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Home Forums Episode Discussion Ep 67: Barsoom In June by Brian L. Hurrel

Ep 67: Barsoom In June by Brian L. Hurrel
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8:23 pm
February 15, 2013


Graeme

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Read by Graeme Dunlop and Dave Thompson

Listen above or download here.

Show Notes

Today we present Barsoom in June by Brian L. Hurrel. Brian is an American who narrowly missed being born in Glasgow. A lifelong science fiction fan, he is especially fond of Golden Age stories from the forties and fifties. His fiction has appeared in the science journal Nature and magazines such as Daily Science Fiction and Bete Noir. His many previous occupations include high school English teacher, carpet installer, cab driver, and US Marine. He now develops software for the financial industry and lives in New Jersey with his wife and son.

We asked Brian if he'd like to share anything about this story in particular. He says, "By the time I got around to reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter books, along with Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles and his wonderful short story The Long Rain, our knowledge of the solar system had long ago made it clear that Martian canals and Venusian jungles were completely out of the realm of possibility. This did not in any way reduce my enjoyment of these stories, of course. And there was always a small corner of my mind that wondered – perhaps even hoped? – whether such places did indeed exist. After all, I only 'know' that Mars and Venus are uninhabited because I take the word of scientists who seem to know what they're talking about. But what if those early writers had hit a little too close to home?"

Your narrators today are myself and my good friend Dave Thompson. By day, Dave battles through reams of red tape writing corporate documentation. But his real job is co-editing and hosting the fantasy podcast PodCastle where you'll find fantasy stories of all stripes. He is a published author and also a respected and frequent narrator for many venues. You can find two of his audio book narrations on Amazon: Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout and Briarpatch by Tim Pratt.

This production of "Barsoom In June" uses sounds from Freesound.

Read along

Click here to read the text of the story

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9:25 pm
February 16, 2013


Niall Mor

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Hello! I recently discovered this podcast via Podcastle and am delighted to be here. I loved this story because I just love the old Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian tales, and when I saw "Barsoom" in the title, I knew I just had to listen.

 

As for your question: Does the protagonist go or stay? This is a tough one. We don't know if he has a wife or a significant other who might miss him if he suddenly vanished. Such a sudden disappearance could also provoke a lot of awkward questions for the Barsoomians and Venusians who are trying to stay hidden on Earth. They might want him to stay here and keep his mouth shut, which could be accomplished easily enough by the memory zap setting on the department chairman's ray gun. If Mr. Ungar went to Mars, there's no telling when or if he'd be allowed to come back!

 

Still . . . the chance to go to Mars and see it as it really is . . . Decisions, decisions! :)

5:23 am
February 27, 2013


Sandra M. Odell

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This type of story works best when listened to, and boy am I glad I did.  I haven't read as many Burroughs stories as I would like, but rest assured I will soon.

 

The narration was simple and direct, and both Graeme and Dave played off of one another quite well.  I was bustling about doing laundry while listening to this episode, and laughed out loud when the Venusian entered the room.  Perfect timing!  Even managed to scare the cats off the towels.

 

Did our main character head to Mars or decide to play it safe at home?  I like to think he went to Mars.  What good are dreams if you can't follow them to the first star on the right, and straight on til morning?Smile
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