Amplirecathon: A Mixed Bag
Jul. 29th, 2012 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzula posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
amplificathonI'm afraid I have no theme whatsoever! I usually keep a list during the year, noting down podfics I especially enjoy for future reccing, and this is what I ended up with.
Static, written bynightanddaze, read by jennacorinth (Generation Kill gen, 4:09:09)
This is a well-written zombie apocalypse AU, which I'm sure I would've appreciated had I read it onscreen, but not half as much as I enjoyed listening to it. The reader has a sort of intense style that makes the zombie stuff really visceral--I'm having to resist metaphors such as "getting your teeth into the words". But they are apt, I promise!
Waiting (Greek mythology, Hades/Persephone, 35:22) and Turn of the Gorram Worm (Cinderella/Firefly, 32:19), both written and read byfresne
It's hard to choose just one here, becausefresne has recorded a lot of excellent podfic--I especially love the expressive dialogue and the wicked sense of humor. Between the two poles of "neutral reading" and "acting out", fresne is definitely in the "acting out" camp. The first one I'm recommending is rather serious and from Hades' POV, and fresne slows down a bit here, which works very well. The second podfic is such a feel-good experience, and I totally recommend it if you need something to pick you up. You don't actually need to know anything about Firefly--it's set far in the future from canon. I had a big smile on my face after finishing it, and didn't want to start listening to anything else right after, because I just wanted to stay with it for a while.
Some Strange Prophecy, written bycesperanza, read by ann_ciudad (due South, Fraser/Kowalski, 5:04:46)
This is one of the most engrossing podfic experiences I've had. Which, okay, is partly on account of the story. The reading is, at first listen, nothing flashy or fancy, yet it reeled me in so surely that I couldn't stop listening. It's the kind of reading that just serves the story very well, and the dialogue is perfect.
Kowalski Is Bleeding, written bycesperanza, read by darkemeralds (due South, Fraser/Kowalski, 4:06:52)
I'm afraid my first reaction here (aside from enjoyment) is envy at how welldarkemeralds reads Ray Vecchio (not my own strong suit). But what's really interesting to me is the Fraser characterization--among all the Frasers that Speranza has written, this one is probably the most ironic and self-aware, and darkemeralds really brings that out. There's a sort of detached, amused quality to the Fraser sections that works very well for the story.
Miss Fatima's School of the Orient, written and read by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tweedisgood (Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/OFC, implied Holmes/Watson, 42:31)
This story alternates between Holmes' POV and an OFC's, and the differences between their voices is so well done, with differences in manner and accent.tweedisgood has a lovely British accent, which really adds to the reading. Also, the woman's POV of the story sounds pretty much like it was written to be podficced, since it's basically her telling a story to a friend.
A Scandal in Bohemia, written by Arthur Conan Doyle, genderswapped and read bylunchee (Sherlock Holmes gen, 1:04:00)
This is a completely genderswapped version of the original A Scandal in Bohemia, and it filled some need inside me that I didn't even know I had. Seriously, I was making little gleeful noises all the time! And the reading is great, too.
Water Will Keep Running, Rivers Will Turn, written byexeterlinden, read by tinypinkmouse (True Blood gen, 37:19)
This, for me, was the perfect match of reader to story. I don't actually know the fandom at all, but the author is a friend of mine, and so I'd read the story beforehand (you don't need to know the fandom either, since it's precanon--it's about a vampire living down through the ages). Anyway, I liked the story when I read it, but it didn't really come alive until I listened to this podfic. I remember actually shivering at one point and then rewinding so I could listen and shiver again. Also, I am a sucker for a Finnish accent.
The Presbury Letters, written bykatieforsythe, read by mific (Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/Watson, 1:55:51)
I lovemific's reading. It's hard to put my finger on why--the accent is lovely, but that's not it. It sounds...mature, maybe? Like, I can just relax and trust mific to take me wherever the story leads. Anyway, I love this podfic--it's a really good combination of story and reader.
Right, there were a couple of other podfics and readers I wanted to highlight as well, but I've about reached my typing limit for now, so I'll have to save them for another time.
Static, written by
nightanddaze, read by jennacorinth (Generation Kill gen, 4:09:09) This is a well-written zombie apocalypse AU, which I'm sure I would've appreciated had I read it onscreen, but not half as much as I enjoyed listening to it. The reader has a sort of intense style that makes the zombie stuff really visceral--I'm having to resist metaphors such as "getting your teeth into the words". But they are apt, I promise!
Waiting (Greek mythology, Hades/Persephone, 35:22) and Turn of the Gorram Worm (Cinderella/Firefly, 32:19), both written and read by
fresne It's hard to choose just one here, because
fresne has recorded a lot of excellent podfic--I especially love the expressive dialogue and the wicked sense of humor. Between the two poles of "neutral reading" and "acting out", fresne is definitely in the "acting out" camp. The first one I'm recommending is rather serious and from Hades' POV, and fresne slows down a bit here, which works very well. The second podfic is such a feel-good experience, and I totally recommend it if you need something to pick you up. You don't actually need to know anything about Firefly--it's set far in the future from canon. I had a big smile on my face after finishing it, and didn't want to start listening to anything else right after, because I just wanted to stay with it for a while. Some Strange Prophecy, written by
cesperanza, read by ann_ciudad (due South, Fraser/Kowalski, 5:04:46) This is one of the most engrossing podfic experiences I've had. Which, okay, is partly on account of the story. The reading is, at first listen, nothing flashy or fancy, yet it reeled me in so surely that I couldn't stop listening. It's the kind of reading that just serves the story very well, and the dialogue is perfect.
Kowalski Is Bleeding, written by
cesperanza, read by darkemeralds (due South, Fraser/Kowalski, 4:06:52) I'm afraid my first reaction here (aside from enjoyment) is envy at how well
darkemeralds reads Ray Vecchio (not my own strong suit). But what's really interesting to me is the Fraser characterization--among all the Frasers that Speranza has written, this one is probably the most ironic and self-aware, and darkemeralds really brings that out. There's a sort of detached, amused quality to the Fraser sections that works very well for the story.Miss Fatima's School of the Orient, written and read by
tweedisgood (Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/OFC, implied Holmes/Watson, 42:31) This story alternates between Holmes' POV and an OFC's, and the differences between their voices is so well done, with differences in manner and accent.
tweedisgood has a lovely British accent, which really adds to the reading. Also, the woman's POV of the story sounds pretty much like it was written to be podficced, since it's basically her telling a story to a friend. A Scandal in Bohemia, written by Arthur Conan Doyle, genderswapped and read by
lunchee (Sherlock Holmes gen, 1:04:00) This is a completely genderswapped version of the original A Scandal in Bohemia, and it filled some need inside me that I didn't even know I had. Seriously, I was making little gleeful noises all the time! And the reading is great, too.
Water Will Keep Running, Rivers Will Turn, written by
exeterlinden, read by tinypinkmouse (True Blood gen, 37:19)This, for me, was the perfect match of reader to story. I don't actually know the fandom at all, but the author is a friend of mine, and so I'd read the story beforehand (you don't need to know the fandom either, since it's precanon--it's about a vampire living down through the ages). Anyway, I liked the story when I read it, but it didn't really come alive until I listened to this podfic. I remember actually shivering at one point and then rewinding so I could listen and shiver again. Also, I am a sucker for a Finnish accent.
The Presbury Letters, written by
katieforsythe, read by mific (Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/Watson, 1:55:51) I love
mific's reading. It's hard to put my finger on why--the accent is lovely, but that's not it. It sounds...mature, maybe? Like, I can just relax and trust mific to take me wherever the story leads. Anyway, I love this podfic--it's a really good combination of story and reader. Right, there were a couple of other podfics and readers I wanted to highlight as well, but I've about reached my typing limit for now, so I'll have to save them for another time.
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