Anthropomorphic Dreams Publishing

The second part of the story jumps into the action and delivers a nice emotional plot. Holly decides to do what is right and try and give Caitlin a happy Christmas, but does she really want to go against Santa’s wishes and is she up to the task ahead of her?

“Holly’s Jolly Christmas” part 2 by Renee Carter Hall

Read by Chris Hvidsten of the Outcast Podcast novel

Intro musical cues by Infinity Squared

Story music provided from the Podsafe Music Network

“Dream of a Princess” by Yuzzy
“Welcome Home” by Doug Astrop
“Awakening” by Ax
“Joy Bounce” by Charlie Crowe
“Love” by Brian Turner

Outro music is Auld Lang Syne by Ghostwalker

Sound effects from the FreeSound Project

Download or listen to the episode here.

Holly the reindeer has always wanted to be part of the team pulling Santa’s sleigh, but the same eight bucks are chosen every year. Is it possible she might get a chance at it this Christmas?

“Holly’s Jolly Christmas” part 1 by Renee Carter Hall

Read by Chris Hvidsten of the Outcast Podcast novel.

Intro Music by Infinity Squared.

Additional story music from the Podsafe Music Network:

“The First Light” by Anthony Burbidge
“Finlandiabe Still My Soul” by Brian Turner
“The Moment is Now” by Antiqcool

Sound effects from the FreeSound Project.

Download or listen to the episode here.

We have a couple of Christmas stories planned for the podcast, but to get the holiday mood started, here’s a link from a Christmas story last year. It’s also the episode which kicked off the podcast.

AD 000 – The Reluctant Reindeer

Different Worlds, Different Skins
Humanity’s Encounters with Other Races

Print Book, $17.95, available from Amazon and Lulu.
PDF Download, $5.95, available from Lulu.

What if humanity shared Earth with other sentient species? What would first contact with an alien race be like? What wonders or horrors could be wrought by our experiments to create new life-forms, both biologic and mechanical?

This anthology is rated general interest. There are a few stories which cover concepts of romantic love and sex, violence and death, however nothing explicit is shown “on screen.” The ratings of the stories range from G to PG-13.

This anthology examines these ideas, showing humanity’s interaction with the Other, in the form of anthropomorphic animals. The stories cover diverse genres, from science fiction and fantasy, to historical fiction and contemporary fables, exploring themes of race and culture and the endless possibilities of the human condition.

Featuring Stories by Michael Bard, Austen Crowder, Bernard Doove, Seth Drake, William Eakins, Lanny Fields, Phil Geusz, Jason Gillespie, Chris Goodwin, Searska Grey Raven, Renee Carter Hall, Stefan Kaiser, James R. Lane, Alan Loewen, Paul Lucas, Eric Luhman, Brian Miller, Ken Pick, J. Scott Rogers, Will A. Sanborn, Kris Schnee, Sean Silva, Tim Susman and Wookie.

Cover artwork by Sara “Caribou” Palmer.

Avatar was a fun movie. Plot wise there were lots of familiar and predictable tropes so there weren’t many surprises. It got heavy handed with the themes of the evil imperialists against the magic natives at several times though. There were some sympathetic characters and the interplay between the scientists and the marines butting heads was entertaining.

The biggest fault of the movie was it didn’t fully set up the reason for strip-mining the planet. I believe one of the trailers mentioned something about saving Earth, but that wasn’t in the film, save for a throw-away line near the end about a dying world. Otherwise it was just that the fantastic mineral unobtanium (which was a perfect name for this film) was worth a lot of money and it was all for a greedy corporation. Aside from that, the film did have some characters you could care about and there was some good drama to it. Plus there was plenty of epic action, so while it’s not going to win any Oscars it was definitely engaging and fully entertaining.

The movie’s strengths of course were its visuals, which is to be expected. It was a huge spectacle of modern CGI wizardry, but it also had soul to it. The world they created was in equal turns breathtakingly beautiful, definitely alien and absolutely dangerous. The designs of the flora and fauna were amazing and showed a lot of care went into their design. Every scene immersed you in this wonderful alien landscape and it was a beautiful ride. The first night scenes with a forest aglow with bioluminsecence was very emotionally evocative.

Then of course there are the exotic Na’vi. They were beautiful to look at and there were several shots of fan service appreciating their alien beauty. Beyond that though, the character design was well thought out and intriguing. The size difference between the humans and 8-foot giants was an interesting twist and their slender and elongated forms played well into the design of the lower-gravity world.

Story wise Avatar is much better than Ferngully but not as good as Dances With Wolves, both films it shares plot themes with.

For ratings,
Story: 3/5 stars
Visuals: 5/5 stars
Overall 4/5 stars

Khrysha the hangvixen takes some time alone to relive the past and meditate on a particular execution which affected her deeply.

Rated mature for discussion of capital punishment.

“Kill 23″ by Ken Pick

Read by Peter Katt

Music elements by Infinity Squared

Download or listen to the episode here.

If you wanta learn you somethin’, go on down to a place where two roads cross. Get there Saturday ’round midnight, and wait there ’til Sunday morning—do that for nine Sundays, all in a row. The dark man, he’ll send his dog to watch on you while you wait. And on the ninth morning, the dark man will meet you. And he will learn you—anything you wanta learn. But you remember this: that dark man, he don’t work for free.

PodCastle’s story Nine Sunday’s in a Row spins an interesting yarn leading up to one person’s ill-fated deal with the devil. It mixes character drama with a nice southern flavor and is told from the sympathetic viewpoint of the Dark Man’s dog himself.

Pseudopod’s recent story Love Like Thunder is a wonderful mix of Native American folklore and mythology along with a nice tale of a sympathetic monster.

It has mature content due to bits of violence and horror imagery, but it also has some nice drama.

Catching up on back issues of the Drabblecast, a weekly podcast of weird fiction, I found this belated Halloween treat. The Great Old Pumpkin is a fun story which manages to blend the Cthulu mythos with the familiar world of Peanuts holiday specials. It was a nice bit of clever humor which was a lot of fun to listen to.