Podfic Recs, Whitman Sampler Style

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

I have ten recs, split into three different themes. Consider this the Whitman's Sampler edition.

Theme One:  Anthologies. A good podfic anthology can open up new worlds for the listener in terms of finding readers, writers, and even fandoms to follow. There are several really great anthologies out there, but I'm going to highlight two.

Looking In, put together by the mods at spn_podzine . riverbella , roque_clasique , i_speak_tongue , and helloapollo  all lent their considerable skills to reading what are still some of my favorite stories in SPN fandom. Highlights include Parental Instincts, written by dodger_winslow  and read by riverbella , and Modulus of Rupture, written and read by i_speak_tongue , but every story in this collection knocked my socks off. They all share the theme of an outsider’s point of view into the Supernatural world, and they are all by turns heartbreaking, hilarious, and deeply insightful.
mp3 | m4b | SPN | gen 

Awesome Ladies Podfic Anthology. podklb  put this together for halfamoon . It’s a collection of ficlets from the Awesome Ladies Ficathon and its RPF counterpart, and it includes 19 readers reading 73 stories from 41 fandoms. Disclosure: I am one of the readers, but I swear I’d rec this no matter what. My favorites in the anthology include I Live By Science Alone, written by petitesmorts  and read by cantarina1  (Gilmore Girls, Paris/Jess), and Walked In On A Plan, written by omfgsh  and read by jenepel  (Gossip Girl, Nelli Yuki), among many others. You really don’t have to know all the fandoms to get a lot out of this collection.
mp3 | m4b | multiple fandoms | multiple pairings/ratings

Which leads me right into:

Theme Two: Not My Fandom. Some podfics are recced so often, or sound so intriguing, that it doesn't matter if you're not into the fandom or unfamiliar with the canon. I'm unlikely to jump into any of the fandoms included below, but these podfics impressed the hell out of me. The stories are fantastic, and the recordings all showcase in their own way the creative potential of podfic as a medium.

Written By The Victors, written by speranza  and read by a large group of talented readers (produced & edited by lim ). This podfic gets recced all over the place, for good reason. I’m not in SGA fandom at all - I’ve seen maybe three episodes of the show - but I found I didn’t need a lot of familiarity to really enjoy this podfic. It’s a beautiful, epic story, and the production on the podfic is amazing. If you love podfic, I don’t care what your preferred fandoms are - you have to listen to this.
mp3 | m4b | SGA | McKay/Sheppard

Reparo, written amalin  and read by pennyplainknits . I’ve read all the Harry Potter books, but haven’t seen the movies and haven’t ventured into the fandom. This story, a Harry/Draco set in the year following The Deathly Hallows, is gorgeous. Everything about it feels right. Grief, loss, loneliness, hope, connection, and redemption all suffuse this story. pennyplainknits  does more than read - she performs this podfic, doing all the voices with such remarkable distinction. I especially love her Draco Malfoy.
mp3 | m4b | HP | Harry/Draco

Queensguard, written by aramuin  and read by another large, talented cast (produced & edited by pandarus ). I’m in SPN fandom, but I don’t generally venture into RPF. Just not my thing. This podfic, a J2 AU in which Jared and Jensen are themselves, but in a world where an alien invasion and the revealed existence of dragons put the production of Supernatural on a 3 year hiatus between S4 and S5, is beyond awesome. A real must-listen.
mp3 | m4b | SPN RPF | Jared/Jensen

Ach, des Knaben Augen, written by toomuchplor  and read by pennyplainknits , is an Inception Arthur/Eames AU set in a music conservatory. I downloaded it because I was intrigued by the creative use of classical music in the recording, and I wasn’t disappointed. The story is lovely, pennyplainknits  reads beautifully, and the seamless way in which the music is incorporated is truly inspired. This is a really recent posting, and I only just finished listening to it, but I knew I had to include it in this post.
link to original post (I can't find the audiofic links to the mp3 or m4b, and am having much confusion) | Inception | Arthur/Eames

Theme Three: Favorites From My Fandom. These are just a few SPN podfics that I adore with all my heart.

Blind Spot, written by pdragon76  and read by twasadark . The recording is over 10 hours long, but it demands your attention the whole way through. It’s gen, set S2-ish, and in addition to featuring a really beautiful depiction of Sam & Dean’s relationship, it includes Meg Masters and Jo Harvelle in some of the best realized characterizations I’ve ever read/heard. twasadark is always fantastic, but in this story I love her especially for her deliciously twisted Meg Masters.
mp3 | m4b | SPN | gen

TheGloriaseries, written by unoshot  and read by crinklysolution . This podfic is three stories linked together, three views of Dean, Sam, and Castiel in different moments in time, each connected to a central present. crinklysolution  reads so well, differentiating each character from one another in such subtle, yet distinct ways. This podfic also includes what might be my favorite use of sound effects in a story - very unobtrusive, yet grounding each section in its present. Is that a vague enough description? Just go listen to it. It’s awesome.
mp3s | m4b | SPN | gen

The Fundamental Image series, written by rei_c  and read by leviticus_lied . Unlike the Gloria series, these haven’t been collected into a single podfic, so maybe this rec is a cheat. Also, only three out of the series have been recorded. Hamartia & Candles can be listened to together, and Noesis is separate. These three are all pre-series stories centered around Sam, each of them exploring his relationship with John and Dean, his destiny, and his faith. They’re beautiful stories, and leviticus_lied  reads with such strength and clarity. I want more.
audiofic archive links | SPN | gen

When Heroes Go Down (They Go Down Fast), written by buffyaddict13  and read by emeraldsedai . Inspired by The Stand, this fic is set in an AU that branches off from S2 and populates the post-apocalypse with some of the strongest, most memorable OCs I’ve ever seen. (Those of you who know this story, I think you know who I’m thinking of. When what happened to that character happened? I cried.) emeraldsedai  reads so well, with such great pacing and attention to character voice. It’s another long podfic - over 8 hours - but I really didn’t want it to ever end.
mp3 | m4b | SPN | gen

Comments

[pennyplainknits.livejournal.com]

Hi!

The links for Ach..got swallowed up in some archive maintenance, but the direct link (so, right click) is here! http://podfic.jinjurly.com/audfiles/4201103201.zip

Thank you for your kind comments!

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! I was starting to wonder if I'd hallucinated the download process. Or dreamed it? (insert Inception joke here.)

*Ahem.* Anyway. I've seen other work of yours I haven't heard yet recced in amplirecathon, and I'm looking forward to checking it out!

[twasadark.livejournal.com]

Awesome recs, sweetie!! Wow, I didn't realize that When Heroes Go Down was inspired by The Stand.

LOVED Written by the Victors as well - so well done and well conceived!

Thanks for the rec for Blind Spot, too! Loved voicing nasty little Meg Masters, lol!

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it was inspired by The Stand, but maybe I made that up. That was my impression, at least. I should probably confirm that before I go around saying it.

Glad you liked the recs. I had fun pulling them all together. I thought pretty seriously about reccing Red, which I thought you and grrli read fantastically, but I know Red gets lots of love, and Blind Spot deserves the attention.

[buffyaddict13.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for the rec! *hearts you* i'm sorry you cried when that thing happened to that character. ;-P

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was a good cry. Even when it makes you sad, it's really satisfying to care so much about a character that you react strongly when the things that happen happen.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Thank you so, so much for the lovely rec of When Heroes Go Down. It was my first real podfic attempt (and there haven't been many since), and I'm just delighted at your kind words.

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I never would have guessed it was an early attempt. Picking a multi-hour fic for your first real attempt takes serious guts, and you totally nailed it.

[crinklysolution.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks so much for the rec of The Gloria Series! I'll have to tell the author, she helped me so much with it. And, I'm thrilled you liked the sound effects...Also, so glad to see Reparo and Blind Spot on your list here - they are smashing!!!!

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

They're wonderful stories. (The Gloria series, I mean, but yes, Reparo and Blind Spot, too.) I think sound effects are hard to really get right in a podfic, but when they are done right they can add so much to the experience. I thought they were perfect in this series.

[crinklysolution.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I am exceedingly glad to hear that, because there was some doubt on my part as to whether they were too much and took away from the content I was also trying to deliver. It was a bit of an experiment on my part - so glad to hear you think it was a sucessful one!

[applegeuse.livejournal.com]

What a lovely and diverse selection of recs! I particularly appreciated all the gen SPN ones you rec'd, since I haven't listened to nearly as many gen fics as I should. I love the idea of the gen SPN anthology you rec'd--that's pretty awesome. I've listened to, like, two episodes of the old EVP SPN podcast so far, but I don't think I've come across that gen anthology you linked. From your description, it sounds like it will be really fun to listen to! (Went to browse the comm, and it looks like it's out of business? Aw.)

Anyway. Thanks for compiling these recs!

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yeah, I listen to a fair amount of slash, but gen is my bread and butter. That anthology was the only one that comm ever completed (I know they had an apocafic-themed anthology in the works), and it made me sad when they stopped posting updates. It did point me in the direction of some fantastic readers and writers, though.

Glad you liked the recs!

[clairshadows.livejournal.com]

Seconding the recs for the 'Fundamental Image series' those stories are so beautifully detailed and really bring out the meaning of 'faith' and what it can mean without being overbearing and I say this as a set in my ways atheist.

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean. I'm a committed agnostic, and I absolutely loved the way these stories explored the issue of faith. I thought it was really powerful, and really beautiful.

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Hey, you've totally sold me on a number of these and tehy aren't things I'd normally dl. Thanks for the recs. :D

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

Glad I could sell you on a few! Thank you!

[i-speak-tongue.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the rec! That's the only podfic I've posted, but I do have something I've been sitting on for a while. I think you've given me the courage to finally post it!

and I definitely need to check some of these out. esp the inception fic. Anything music related, and I'm there!

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

Yay for more podfic! I loved that story, both the reading and the writing. I'll keep on the lookout for whatever you post next!

[cantarina]

So many excellent recordings here! I'm tickled pink to be singled out among them :D (I loved recording that one. It was so Paris.) Thank you, Nika! That makes my day brighter.

(Also, because it owns my heart so hard, "When Heroes Go Down", YES. I think it's time for a re-listen. And I totally cried too.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/xenakis_/]

Hi! I edited the music in Penny's podfic of Ach, Des Knaben Augen, and I'm really glad you liked the result!

I'll make sure to check out the rest of your recs, I'm in need of some fresh listening material!