Episode: 978
Title: HPR0978: Dead_Hunt
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0978/hpr0978.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-08 06:03:27

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Hello and welcome to this edition of the Hacker Public Radio Audio Book Club.
I am Poki. Joining me tonight is Klaatu.
Hello everyone.
And Resno.
Hello.
And we're reviewing Resno's Pick from last week, which is not last week but last
episode, which is Dead Hunt.
Who's that by again, Resno? You have that off the top of your head.
By Ken Crawford.
Okay, by Ken Crawford.
And just in case we have any new listeners, the way that we do this is we listen to
a freely available audio book.
So far we've gotten them all from audio books, but there's nothing stop in us from getting them from
Libravox or any other source that allows anyone to download it for free just to be as
inclusive as possible.
We go through some basic opinions of the book, a little bit of a review, I guess,
without doing any spoilers in the first half of the show.
And then we do a beverage review, which we bring our own beverage.
And after the beverage review, we do spoilers.
So if you haven't listened to the audio book yet or read the paper version,
I believe this is available in an electronic book, then you can listen to the
first part and listen to the beverage review without worrying about there being any
spoilers.
Clat 2, what did you think of this book?
Well, I'm a pretty big sort of zombie fiction fan, so I were not so, but
and I really liked this one.
I thought this was a really cleverly told story.
I thought that the characters were really well developed.
It went a lot slower at first than I'd expected.
And that kind of disturbed me at first, but it just kept getting better and better
I really enjoyed it.
Excellent.
Resno, what do you think?
You know, I hate to sound like I'm marrying what Clat 2 has to say here, but
I really thought this was a good book.
I liked a lot of the actors.
I liked the differentiation of voices.
I really thought that a lot of things that they did was pretty cool.
Excellent.
I think I'm going to be the lone dissenter.
I didn't care for it a whole lot.
I liked it a bit and I agree that the characters were really well developed.
I really enjoyed them.
And I thought the story was pretty good overall as well, but some of the things that happened
in the story were so far fetched that it broke the story for me.
And that'll have to come after the spoiler part.
But that was my only real complaint with it.
I liked audio quality in the characters and the storyline was good.
One of the things I didn't like actually was one thing that Resno said he did like,
which were the different voices.
I don't tend to like that in audiobooks, at least so far.
And it kind of, for some reason, that kind of throws me out of the story.
I don't know why it is, but I tend to not like that.
I didn't love that about this, but I mean, obviously that's not even about the book.
That's just about the production.
And it wasn't bad.
It's just not my thing.
Well, in contrast, the previous book that we did,
actually had a person that did very monotone voices.
And it was really hard for us to figure out who was talking.
So, you know, to me, this was a wide change in an opposition to what we had previously done, so.
Yeah, I tend to like distinct voices, whether they're the same guy narrating it
and doing different voices or whether they're different actors.
I like that.
The only thing that really throws me off when that happens is if one person's audio quality
is distinctly different from the others, which, you know, you can't blame somebody for that.
And I don't, you know, fault anybody for that.
But that also, I don't think that happened here.
Yeah, I mean, all the actors, I think, were really good.
And everything is, I guess maybe I'm just used to, like when I was a kid, my dad would always read us books.
And he would always be able to kind of evoke lots of different characters in the way that he read it.
So I'm kind of used to, like, the lone voice.
But yeah, I mean, there should always be a differentiation between the voices.
So it wasn't badly done. I just think it's maybe not my thing yet.
Maybe if I hear more books like this that do the different actors for different characters, maybe I'll get more used to it.
So this is the book I chose.
When I originally came across the book, after we did the previous book, you know, they had different voices.
I really like that. And, you know, said, hey, let's try this and see how it comes out.
And, you know, let's see if it comes out well or not.
Yeah, I, that's interesting that you say that, glad to, because I remember my mom reading to us as kids.
And, I mean, I don't know how many times she read the Lord of the Rings series to us.
Yeah, yeah, it's exactly what my dad read.
Yeah, and it was like, she couldn't really make any different voices.
So I, I never had that. So it's weird that maybe that's what it is.
I like the difference now.
Yeah, really. You know, I thought the, the prologue was a really interesting technique too.
I, you know, when I started the book, I don't, I guess we can't say too much for fear of being spoiling.
But, I mean, you know how that, the, the first is sort of chapter zero.
You know, it's not chapter one yet. It's like just the first thing that you download really catches your attention.
And then it kind of pulls back and continues in a different direction.
I thought that was really interesting. I don't know if that's too, too close to being a spoiler or not.
But, I thought that was a cool trick.
No, I think it's perfectly fair to spoil the prologue. Go right ahead.
So, I know what, I mean, integral talked about this a little bit.
So I, I'll try to offer his opinion.
When he actually listened to the prologue, it made him not like the book.
So he actually kind of dunked the book a little bit because he didn't think that the prologue was very good.
Interesting.
I don't know the hand thought the prologue was pretty good. And like you said, was interesting.
The, the only thing that we can spoil the prologue, right?
Yeah, because I mean, anybody's going to listen to the prologue if they're going to listen at all.
So, when I listen to the prologue, I kind of felt weird.
Because in the openings, like in the opening of the, of the story,
they tell you that the, the girl is 17 or she's under 18.
And they talked about her, her body very vividly.
Talked about, you know, the anatomy and all those different types of things.
It felt kind of weird in that description of a young person,
in that, in that kind of light.
I don't know, did you all find that weird?
Did you think about it or no?
Yes, absolutely.
I thought that was really weird.
And at first, I guess I was having maybe integral's reaction because I was like,
this is really kind of creepy.
But the more he talked, the more he went, or she went on and on and on about this character,
I started to think that that, that it might be important,
or like this was what kind of book it was going to be where it really, really analyzes something,
which I don't think it really does in the end, actually.
So I'm not, honestly, I'm not, stylistically, I'm not really clear on what,
what they were going for in that prologue.
But I guess the rest of the prologue kind of paid off for me.
So I thought that was kind of interesting.
It made me, when I heard the prologue too,
it made me feel really uncomfortable to hear such a vivid description of an underage girl.
I found myself wishing he wasn't doing that.
And the only thing, well, two things that kept me listening.
Number one is it was, you know, basically an assignment for the show.
But also the other thing that kept me listening was the part where he said
that she was dressed almost exactly as her dad didn't,
or wouldn't want her to dress.
And that, I related to, and that got me through the rest of the prologue.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm really not sure what he was going for there.
And I think, I think that was a very strange choice.
But for me, the rest of the stuff, like, like what she,
she finds at the, towards the end of the prologue, just stuff like that.
I was like, okay, this is going somewhere.
I don't know if anything ever really came of those descriptions.
That might be an odd choice all in all.
Well, I think it was, it was there to convey the idea that she was way,
quote unquote, out of the league of a guy like Michael.
But I think that he could have done that just as easily by saying she's way out of his league.
Yeah, he definitely, because the time he spends on those descriptions,
you feel like, why am I looking at this person so closely and so long?
It's kind of, yeah, definitely is unsettling.
And a little bit like, I don't know, it made me roll my eyes a couple of times.
Almost like, has this author never seen a girl before?
I mean, like, what's the big deal here?
And it kind of, yeah.
It did, I agree.
It felt, it made me feel, not that the story was creepy,
but it made me feel like I was a voyeuristic creep and I didn't like that.
Yeah, but to be fair, to be fair, a lot of the book actually sounded a lot like,
I was just kind of hearing someone's very exact description of a movie.
You know, like a lot of the scenes to me felt very cinematic.
And so I wonder if the author really kind of was seeing a lot of this in his head
and just wrote everything down that he was seeing in his head,
which is okay, and I can kind of identify with that.
I think I've fallen to that myself whenever I write little things, you know,
you kind of see it in your head and you want people to know exactly what you're seeing in your head.
So sometimes you might be very, very exact and maybe to a listener who's not expecting that,
that wasn't quite necessary.
So it's interesting you mentioned that actually.
And so following the book, there's two additional pieces of media that you can listen to
and he talks about, like, how he made the book and then he also has other guests,
other guests, you know, the other actors come in and they talk about their experiences and stuff.
And one such story he tells about how Dead Hunt was created.
And he says that his original idea was to make it into a movie.
And he wanted to, you know, he was a teenager, he was a cheerleader,
so it kind of fit the story.
And he was following some kind of, he was reading something about
how to make production and do these kind of things.
Yeah, he said he really wanted to make it into a movie but didn't have the budget.
And through a series of events decided to go ahead and make an audio, a patio book.
So, you know, that really fits along with what you're saying.
Yeah, I didn't listen to that.
So that's really actually interesting to hear.
I didn't hear that part.
Yeah, I was going to say exactly what Rezno just said because the way you described it was almost to a T
the way the author described it.
And by writing a screenplay that he was going to record on his home video camera.
And he decided that he just couldn't handle the special effects that would be required.
So he turned it into this, this audio book, audio drama type thing.
Well, for the record, I think it would make a fantastic movie.
I know you, I guess, disagree, Pokey.
But I mean, I really, I was really entertained for the entire, the entire way through the book.
I really, the very first chapter I was like, how long are we going to follow these teenagers around?
But after a while they started to grow on me.
So I was like, well, I actually, I'm really starting to care about these characters.
I would, I don't want to say it would make a bad movie.
In fact, it would probably make a better movie than a book because you, you don't think about as much stuff.
It's just that it's just that some of this, I mean, because I'm sure it's a better movie than Resident Evil.
Because that was just garbage.
But if, if I'm listening to an audio book and something happens,
you know, without getting into too much, when they talk about the way that viruses mutate,
and it's totally unrealistic and wrong, that, that kills me, you know.
Well, see, I felt like I'm not a scientist or anything.
And they go into a scientific explanation of how the virus spreads.
And, you know, that, that kind of hit me a little bit when they actually went to an in-depth explanation as to how it spreads.
And I thought it kind of took their usual Resident Evil, how the virus spreads, and changed a little bit, made it, made it its own.
I really kind of appreciated that, that explanation of what, what it was, what the purpose was.
You know, for example, like Resident Evil, they don't really explain why this virus was created.
It was just created.
And I think the storyline explains why it was created and why it would do this.
Yeah, I'm with you on that Resnow.
I mean, well, first of all, I should say, I mean, Resident Evil, the whole series I love, so I, I don't have a problem with those.
But I do like that, that, yeah, this guy, Ken, Ken, Kevin or Ken?
Ken, Ken Crawford.
Ken, I think the fact that he made it, yeah, his own and made it, gave it a real backstory as to why he created this thing, or as, as why someone created this virus.
I think that was really strong, actually, and I really appreciated that as well.
I thought it was a good thing to do.
Oh, I agree with that.
The Y was fantastic. It was perfect.
It was one of the best, most well-written, wise, you know, why are we here in this story, why are we listening to this?
It was one of the best, most well-written ones I've heard so far in an audiobook.
It was the how that came, you know, much later in some of the later chapters that really just knocked me back a step or two.
And it's the whole suspending disbelief thing, and I've talked about it on this show before, where people say you have to suspend your disbelief for a book to work.
And I totally disagree with that.
I don't think you should have to suspend your disbelief.
I just think that the story, the rules of the world or the universe in the story, should be consistent.
When an author creates that world, he should not break his own rules for that world.
And if you're going to set it in the real world, then some real world rules have to apply.
Or else I have to suspend my disbelief, and that takes me out of a story.
Yeah, I see where you're coming from there, and I think I might even know what you're talking about in terms of what you're not really into.
And I kind of got that way about the computer.
You know, the minute someone starts talking about a computer in a story or in a movie or whatever, you know, I'm always like, are you making this up or do you have some background?
And I feel like probably he doesn't have a big background in computers.
So yeah, there are little things that I guess I had to skip over.
But I don't mind. For zombies and for sci-fi and stuff, I tend to be pretty okay with, I guess I don't know.
I guess I'm disagreeing with you. I think suspension of disbelief is kind of important.
You can't sit there and nitpick at every little thing, especially in a fantasy or a science fictiony or a speculative fiction kind of genre.
I agree that in a sci-fi, there is some expansion of what's possible and what's plausible.
Now, I can see what you're saying is that if they create this universe and say that this is, the rules are A, B, and C.
And then out of left field, they create rules D and E. Then, you know, they haven't followed their paradigm.
But I think that if they set a set of rules and they kind of follow along the storyline, then it works.
Yeah, and that being said, I don't think that the rules that he did break were so egregious that it killed the story for me.
I still kind of enjoyed the story. I'm not a big fan of zombies and maybe that's why I didn't like it as much as you guys did.
But I still liked it. I'd still give it a thumbs up.
Resna, what's your, I mean, I'm predisposed. I'm going to probably like a zombie story as long as it's decent.
Are you a zombie fan or not so much? How did you come to this book?
So I kind of just stumbled across the book. It was one of the ones that kind of popped up pretty quickly when I actually looked for a zombie book.
I actually do like zombie books. I'm a sci-fi fan.
And I like some of the Resident Evil, some of them I don't like, but I like 28 days, 28 weeks. I like that whole zombie genre.
As long as the story line's kind of there and it's kind of solid, that's what I really like.
Huh, so that's interesting. All right, so how about, you know, so we don't have to go into any spoilers just yet.
How about technically? What did you guys think of the, well, let's start with the narrator. What did you think of her voice work?
I really liked it. I thought she was a really great narrator, actually. Yeah, I mean, I tend to be okay with narrators mostly.
But I thought she did a really good job, actually.
Yeah, I would agree. There was no kind of snaffles or any kind of thing that I thought while that was pretty distasteful or bad.
Like, well, I kind of compare it to the last part, the last book we did because, you know, that I have limited experience with these kind of things.
When we compared to the other book, I felt like the intro was the first book we did, the second.
The last book that we just finished, I felt like the intro was too long and too long-winded.
And this just felt like a very continuous setup of, here's the chapter and then the book starts and then you, you know, you continue on.
I guess my one complaint that I do have is that the chapters didn't follow along with how the, the song, the tracks were numbered.
So chapter three may have fallen on audio sample number four or something. And that kind of just jointly threw me off when I was trying to find the next track to play up.
Oh, okay, you're saying just locating it on your, your player. Yeah, that makes good sense.
Right, that's a small thing, but it kind of bugged me a little bit.
No, but it's a really good point, it's a good tip if anybody's recording something like that.
I thought that the narration in this was beyond reproach. I mean, it was, it was better than good.
She set the tone perfectly in every scene and her voice control.
Well, I can only imagine she must have made several takes of each reading to get the tone just right.
And I'm pretty sure she did and that he edited the, the ones that were perfect. So her reading and the editing was, I mean, I, there's zero to complain about.
Yeah, actually, you're probably right. I probably understated that a lot because now that you mention all that, I realized that it was really, really clean.
And yeah, I guess, I mean, for her to have been so perfect every time she must have done this just really, really, I mean, she must have done take after take.
And yeah, it was really smoothly produced, actually. That's a good point.
And to edit that many takes, I mean, hats off to the author who, who produced it all too.
And I really like the subtle use of like music and sound effects to sort of create the cinematic effect rather good or bad.
And I kind of thought that that was really interesting that he put a lot of energy into making segment scene and getting you really into it.
I loved that. Honestly, I thought it was fantastic. I mean, for as much as I don't like the multiple voices in a production, I mean, people voices, I love like sound effects, music, stuff like that.
Because I don't know that just brings me into the world, even though someone's with the same voice is telling it to me, I want to hear the emotional stuff too.
And yeah, the music and there was this continuous theme throughout. So yeah, that was dead on for me. I really enjoyed that.
I like when theme music is subtle and understated. And I'm going to again say that it's a big compliment to the author that I don't even know what you guys are talking about right now.
And notice any music I just felt the mood was right throughout the book. So I mean, he probably hit that exactly where he should have been.
Yeah, throughout the book, sometimes I heard it. Sometimes I did. There was a very subtle like background music that was playing.
I don't know if it was constantly through the book because I don't really recall that. But you know, sometimes there was some music going on to sort of set the mood or transition to whatever was going on next.
Yeah, one of my problems probably than the reason that I don't listen to more audio books is that I really like to just sit down and listen to stuff.
So that's how I listened to this book. I actually started on, I don't know, I guess it was Thursday or Friday and just sat in my parents living room who I'm visiting for the holidays and just listened to this book.
So I heard, I think every nuance, every strain of music and you write, you know, there was music in the background really, really subtly for a large portion of the book.
And then there was the main theme music. So it was real. I mean, the sound quality and just the atmosphere that can and you know, can the author slash editor created was just, yeah, it was beautiful. Great.
Yeah, and I just to back up something that Resno said earlier, the pacing of this story could not have been better.
I could drop two chapters or one chapter into my, you know, scheduled podcasts for the day and pick up right where I left off and it was perfect.
And every chapter was a cliffhanger, but not an oh my god, I have to listen to the next chapter now kind of a cliffhanger, it was just enough.
And if I didn't get to it for a couple days, I could pick the story back up and was right back into it. And it just speaks volumes as to the pacing of the story.
Well, with me, when I, when, so when we first started the book, I was really into it. And I let it learn that no one had really picked it up at the time. So I kind of pulled off.
But when I kind of felt differently than you, when I started it, I felt compelled to hear the next chapter. Like I'd sit at work and I'd say, okay, I'm done with this chapter. I've got to hear what happened next.
I've got to hear what happens with these characters. I need to know, I need to know what's going on because I really like the storyline.
Yeah, I'm a little bit again with Resno on this. I mean, I, like I say, I mean, I had a deadline because I knew the show was going to be recorded today on Monday.
So I only had basically the weekend. So I kind of had to listen to it quickly, but I mean, every chapter, it just had such a great ending.
Like you didn't want it to end. It wasn't like it was maybe a cliffhanger, but you just weren't ready for it to end yet.
So you just had to listen to the next one and it just kept going like that through, you know, every single track. I just kept going.
I really admire that kind of writing. That's such a classic audience pleasing kind of writing that just there's really something to it.
It makes it really truly just very entertaining and a very basic and nice way. You know, it's not something you really have to think about too much.
It's just you like the characters. You want to find out what happens to them.
I think that's kind of what I was trying to say when I said that it wasn't like a cliffhanger. It wasn't like I didn't feel like a junkie having to come back for another hit a crack every time an episode ended and I tried to hit start on the next episode.
It was more like, okay, that was good. I'd like to know what happens next and when I get back to it, I'm comfortable getting back to it.
Kind of like loss. Loss, you felt like this is like a huge cliffhanger and you must come back to it versus, you know, a regular show where it ends and you're kind of like, okay, well, I can pick it up at my leisure instead of, you know, feeling like, wow, the world just blew up. How are they going to come back from this one?
I think I get what you guys are saying and I agree and I'm going to just throw out there that that's probably a cheaper thrill anyway, you know, I mean, I've never heard anyone say that loss was a completely satisfying experience for them or Battlestar Galactica.
You know, it's like these shows that you get so into and you're like, oh my gosh, what's going to happen? I must I must see the next thing right now. I have to skip work today and watch the rest of the series.
You know, it wasn't like that. It was just a nice steady kind of, I guess, pace of this novel where you, you need to find out what happens, but you're cool. You can wait a little bit and come back to the book when it's when you can pay attention to it, but there's that edge to it.
And that's, and I think ultimately it was very satisfying. I didn't have a problem with really anything about this book.
Yeah, if we're going to compare it to like a serialized TV show or something that had that kind of satisfying ending to each episode, but really left you wanting the next episode, the last show that I ever watched that I remember having that same level of satisfaction and good pacing was the sopranos.
That show when I watched that at the end of every show, you're like, oh, what happens next, but you weren't like, if they don't tell me what happens next, I feel like pulling my hair out.
Agreed.
I didn't watch the sopranos, so I can't even, I can't calm down.
I didn't mean either. I was just sure.
That's okay, because I didn't watch Lost Island or whatever, but fair enough.
Sorry we were ready to switch over to the next portion now, or are we going to do any more other points?
No, actually that was about it for me without doing any spoilers.
Yeah, I think we can switch over now.
All right, so what are you drinking tonight, Clot 2?
Well, I'm, as you may know, a coffee drinker, and I brought my parents down for Christmas a coffee that I got from Trader Joe's, which is like a small sort of grocery store in my area.
And it's a coffee, it's called the Win tree blend.
And so it's coffee, and it has a little bit of cinnamon, I think, a little bit of nutmeg, and strangely enough red and black peppercorns mixed into it.
So there's no artificial flavoring, it's just straight coffee, and then with some spices.
And I really thought, wow, peppercorns in coffee, how is that going to work?
Turns out, it's really, really good, and I don't usually like, like, I'm not a spiced latte, or I mean a chai latte kind of drinker.
I don't like spices in my drinks, my hot drinks, but this is really, really good.
I highly recommend it, and you can only get it at Trader Joe's during the winter, and it is called the Win tree blend.
Does Trader Joe's do like organics also, or no, I've been there, and I walked in, and I said this is unusual, this is different.
And I've got a couple of different things, and we like left, but is it generally organics, or no?
Yeah, usually they try, you can't, it's like I've, I used to assume that, like everything in the store was organic, and beautiful, and wonderful.
And then I'd get something, and I'd be eating it for three months, and then I'd look at the ingredients, and be like, oh, this isn't really all that much better than, you know, something you'd buy at a normal grocery store.
But for the most part, yes, it's usually really good ingredients, really strangely good prices too.
I mean, that's the only place that I shop for food, and I mean, I'm only one person, but I mean, my food bill is not, it hasn't, you didn't increase once I started shopping at Trader Joe's versus, you know, just the local grocery chain.
So I love that store, actually.
Okay, so me, I am also drinking a winterized beverage, it's snow day, from winter ale, from New Belgium, from New Belgium Brewing Company to beer, and it's from the people, the fine people who bring you fat tire, one of my favorite drinks.
Let me see here.
It doesn't say what's in it, so I'm just going to have to just leave it there.
Oh, no way, actually, hold on, it says dark cow mile roasted midnight wheat with a serious load of something, goldings and hops.
Delicious, okay, great.
So is it like a dark beer, a light beer, how's it looking in the glass?
I think it's a light beer.
I can't really tell because I'm not drinking it and a cup.
I'm just kind of pouring it from a, I'm drinking it from a dark colored bottle into my stomach.
Okay, is it more like a hoppy beer, or is it more of a mellow like malty, or how is it?
I think it's more hoppy.
It's not necessarily the hoppiest, so I had a really hoppy beer and I won't go into that, I won't go off into that tangent.
But this doesn't, it's not super hoppy, but it does have some hops in it.
Okay, cool, cool, and you give it a thumbs up.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I love the Belgium, so I feel like they can't go wrong unless they go wrong.
Nice, good to hear.
I've got a glass of wine tonight, I've got a yellowtail shardonnay and I'm really liking it.
I have had yellowtail shardonnay before and I don't remember liking it this much, but it's really good.
It's mild all around, it's mildly oaky.
If you like an oaky shardonnay, it's mildly bitter, like a lime would be and it's mildly sour, like a lemon would be and it's mildly sweet.
And there's nothing offensive about it, everything is mild, but somehow everything combined, it's a really strong taste with the lasting aftertaste.
And I'm really enjoying it a lot, I'm liking it a lot.
Cool, it sounds very oaky and limiting and tasty.
Yeah, yeah, I'm really digging it.
So if we're into the spoilers now, I have got to give it to Dan Washgo for calling it on the last book because he said it would be hilarious.
If in this zombie book it was an artificial intelligence or a robot, I forget exactly what he said, but that was the main character and I got to give it to Dan for calling it and I'm glad it didn't bet against him.
That's pretty hilarious actually.
How did he know that?
So there was one pitfall that I really found in the book.
How one question that I had that never was really answering was kind of glossed over when the girl ends up in the diner and one of the guys brings her back from the diner.
They never really explained how did he find her, you know, like, why, why did he do that? Why did he bring her back to the house with Robin in it?
Oh, they did. Nevermind. How did they find her? That was my question.
How did, how did, I think his name was Chris? How did Chris find the girl at the diner, you know, in a sea of all these people? How did, how did he find her?
Yeah, Michael found her and I have no idea how he found her and I have no idea how the people in the diner were not already affected by the plague.
Yeah, I thought I was missing something there. I'm glad to hear that neither of you understood that.
It seemed like it was like we need to get you back and poof. They found you and you were back and I kind of hated that we didn't explain what happened at the diner.
It kind of just felt like, oh yeah, she was trying to get away, she ended up at this diner, she fell over and poof, she's back where she started then.
Don't ask me questions about that. That's all taken care of now.
Yeah, and I also wondered in that scene how he got her out of the diner. Like here's this girl, this young girl covered in blood, wanders into a diner and there's normal people in there.
And all of a sudden some dude just grabs her and somehow incapacitates her and drags her out of there. Nobody put up a fight or said anything. That was very weird.
Yeah, I don't even, I was going to kind of say maybe that would work better in a movie, but I think that would work worse in a movie. It just does, that does not make any sense.
In a movie, sure, he walks in, she sees him, she's relieved and she faints into his arms. No problem, but that isn't how it was explained.
And it wasn't explained at all. I mean, there wasn't any kind of context about how they came to be. I mean, even if they said Robin put a transmitter on her or something, you know, the virus made her transmit something.
I mean, there wasn't any kind of explanation about how she was found and you were just kind of left it. Hey, she's just back here and you know, that's how it is.
I think I went with it because I don't know, I think there's like this sort of feel like, oh, well, they're all, they're all part of our main groups and naturally they would find each other somehow.
But yeah, when I heard it, even when I was listening to it and very much in the story, I remember thinking, whoa, I must have like, I must have tuned out for a minute because I definitely missed something here.
Lost lovers with magnetism that pull each other back to each other. I'd say, you know, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, that's not bad. Of the, I'd say I had probably three problems with the book and that was one of them, but it was probably the least of them.
So I didn't, I wasn't really too terribly bothered by that part. It's as much of a hole in the plot as it seems to be now that you guys are pointing it out. It didn't affect me as much as the other two things.
Yeah, it didn't, that's what I mean, too. It didn't bother me at the time quite as much as it did when Resno pointed it out. What else did you not find that works for you, Poke?
Well, the first thing right off the bat was that this dude just threw money at the problem of creating AI and it happened.
Yeah.
If AI were that easy that that throwing money at it would solve it, it would be done already because plenty of people have already thrown tons of money at AI and that.
I had the same problem with the last book with the AI in the last book and that's how Dan called it was because it was such a hokey, awful thing in the last book that we reviewed.
It was like the most egregious thing about that book, one of them anyway, that book was pretty bad. But anyway, that's how Dan called it because it would be hilarious if another AI showed up and was the key figure in the book in the story.
Yeah, I mean, I get that. I identified that the minute I understood what was going to, yeah, I was like, oh no, it's got AI in it.
And I knew that I was going to like cause me hemorrhaging because all three of us are geeks, right? I mean, we're like the world's worst audience for anything having to do with AI.
And I have like a policy with myself that if artificial intelligence happens in science fiction or you know, speculative fiction in general, go with it because most people don't care.
And furthermore, it's been established in our collective mind that in the world that doesn't exist right now in this other fantasy world that we all sort of partake in of art and movies and books, AI is possible.
How 9,000 is possible? Androids with brains are possible. You know, it's just kind of that's part of the lingua franca of people reading books or watching movies that are science fiction.
So I just I just make myself go with it. And that's how I got through that. Yeah, I didn't think of it that way. That's that's a really good way to think about it.
I just again put myself in the mindset that this book is the assignment and I have to get past it. And as soon as I got over and just said, hey, don't put so much thought into the AI.
It was done. Okay, the AI is there and it behaved exactly as the AI would behave and it was no longer a problem.
Yeah, it's excruciating really like if you think about it for two minutes, you're just like, oh my gosh, how so wait a minute?
So this AI is doing what now? Feeling like Robin is feeling, you know, like having these emotions like Robin, you know, you're just like, you try to reverse engineer it and try to figure out how it would be possible.
And then your inner geek just, yeah, it's just it's a horrible thing. So I just avoid thinking about it completely.
Yeah, and like I said, once I get over that part, like is AI possible? No. Okay, we'll go with it for the sense of the story though. Once I got past that, yes, I felt that Robin behaved exactly as Robin would behave if AI were possible in the way that Robin became real in this story.
And so once I just got, once I just said to myself, don't dwell on it. It really became believable again.
Yeah, yeah, I agree. What was the other thing?
Well, I think Resno just, he had something to say about this first. Oh, sorry. Now go ahead.
All right. And the other thing, well, I'm one more part about the AI actually because I just thought of it. I forgot was at the end when they discussed Robin, the real Robin, the little girl having the chip in her head.
That blew me out of the water, too, because in a world where that chip is possible and has been been made to happen in this guy's laboratory, he wouldn't have to worry about that scene with the investors because they already would be very rich men and he already would have been funded.
Well, you know, the chip idea kind of felt like what, what, you know, what did that come from?
And I feel like if you in a world we have chips, why didn't he use some type of technology, nanotechnology to reanimate Robin instead of trying to create this disease or what, you know, this virus to do it.
So that kind of felt like a split a little bit.
Yeah, if all of Robin's memories could be uploaded to a chip and sunk with some anatomy, he could have just cloned a little girl and put the chip in it.
That's both of you have an excellent point point and honestly, I didn't even think of it when I was listening to it. So I don't know, yeah, that's really funny that I didn't think about that because you were both totally dead on, but I don't know, somehow I glossed over it.
Well, in the context of the story, you just kind of go with the flow and if it doesn't feel like anything quite outlandish, I mean, I didn't think about it now until, until Pokey really brought it up and it just kind of got me thinking about the plot line and the things that happened.
And I mean, if they didn't, if they would have changed that the storyline would have fell in a part, you know, so there's a bit of just saying, okay, well, you know, that's just how it is and going with that.
Oh, see, I have to disagree with you on that. I think the storyline would not have fallen apart if the chip didn't exist. If the little girl came back to life and only had the knowledge and the experience that she had when she was alive, I think the story would have held together just fine.
It's only the setup for the sequel that would have been damaged without the chip.
Right, right, exactly. No, I was saying that if he said, well, instead of trying to make the disease, let me just reanimate her with technology. You know, like, I watched a TV show called Mantis where this guy was reanimated. He was a handy paraplegic or something and they used technology to reanimate his body.
And so if they did something like that, then the storyline would have fallen apart. You know, he wouldn't have made the virus. The virus would have never been created. And that would have changed the whole storyline.
Oh, okay, I see what you're saying. Sorry. Okay. And then in the last thing, the third thing that I had a problem with the story was the virus itself, how they went into a great deal of detail explaining how the virus mutated, you know, because it was passed through bodily fluid through the saliva and then through the blood. And that's just not how mutations happen.
It, you know, a mutation happens when the genes of whatever thing, when the DNA or RNA, whatever, you know, in a virus, would change. And the vector of transmission would in no means cause that.
What by no means cause a mutation like that. So to say that that one person got it through the blood. So they were affected this way and the other person got it through saliva. So they're affected that way. And one guy got it both ways. So he was affected differently.
That made no sense to me whatsoever. And it also made no sense in saying that the people drank it in the water. Yet those were still considered to be the group of people who got it through their blood.
So I have to say that I disagree with you there. Now I don't have a doctor. I'm not a doctor. I don't have, I'm not a pathologist. I don't know how, you know, virus transmissions work and all those type of things. No problem.
So, but, but I would say that, you know, under the guise of the story, I found it believable that there are different strains, different strains that you could contract. And based on the method, the vector that you receive it, you know, it changes how it operates.
And I don't know if that exists in real life, you know, or so I don't know the possibility of it actually happening. But I kind of fell along and fell into it. And it's like, okay, that sounds fine to me.
Yeah, it didn't disturb me so much. I mean, I don't think I even thought about it that much. I just, I was just going with the idea that there were different strains of the virus.
So I was accepting that you had different people would have different kinds of reactions to it. I don't think I really thought of it as, as you explained it, Poké.
And the problem, the main problem I think I had was that the initial way that it started spreading through the water in the first place, I just didn't buy that that was enough virus to, you know, to drip out of the window and go down all the way to a mountain into a river.
I had a little bit of a hard time accepting that part, but I got over it.
Oh, right, right. Without something causing it to reproduce, I hadn't even thought of that.
In my mind, I kind of considered it like flubber. So like it flubs out the window, kind of like bounces down the wall.
That was my vision when they explained it. I've just been like a ball of like goo that bounces down and it maintains all its structure.
Yeah, that's that's a better way of visualizing it because I wasn't I was just like this. How much liquid was in here? It seemed like it's going to run out before it gets to the river.
But like Poké says also I mean there again, I don't know anything about viruses, but it just it felt like that wasn't enough to contaminate a whole water supply to me.
Yeah, I just I kind of saw it as once it escaped and got into the water supply, it found a way to reproduce.
And I didn't have a problem with that part of it. It's just the vector of transmission should not affect the the nucleic strands inside of a virus.
I just I don't think that's how it works. I could be wrong if I'm wrong, you know, then that I'm a real jerk for even bringing it up.
But I don't think that's how it works. If you if you were injected with the flu, you're going to get the flu.
If you are coughed on by someone who's got that same flu, you're going to get that same flu. You're not going to become a carrier who can't get the flu. That's just just not how it works.
But in this in this world of genetically mutated diseases, it's it's possible and plausible to me that he could have genetically altered it to be to change based on its method of transportation or its vector.
Yeah, as much as I love computers, that's exactly the amount of disinterest I have in the medical sciences.
If this author tells me that that's possible, I was just like, yeah, okay, sounds good.
And that's how I got over it. Again, I just said, okay, and this one was actually easier for me than the rest of them.
With this one, I was just able to say, okay, in this universe, in this world that this author has written, that's how viruses work or that's how this particular artificial virus works.
And I got over that one. That one was was even easier to get over than the AI.
So, I mean, other than that, I mean, I felt, now that I'm just kind of thinking of the storyline.
Did you all have a problem with the AI controls or the, I guess the more technical aspects of it, like the server room and the safe room and being able to knock out the camera and take her down and all that kind of stuff?
Or, you know, what were your thoughts about that?
Not at all. Those were my really only three problems.
Yeah, I was honestly, at some point during the story, it was around the time, I guess, they reached the lodge or the, you know, the place where the AI is.
I just kind of started finally warming up to the characters so much that I wasn't anymore thinking really about the details of, I don't know, like the plot details.
I was just, I wanted to find out what happened to these people.
So, everything, I mean, yeah, the whole thing, I pretty much, I was okay with, I was okay with the way they spoke to the AI, the different tricks they would use to, you know, to get the AI, the Robin to do different things.
I was, yeah, I was fine with all that stuff. I was, I was into it all of it.
Yep, I even was able to accept the, you know, once, once the transmission of the virus was explained, the way that it was, I was even able to accept the thawing out of the frozen bodies.
I was just going to say, I was able to buy that sort of just because in other zombie movies, at least like the return of the living dead, I think it is.
Both of those, they kind of do that trick in those movies. So, I was like, I don't know, it was a zombie convention that I kind of fell into.
What did you all think about the ending of it and the sort of the hinting at the next one? You know, where they put them down into the cryogenic tube and, and so long, let's see what happens in the future.
What did you think about that ending? Did it feel like it was kind of lax or did he, did he actually kind of, you know, what did you think about it?
It wasn't the ending that I wanted, but I was totally okay with it, but I, I never know how a zombie book is going to, or a zombie story is going to end.
It's always up in the air because half of them kill everybody, the other half, make sure the characters get away and fall in love, and, you know, it's just, you never know what's going to happen.
So, yeah, I was, I was all right with this ending, actually, and I would, I would listen to another book if he, if he writes another one.
I mean, a sequel, that is.
He is writing another one.
Oh, okay, I'll listen to it.
I agree that it was not the ending that I wanted, but I think it was better than the ending that I wanted.
The total apocalypse of the world and the world's destroyed, and the good guys don't win.
It was great. That hit me in a way that I really appreciated.
You must have been in a really bad mood this week, Bokey.
You didn't know that half of this, but that did nothing to do with it.
Me personally, I didn't really like the ending of the book, and maybe I was just looking for, you know, a patio book to be finite and finished and be done with.
Okay, I closed this chapter and let me pick up the next one.
I found, I thought that the book was just kind of a soft ending that, you know, you know, the guy can't make it, and she runs over,
and the girl's kind of just kissing the disease away, and, you know, they're locked up for the next book, and she's off-expring the virus for the next, you know, the other book.
And then, you know, I don't know, just kind of felt like you thought you caught it, but you didn't.
And now the two people, we've saved two people for the next book, and let's try again then.
Yeah, the only part that I really didn't like about the ending is how easy it was for everybody to get through these security checks.
There were no blood tests, there were no, there was no kind of check of any kind other than the dude got scratches, so he can't come along.
Right, you know, I didn't like that either.
I felt like, in a world where they have hazmat, hazmat suits on, and they're like checking everybody out, and Robin's able to rob the girls, able just to lolly gag right on through, and kiss people and drink water, and infect all the soldiers.
You know, and he's stopped because he has scratches on him, you know, you've got scratches on, you've got gangrene or whatnot, and we're not going to let you through, and if you come through, we're going to shoot you.
Yeah, that's another good point.
I was probably cognizant of that sort of weakness, but again, I guess I kind of went with it.
I guess other than that, I have a personal sort of issue with books that set up for the next story, even in movies where they're just like, you know what, we could have ended this in a good way,
but we're not because we want to make the next next edition of it, you know, I have a personal issue with that, of getting the closer, and then okay, let's find the angle for the next book.
I felt like, let's just leave this wide open so that we can start this from some new angle, you know.
Yeah, I hear you. I have that. I think maybe a lot of people have a little bit of that. I guess I'm so used to it now.
It's just kind of like, I don't know, that seems to be what people do. It's like, I'm going to write a sequel whether everyone really wants one or not.
And it's kind of up in the air though, because what's the alternative? Like, okay, I'm going to close this book. I'm going to give everyone closure, but everyone wants another one.
So now I'm going to have to somehow generate another sequel, even though I totally brought the other one to a close.
So I don't know. Yeah, I feel like the story doesn't naturally continue, but he's kind of making it continue.
But I think, I think I'm just kind of used to that now, and so I guess I don't mind it so much.
Well, I do mind it, but I guess I don't, because I'm used to it.
I have the same thing with a lot of stories where they will throw in something that has nothing to do with the story in order to open the door for a sequel.
But I thought the way that he left the door open for the sequel in this one was acceptable. I gave this one a pass for doing that same thing, because I think what he did, I think he wrote or has in mind anyway, a much bigger story.
And I think his motivation for doing that is to tell that bigger story, whereas if I see it done in a Hollywood film or a television show series or something like that, you can tell they've told the whole story and they're leaving the door open to make more money.
That's not this guy's motivation. So I kind of had I kind of gave him a pass for that, I think.
Yeah, same here. I don't feel like he's trying to scam us out of anything, because his book is free. So it's just like he wants to tell more story, and I'm okay with that, because I liked it.
Yeah, that's exactly it.
I mean, other than that, I really, I'll go back and say that I really do like the book. And I actually sent him an email and said, hey, we really liked your book. We're doing a review of it on Hacker Public Radio.
And you know, he replied back and said, great, I'm working on the next book and I don't know if he's I don't know if he's in the writing phase right now or if he's actually recording it.
I need to go back and check the email, but you know, he's a real nice guy. And you know, I'll certainly listen to the next one if I'm, if I'm aware that it came out.
Yeah, I mean, I have to say I really, really admire people who can tell this kind of story. Like me personally, I tend to gravitate toward the more esoteric, weird stories where the plot isn't really, you know, a cliffhanger every chapter and stuff like that.
I don't really like direct plots a lot of times. I like to just kind of meander around and think about things philosophically. I mean, that's just kind of stories I'm into.
So this kind of story, you know, I don't do well with like spy stories. I don't do well with thrillers or anything like that, but like a good sci-fi or a zombie book.
I really get into and I just love it when someone can really just tell a very traditional story where you are entertained from the beginning of each chapter until the very end.
And you want to come back for more and you're liking it and you're enjoying it. I mean, I had a great weekend because I was listening to this book the whole time.
So I really admire his what he does. I think he's doing a fantastic job. And I've definitely already mentioned this book to like everyone here at my parents' house.
So, you know, I've recommended the thing to anyone I think who will sit through his zombie book. So I'm very impressed.
I hope that Ken Crawford the author, if he hears nothing else, he heard. I hope he hears that you just said this book made you have a good weekend because that is some of the highest praise that I could imagine, you know, if like if I ever did something.
Yeah, I mean, that's the goal, right? I mean, that's what he wants to do. He wants to tell a story and have people enjoy it. And I think we all did. So that's a really cool thing.
Yeah, I did actually enjoy the storytelling. I did enjoy the stories for as much as complaining as I do and nitpicking as I do. Overall, I did enjoy the story. I thought that, you know, specific things that happened in the story were fantastic.
Like the way that the football player guy, the way he turned his back on the main actor, the main character and walked away, he did it in a totally believable way. It was perfect.
I think all of the characters were, like I say, I mean, in the first chapter, I wasn't in love with the characters. I was like, I don't know how much time I can spend with these teenagers. I really hope we're not going to be within the whole time.
And by the second or third chapter, I was like, hey, I kind of like these guys. I'm glad we're hanging out, you know, and everything they did was pretty much, yeah, pretty natural. I felt I never felt like they did anything just to because something in the plot needed to happen.
You know, they were all very believable. I felt like I knew them all. I thought the, I mean, always in a book or a movie, the characters where it's at. If you latch onto a character, then you'll go with it and you'll enjoy it. And that's what happened here. So he really did a great job there.
Yeah, and I didn't feel like, you know, just like you mentioned, glad to those moments where you're like, okay, like the person's coming with the knife run run, you know, they're still standing there like streaming or looking at me.
I didn't feel like there was a time where it was like run idiot, you know, it was like, it all just kind of made sense that, hey, if there are zombies downstairs, you get up in the attic and, oh, wow, she fell through the attic, you know, that felt like, that felt like something that could happen.
So you fall into the attic and you fall into your death and then the zombies are.
Yeah, like, for instance, to go with that, the one girl who did just stand there and take it from the zombies, he set that up like for three chapters. He was like, oh, she's, she's tweaking out and, oh, she's ready to crack.
And then in the third chapter, she stood still and just took it and it was totally believable because he set it upright.
Yeah, that's a really good point.
So, and so it felt believable because the author had set it up and made you understand that that's how the character was and didn't just kind of make it up into the scene sort of thing.
Yup, that and like the fight scene, like I've had fights like that where somebody hits somebody and it's clearly in the wrong, but everybody kind of takes the blame so that nobody gets as much of it.
I've been in situations like that back in high school. So that was, that was really cool too. And just again and again, these believable situations happen.
The only one that was kind of weird and he worked it out exactly as I thought he should have. He just took longer to do it was when they first started seeing zombies and everybody was like, what's wrong with these people?
What's wrong with these people? Whereas you would think like, oh shit, there's zombies, you know, he, he, it seemed like for a while he was going to pretend that no one had ever heard a zombie story.
But then he finally, they just said it like, yes, it's zombies just like in the DM movies. Right, right.
I think that's always so tricky in zombie stories now because it's so postmodern, you know, like early zombies. Yeah, you had to explain to the audience.
This is what a zombie is. This is how they got that way. And by the way, they want human flesh, you know, no and no one's heard of it.
But now if we're doing a movie or a book, I mean, we have all heard a zombie. So the characters should have heard of zombies.
Or are you doing an alternate universe where this is the first time zombies have ever appeared and that it's not in pop culture.
I think that's always tricky. And I was with you, Poke, I think I was like, okay, how, you know, how, how aware are they of this?
But I think it did work itself out a little bit to where they knew what a zombie was. They just couldn't believe that that was actually what they were seeing.
And then they finally accepted that, okay, yes, that is what they're seeing. And that's that.
To try to think about something I just thought about, I kind of felt for the girl as she was walking through the scenes and making her way through life.
I was thinking about the van where, you know, she comes down and she's thirsty and hot and she's drinking that hot water.
And just as she's walking away from the van, she has a cell phone ring and she really wants to go back because that can be her rescue.
And of course, zombies have arrived. And so, you know, I felt for that scenario where you're thinking, do you run back with your foot busted and get your cell phone and get to your rescue or, you know, do you turn and run for your life?
So I kind of like that, that's that change where, you know, we all have cell phones. So it was interesting that he put that in there as a kind of twist in the plot.
Yeah, I think I think that's another problem with movies and books these days. Like we all know that everyone's got a cell phone. So like half the time, you're just like, hey character, why don't you open your cell phone and call someone, you know.
And yeah, he mitigated that well. And yeah, the character was very sympathetic pretty much throughout.
Yeah, that particular scene with the cell phone was really cool. I agree. It was really well done. But it reminded me of another.
It's not a problem I had with the story, but I'd say a question mark left unanswered. And what do you guys think about this? Was the bear a zombie?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I couldn't I couldn't decide on what I thought about that.
I was going to actually say no, I didn't think that the bear was a zombie. I thought it was a real life bear. Just doing it's a bear thing.
Yeah.
I have zero experience with bears. So I mean, I could see a zombie bear. I could see a normal bear. I wouldn't know the difference.
Yeah, I wasn't sure. I thought at first he started acting like a zombie, but then he was acting more like a bear. And I just I was unsure. It was it was not clear.
But either way, I don't think that would have changed the story of the plot line. If it was a zombie or not a zombie.
No, it didn't it didn't really change the plot line. It kind of it delayed it long enough to build up some tension.
You know, with with the zombies walking up behind him in it, it kind of made it so that they sprung the trap that they couldn't escape from.
I just I would have liked a little more detail on that. What did you guys think about the level of Gore that happened in this book?
I thought it was dead on. I mean, zombie stories, I expect Gore. But at the same time, I don't need Stephen King type descriptions of, you know, how their heads splattered like a watermelon blah, blah, blah.
I thought, yeah, I thought I was I thought it was pretty much exactly what I expected actually.
Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. I thought it was tastefully done. You didn't feel like it was too much.
And on each episode they started with, you know, this is a gory show. And just for you know that it's gory and be prepared.
Maybe if you had some kids at home, this would be a different story. But, you know, I felt like it was it was right amount just enough.
You know, there are some I've never I've never listened to, you know, like there's some some moves that you watch where it's just like, wow, this is this is gorgeous for Gore's sake.
And I didn't get that I didn't get that feeling. I think we're unanimous on that one then. And I'm this is coming from a guy who complained about the over descriptiveness that happened in the last book that we read.
I thought this one was was right on for the type of story that it was.
I guess residents got a good point though. Like if this is not a book for for kids probably. I don't really have kids or I don't know what they listen to or think about.
But I don't think this would be suitable for kids.
Oh, no, not suitable for kids at all. And he he was up front with that. I don't think any zombie story is going to be suitable for for kids.
I mean, it have to be like really, you know, Nickelodeon to be appropriate for a kid. No, I've got my youngest is 11 and my oldest is 13.
And I I wouldn't let them listen to this or watch a zombie movie. It just it wasn't appropriate for that age for sure.
Okay.
But yeah, but for the type of story that it was I was just wondering because in the last one that we listened to.
The gore was so it was gore for gore's sake and uncomfortable descriptions for the sake of creating discomfort for the listener.
And this one crept because my wife's chinchilla making noise.
Doing it just because he could instead of doing it for a reason to actually further the story.
Exactly, exactly. He he in this one, the gore was descriptive of what was happening what the characters were seeing and why they were so terrified.
What else to class you did anything else like really stand out to you as well done that we haven't covered.
I don't think so. I feel like we've covered everything that I kind of really, really enjoyed the most about the story.
I can't think of anything else. I like again, I really, really enjoyed it. So that's a good thing.
How about you guys know we covered everything?
Yeah, I think so. There's nothing that really, I mean other than that, I felt like it was it was a good book overall.
And when the second one, when the next one comes out, I'll listen to that one. And you know, if there's a third, I'll listen to that one as well.
I thought it was good. And I've said that several times already. But yeah, I thought it was a good movie, a good story.
Excellent, excellent. So glad to you haven't been on any of the audiobook club review shows before. So being the newest guy, did you bring a book for our next listen?
Yes, I did. But I'm not sure. I mean, it's not expected that I've already heard this book, right?
No, it's not expected. It's okay if you have, but it's not expected. No.
Okay, cool. Well, I chose one from from podiobooks.com just because I thought that's what we were going for.
I kind of forgotten about Libra box. And if I'd known about Libra box, I probably would have picked something like three musketeers or something.
But I didn't or I didn't know that's what we were doing. So podio book. I'm a big fan of like space adventures and stuff like that.
Early Heinle and stuff like that. So I saw a book called Space Casey, which I thought looks like a humorous but entertaining sort of spacey sci-fi spaceship kind of book.
And I think that's the one that we should do. And I'm going to paste the link in the little chat over here.
Cristiana Ellis.
That is the one.
I have heard this book before. Oh, have you? Is it? Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
Okay, should I pick something? I had a second choice if you don't want to do one that you've already heard.
No, no, I'd say go for it. And I think I actually think it might help us out as far as I get people to listen to something that already comes with a thumbs up because I thought this one was excellent.
It looks like a really entertaining book. I just I saw the description. I saw that art. I just I thought this looks like it's going to be a fun space adventure.
It's I will say this going into it. It's it's fairly juvenile in its sense of humor, but it's not for kids. I wouldn't say maybe young adult.
So in the in the vein of something like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
That kind of thing. It was it was humorous in that way. And I will I will just say that this is this is definitely one worth listening to and joining us on the next book club.
If even as a participant to review the book. So yeah, it's up. I'm already going to do this one with a thumbs up. And I'm going to and I look forward to listening to it a second time to to nitpick it the way that I do.
Cool. I'm glad I picked one that you knew of. I think it's going to I have high expectations. I think it looks good.
Glad to do you have a lot of history listen to audio books?
No, I don't actually. Well, actually I should say my mom actually listens to audiobooks like all the time. So I I used to overhear them a lot back when I lived at home, but on my own.
No, I don't really listen to that many audio books. This is probably the first one I've heard in ages. So I mean this one that hunt. So yeah, this is actually really kind of a new thing to me. And I'm based on dead hunt. I'm kind of looking forward to maybe doing it more often.
Yeah, me too. When I first talked to integral and and poke and they were first starting up doing the book review.
Even actually a little before the book for you, you know, I was suggested a couple and I was like, I listened to them and didn't really spark my interest and I kind of stopped.
But since the last one and going into this one, I mean, I've it's really kind of sparked my interest in really going further and listening to them.
Yeah, and as always, I really I love the fact that for instance, you could just email Ken, you know, like and say, Hey, I liked your book. That to me is really cool. I like to have that personal contact or at least the knowledge that I could personally contact the artist if I wanted to.
I'm much more interested in experiencing art that I know the person who did it rather than oh, I know this person is in Hollywood and I can never speak to them because they've got bodyguards around them and they will never answer any fan mail.
You know, I don't I'm not into that. So I like the personal touch of audio books, especially.
Right, and I feel like, you know, it was really cool to get a response from and say, you know, like, Hey, this is what I'm working on. Hey, would you think about this or would you think about that and being able to, you know, really have that one on one connection with the author and being able to give your feedback? I thought, you know, it's really cool.
I so totally agree with that. I've listened to several audio books specifically from people who I'm like books. These are like first class books.
And you can just email the guy or chat to him on, you know, on Google plus, I've chatted to a couple of guys.
It's really, really cool that you can do that or at the same, in the same vein, I can go out and buy their book and get an autographed copy, you know, a hardcover.
It's really cool to be able to go either way with that.
Yeah, this is a great time to be both an artist because you can distribute your stuff really easily or to be someone who likes art because you can, you can do that. Yeah, you can buy someone's book.
You can get a autograph. You can talk to them. You can email them. It's just so, so cool. I really enjoy it.
All right, so Space Casey by Cristiana Ellis and it's going to be available on potiobooks.com and that's going to be our next book. Please, please, please listen to this book.
This audio book, consider joining us the next time we record this. Keep tabs with us. You can, you can either email hpr at hackerpublicradio.com or you can stop in the chat room.
We're usually in augcast planet on the IRC, excuse me, on the free node IRC network and keep in touch with us on when we're going to record the next show.
By the time this one comes out, who knows, because I do a lot of editing and sometimes it takes me some time, but if you're interested in joining us for this book or even for any book after that, just get in contact with us.
We'd love to have more people join in, more of a round table, more of a community feel to this and to hackerpublicradio where we're always striving for that community feel where more people get involved.
And with that, I'm ready to say goodnight. Thanks a lot, guys.
Thank you.
Thanks, guys. Talk to you later.
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Okay, while we were recording, I realized that I never hit record on mumble.