Hell and the Failed Cities
Yesterday was a sad day. Two of my favorite podcast novels...scratch that -- My two favorite podcast novels wrapped-up yesterday. Hell (Heaven, Season 2) and the Failed Cities Monologues. And I gotta tell you about them.
I promised
matt_wallace that I wouldn't tell him if his sleek, hard-boiled Failed Cities Monolgues let me down. I keep my promises. Well, most of the time.
I can't remember how I stumbled onto this novel, but I know I remember hearing it hailed as a sprawling cypernoir thriller. So I gave it a try. Then I heard the first episode, featuring Ethan the Street Preacher, patrolling the city, spouting things about the steel gospel and a preacher who misquoted the Bible...well, you know me, I fell in love. I won't lie -- I wondered if I'd connect with the other characters. Did I? Oh, hell yeah. It's funny, with the story now over, I'm not sure who's my favorite. Knife-wheeling, fast-driving Truck? He kinda reminds me of dark Han Solo. Pit-fighter and would-be crime novelist Sterne? The everyman pulp-writer -- he could've walked out of Raymond Chandler book. The Maven? The man with the plan. Officer Klimenko? The underdog. Geez, it's a tough call. I know it wasn't Fera or Ferrus -- I hated those psycopathic twins. Hated them in the best way possible, that is. Which was, of course, the point. Even d'Anger who's such a cold-hearted manipulative bitch...I can't help feeling a little weak in the knees for her. Everyone of these characters grabs you, slaps you around, demands your attention. Whether they're sick fucked-up assassins or kidnappers with golden hearts. And the way the characters' lives overlap with each other is so much fun, it reminds me slightly of Lost (which I'm sure Matt Wallace had no intentions of doing) while the story's overall style comes off like a mix of Sin City and Gibson's Sprawl stories (which I'm sure Matt Wallace had every intention of doing).
This is a great podcast novel -- honestly, I have a hard time imagining it outside of a podcast novel it fits the podcasting niche so perfectly with the different voices and the background music (there's a sweet little epilogue at the end about voices and the stories they tell that reminded me a lot of Prospero's speech at the end of the Tempest). If you haven't listened to this story yet and you like fast-paced, violent, dystopian cyberpunk -- now's a good time to check it out. Get the whole thing at podiobooks for free and enjoy!
And then there's Hell. I feel a little strange writing about Hell because I know
sailormur and I know she might be reading. But fuck it. I know some of you have had the bum luck of not getting the last episode of Hell and I feel for you. Me, I got lucky and somehow itunes snagged the Geek-Fu goodness for me.
I came into Heaven late and absolutely loved it. I started catching up to Hell with some trepidation because I enjoyed Heaven so much. I talked about Heaven before being like a roadtrip through the afterlife. Elevator pitch? Kate and Daniel die and go to heaven, find it kinda boring and finagle the Almighty's permission to hitchhike through other heavens with different gods and goddesses riding shotgun along the way. It's really a beautiful story and it reminds me a little bit of some of the stuff Neil Gaiman writes, the way different mythologies and even religions kept popping up. What was Hell going to be like? Needless concerns.
I just finished listening to the final episode of Hell today and let me tell you -- the conclusion is as heartbreaking and beautiful as I could've hoped for. Hell's darker than Heaven (naturally) but damned (heh -- gotta stop with the puns) if it doesn't work. This story hits a myriad of emotions thanks with the relationships we build with Kate and Daniel. (If you haven't listened to Heaven let me warn you, don't start with Hell. Go back and get Heaven first.) For Daniel and Kate, Heaven might've not lived up to their expectations but Hell's never been more thrilling or heart-wrenching or fun. And the best part is, there's more to come. Heaven's getting another season. I cannot freaking wait.
Truth be told, I can't wait to listen to both these stories again. They're that good. If you haven't checked them out I hope you will.