The Audio File: Untrue Stories

I’m happy to review any audio drama that is asked of me. I certainly hope that is obvious by now. However, I also hope it is obvious that I won’t hesitate to critique anything I find lacking. With that in mind, let’s get right to today’s review. We’re taking a look at Untrue Stories.

Untrue Stories begins in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland in 1948. The writers H.G. Wells and George Orwell have both booked the same cottage for a vacation. The two men cannot stand each other, as they have very different views of the future. However, Wells has an ace up his sleeve. He has invented a bicycle with the ability to travel through time. Wells is determined to settled the debate once and for all. He accidentally travels to the year 1984 after taking a wrong turn. Wells discovers a future of totalitarianism and oppression. A boot to the face forever. Wells befriends a young woman named Julia. She is none other than Orwell’s granddaughter. Together, they conspire to change history for the better. But the Thought Police are hot on their tail, and are determined to ensure that the future of Oceania comes to pass.

This is another review where I was asked by the creator to review it. Series creator Robin Johnson contacted me on Reddit. He said that he had enjoyed my previous reviews, and seen on Twitter that I review audio dramas. I assume he was referring to the Twitter thread that Arielle Nissenblatt (rhymes with this and that) made to showcase several podcast critics, including me. I said yes, and here we are now.

There have been times in my life where I briefly pondered whether H.G. Wells and George Orwell ever met each other. It was merely idle curiosity due to their similar names. Well, as it turns out, they did indeed meet in real life. George Orwell invited H.G. Wells to his London apartment for dinner, and they had a lively discussion about whether or not alone science would create a better world. Wells had full confidence that science would inevitably create a utopia. Orwell, by contrast, believed that science was certainly useful, but that it was necessarily for society to be guided by more than just science alone. The two men vehemently disagreed, and parted on less than amicable terms. Quite ironic, as they both democratic socialists, and otherwise had rather similar political views.

There is the minor issue that H.G. Wells died in 1946, but the audio drama takes place in 1948. But I’m willing to let that slide. We can chalk it up to time travel shenanigans. Speaking of which, it appears that Wells never published his famous novella The Time Machine in the world of Untrue Stories. He never makes reference to the novel. Or maybe he’ll go back in time and inspire his younger self at some point?

Wells also travels to the year 802,701 at one point, and encounters a Morlock, but he doesn’t know what it is. I liked how the Morlock was portrayed as being quite intelligent. I mean, the Morlock aren’t just dumb brutes. They build and maintain machines and clothing. And let’s not forget that they’re the ones keeping the Eloi as cattle, not the other way around. The way the Morlock is described is evocative of the 1960 movie adaption of The Time Machine. Wells says that exiting the time bike’s chrono bubble mid-journey will cause you to age into dust. This is probably a nod to the 2002 movie adaption of The Time Machine. On the one hand, the 2002 movie wasn’t very accurate to the novel, but I did love it when I was a kid.

George Orwell’s depiction as a bit of a jerk might strike some people as odd, but it has some basis in reality. Orwell once compiled a list of suspected communist for the British Intelligence Forces. Among other things, he considered Charlie Chaplin suspicious for being a Jew, and deemed Paul Robeson to be “anti-white.” For reference, Paul Robeson was a black American musician who was also involved in civil rights activism. Oh, and during Orwell’s boarding school day, he was a prefect. He used his position of authority to rat-out any boys he suspected of being gay. Well, they often say to write what you know. It would seem Orwell put quite a bit of himself into Nineteen Eighty-Four.

On a lighter note, the original plans for Nineteen Eighty-Four were also slightly different. For starters, it was going to be called The Last Man in Europe. It was also going to be set in the year 1948. So, I guess that would have made it an early example of alternate history. This is highly amusing, as Nineteen Eighty-Four is quite popular within the alternate history community. However, Orwell’s publisher deemed this too confusing, and convinced him to set the novel in the future. He thought about 1980 or 1982, but then he flipped the last two digits of the current year, and got 1984. Of course, in Untrue Stories, the joke is that the initial version that Orwell comes up with is basically what the year 1984 was actually like. He predicts a world of aviator sunglasses, neon-colored clothing, Rubik’s Cubes, and unrestrained capitalism. Though, to a socialist like Orwell, that would all probably sound pretty dystopian.

Okay, I’ve put it off for as long as I can. I’m just going to be brutally honest here. I did not enjoy Untrue Stories. Let’s get into the full postmortem.

The first strike was the theme music. I’ve listened to many wonderful audio drama themes over the years. The theme music for Untrue Stories, however, is not one of those cases. It reminds me of those toys that are supposed to play music, but what they actually play is basically just electronic screeching. I always tried to fast forward through the theme music whenever possible. Okay, so how was the voice acting? In contrast to the theme music, the voice acting wasn’t bad. Overall I found the performances to be fairly decent. I found Orwell’s voice to be a bit irritating, but I think that might have been deliberate.

Untrue Stories features cameos from numerous 20th Century science fiction authors. Unfortunately, these appearances are little more than cameos, and Untrue Stories doesn’t really do anything creative with them. They basically amount to “Hey, look, it’s Issac Asimov! He wrote I, Robot! Boy, he sure likes to talk about robots!” or “Over there! It’s Ursula K. Le Guin! Ooh, she’s got a secret message codenamed Omelas! Just like the short story she wrote! How wacky is that?!”

These scenes felt like a cutaway gag from an episode of Family Guy. On that topic, I found the humor to be incredibly lowbrow, and at times bordering on sophomoric. The main attempt at humor was making historical figures act like jerks. Almost all of the jokes failed to get even the slightest chuckle out of me.

We learn that Orwell is destined to become Big Brother himself in the dystopian future of Oceania. Orwell finds out, and thinks that this sounds swell. So, he recruits a team of dystopia writers, such as Ray Bradbury and Margaret Atwood, to help make the future as dystopian as possible. If nothing else, they’ll be able to brag about how they tried to warn everyone, but nobody listened. Now, this could have been potentially funny. Have them all act like over-the-top Saturday Morning Cartoon villains, or something similar. Unfortunately, the actors playing the dystopia authors all gave very subdued performances. They all seemed to be under the impression that they were in a completely different audio drama than Untrue Stories. Bit of a missed opportunity there.

Now, I do have to give some moments of praise to Untrue Stories. There is a bonus episode that takes the form of an in-universe television program about how to speak Newspeak. I found this bonus episode to be genuinely funny and clever. I also liked the episode where Wells and Julia change the future into the 1984 of our world. However, they don’t actually travel to the future to see it for themselves. Julia’s clothing changes to a punk style. She and Wells assume, based on this, that they’ve turned the future into an irradiated post-apocalyptic nightmare. Wells then places a computer chip into a Sony Walkman. Said chip is from the far future, and any machine it is placed into turns sentient. The Walkman can only communicate using songs from the 1980s mixtape that it has in it. This leads to several amusing moments. As an aside, I agree with Wells, tea always goes in the cup before milk. That way, you can better control how much milk you add.

So, the team behind Untrue Stories are capable of being legitimately funny when they put their minds to it. I feel, perhaps, that Untrue Stories could have benefited from some more edits and revisions before it launched.

Now, comedy is a highly subjective genre. One of the most subjective, in fact. Untrue Stories had its moments, but overall, I just didn’t care for it. It failed to make the most of a potentially interesting premise. So, unfortunately, I cannot say that I recommend it. But perhaps you feel differently. If this all sounds entertaining, and something you’d like to try, then good for you.

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

The Audio File: The Chronicles of Wild Hollow

This year has brought many new opportunities for me as an audio drama critic. I’m connecting more with other podcast critics, and that is bringing about new opportunities. This has also meant that more audio drama creators have been asking me to review their shows as of late. Speaking of which, that brings us to the audio drama we’ll be reviewing today. We’re taking a look at The Chronicles of Wild Hollow. 

In a far off place, an endless forest grows; sprawling, barren, impenetrable. But beyond the tree line…creatures roam free. A land where adventure lurks around every corner. A land where legends are made. A land called Wild Hollow. Wild Hollow is home to a veritable menagerie of talking animals. The series chronicles the adventures of the various denizens of Wild Hollow.

I’d been vaguely aware of The Chronicles of Wild Hollow for a while. I think I might have seen it over on the r/audiodrama subreddit, or possibly on Twitter at various points. However, it didn’t really get on my radar until recently. Not long ago, I become part of a podcast critics group that meets on Slack. We share our reviews, discuss various podcast related things, and just enjoy each other’s company. We also trying to help each other out and raise our collective profile. One persistent myth is that there are no podcast critics. The fact that your reading this proves that isn’t true at all. So, to combat that, Arielle Nissenblatt (rhymes with this-and-that) did a Twitter tread introducing all of us to everyone on Twitter. Naturally, I was included, and got several audio dramas asking me to review them. The Chronicles of Wild Hollow, produced by Shouting is Funny, was one such show, and here we are now.

As previously stated, The Chronicles of Wild Hollow features talking animals that do human things. It is a bit like Redwall or Zootopia, but in the style of Discworld. Wild Hollow is a deliberately anachronistic land. 18th Century pirates, Wild West gunslingers, and gangsters from somewhere between 1920 and 1950 all exists side-by-side. Basically, if it could potentially make for a good story, it can be found in Wild Hollow. The stories are meant to be adventure tales, but with a humorous bent. In terms of demographic, The Chronicles of Wild Hollow is an all ages affair; fun that the whole family can enjoy. There’s usually about two or three songs per episode. They usually help move the plot along, or reveal something about the characters. The website for The Chronicles of Wild Hollow includes an interactive map of Wild Hollow itself.

The Chronicles of Wild Hollow doesn’t really have many episodes available so far. As of this writing, it has six episodes, which are divided into two trilogies, plus one Christmas episode. The first trilogy follows a mouse named Fandango Boursin, and he is also the protagonist of the Christmas Special. Shouting is Funny recommended that I start with the Grey Trilogy; named after its title character Artemis Grey. In hindsight, I should have listened to that advise. 

I need to briefly talk about what the Boursin Trilogy did wrong. That way, it will be easier to appreciate what the Grey Trilogy did right. The first strike was the voice acting. Fandango is a mouse who sounds a bit like Clint Eastwood…if he gargled cigarettes and razor blades. It got very irritating very quickly. The rest of the voice cast were generally decent, but not really anything to write home about. Though, I will say that I enjoyed the songs at the Lillypad Lounge. The tone was incredibly disjointed to the point of being schizophrenic. The episodes would be dead serious one minute, only to be downright parodic the next minute. The jokes always fell flat, were too self-referential, and I wasn’t a fan of the repeated fourth wall breaking. I also just didn’t find Fandango to be as interesting or as compelling of a character as I found Artemis to be. So, yeah, don’t make the mistake I did. I suggest skipping the Boursin Trilogy. 

The Christmas Special is slightly better. Being a thirty minute standalone episode certainly made things more bearable. And I will concede that a few jokes managed to get a chuckle out of me. However, it still suffers from many of the same problems that the Boursin Trilogy does. So, I’d recommend skipping it as well. Start with the Grey Trilogy instead. 

Now that we’ve got that out of the way. Let’s talk about the Grey Trilogy. Artemis Grey is a fox who works as a smuggler. She’s very quick witted a resourceful, as a fox must be. Artemis has recently attempted to stowaway aboard a pirate ship. Unfortunately, the pirates found out, but Artemis convinced them not to kill her. The pirates are in search of a Whale Song. It is an artifact created by Primus, the first whale. The Whale Song can grant great knowledge to those who know how to use it. Artemis forms an uneasy alliance with the pirates, and soon they’re off to find the Whale Song, and the secrets it contains.

I should begin by mentioning that you can listen to the Grey trilogy with having listened to the Boursin Trilogy. It appears that The Chronicles of Wild Hollow is aiming to be an anthology of stories set in the same world. The Grey Trilogy was a marked improvement over the Boursin Trilogy in every conceivable way. There was a proper balance between humor and seriousness. The voice acting was significantly stronger this time around. There wasn’t a single bad performance among the cast. You could tell the cast were more experienced this time around. I also appreciated that the fourth wall stayed firmly in place.

I also found Artemis to be a far mor interesting and compelling character than Fandango. I like foxes, so that helps. At first, Artemis seems like a typical, if still highly entertaining, roguish thief character. However, she’s shown to have a honorable streak, and she has good reason for wanting to find the Whale Song. Artemis was separated from her mother when she was just a kit. What she really wants, more than anything else, is to find her mom, and to have a family again. I liked that Artemis’ mom is named Freya, and thus, they’re both named after mythological goddesses. Poor Artemis has been on her own since she was about seven or so. Certain animals experience prejudice and discrimination from other animals in Wild Hollow. I would assume that includes foxes. Artemis probably turned to a life of crime because nobody was willing to help her, or take her in.

The legend of Primus added some much needed worldbuilding to Wild Hollow. Legend says that Primus was the first whale ever. He came into being when the world was first created. Primus swam the world singing his song of truth to all who would listen. But people grew greedy and kept demanding new knowledge from him. One of his teeth got knocked out by a rock, but Primus imbued it was his song. It is said whoever finds the tooth will also find the truth they seek. I liked how the legend gave a sense of lore and history to Wild Hollow. It makes it feel more like a real place, rather than just “our world, but with talking animals.”

I also greatly enjoyed the new friends Artemis makes along the way. Osric is an otter who dreams of becoming King of the Pirates someday. He’s an interesting take on an otter character. Usually, otters are portrayed as mischievous and playful. Osric, by contrast, is a fairly serious no-nonsense character. He doesn’t like Artemis initially, but comes to see her as a friend. Osric is joined by a penguin named Salami. Yes, that’s really her name. She’s dumb as a brick, but a good person at heart, and very happy-go-lucky. Salami doesn’t have a single mean bone in her body. Over the course of the trilogy, Osric and Salami become like family to Artemis.

I must also give praise to the sheer imagination that went into all of the settings for the Grey Trilogy. So, we start of having an adventure with pirates. Our first port of call is an island inhabited by dodo birds who wear togas and all have very Roman-sounding names. Then, our heroes ride inside of a whale to get to a city located within the fossilized remains of Primus. Then, Artemis has to travel to a forest who’s tree produce pollen that makes people act stupid. It all sounds absolutely insane, but it works. The bits in the city within the remains of Primus was my favorite bit. The Grey Trilogy felt weirdly nostalgic at times. It feels like a story, or a cartoon, I would have encountered as a kid. But don’t worry, adults can easily enjoy it as well.

Transcipts were originally only available for the Boursin Trilogy. However, Shouting is Funny has since corrected this. I want to take a moment to take them for that. I will reiterate what I said in my reviews of Seen and Not Heard and Main Street Mythology. Transcripts are very important for providing accessibility; especially to listeners with hearing difficulties. They are also very handy for people who write reviews. 

My only real quibble, and this is more minor, is that Fandango appears at the end of the Grey Trilogy. This means he’ll be coming along for Artemis’ next adventure. However, I’m cautiously optimistic that Shouting is Funny will take what they learned from the Grey Trilogy, and apply it to this next adventure.

And I certainly hope I get to go on more adventures with The Chronicles of Wild Hollow soon. They don’t have much now, but I’ll happily review whatever new episodes come out. I did something similar with my review of Poe Theatre on the Air. The next plan is to do a series of shorter one-off episodes. That sounds like it could be fun, and a great way to add more characters to the cast. 

The first of these mini-episodes is called “The Ballad of Little Mollusk.” Little Mollusk was a minor character from the Grey Trilogy. They tried to stop Caine the Horney Toad from starting a coup, but got thrown into the sea. As Little Mollusk drift upon the waves, they think about their early life. Little Mollusk used to be part of a family of famous singers. They entered a singing contest to bring honor and glory to her family. But fate had other plans for Little Mollusk. 

It would seem that my faith in Shouting is Funny was not misplaced. We start in familiar territory with a character from the Grey Trilogy. Wasn’t expecting Little Mollusk to be the focus character, but I’m not about to argue with the results. I thought that it was utterly brilliant to have the singing contest be Simon Cowell, who is a cow. It worked a lot better than the Christmas special having Macaulay Culkin inexplicably exist in the world of Wild Hollow exactly as he does in our world. I guess the theme of this mini-episode is that, as one door closes, another door opens. Your life won’t always go as planned, but sometimes that means you find new opportunities. I certainly didn’t think I’d be reviewing audio dramas on a highly successful blog. And yet, here we are.

I only have one minor nitpick. At one point, the narrator refers to Little Mollusk as a cephalopod. However, the way that Little Mollusk is described indicates that they are a sea snail. Snails are gastropods, not cephalopods. However, gastropods, cephalopods, and bivalves are all mollusks. Like I said, minor nitpick, not really that big of a deal.

“The Ballad of Little Mollusk” is an excellent start to the mini-episodes.

Our next mini-episode is a Halloween special. It is called “The House with the Glass Eyes.” It follows two raccoons who are very happy, and very much in love. They are pretty much the picture of a happy loving couple. They have won a stay at the creepy old mansion at the edge of town. The butler is an equally creepy crow, the walls are hung with mysterious portraits, and their are many strange sounds the happen in the middle of the night. Still, it does have a certain rustic charm. And really, what’s the worst that could happen?

Well, this was certainly unexpected. I knew that this was going to be a Halloween special, but I didn't expect The Chronicles of Wild Hollow to go full-on horror. True, there are some humorous moments. For example, our protagonists are incredibly naive and ignore the numerous red flags all around them. This is obviously a rib at how horror movie protagonists tend not to be very bright. Still, this mini-episode does a surprisingly good job of building atmosphere and suspense.

The main villains are a cult. Cults certainly do seem to pop-up a bit more in British Horror, compared to American Horror. Britain is a lot older than America, so an ancient cult makes more sense in Britain. By contrast, a monster and/or alien randomly appearing, and remaining largely hidden, works a bit better in America. As the saying goes, 100 years is a long time to an American, but 100 miles is a long distance to a European.

Anyway, the cult worships the concept of love, and likes to…taxidermy loving couples that they come across. Oh, and that crow butler? He doesn’t believe in the cult’s teachings, but he loves to eat all of the internal organs that the cult has leftover. I mean, wow, that’s pretty brutal for a show that’s usually pretty lighthearted, and somewhat silly. And to think the last mini-episode was about a singing contest. I suppose it makes sense that the crow turned out to be evil. After all, a group of crows in called a murder.

Personally, I’m all in favor of The Chronicles of Wild Hollow trying their hand at something darker. They clearly like to experiment with different genres and styles, and it is clear that the writers are pretty competent at writing horror. In fact, my one real complaint was that I wish the episode had been longer. I realize that this was a mini-episode, but I see potential here for a full-sized episode or two. I won’t tell you how it ends, but I just loved how dark things got.

“The House with the Glass Eyes” is an excellent Halloween Special. I certainly hope we’ll see more horror stories from The Chronicles of Wild Hollow.

The Chronicles of Wild Hollow makes a second crack at a Christmas episode for our third mini-episode. It is titled “Salami Saves Christmas.” We return to the pirate crew that we met in the Grey Trilogy. Christmas time is here, but the pirates aren’t in a very festive mood. They’re still mourning the death of Pirate King Lesley. The pirates need a little Christmas right this very minute, and Salami is determined to bring it to them. She’s got the plan for perfect Christmas. What could possibly go wrong?

This marks second time that The Chronicles of Wild Hollow has attempted a Christmas Special. It also lightyears better. I’m quite fond of the pirates from the Grey Trilogy. I’m also pleased to see Salami getting to take center stage for the episode. It really is family and friends, not presents, that make Christmas a special time. I’ve come to appreciate that more as I’ve gotten older. This episode shows The Chronicles of Wild Hollow at its best. Heartwarming and sentimental, but with a few jokes and laughs as well. Much better than being a straight-up farce, like the last Christmas Special.

We also learn that roasted swampworm is considered a delicacy in Wild Hollow. This raises an interesting point I hadn’t considered until now. What do the carnivores of Wild Hollow eat? Mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians are all sentient in Wild Hollow. Certain invertebrates, such as mollusks, are as well. Maybe they eat fish and insects? Though, Salami’s name being what it is raises…interesting implications.

We also have Harvey Badger taking over as narrator. Angus Maxwell, who formerly played the narrator, decided to leave Shouting is Funny. Also, despite his name, Harvey Badger is a human…I think. I mean, never seen any photos, but I’m pretty certain that Harvey is a human.

Well, anyway, this mini-episode was really sweet, and is another example of The Chronicles of Wild Hollow at its best. And that means we’re three for three. The Chronicles of Wild Hollow bowls a turkey for excellent mini-episodes.  

Our next mini-morsel is “Bing and Crosby Make a Cake.” We return to the Stupid Woods where we meet a beaver and a praying mantis named Bing and Crosby. They host their own cooking shows where they make quite tasty meals. Except, not really. In reality, they’re both under the effects of the Idiot Pollen. The two have remained blissfully unaware of this, but Bing has begun hearing strange voices. Almost like memories of another life.

One of my guilty pleasure television shows is Worst Cooks in America on Food Network. As the name suggests, it is a cooking competition show where some of the worst home cooks in America compete, and hope to improve their cooking skills, for a cash prize. Over the years, it seems as though the contestants have gotten progressively stupider. However, even the dumbest contestants on Worst Cooks look like rocket surgeons compared to Bing and Crosby. But we see darkness amidst the silliness. It’s a pretty horrible scenario to think of. You have family and friends, an entire life, waiting for you outside the forest. But, thanks to the pollen, you can only kind of remember it. What must it be like for Bing’s loved ones, I wonder? Are they looking for him, or have they given up all hope? This short almost feels like an allegory of Alzheimer’s or Dementia.

Wild Hollow has once again decided to dabble in darker material. And once again, they have given us a quality short. 

The next mini-episode is “Hollow Herald Archive - Entry no.402.” We begin with a framing device. The archivist for the Hollow Herald Archive, the top newspaper in Wild Hollow. The archivist is listening to a recording from an investigative reporter who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The reporter was covering stories about unusual homes. His search led him to the city of Primus. But what started as a simple trip will uncover corruption and lies within the leadership of Primus.

I was a little hesitant when I first started listening to this mini-episode. The episode title and framing device seemed to be inspired by The Magnus Archives. I realize that a lot of people love The Magnus Archives, but I could never get into it. Out of Place was more along the lines of what I was hoping for from The Magnus Archives. Though, it probably helps that Out of Place has a strong emphasis on alternate history. 

However, turns out that it was just coincidence. The writers wanted to try their hand at found recording horror with this one. Unfortunately, as perviously noted, I’ve never really been able to get into that genre. Though, I will say I liked the bits where the archivist fast-forwards because he doesn’t want to hear the singing and exposition.

So, we get another look at the city of Primus. Specifically, we get to see the seedier and more corrupt side. All well and good, but personally, I didn’t feel there was any more territory to cover with Primus. Uh, metaphorically speaking, that is. I felt the story of Primus had already been pretty well covered in the Gray Trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, this was not a bad mini-episode by any stretch of the imagination. That said, I sense we can do a bit better here. Not really anything to write home about with this one.

I know The Chronicles of Wild Hollow can do better, because it has been for all of the other mini-episode up until this point. So, I’m still confident in what the future holds for these mini-episodes.

Our final mini-episode, at least for this season, is “The Stork and the King.” We begin with a framing device. Young Artemis Grey is being read a bedtime story by her mother Freya. Mrs. Grey weaves a tale of the founding and early days of Wild Hollow. She speaks of a people who voyaged from a distant land in hopes of finding a new home. These people were led by a king, and he befriended a stork who could perform fantastic miracles when called upon. However, the king grew greedy, and began to rely on the stork’s miracles more and more. The once benevolent monarch had allowed a great darkness to grow within him. His people began to question his rule, and ask if they should once again seek new homes.

Ah, it would seem that my trust was not misplaced. We get another in-universe legend that expands upon the worldbuilding of Wild Hollow. This time, we get an origin story for the people of Wild Hollow. I’m all for more in-universe legends. We see a lot of typical fairytale tropes with this one. We have the mysterious stranger who performs fantastic feats, and a greedy king who abuses those miracles. I had wondered about what the government of Wild Hollow was like. There doesn’t really appear to be much in the way of government in Wild Hollow. Or maybe it just never factors into the plot? Either way, it seems that the peoples of Wild Hollow decided that monarchies are overrated. On an unrelated note, the interactions between Artemis and Freya were really cute, and very sweet. 

And so this is the last of the mini-episodes, at least for now. It has been a great ride. We got to explore all sorts of different sides of Wild Hollow. The writers got to play with many different genres, and it was awesome. I do hope they expand upon some of the ideas. Maybe try their hand at horror again, or maybe do a series set in the early days of Wild Hollow. But whatever the future holds for The Chronicles of Wild Hollow, I can’t wait to find out. The writers clearly have a lot of ideas for more great stories. I’m confident that they’ll give us something amazing before long.

So, there you have it. The Chronicles of Wild Hollow got off to a rocky start, but it redeemed itself with the Grey Trilogy, and stuck the landing. Then it took a victory lap with the mini-episodes. It is a fun all-age affair set in a world of talking animals. There’s laughs, adventure, and even a bit of music to be had along the way. I cannot recommend the Grey Trilogy enough, and I can’t wait to see what other adventures the future holds. 

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

The Audio File: Malevolent

Many times I find audio dramas all by myself. Other times, people ask me to review there shows. Then there are times I get recommended and/or volunteered to review a show. The audio drama we’re reviewing today falls into that third category. We’re taking a look at Malevolent. 

Malevolent is set in 1930s Arkham, Massachusetts. Arthur Lester works as a private investigator. He has just woken up in his office, and he cannot see a thing. He hears a mysterious voice in his head that tells him it has commandeered his eyes. Arthur calls John for the sake of convenience. John says that he comes from a dark world parallel to our own. John says that eldritch horrors are forcing their way into Arthur’s world. Arthur and John must work together to investigate deranged cultists, terrors from beyond the stars, and revelations that will drive them to the brink of their collective sanity. Above all else, they will discover something truly malevolent.

I had been vaguely aware of Malevolent for a while. I usually saw it recommended alongside shows such as Sapceships, The Strata, Residents of Proserpina Park, and The Call of the Void. However, it only really came on my radar when Ivan Mirko S, creator of The Program Audio Series, recommended me to review it. IMS had previously recommended me to Kale Brown to review Kale’s series SINKHOLE. Harlan Guthrie, creator of Malevolent, was looking for someone to review the series. IMS recommended me, and here we are now.

Malevolent has been picked up for distribution by Rusty Quill. Amusingly enough, so has The Program Audio Series. Rusty Quill are the creators of show such as The Magnus Archives and Outliers: Stories From the Edges of History. However, in recent times, Rusty Quill has also been acquiring preexisting shows for distribution. This helps gets more attention on the shows, and introduces them to a wider audience.

Now, usually I wait for serialized show to have at least one complete season before I commit to a review. However, from what I’ve seen, Malevolent is intended to keep going indefinitely. So, I made an exception. Though, I do wonder how Harlan is going to be able to maintain a sense of suspense and purpose without a defined ending. It seems that Harlan is dividing the series into various arcs. We got an arc in the Dreamlands for several episodes, and before that we got an arc set in and around Arkham. I suppose that first one could be thought of as an introductory arc. I will say I have been greatly enjoying Malevolent thus far. Let’s see if it can maintain the momentum.

The first thing I should discuss is the voice acting. Now, on first glance, it might seem like Malevolent has quite the cast of voice actors. However, that’s not quite correct. You see, Malevolent is an entirely one-man show. Harlan Guthrie voices all of the characters. This is certainly no small feet, as there are a wide variety of accents and pitches that Harlan must juggle. Arthur speaks in a British accent, while his landlord speaks in a New England accent. Arthur has a higher pitched voice, while John has a very deep and resonant voice. Though, I suspect that voice filters and modulation help with that last one. John’s voice does have a noticeable echo and reverb to give it an otherworldly quality. 

I was surprised to learn that Harlan is Canadian. He did such a great job with Arthur’s voice, and I assumed he must have been British. Needless to say, Harlan was quite successful with managing all of the roles he has to play. Thought, Harlan playing all of the characters does mean there aren’t really any women with speaking role. However, that’s also largely true for most of H.P. Lovecraft’s works. So, I guess it fits.

I suppose it fits that Arthur is British. Lovecraft was a massive Anglophile, and English people were one of the only groups of people he wasn’t scared of. And yes, English, not British. Lovecraft nearly had a mental breakdown when he discovered that one of ancestors was Welsh. He also wrote the date was it was 200 years prior, as he considered the American Revolution have been a mistake.

Malevolent has a pretty brilliant justification for being set in an audio-only medium. Arthur has been rendered blind because of John possessing him. As such, we are experiencing the story through Arthur’s point-of-view, or lack there of, as the case may be. The way John is always describing the scenes, and directing Arthur’s actions, brings to mind the Call of Cthulhu Tabletop RPG. It is a Dungeons & Dragons-style Tabletop RPG set within the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Usually, the goal is less about defeating the evil forces, and more about simply surviving them. Oh, and your sanity is one of your stats, along side stuff like strength, intelligence, and other typical RPG stuff. It always looked like it would be fun to play. I wanted to try Tabletop RPGs, but I never really had any friends to play with. Anyway, there are various time in Malevolent where you can hear dice being rolled. Those who support Malevolent on Patreon get to vote on how the story will unfold. The dice rolling sound indicates when an event was voted on by the patrons.

In a way, Malevolent gives me the feeling of experiencing the story of a Tabletop RPG campaign, but without the tropes of conventions of an Actual Play podcast. I find that to be a very nice touch. I must admit I’ve never been the biggest fan of Actual Play shows. Not really my cup of tea. But I do know that often produce some very fun stories.

As should be clear by now, Malevolent draws heavily upon the Lovecraft Mythos. Early on, Arthur and John investigate a cult dedicated to the worship of Shub-Niggurath. There’s a scene at a hospital where Arthur and John encounter an old woman. The way she’s described brings to mind “The Thing on the Doorstep.” Much later into the series, Arthur and John visit a town named Addison. It is located inland, but the inhabitants are described in a way that suggests they have the Innsmouth look. There are also several episodes where Arthur and John must traverse the Dreamlands. You don’t really see the Dreamlands turn up too often in Lovecraft-inspired fiction. Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle was a bit closer to fantasy than horror, so perhaps that plays a part. Oh, but don’t worry, Malevolent milks the Dreamlands for all the horror and dangers they can provide. So, hats-off for choosing one of the lesser utilized aspects of Lovecraft’s work. Arthur also visits a library and learns about Hastur, the King in Yellow.

Okay, I’ve put it off for as long as possible. We’re going to have to talk about to major spoilers. As such, 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.

It was clear to me from the start that John was actually some sort of entity from the Lovecraft Mythos. My money was on Nyarlathotep, as I believe he’s been known to possess people from time to time. But no, it seems that I was wrong. John is actually the King in Yellow…sort of. He’s actual a fragment of the King in Yellow. At first, he wanted to become whole again, but spending time in Arthur’s body made him come to appreciate humanity. Hmm, okay, that’s an interesting choice. So, we have a Great Old One being humanized, and given a sympathetic treatment in the form of John. However, the King in Yellow remains and genuinely threatening antagonist, and doesn’t loose any of his street cred. That’s some very smart writing choices.

Some series that utilize the Lovecraft Mythos go completely silly and lighthearted. Other really lean into the darkness and nihilism of the original works. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either approach. It all depends on the sort of story you want to tell. However, I do find that Malevolent strikes a happy middle ground. We can have John depicted sympathetically, but also have the Great Old Ones be genuinely terrifying and menacing. In a way, John’s character arc reminds me of Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen. He was also a god-like being who eventually found meaning in humanity.

Oh, but we aren’t done yet. You see, Arthur’s hiding some secrets of his own. He used to be musician, and he had a daughter named Faroe. I learned that her name is spelled like that after reading the transcripts. I’d been mishearing it as Thoreau, as in Henry David Thoreau, but apparently it is Faroe, like the Faroe Islands. Anyway, Arthur got so into composing one night that he forgot Faroe was in a bathtub, and she drowned. I mean, technically that is something that can happen, especially with younger kids, but it kind of came across as unintentionally funny. Still, it is a testament to Harlan’s acting skills that he was able to sell those lines. It helps flesh-out Arthur as a character. The King in Yellow has certainly killed several people, but Arthur has blood on his hands too.

Speaking of blood on hands, I’d like to mention another showcase of Harlan’s acting talent. The scene where Arthur and John must decide whether or not to mercy kill a Dreamlands creature. I mean, wow, that was really powerful, and emotionally heart-wrenching. And to think it was all one guy playing all of the roles. Let it never be said that Malevolent isn’t capable of tugging at your heartstrings. 

Arthur and John have their similarities, but they also provide an interesting mirror to each other. John grows more compassionate and human, but Arthur grows increasingly callous and at times even ruthless. In a way, Arthur becomes a bit more like the King in Yellow. 

Even with all of the darkness, and everything that Arthur and John go through, there’s still flickers of light at the end of the tunnel. Malevolent has, when you get down to it, a somewhat optimistic tone. Yes, you may go through hell and back again, but you can get through it if you try. Well, that’s the tone so far. Let’s see how long that lasts.

I think that should cover just about everything. Harlan Guthrie said he wanted to be able to quote a critic about Malevolent, and call the show critically claimed. Well, here you go, Harlan. Malevolent takes desperate elements of Lovecraft’s works, and weaves them into a tapestry all its own. The story has no plans of stopping any time, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next. Malevolent is great for horror lovers, and fans of the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

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.

The Audio File: Friday Knight Fights

I’ve had a lot of obligations and prior commitments as of late. However, I’ve finally got a temporary gap in my reviewing schedule. As such, we get to review an audio drama I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. We’re taking a look at Friday Knight Fights. 

Arthur Padron was just an average teenager trying to enjoy his gap year before college. Then he met a girl named Lynn, and touched the magic sword she had with her. Arthur soon discovered that he is the modern-day reincarnation of King Arthur himself. Lynn turns out to be the reincarnation of the great sorcerer Merlin, and the sword is Excalibur itself. They’re also joined by Elliot, who is the reincarnation of Lancelot. The modern reincarnations of the Knights of the Round Table are scattered across modern-day America. Arthur, Lynn, and Elliot must set off on a cross-country roadtrip to recruit the reincarnated knights. However, though magic is returning to the world, so too are dark forces. It’s sure to be an adventure of Arthurian proportions.

I first became aware of Friday Knight Fights from the weekly new releases thread on the r/audiodrama subreddit. The premise sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a try. I enjoy urban fantasy, and I enjoy Arthurian Legend. There have been a few other works that utilize the premise of Arthurian characters reincarnating in the modern-day. However, it is not how many times a premise has been done, but how well you execute it, that truly matters. Personally, I’d say that Friday Knight Fights did a pretty good job handling its premise.

Season one is split into two alternating parts. One part takes place during everyone’s freshmen year at college, while the other takes place one year earlier, and shows how everyone met. Each episode will features scenes relating to both plot lines. Usually, the freshmen year plot line starts off the episode, and then we transition to the one year earlier plot line. Also, in case you’re wondering, the sword on the cover art is Excalibur, and the red threads are the red threads of destiny. 

The title of the series is obviously a reference to the movie/television series Friday Night Lights. Admittedly, I have seen either that movie or the television series, but I’ve heard good things about them. So far, Arthur hasn’t become part of any football team. Of course, as uncoordinated as Arthur is, that might be for the best. I also get some hints that anime might have been influence on Friday Knight Fights. Some points, usually halfway through the episode, there will be little bumpers where the name of the series will be accompanied by some dramatic music. Animes frequently do that as well; off the top of my head, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, KonoSuba, and The Way of the House Husband all do that. Come to think of it, the general plot of Friday Knight Fights wouldn’t be too out of place in an anime.

Now, let’s talk about the voice acting and should design. One of the biggest strengths of Friday Knight Fights is its absolutely stellar cast. I could tell from my first listen that the cast were all extremely talented and hard-working. I don’t know if any of them have prior experience in voice acting, but I see very bright futures for them all. Now, having said all of this, I need to do a bit of tough love. The audio quality, while overall passable, can have some noticeable inconsistencies at times. There will be sometimes when characters will have a noticeable background hiss accompany their dialogue. Also, there’s always a little bit at the end of each episode, after the credits, that feels like it was incidental recordings left in by accident. So, definitely want to even out those audio levels and remove that background hiss.

Scenes that involve a lot of action will often music and sound-effect. This is good, and I very much support this. You also sometimes get this in incidental scenes. For example, there’s the scene where Arthur and Elliot go on a shopping spree in the style of a 1990s rom-com movie. I do feel that maybe more of the less dramatic scenes would benefit from a smidge more ambient noise, and perhaps even a bit of music at times.

Speaking of music, let’s not forget them theme music. Overall, I do enjoy the theme music. It reminds me a bit of the theme music from the audio drama Red Rhino. Though, to my knowledge, nobody from Friday Knight Fights was involved with Red Rhino. So, it could be coincidence. I could never get into Red Rhino, unlike Friday Knight Fights. My biggest compliant is that Red Rhino was so busy trying to be metafictional and post-modern it forgot to tell an actual story. Thankfully, Friday Knight Fights does not have that issue. I also liked how the theme music played alongside the finals scenes of the season one finale. It reminds me of how certain animes also do that.

Now, let’s shift gears and talk about the characters. Arthur is a complete and utter dork who often trips over his own feet. Oh, he might attempt to look cool, but he often just makes an even bigger fool of himself. The Knights of the Round Table, and especially Lynn, frequently rib him and poke fun at his expense. All of the being said, as the series progresses, Arthur slowly grows into a competent leader. His plans and battle tactics are, more often than not, genuinely good and well thought out. We get hints of the king he will one day become. However, he’s still got a long way to go before he’s ready to measure up to the legends. But for all his dorkiness, he’s still endearing, and we want to see him succeed. Arthur is voiced by Ian Kennedy.

Lynn is Arthur’s left-hand woman. The position of right-hand woman has been filled by Elliot. That being said, Lynn does not spare Arthur any snark and sarcasm. In fact, she’s often the one who instigates it. But when the chips are down, she’s always there for Arthur. Lynn, being the reincarnation of Merlin, is quite skilled in magic. However, she’s even more adept when it comes to modern technology, particularly computers and hacking. However, she insists that her hacking skills don’t have anything to do with magic. In fact, her hacking skills are how she was about to track down Arthur and the Knights. Oh, and Lynn also shops at Hot Topic, but she’s mildly embarrassed about that. Lynn is voiced by Charlie “Rat” Sutton.

Elliot is the reincarnation of Lancelot. She has a sunny disposition, and is almost always bubbly and cheery. She has her occasional moments of ditziness, but that just makes her get along with Arthur even better. In fact, much like their medieval counterparts, they get along famously. Of course, if you know your Arthurian Legend, you’ll know that Lancelot had an affair with Queen Guinevere, which set off a series of events that eventually lead to the downfall of Camelot. Oh, but don’t worry, Elliot had promised that she won’t sleep with Arthur’s wife. Well, Arthur is currently single, but the point still stands. Elliot is voiced by series creator Ashton Lorelle. When I first started listening to Friday Knight Fights, I assumed that Ashton was exaggerating her accent. Elliot sounded almost stereotypically Southern at times. However, if the pre-show ads are anything to go off of, that’s apparently more or less how Ashton actually speaks. Of course, I’m not really in a position to be remarking on that sort of thing. Nobody who hears me speak ever guesses that Shreveport, Louisiana is where I’m from.

Anthony is the first Knight that Arthur, Lynn, and Elliot find. He is the reincarnation of Tristan. Anthony is…uh, cool, like, a really nice guy. Okay, I’m just gonna be real with you guys. Anthony kind of gets outshone by the more colorful members of the cast. If they were the Avengers, he would be Hawkeye. Anthony’s primary character arc revolves around finding out who Princess Isolde reincarnated as. We’ll get into that once we get to the spoilers section.

I think Gerry was easily my favorite character. He is the reincarnation of Gawain. Gerry’s fully name is Gerard Butler. No, not the one you’re probably thinking of. Gerry is the life of the party, but he has a very laidback and chill. He also usually the one who organizes parties. He sounds like one of those people who is dumb as a brick, but also completely lovable. The only thing Gerry truly hates is the color green. This is an obvious nod to the legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gerry loves to party, but he loves his mommy even more. In fact, Gerry initially doesn’t want to go to college if it means be away from his mom. Gerry is voiced by Tyler Gonelli, who also handles the music and sound design for the series.

Arthur has a cousin named Carlos. Unsurprisingly, Carlos turns out to be the reincarnation of Kay, who was King Arthur’s stepbrother. Well, in some retellings anyway. Lynn mentions that not all retells of Arthurian Legend are accurate. Personally, I thought that Friday Knight Fights had a pretty brilliant explanation for the inconsistencies within Arthurian Legend. The characters have reincarnated over the centuries. So, it isn’t that the chroniclers were being inconsistent, or changing details, they were recording different incarnations of the Arthurian characters. That also handily explains why the Arthurian Legends don’t mesh with the archeological record of 5th Century Britain. Stone castles, knights, and countless other iconic Arthurian elements hadn’t been invented yet in the 5th Century. Carlos is voiced by Mateo Rodriguez.

The exact number of Knights of the Round Table varies from legend to legend. On the low end, some source say there were only twelve. On the higher end, however, other sources claim there were anywhere from 150 to over 300. I bring this up because there’s a lot of obscure Knights out there. Oh, sure, you’ve heard of Lancelot and Percival, or maybe you’re familiar with Gawain or Bedivere because of English class. But have you heard Sir Lucan the Butler? I should mention that, in this case, butler doesn’t mean what it does in modern times. A medieval butler was someone in charge of the royal household and royal court. As such, Lucan was on par with Knights such as Kay and Bedivere.

I bring all of this up because Arthur and the gang eventually meet a girl name Lucy, and she is the reincarnation of Lucan. She’s not to thrilled about being The Butler. I suppose she wasn’t paying too close attention to the visions of her past lives. Lucy is the daughter of the dean of the university everyone eventually decides to go to. Said university is famous for its medieval studies program, and the town around the university has a lot of Arthurian themed shops and cafes. Lucy initially seems like she’ll be a spoiled mean girl character, but she turns out to be pretty nice. Lucy is voiced by Sydney Jones

Okay, so what if one of the reincarnated Knights doesn’t want to relive the old legends? Oh, don’t worry, we get our answer in the form of Poppy. She’s the reincarnation of Percival. She initially doesn’t want to get involved, but she comes around with time. Though, she does make Arthur promise that they’ll actually change things this time round, and won’t just repeat the old stories. Poppy gets along quite well with Lynn, especially when it comes to messing with Arthur. Also, Poppy wears glasses, and is basically blind without them. As an aside, I love that Poppy’s episode took place at Medieval Times Chicago. I went to Medieval Times Dallas for a field trip in sixth grade. Sure, Medieval Times plays a bit fast and loose with actual history, but it is tons of fun. I had an absolute blast, and would gladly go again if I ever got the chance. Poppy is voiced by Hannah Steele, who also acts as director and co-writer for the series.

Rounding out the cast is Delilah. She is the reincarnation of Bedivere. Delilah loves volunteering for just about everything. She even volunteers as part of a Catholic church choir, despite the fact that she is Jewish, and is raised by two gay men. She’s no slouch in a fight. In fact, she picked up quite a few self-defense skills from her time volunteering various hospitals. Arthur found this out the hard way. To be fair, he did kind of come across as a creep. He lured her into one of the church’s back rooms and ask her to touch his sword. He meant Excalibur, since touching it is how everyone gets memories of their past lives, but that’s not how Delilah interpreted it. Carlos has a crush on Delilah, and its hinted that she returns his feelings. Interestingly, in the original legends, Kay and Bedivere were quite close. Delilah is voiced by Strummer Steele.

Okay, now we’re getting into the spoilers. 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.

Okay, first things first, Anthony’s love quest. The love quest ends in a way Anthony didn’t expect, but I certainly wondered about. Many of the male characters from the original legends were reincarnated as girls. So, it would stand to reason that at least some females characters are boys this time round. Well, it turns out I was right. Isolde has been reincarnated as a boy named Sawyer. Anthony initially doesn’t take that well. Though, he also admits he hasn’t really given much thought to his sexuality. One talk with Gerry later, and Anthony has patched things up with Sawyer. I’m not opposed to Anthony coming around to loving Sawyer, but I felt like things moved a bit too fast. At times it almost reminded me of the part of Spamalot where Lancelot discovers that he is gay. Or maybe Gerry is just that good? He’s not too bright, but he does have excellent people skills.

In other relationships, Arthur and Elliot become a couple. I had kind of suspected that this might happen. I thought that, instead of having with Guinevere, Elliot would have an affair with Arthur. Though, Arthur hadn’t found Guinevere yet at that point. We also know that something bad happened with Elliot the pervious year. She had considered tossing Excalibur into the lake where Lynn first found it. Did she try to go through with it? But then another thought occurred to me. What if Elliot wasn’t who she claimed to be? What if, somehow, she was Mordred, but wanted to be good this time around? But no, it couldn’t be, could it? How would she hid something like that from Lynn?

Well, lo and behold, I was half correct. The person claiming to be Elliot was indeed Mordred, though she prefers to be called Dread this days. However, she’s just as evil as she was in the original legends. Also, she’s the one who gave Lynn in info on how to find the Knights. It was all according to Dread’s scheme. I mean, I suspected this might be coming, but still, damn. Wait a minute, Mordred was Arthur’s son in the original legends so…oh no! Arthur was in a relationship with his reincarnated son! I mean, they aren’t biologically related, but still. Well, that’s going to make season two very interesting.

Oh, and Arthur found his Guinevere. She’s a girl he had a crush on name Winnie. Yeah, I saw the one coming a mile away. Most of the characters have names that are evocative of their Arthurian counterparts. Lynn is Merlin, Lucy is Lucan, Gerry is Gawain, Poppy is Percival, and Arthur is…well, you know. I would have been more surprised if Winnie hadn’t turned out to be Guinevere. I saw it coming, but that’s not a bad thing. It will be interesting to see how Winnie interacts with the rest of the cast come season two.

And from the looks of it, season two is going to be even more amazing than season one. We now know how the gang meet each other, and who the villains they’re up against are. Personally, I can’t wait to see what adventures we’ll be going on in season two.

So, there you have it. Friday Knight Fights is a modern-day urban fantasy adventure of Arthurian proportions. It follows characters from Arthurian Legend being reincarnated a modern-day college students. Season one was really great, and I eagerly await to see what season two will bring. From the looks of things, it will be just as great, if not even better.

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

The Audio File: Live From Mount Olympus: Persephone

It is always exciting when an audio drama puts out a new season. Especially so when you aren’t sure if the new season was on the way. Well, I don’t really have much more to add, so let’s get directly to it. We’re taking a look at season two of Live From Mount Olympus. 

Persephone is a young goddess with a reasonably good life. Her half-sisters Athena and Artemis are her best friends, her parents Demeter and Zeus love her, and she’s a fairly talented artist. And yet, she feels that she doesn’t know who she really is. She worries that she isn’t pretty, and that she has no identity beyond being Demeter’s daughter. But that’s not Persephone’s only problem. She’s been swallowed by a hole in the ground, and now finds herself in the underworld. Apparently, Zeus offered her hand in marriage to Hades. Persephone must journey through the underworld to discover who she really is. Meanwhile, Demeter will search high and low for Persephone. She will do whatever it takes to get her daughter back, no matter the consequences.

I had been hoping that Live From Mount Olympus would be getting a second season. As you might recall, I absolutely adored season one of Live From Mount Olympus. There’s plenty of stories from Greek Mythology that would make for great adaptions. Lo and behold, Live From Mount Olympus put out some bonus mini-episodes, and announced that a seconds season was on the way. The only hint was that it would involve a female character as the protagonist. Who could it be? What myth would be adapted? Psyche and Eros? That one had a happy ending, which is fairly rare for Greek Mythology. Atalanta, perhaps? But the ending of that one is bittersweet at absolute best. Didn’t seem like the sort of thing Live From Mount Olympus would go for.

But what if it wasn’t anything about mortal heroes? What if it involved the gods and goddesses? Sure enough, it turned out to be an adaption the Persephone and Demeter myth. Well, season one turned out pretty great. So, I had full confidence that season two would live up to its predecessor. It would seem that my faith was certainly not misplaced.

As I noted in my review of season one, Live From Mount Olympus is all about filling in the gaps. The original myths don’t offer much in the way of introspection. Characters will do things, but we don’t really get insight into their inner thoughts, and there’s not much in the way of dialogue. Point being, there’s a lot of wiggle room, and room for creativity, when it comes to adapting myths. For example, while the myths never say that Persephone hung out with Athena and Artemis, there’s also no evidence against it. The dialogue is modern, but feels natural, and never comes across as trying too hard to be hip and cool.

Persephone is also more assertive, and isn’t just some damsel in distress like in the original myth. She has adventures exploring the underworld on her own, and this is a big part of her character arc. She gains confidence and learns to embrace her new role as the queen of the underworld. She learns to see her new role as a chance to finally step out from her mother’s shadow. Persephone also makes some changes to the underworld. Prior to her arrival, all shades drink water from the River Lethe. It makes them lose their memories, and Hades believes that this will help them adjust to life in the underworld. However, Persephone convinces Hades that it might be better to let some shades retain their memories of life. Technically, this isn’t really part of the original myth, but it was a nice addition. I’d say there’s enough wiggle room that we can let it slide.

I really liked how Hades was portrayed. It is depressingly common for works that draw upon Greek Mythology to portray Hades as, basically, Ancient Greek Satan. In actual mythology, however, he was stern, but ultimately fair and reasonable. Death comes for us all sooner or later. Also, unlike Zeus and Poseidon, Hades only had a grand total of two affairs. In both cases, his lovers were turned into plants by Persephone. Of course, this is Live From Mount Olympus, so, naturally the writing is going to portray Greek Mythology accurately.

Hades is shown to be a very kind, sensitive, and introspective. He isn’t forceful with Persephone, and allows her take her time getting acclimated to the underworld. He also willingly let’s Persephone return to the land of the living after she learns how bad things have gotten in her absence. Persephone and Hades’ relationship progress realistically. Persephone doesn’t instantly fall for Hades, and still isn’t head-over-heels for Hades by the end of the season. However, she has grown to enjoy spending time with Hades, and is eager to continue to help improve the underworld.

I also enjoy that equal time was devoted to Demeter. This is pretty much the only myth where Demeter played a starring role. Oh, she appeared in other myths, but usually as a supporting character. As such, it was nice to explore Demeter’s time living among the mortals. She teaches humanity how to plant and harvest crops in the last episode of this season. This is in keeping with the myth, but earlier segments of the season seemed to indicate that humanity already knew how to do that. Mortals complained that the ground was barren, and nothing would grow. Did Demeter teach them how to harvest, but not how to plant? The Greek Gods could be jerks at times, but that comes across more as being scatterbrained. Demeter is a bit overprotective of Persephone, but that’s because she’s worried about being a bad mother. Demeter never really had a relationship with her own mother, Rhea, due to being swallowed by her father Kronos as a child. So, Demeter’s kind of figuring out parenting as she goes along. But then, isn’t that true of all parents?

Hermes still acts as narrator, but he’s joined by Hekate this time. That pairing made me think of The Hermes & Hekate Road Show. Such a good show, such a same that it only lasted one season, and is no longer available to listen to. Anyway, getting back on track, Hermes has a more reduced role this time round. He still pops into the story ever now and again, but not to the extent he did in season one. On the flips side, Persephone meets the goddess Styx during her time in the underworld. Styx is the personification of the river of the same name. Many gods and goddesses were personifications of various concepts or geographic features. They usually did have much in the way of personality, so that gives you wiggle room when adapting them. Styx provides words of wisdom to Persephone, and reminds her of the new opportunities she can find in the underworld. And I did love how Cerberus was portrayed as, basically, a big happy, energetic puppy. But, you know, with three heads and all that.

Okay, let’s just get this out the way now. Hades is the brother of Zeus and Demeter, who are Persephone’s parents. So, that means that Persephone’s parents are also her aunt and uncle, she is both their daughter and their niece, and her hand in marriage has been offered to her uncle twice-over. Live From Mount Olympus doesn’t deny any of this, but it also doesn’t go out of its way to emphasis any of it either. Like, there are times Zeus and Hades are mentioned to be brothers, and a couple times that Kronos and Rhea are mentioned as the parents of Zeus and Demeter, but not at the same time. Also, just as a random aside, I did notice that Hera was conspicuously absent from the happenings. Personally, I think this was the best approach to take with such subject matter. Don’t deny it, but also don’t go out of your way to draw attention to it.

I’d like to take a moment to talk about the voice acting. Joanne Hernandez had to walk a very fine line in her portrayal of Persephone. She strikes a good balance between sounding confident, but also showing an insecure side at times. Likewise, Nidra Sous la Terre strikes a good balance of portraying Demeter as overprotective, but also genuinely sympathetic. Andre De Shields is once again wonderful as Hermes. He’s joined by Ching Valdes-Aran as Hekate. We also get a surprise cameo from Anna Kendrick as Eos, goddess of the dawn. In other cameos, Divine Garland briefly appears as both a soul in the underworld, and as a human learning how to plant crops. I don’t think the soul was meant to be Perseus. I’m pretty sure the story of Perseus took place after the story of Persephone and Hades. It was just meant to be a fun little cameo.

Well, there you have it. Season two of Live From Mount Olympus lives up to the standard set by its predecessor. This has opened up many more possibilities for future seasons. There’s still so many myths left to adapt. The possibilities are endless, and I can’t wait to see where this show goes next.

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

The Audio File: The Call of the Void

I have my tastes and preferences when it comes to audio dramas. Having said that, at lot of times, I won’t know if I’ll like something until I give it a try. As with many things, finding a great audio drama often comes down to pure chance and luck, more than anything else. Though, I certainly hope my reviews help you to find great audio dramas. There’s no much more to add, so let’s get right into it. We’re taking a look at The Call of the Void. 

Topher Sommers is a tour guide who works at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. He’s got a fairly good life, and is reasonably happy. Then his father, a prominent physics professor, disappears. Topher and his sister Simone try to retrace their father’s steps. This leads Topher to a palm reader named Etsy Delmen. She went to school with Topher, but he kind of forgot about her over the years. Etsy is hide a few secrets of her own. Topher and Etsy hit the road to retrace Mr. Sommers tracks, while Simone stay behind in New Orleans. Topher and Etsy are about to find more than they bargained for. They will discover arcane symbols, deranged cultists, morally questionable experiments, and eldritch horrors from beyond this universe. This is The Call of the Void. Stay tuned, stay sane.

I had known about The Call of the Void for a while. I’d seen it get recommended alongside shows such as Spaceships, The Strata, and Residents of Proserpina Park. The Twitter account for The Call of the Void even followed and unfollowed me a couple times. I did follow them back eventually, but I think I ought to explain my process. I don’t follow shows on Twitter until I have caught up with all available episodes that they have. It’s nothing personal, it’s just how I conduct myself. But it was also clear that The Call of the Void was trying to get my attention. Okay, it worked. You guys twisted my arm enough, and I gave the show a listen.

I sometimes get the feeling that shows follow me on Twitter in order to fish for a review. As such, I must repeat what I said during my review of We Fix Space Junk. 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 the other subreddits I post in. Or you can message me on Facebook; I'm active in the Audio Drama Lovers group and the Audio Drama Hub 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.

I’ll admit that horror investigation audio dramas aren’t really my go-to genre. Despite this, The Call of the Void managed to hold my interest for all three seasons. I was worried that things would move too slow, and both the mystery and plot would drag on. Thankfully, this was not the case. The plot moved at a decent speed. In fact, there were times when season one felt like it was moving a bit too fast. Fortunately, these pacing issues were smoothed out in seasons two and three. I was also intrigued by the references and connections to the Lovecraft Mythos. I am a fan of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Let’s see: incomprehensible eldritch horrors from beyond this universe, deranged cultists who worship said eldritch horrors, mysterious archaic symbols, academics driven mad by the eldritch horrors. I don’t know about you, but that all sounds pretty Lovecraftian to me.

Also, as someone from Louisiana, I’d be lying if I said that The Calling of the Void being set in Louisiana didn’t intrigue me. My dad’s side of the family is from throughout the greater New Orleans area. So, I’ve visited New Orleans on quite a few occasions over the years. While we’re on the subject, points for getting the pronunciation correct. Those of us from Louisiana pronounce it New Or-Lens, not New Or-leans. I realize this makes no sense to non-Louisianans, but that’s how we pronounce it. Saying it as Or-leans is a good way to get yourself marked as a tourist. Also, points for remembering that Louisiana is divided into parishes, not counties. It is a legacy from our days as a colony of France and Spain, who were both Catholic nations. Louisiana is one of only two states that don’t use counties. The other one is Alaska, which uses boroughs.

Let’s talk about the characters, starting with Topher. As previously stated, Topher has a degree in history, and works at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. It is a real museum that is located in the French Quarter. I’ve been going to New Orleans for many years, but I haven’t been to the Pharmacy Museum yet. I’ll have to correct that next time I’m down there. It certainly looks like and interesting place, and I’ll be able to mark it on my Atlas Obscura list, which is a nice bonus. I’m kind of tempted to ask if Topher Sommers is in just to see how the tour guides will react. As someone with a bachelor’s degree in history, I can confirm that Topher working as a tour guide checks out. A lot of history majors hope to work in museums someday. Though only a lucky few actually manage to achieve that dream. It helps if you can find work at a smaller museum, but even then it can be a bit dicey.

I also liked how Topher has a habit of cheerily rattling off disturbing medical history facts. That’s something else that is common to history majors. Depending on what your focus is, you can get desensitize to some pretty grizzly stuff fairly quickly. I helps if you’re a fan of Horrible Histories, both the books and the television series. I did my senior paper on the history of Mesoamerican civilizations. Human sacrifice was an unavoidable topic, as were religious rituals involving flaying and blood letting. Unavoidable, but I was never really phased by it all. In fact, I took a more nuanced view. At least the Aztecs and Mayans killed people because they thought it was required to keep the world running. The Romans, by contrast, killed people just for entertainment. Yet we don’t discount all the achievements the Romans made because of that.

Time to move on to Etsy before this turns into a Mesoamerican History lecture. Etsy works as a palm reader at a voodoo shop, and she actually has psychic powers. When I first start listening, I was worried that The Call of the Void would fall into the stereotypical depiction of Voodoo. In real life, Voodoo, known in Haiti as Vodou, is a syncretic religion that combines traditional West African religions with Roman Catholicism. It believes that there is a creator god, but he’s preoccupied with keeping the universe running. So, the day-to-day affairs are relegated to lesser spirits known as loa. Practitioners of Voodoo don’t worship the loa, but they do serve them, and give them offerings. Voodoo is a religion like any other. All of that folk magic stuff is known a Hoodoo, also known as root working. Besides the similar names, both Voodoo and Hoodoo are practiced in New Orleans, and there’s been some cross-pollination over the years.

But “voodoo dolls” are totally fake. West African religion often uses dolls known a Fetishes for rituals. Europeans mistook these for Popits, which are a form of folk magic from Europe, and ironically closer to the traditional view of voodoo dolls. The confusion persisted and the myth of the voodoo doll was born. Having said all of that, Louisianans will happily sell “voodoo dolls” to gullible tours, often for a very high price. Hey, don’t give me that look. Louisiana’s economy has been in the toilet for decades. We get excited every time a new Popeyes opens because it means seven or eight new jobs. Swindling drunk gullible tourists helps keep our economy floating.

Thankfully, Etsy’s job was a red herring. Tourist Voodoo is just a bogus in The Call of the Void as it is in our world. Etsy get her powers as a result of experiments she was subjected to as a child. Her mother believed that subjecting Etsy to sensory deprivation experiments would lead to her being able to reach into other universes. And it did, sort of. Etsy can experience another person’s memories by touching them. So, I guess she’s kind of like Rouge from X-Men. Of course, the experiments also lead to her making contact with an entity known as The Void. It is entropy and nothingness incarnate, and it is trying to enter our world. I would argue that, in many ways, Etsy is the true protagonist and driving force of the series. Her connection to The Void drives much of the action across all three seasons.

That said, we do experience Etsy’s story, for the most part, from Topher’s point of view, for the most part. It kind of like those anime where the girl character appears on the cover, and is the one who gets the attention from the fandom, but the boy is the viewpoint character. This is especially amusing, as I believe that’s suppose to be Etsy on the series title card.

There’s also a colorful cast of side characters. Etsy has gotten into numerous run-ins with the law over the years. As such, she’s well aquatinted with Officer Mason. He kind of sounded like Rabbi Bengelsdorf from the HBO miniseries adaption of The Plot Against America. Though, it was just coincidence, as they’re played by separate actors. Officer Mason starts off as a grumpy middle-aged man, but he warms up to Topher and the gang with time.

Topher’s sister Simone is also an enjoyable character. My only complaint with her is that she works at a bakery in season one, but then she’s studying theoretical physics in season two. It felt like there was no set-up for that, and it felt like it came out of left-field. Also, she used to work at a bakery, and she has a boyfriend named…Baker? I mean, its not really anything major, but it a little on the nose.

In season two we get to meet Fargo Kaminski. Under normal circumstances, she’d be like one of those crazy conspiracy loonies you see on The History Channel. However, though more than a tad eccentric, she prove to be a valuable ally to Topher and Etsy. Fargo lives out in the swamp, and has a pet alligator. She just does. And yeah, maybe she’s a little crazy, but hey, its a Lovecraft-inspired story. Pretty much everyone is going to be a little crazy.

I’d now like to take a moment to talk about the voice acting. Etsy and Topher are voiced by series creators Josie Eli Herman and Michael Alan Herman. They both look fairly spot-on for how I envision Etsy and Topher looking. In fact, that’s Josie cosplaying as Etsy on the series title card. Needless to say, they portray their characters quite well. Michael nails Topher’s dorky, but endearing, personality. Likewise, Josie really captures Etsy’s conflicted nature. She gives an understated and somewhat emotional detracted performance, but also give subtle hints at the sadness and trauma Etsy carries within her. I must also give praise to Amanda Buchalter’s performance as Simone. She and Michael sounded like that could pass as actual siblings. Really, the entire cast gives very strong performances. I have not complaints there.

As I noted at the beginning, The Call of the Void draws heavily upon the works of H.P. Lovecraft for inspiration. The Void itself wouldn’t be too out of place in a Lovecraft story. Even the way it factors into the plot of The Call of the Void evokes Lovecraft. H.P. Lovecraft came up with a pantheon of Great Old Ones with a very detailed mythology. However, the Great Old Ones usually don’t directly appear in Lovecraft’s short stories. They’re usually lurking just off-screen, for lack of a better way of putting it, and manipulating things from the shadows. The Void only directly appears a few times, but its presence is very much felt. 

The main antagonist of season two is known as The Yellow King. This is an obvious reference to The King in Yellow. The King in Yellow was created by Robert W. Chamber. However, Lovecraft was a big fan of Chamber’s work, and incorporated The King in Yellow into the Cthulhu Mythos. Speaking of Cthulhu, I get the impression that the title of the series might be a reference to “The Call of Cthulhu.” Topher, Etsy, and the gang are also menaced by Night Gaunts at the end of season two, and the start of season three. Points for picking one of the more obscure Lovecraft monsters.

Topher is a big fan of Lovecraft’s work as well. However, we only find this out towards the end of season two. Considering all of the Lovecraftian motifs, starting all the way back in season one, Topher really should have spoken up sooner. Also, when faced with a dark cyclopean city in season two, Topher likens it to R’lyeh, the resting place of Cthulhu. Uh, given that the Yellow King is the antagonist of season two, wouldn’t Carcosa be a more fitting comparison? A supposed Lovecraft fanatic like Topher really should have picked up on that.

Also, The Call of the Void bills itself as science fiction, but it’s really science fiction to the same extent that Stranger Things is. Though, this isn’t too surprising, given that the creators are big fans of Stranger Things. They’re also big fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Parts of the finale for The Call of the Void remind me of what the lion-turtle said to Aang in the Avatar finale.

Okay, so now we’re going to have to get into some major spoilers. 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.

Now, I stated that season one felt like it was moving too fast. That also extends to the ending. Etsy gives into despair decides to help the cult summon The Void…and then, in the very next episode, changes her mind, decides she does have something to live for, and seemingly banishes The Void. It was such a jarring whiplash of an experience it almost bordered on comical. It felt like the production team wasn’t sure if they’d get more than one season, and were trying to hastily wrap things up. Nothing about the season one ending feels earned or satisfying.

However, the team seems to have realized this, and seasons two and three have much better pacing. It is also clear that they were playing the long game this time. In fact, season two and three feel like they are two halves of a single continuous story arc. They take time to properly develop Etsy and Topher’s characters and motivations. We get proper build-up for Etsy’s growing feeling of despair, but also how Topher acts as her rock in troubled waters. The ending of season three has a similar set-up to the ending of season one, but the execution is much better. In fact, the series ending almost feels like an apology for the way season one ended.

And this is actually in keeping with the series’ Lovecraftian roots. Lovecraft was famous for being a pessimist and a nihilist, but a surprising number of his stores had happy endings. Or at the very least, ended in ways that weren’t completely horrible. The Dunwich Horror, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath all qualify. A case could be made that even The Shadow Over Innsmouth counts, given that the protagonist comes to terms with what happens to him.

The fact that Topher and Etsy finally become a couple is even sweeter when you remember that Josie and Michael are married in real life.

I also loved the episode of season two where Etsy flickers in and out of multiple universes. In one universe, she meets a Topher who works at the botanical gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He’s a botanist, rather than a history major. Well, he calls himself an herbologist, but that’s probably what botany is called in that universe. This Topher, known as Christopher, loves to rattle off facts about deadly plants. You know what they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The idea that Etsy’s powers were surging in way she couldn’t totally control was very clever, and leads to some twists that I did not see coming.

If there is a central message to The Call of the Void, it is that bad things happen, often to good people, and the world is an often cruel and unkind place. But there is still hope despite all of this. A light within the darkness. Bad things may happen, but they can be overcome. It helps if you can find people who genuinely love and care about you. Darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light.

Well, it took me a while to get her, but I’m glad that I gave The Call of the Void a try. Don’t sit on this one like I did. Give it a try today. It is well worth your time. Come for the Lovecraft homages, stay for the engaging characters.

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