Comments on: PC006: Hotel Astarte

By: The Fix | From the Podosphere: May 2008

The Fix | From the Podosphere: May 2008 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:37:46 +0000

[...] “Hotel Astarte” by M. K. Hobson is a long story of the fantastic kind, where fantasy elements (such as dead characters) are present for what appear to be no good reasons. Confusing and involved, this was one I couldn’t get into, despite repeated attempts, as the different settings, the magic, and the motivations of the characters made little sense to me. I found it well written but obscure, though well read by Paul Tevis. [...]

By: Zapatos

Zapatos — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:03:42 +0000

I absolutely adored this story. The writing was so rich and vibrant, I could feel the prairie wind on my face and smell the streets of New York. Even though it was a short story, I came away feeling as if I’d gotten a taste of a vast, deep mythology; the way the author deftly wove it into modern history made me want more!

By: Archie

Archie — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:01:30 +0000

This was brilliant. I have been a long standing fan of Escape Pod and I am now working through CastlePod’s offerings. This gets a permanent place in my podcast collection and congratulations to the author on a fabulous linking of magic and ‘reality’.

Like the best of puzzles the answer unravelled slowly before me and ended on a high. Oh and it was a love story at it’s heart for which I am eternally a sucker for!

Great reading to. Perhaps the best on CastlePod so far. I look forward to more from either the author or the reader any time!

By: Curtis

Curtis — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:10:47 +0000

What a beautiful telling… old kings/gods in a new world. I lost myself in the old, then realized I was still in a new world… The details of the author are so vivid and well told I could see it and smell the story!
that is what I like to hear, take me there and leave me changed!

By: Willow Fagan

Willow Fagan — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:38:07 +0000

I really enjoyed this story, and the way it changed regional stereotypes into mythology. The magic used was also very evocative–the empty eggshell, burning the ticker tape, crushing the shells. My favorite part was probably the opening. Oh, and many of the descriptions were wonderful–the section with the strange new flowers and sensual cloud shapes stands out in my memory.

By: Ethernight

Ethernight — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:38:35 +0000

I enjoyed this story, it is one of the better ones yet. But please, can we have a story that is not in its entirety some comment on modern culture, values or morals?

I like fantasy (and sci-fi) because it is so far away from modern life. Tell me stories about things I /don’t/ know!

By: Audita Sum

Audita Sum — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:54:46 +0000

This is exactly the kind of story that I like. I thought it was neat how the stuff that the gods did was interconnected with real historical events, like the stock market crash. It was a little… not confusing exactly, but weird, because I’ve been reading Gaiman’s American Gods and my brain kept wanting to mix up the storylines. But it was a good story nonetheless.

By: Spork

Spork — Wed, 14 May 2008 09:42:02 +0000

Based upon this story, and the one immediately preceding it, I think it needs to be said that confusing isn’t the same thing as clever.

By: scatterbrain

scatterbrain — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:41:53 +0000

Probably the first story Gaiman can claim was the biggest influence had from his work. It’s the beginning of an era…

By: Blaine Boy

Blaine Boy — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:51:41 +0000

Paul Tevis: great reader. Nice story, well put together. Always cool to hear about an alternate Earth (or was it?) Anyways what I really want to talk about is the real historical connections. Of course, everyone is going to realize the connections to the Great Depression, but come on…I’m fifteen and I see the connection in the newspaper!!! Wake up people! It’s happening again! Granted this time the war happened first and that’s what put us in a slump, dividing us instead of uniting.

By: Sci-Fi Podcast Roundup #5 | Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Sci-Fi Podcast Roundup #5 | Solar Flare: Science Fiction News — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:11:27 +0000

[...] PodCastle #6 - Hotel Astarte by M. K. Hobson, read by Paul Tevis. [...]

By: The Blow Leprechaun

The Blow Leprechaun — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:47:43 +0000

Thanks for the genre tip!

By: geekinco

geekinco — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:00:52 +0000

Wow, I could smell apples and burning ticker tape.

Great storytelling I was transported right out of my car into another America.

Thanks to Escape artists and authors.

By: M.K. Hobson

M.K. Hobson — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:25:22 +0000

Thanks for your kind words, everyone!

Note to The Blow Leprechaun: I’d categorize this story as a mix of “Historical Fantasy” and “Secret History”, both of which are sub-genres I find extremely compelling.

Mary (M.K.) Hobson
http://www.demimonde.com | mkhobson.livejournal.com

By: Elizabeth GM

Elizabeth GM — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:53:58 +0000

What a fantastic story. I especially loved how bizarre and intractable this world seemed at first - and how it gradually came to seem like this story provided the most obvious explanation for why the real world is the way that it is. The reading by Paul Tevis was wonderful, too - appropriately understated.

By: The Blow Leprechaun

The Blow Leprechaun — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:52:58 +0000

I love stories of this type, that take real history and apply to it a sheen of fantasy, as though the world we know really is underpinned by magic. I don’t know if this genre has its own definition, really, or if it’s just considered a subsection of alternative history, but I like it.

By: David

David — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:29:18 +0000

This is a good story. I like the idea of how the “Gods” of the different regions caused the different problems of the depression. Since I have recently studied this portion of history, it makes a little big of irony, considering people seemed to worship the almighty dollar at the time.

By: Stuart Dewar

Stuart Dewar — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:20:50 +0000

Thanks for the story – I enjoyed it. I like that old gods in a new world thing and this put me in mind of both Powers’ ‘Earthquake Weather’ and Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’.

Stu.