I'm back this week with three stories for you to listen to instead of just two (to make up for not posting last week). I've decided, at least for the next few weeks, to concentrate on podcast stories. I do this for two reasons: one, I have a bunch backed up on my iPod, so I might as well go through them, and two, I've discovered the bliss of kicking back, shutting my eyes, and letting the story take me away. Lazy? Maybe, but at least I'm getting a story out of it.
All three stories this week come from the podcast EscapePod. You can listen to these right from the EscapePod page (I'll give each address below), or you can go to iTunes, search for EscapePod, and download these episodes. However you choose to do it, enjoy! I did.
The first story is Episode 239: A Programmatic Approach to Perfect Happiness by Tim Pratt. This one has a pretty humorous tone throughout. At its core, it's a story about the rights for humans to marry robots. Of course, sex with robots is also a major factor in this debate. It also deals with the ramifications of humans catching the happiness virus (and others like it). This is separate from the human/robot love debate. Also make sure you listen to the poem before the story--"Scientific Romance" also by Tim Pratt. Sci-fi fans will especially get a kick out of it.
The next story is Episode 240: The Last McDougal's by David D. Levine. This one is set a few decades into the future when most people don't venture out of the homes--their entire lives can be run from home, so why bother? McDougal's is/was a fast food franchise (hmm...wonder where that name came from), and a gentleman talking his sullen niece across country finds bliss as he rediscovers this gem from his younger years. The teen, however, doesn't share the same memories, so she's less than enthused. Chaos ensues, and life lessons are learned.
The last story for this week is Episode 241: Thargus and Brian by Stephen Gaskell. This is a funny little story about an alien who must travel many, many light years to Earth to impost his will on a human. Only then can he be accepted as an adult in his society. But there are two problems: one, he doesn't believe in being forceful, and two, he abducted a stoner.
I hope you check these stories out. As always, I'm getting nothing from anyone for publishing the links to these stories; I'm doing it just to bring attention to good fiction. Until next time, keep reading and/or writing!
