that, basically amounts to “LOL! Libertarians are a bunch of inbred, low IQ, redneck hick freaks!”

The concept of humans being seeded on alien planets is also interesting. What time periods and cultures do they come from? What are their cultures like? In what ways do they differ from Earth humans? What was their technological and scientific progress like? How does their religion work? In fact, what is their history in general? Well, beyond a few tantalizing off-hand remarks, we get no answers.

The voice in Space Academy Dropouts is very similar to that The Supervillainy Saga. Not just in that it is told in first-person, and Vance is pretty much Gary in all but name. You see, Jeffery Kafer returns as narrator for the audiobook of Space Academy Dropouts. He has previously narrated The Supervillainy Saga. Unfortunately, that made the similarities to The Supervillainy Saga all the more glaring. At times I had to reminds myself that I wasn’t listening to get another entry in The Supervillainy Saga.

Ultimately, your enjoyment of Space Academy Dropouts will come down to if you enjoy The Supervillainy Saga, and if you want more of the same. I did not want more of the same, so I was rather disappointed. But perhaps you will feel differently.

So, there you have it. Space Academy Dropouts aims for the stars, but crashes and burns on the launch pad. I didn’t care for it, but perhaps you’ll feel differently.

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

The Audio File: We Fix Space Junk

As I've said before, sometimes there are audio dramas that are just too big to ignore. Sometimes I put them off for a bit; try to focus on the lesser-known shows. Eventually, however, something will force my hand and I just have to give them a listen. If only to see what all the fuss is about. That brings us to that audio drama we're taking a look at today. We're going to take a look at We Fix Space Junk.

We Fix Space Junk takes place several centuries in the future. Samantha Trapp is the heiress of the incredibly wealth Trapp Mining Company. However, she's recently been disinherited and is now millions of dollars in debt to Automnicon. They're a megacorporation that owns...basically everything in the Milky Way Galaxy. In fact, pretty much everyone is a debt slave to them. Most of people spend their entire lives working off debt they owe to Automnicon. Oh, and you can inherit debt from family members. Fear, not, Samantha has been assigned to an excellent partner. Kilner is an experienced repairwoman, and a cyborg, who has worked numerous odd jobs over the years. She's the perfect person to show Samantha the ropes. Together they shall travel the stars and complete all sorts of odd jobs and repair jobs.

I'd been aware of We Fix Space Junk for a while. It always popped up on those "if you liked this show you might also like" features on the Apple podcast app. It is created by Battle Bird Productions, and is also a member of the Fable & Folly network of podcast. Fable & Folly is home to many other fine podcasts, such as Harlem Queen. Promos for these podcasts are often played at the end of episodes of We Fix Space Junk. Although, bizarrely, one of these was a promo for We Fix Space Junk.

So, one day on Twitter I noticed that We Fix Space Junk had followed me. I got the feeling that this was subtle way of fishing for a review. If this was indeed it, then congratulations, it worked. I had a gap in my listening schedule and so I gave it a listen. Well, that or the team has good taste in quality reviews. The two options are not mutually exclusive.

Though, in all seriousness, if any of you who create audio drama would like a review, just be direct. You can message me on Reddit, or send me a direct message on Twitter. You can also comment on one of my many posts on r/audiodrama. Or you can message me on Facebook; I'm active in the Audio Drama Lovers group. You can also message my Facebook fan page for this blog, Sam McDonald's The Audiophile. Point is, there's a lot of way to get in touch with me. The best way to guarantee that I'll review your show is to directly contact me. As you might have noticed, I'm more than happy to give any show a shot.

Okay, so enough about me, let's talk about We Fix Space Junk. As a British science fiction comedy, there is an inevitable comparison to shows such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Red Dwarf. The writing does overall convey a sense of humor and lightheartedness. Though, that isn't to say the show never has any serious moments. The lighthearted tone does at times make it easy to forget that the setting is rather dystopian. Allow me to elaborate. At some unspecified point in the future, Earth was hit by a massive solar flare. Pretty much all information and entertainment had been digitized, and thus was whipped out. However, Automnicon kept hard copies in a lead-lined vault. As such, Automnicon was able to rebuild the world in their image. I wonder if they might, perhaps, have played a role in the solar flare somehow.

By the present day, Automnicon has spread their influence across the galaxy. Also, all movies are remakes. Very bad remakes. At one point we get a brief glimpse of one of the numerous remakes of When Harry Met Sally, and it's laughably bad. Pretty much everyone is in debt to Automnicon, and if you die with debt then your children and/or other relatives inherit your debt. Automnicon is, in many ways, like those predatory student loan companies. There are some rich people who live without debt, but the wealth gap is astronomically large. Despite all of this, pretty much every character we encounter seems to take it in stride. Thought, that might be because everyone has consigned themselves to the way things are.

Now, let's talk about the characters, starting with our two leads. Kilner, as previously mentioned, is a cyborg who has been in the repair business for quite a while now. She and Samantha often go into cryosleep in-route to an assignment, because space is so big. So, Kilner is probably well into her triple digits by now. She is voiced by series creator Beth Crane. Nothing seems to truly phase her, and she takes pretty much everything in stride. Of course, given how long she's been doing repair jobs, she's probably seen just about everything. So, she's probably a bit justified in her blasé outlook on life. Kilner grew up on a small mining colony on Pluto. In contrast to Samantha, she never had much in the way of luxuries in her life. In fact, when Samantha asked her what she really wants most out of life, Kilner simply says she wants two jars of peanut butter.

Samantha used to be a spoiler sheltered member of the landed gentry. However, she's taken to her new life reasonably well. In fact, you get the feeling she's a bit happier now that she has Kilner as a friend. As we see, the feeling is very much mutual, and Kilner values her as a friend as well. Samantha also conveniently provides someone for Kilner to provide exposition and explanations to. She's a bit more easily fluster than Kilner, but Samantha is learning to take it in stride. Samantha is voiced by Rebecca Evans.

Kilner and Samantha travel the galaxy on a spaceship named The Yellow Submarine. It was owned by a man named Derek who was obsessed with collecting Beatles memorabilia. Fittingly enough, his AI was named RINGO. Tragically, The Beatles have been lost to the sands of time, and Joel may be their last fan in the universe. As such, he was determined to preserve their legacy. This extended to the name of the ship. Clearly, the future world of We Fix Space Junk truly is dystopian if The Beatles have been all but forgotten. The Yellow Submarine is controlled by an AI named DAX. He's pretty much a human who happens to have a spaceship for a body. He is voiced by Jack Carmichael. Most AI are like DAX, but they have no rights under the law. Then again, humans barely have any rights under the law. He's nice enough, and a loyal friend to Kilner and Samantha, but he gets bored during the long stretches they spend in cryosleep. Not much in the way of entertainment beyond endless movie remakes and the occasional bit of Sudoku.

Overall, We Fix Space Junk tends to be fairly episodic. Though, there are some plot treads hinting at a larger overarching story. There are also elements that carry over between seasons. For the most part, however, each episode is concerned with the latest assignment Kilner and Samantha have to complete. I'll discuss a few of my favorite episodes. In one episode they have to repair a movie projector on a planet of sentient popcorn people. Apparently, this was the result of an abandoned entertainment complex being subject to massive doses of radiation. Yeah, We Fix Space Junk tends to be soft science fiction. Emphasis is placed on what makes for a good story, or what would be funny, rather than what is scientifically plausible. The popcorn people are actually fairly nice, but there is one law that you must never break: don't talk while a movie is playing. Violators are subject to execution on the spot via mob justice. We even get to check in on the popcorn people during a between-seasons mini-episode.

Another memorable episode is where Kilner and Samantha visit a prison planet. The inhabitants are kept docile via a special ray generator that makes them productive members of society. You've got the usual mix of violent criminals like murderers, thieves, and sex maniacs. However, then we meet a character named Lucas. You see, he's the worst criminal of them all. He committed a heinous and unforgivable crime. He was...a book reviewer! He got sent to the prison planet after he gave a bad review of a young adult series written by the dictator of some other planet. Well, I guess that means I'd be sent to the prison planet too. Especially if Leigh Bardugo tattled on me to the authorities because of what I said about Shadow and Bone. I was very pleased that Lucas eventually reappeared during the season three finale.

A third really fun episode was when Kilner and Samantha have to fix a vending machine on the planet Apollo. Seems simple enough, but Apollo is designed to be a bodybuilder planet. It has a gravity generator that keeps things four times stronger than Earth gravity. At that gravity level, prying the door off the vending machine isn't just a herculean task, it's potentially hazardous to your health. As such, Kilner and Samantha have to recruit the help of a pair of bodybuilders named Lutar and Karns. I hope we get to check in with them in a future episode.

There's plenty of other great episodes. There's an episode where Kilner and Samantha have to entertain an alien princess from a planet of pacifists. Said princess is completely obsessed with true crime and murder, and wants to tour famous murder sites. There's another episode where they must answer a distress call from a spaceship modeled off of the Titanic. There is even one where they enjoy a lovely day at the spa. As you might have guessed, that one quickly goes pear-shaped. I could go on, but we'd be here all day, and I should probably leave some things for you to discover on your own.

There are ad breaks in the middle of each episode that feature SponsorBot. He's a perpetually cheery and friendly sales bot from Automnicon who advertises both in-universe and real-world products. He really, really loves you. From the sound of thing, many of the viewers love him too. I know I always look forward to seeing what he'll be advertising. Sometimes the other characters also get in on the advertising act.

Also, random observation, the character often swear in the name of Bruce. Christmas has also been replaced by Brucemas. We get a bonus special explaining the holiday. Apparently, it is a joke about Die Hard being a Christmas movie. Bruce Willis is both Santa and Jesus in the future of We Fix Space Junk. Instead of Christmas Trees, people have Brucemas Towers, and put little helicopters on top instead of stars. They all gather to remember how Bruce saved the world from the evil Grubers. There was Wizard Gruber, Depressed Android Gruber, Alien Gruber, and a few others. They're all obviously nods to the various roles that Alan Rickman played over the years. 

In between each season is a series of mini-episodes. Between seasons one and two we got to see glimpses into the life of Marilyn. At one point, Kilner and Samantha encounter Kilner's former partner Jault on a mission. He got chosen as the father of the future ruler of a race of wasp aliens from the planet Gontano. Unfortunately, the process almost always proves fatal to the host, so they use a steak to save him...somehow. I'm still not sure I understand the exact details. Anyway, the rulers of Gontano are always hybrids of wasp aliens and whatever the host is, usually human. But in this case, cow DNA got added to the mix. Thus, Marilyn is fifty percent Gontanan, twenty-five percent human, and twenty-five percent cow. She also matures at an accelerated rate, but that's normal for the wasp aliens. Marilyn is voiced by Francesca Mintowt-Czyz. Marilyn was going to play a bigger role in the series, but Francesca moved to America, where she teaches theatre at Western Nebraska Community College. As such, Marilyn had to be written out of the show, but with the possibility of reappearing if the opportunity arises. 

The miniseries, Marilyn's Diary, sees her trying to learn about life, the universe, and everything. She's under the watchful eye of HAROLD; he's the AI who runs Jault's ship. Apparently, AIs can spin-off parts of themselves into separate AIs. This happens to HAROLD, and the resulting AI is given the very creative name Haroldson. Haroldson reminds me of Arthur Christmas from the movie of the same name; both the way he talks and his general worrywart personality. Of course, he's voiced by James Carney, so he is not literally Arthur Christmas. The mini-series between seasons two and three is a series of mini-episodes that checks-in with various characters from the first two seasons. There’s also a second season of Marilyn's Diary between seasons three and four of the main show. It follows the counting adventures of Marilyn and Computer as they explore other worlds on their way to Gontano.   

Well, I think that's everything of note. We Fix Space Junk is an excellent science fiction comedy audio drama podcast. I can't believe it's taken me this long to listen to it. Don't sit on this one, listen today. You'll be glad that you did.

I think that's enough from me for now. I will see you guys next time.