Alex C. Telander's Blog, page 20
March 9, 2016
“The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 7: Radio Free Trismegistus” by Ian Tregillis (Serial Box, 2016)
This is the seventh episode in the series; to read reviews for the first six episodes, go here.
In the latest audio episode of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Serial Box goes one step further employing the dramatic TV series feel opening with, “Previously on The Witch Who Came in From the Cold,” which does a great job of refreshing important recent events from the story for the reader.
After getting some info, CIA operative Gabe Pritchard is heading out into the Czechoslovakian countryside looking for a cut wife, better known as a witch, to see if he can get some help with his elemental hitchhiker. He learns the demon attached to his soul is not going to vacate his body easily, but also that its element is mercury, which then leads him to try some stupid stuff using all the mercury he can find in town and almost getting himself killed.
Meanwhile, Tanya’s boss Sasha Komyetski, after checking up on her, recently “liberated” her of her magical radio that she uses to communicate with her grandfather in Moscow. Readers and listeners get a detailed scene of Sasha creating a magical Faraday Cage to prevent anyone from knowing what he’s doing, as he takes the radio apart and studies its magical innards. He then gets it working and gets in touch with a certain someone in Moscow.
Tanya knows she has to get her radio back before Sasha finds out what it can actually do. Using Gabe’s help – as the two become closer and more comfortable with each other – they come up with a plan to switch the magical radio with a decoy without Tanya’s boss knowing. The question is whether he’ll fall for the ruse?
Originally written on March 4, 2016 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 7: Radio Free Trismegistus from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
March 8, 2016
Book News: Writing Spaces, Graphic Memoirs, Pat Conroy RIP & More!
Dark Tower Casting
The movie adaptation of Stephen King’s opus has cast its two leading roles and they’re amazing.
American Gods Casting Update
The TV series adaptation of the Neil Gaiman bestseller has added a notable lead actor to its cast.
Remembering Pat Conroy
On the passing of this bestselling author.
March 3, 2016
“The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 5: The Golem” by Ian Tregillis (Serial Box, 2016)
This is the fifth episode in a series, find the rest of the episodes here.
In the fifth episode of the Witch Who Came in From the Cold things all of a sudden get kicked into high gear. Up to this point, readers have been going (or listening) along with the story, following events as they happen, but in “The Golem” there’s a lot that happens and it’s all on-the-edge-of-your-seat-nail-biting stuff that keeps you hooked to the end of the episode. Plus, with “golem” in the title, you know there’s going to be a big nasty beastie in there somewhere.
The episode opens with CIA operative Gabe Pritchard on a cold, dark night digging up a grave in Prague’s Jewish cemetery where he believes there to be a golem, with the help of confidant and close friend Jordan Rhemes. Once he gets the box open, things go to hell real fast.
Readers then get to finally learn about what went down in Cairo and how Gabe got his mental magical hitchhiker. Told from Jordan’s viewpoint we learn of her infiltrating a special meeting of the Flame in Cairo and how Gabe showed up at exactly the wrong time.
Meanwhile, Tanya Morozova, an acolyte of the Ice, is finding it hard to accept the accusation that Gabe recently made, which is that there is a boat on the Vltava River which is part of the Ice’s operation and is a magical warehouse of sorts with numerous bodies encased in ice. Tanya believes it to be a vessel containing some magical devices and that is fall. She will need to get to the bottom of this herself and find out what happened to the magical host Andula Zlata who hasn’t been seen in some time.
Episode 5 is gripping from start to finish as the story switches back and forth between Gabe and Jordan in the cemetery, in Cairo together, and Tanya’s investigation. It is a series of surprises building one on top of the other, leaving the reader open-mouthed by the end of the episode.
And for those interested, the author of “The Golem,” Ian Tregillis, just put up a blog post about writing the episode.
Originally written on March 1, 2016 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 5: The Golem from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
March 1, 2016
Book News: Drag Queen Story Hour, Most Literate Animals, Best International Bookshops & More!
Adorable Animals
What better than books? Cute little animals reading books!
Boas and Books
The San Francisco Public Library has its very own drag queen story time.
Jane Austen Contemporaries
If you love Jane Austen, here are some modern authors and books to satisfy your addiction.
February 27, 2016
If You Like The X-Files . . .
. . . You’re probably not too happy that the short six-episode season is now over and who knows if there will ever be more X-Files – though everyone seems gung ho for more – so you have this massive entertainment void that needs to be filled now and you may be wondering where to turn to next.
How about you check out some podcasts.
The four podcasts recommended below all have a supernatural/paranormal feel that definitely make the listener think of The X-Files and all are produced with such high quality that one actually feels like they might be listening to an audio version of the TV show.
And they’re all free to download and listen through their respective websites and/or iTunes.
They’re also pretty terrifying.
A message that was heard from space 70 years ago is decoded and strange things start to happen.
Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again. In this seven-part podcast, American Public Radio host Lia Haddock asks the question once more, “What happened to the people of Limetown?”
The Black Tapes is a weekly podcast from Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale, and is hosted by Alex Reagan. The Black Tapes is a serialized docudrama about one journalist’s search for truth, her enigmatic subject’s mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both.
Join the inimitable Night Vale Community Radio host Cecil Palmer as he gives you the very strange goings on in the most unique town of Night Vale.
February 25, 2016
“The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 4: Stasis” by Lindsay Smith (Serial Box, 2016)
This is the fourth episode in the series; other episodes can be found here.
Tanya Morozova has successfully brought Andula Zlata into the protective fold of the Ice; as a “host” she has special powers sought by the Flame. Meanwhile Gabe Pritchard continues to have his occasional debilitating headaches. With the help of MI6 operative and Ice sorcerer Alestair Winthrop, they have determined he has a “magical hitchhiker” within him and that if he performs certain magic, it can appease his headaches and the mystic being within him.
Now with his life and well being a little more under control, Gabe is able to try to get into the good graces of his superiors once more, following up on Drahomir Milovic, who was a CIA recruitment operation that Gabe blundered. But he will have to decide whether to do things by the book and make his boss happy, or go his own way and get faster results.
Meanwhile, a close friend to Gabe, Jordan Rhemes, is the owner of a bar called the Vodnář, a sort of neutral ground between the Ice and Flame. Readers and listeners also learn she deals in illicit goods there. She has had two recent visitors – Karel Hasek, a professor or medieval history, and his partner Vladimir, who are both clearly Flame operatives and are very interested in some of the items Jordan possesses. There is also the reveal of how Jordan and Gabe know each other and are close due to their history in Cairo, which has something to do with the origin of Gabe’s hitchhiker, all of which is revealed further in the next episode.
And for those needing a little helpful aid, the Serial Box site has a little “previously” for each episode, much like a TV series, cluing the reader in to what has happened so far, as well as a character list and who’s who.
Originally written on February 24, 2016 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 4: Stasis from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
February 23, 2016
Book News: The Passing of Two Literary Giants, Tribute to Dwayne McDuffie, Signs of a Reading Slump & More!
Harper Lee
On the passing of this bestselling and renowned author.
Umberto Eco
Italian scholar and bestselling author dies at 84.
Bad Sex
The breakdown on bad sex scenes (and they’re are many) in literature.
February 20, 2016
“The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 3: Double Blind” by Max Gladstone (Serial Box, 2016)
This is the third episode in a series, the complete series can be found here.
Things continue to not go so well for CIA operate Gabe Pritchard: his boss is breathing down his neck to develop some useful leads and he continues to get these random and debilitating migraines. But he’s not going to give up on his hunch about Andula Zlata, especially since KGB operative Tanya Morozova always seem to be close by; he also happens to be able to track her pretty well by being able to sense her in his mind.
The terrible headaches he keeps getting are because of what happened in Cairo. And he knows it’s something to be with magic and he’s going to need help from someone very eccentric: the exceedingly British MI6 operative Alestair Winthrop, who also happens to be a sorcerer for the Consortium of Ice. Then Winthrop invites Gabe to an important party where the man brings him face to face with someone he feels will be able to help him: Tanya Morozova.
In this episode, readers (and listeners) get to see the world through some other characters: Nadia Ostrokhina who works with Tanya and Joshua Toms who is Gabe’s partners. Along with the dramatic writing, the audio version has Gabe’s and Joshua’s parts being read by John Glouchevitch, and Tanya’s and Nadia’s part read by Christine Lakin, with a fast-paced back and forth between the readers adding a thrill for the listeners. Plus each episode tends to end in a nail-biting cliffhanger, leaving the reader (and listener) wanting more.
Originally written on February 18, 2016 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 3: Double Blind from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
“The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 3: Double Blind” by Max Gladstone
This is the third episode in a series, the complete series can be found here.
Things continue to not go so well for CIA operate Gabe Pritchard: his boss is breathing down his neck to develop some useful leads and he continues to get these random and debilitating migraines. But he’s not going to give up on his hunch about Andula Zlata, especially since KGB operative Tanya Morozova always seem to be close by; he also happens to be able to track her pretty well by being able to sense her in his mind.
The terrible headaches he keeps getting are because of what happened in Cairo. And he knows it’s something to be with magic and he’s going to need help from someone very eccentric: the exceedingly British MI6 operative Alestair Winthrop, who also happens to be a sorcerer for the Consortium of Ice. Then Winthrop invites Gabe to an important party where the man brings him face to face with someone he feels will be able to help him: Tanya Morozova.
In this episode, readers (and listeners) get to see the world through some other characters: Nadia Ostrokhina who works with Tanya and Joshua Toms who is Gabe’s partners. Along with the dramatic writing, the audio version has Gabe’s and Joshua’s parts being read by John Glouchevitch, and Tanya’s and Nadia’s part read by Christine Lakin, with a fast-paced back and forth between the readers adding a thrill for the listeners. Plus each episode tends to end in a nail-biting cliffhanger, leaving the reader (and listener) wanting more.
Originally written on February 18, 2016 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 3: Double Blind from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
February 18, 2016
“The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 2: A Voice on the Radio” by Cassandra Rose Clarke (Serial Box, 2016)
This review is for the second episode in the series The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, the first episode can be found here.
This second episode, A Voice on the Radio, opens with Tanya Morozova wanting to talk to her grandfather. The problem is she’s in Prague and her grandfather is deep behind the Iron Curtain, in Moscow. But she has a way of getting in touch with him through some unusual means. Using an old wireless radio that has seen better days and some magical techniques, she is able to get in touch with the her relative. She needs some advice on how best to get Andula to realize she and the Consortium of Ice only want to help her.
The episode focuses on Tanya trying to win Andula over and let her know that the Consortium of Ice just wants to help and protect her. Readers learn in this world the Consortium of Ice wants things to return to how they were before, whatever they might be, while the Acolytes of Fire want some sort of radical change.
Gabe Pritchard discovers Andula and his detective sense begins to tingle. Eventually he finds the young girl talking to Tanya Morozova at a formal event and knows there must be something going on here. The higher ups need evidence to be convinced, so he really needs to find some. Meanwhile his migraines continue to get worse and he enlists the help of a friend to use magic to try to determine what is wrong with him. He hopes it will be a quick easy spell and his head will be better, but it’s a lot more complicated than that.
The second episode in this magical thriller builds on the first, explaining some of the mysteries from the premiere episode, as well as adding some new ones to continue to pique the reader’s interest.
Originally written on February 12, 2016 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, Episode 2: A Voice on the Radio from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
