Tom Corven
A bizzare near-future science fiction mystery by Paul Story. Your comments are welcome!
On a remote coast in Scotland, a boy opens his eyes to a world he does not recognise. Almost dead, he stumbles on a desolate cottage where he meets the beautiful Katriana and a man she professes to be her uncle.
Stormbound and haunted by visions, the boy, Tom Corven is his name, soon realises that finding Creggan was no accident. But as he uncovers the truth of his unique place in the universe, Tom must find and control the power he harbours before it destroys him. Only then will he be ready to fight the evil stalking him to Creggan and only then will he understand that the fate of billions rests with what he does next.
December 23rd, 2005 at 10:43 am
Paul Story has an interesting story, and his book Tom Corven fits in nicely with it. Most of this was written inside a tent in Scotland, and recorded on a laptop in a cyber-cafe in Spit, Croatia. It has the distinct honor of being the very first book written specifically for podcasting.
With much shorter chapters than most other works, TC is easy to read, and is perfect for a little faster delivery method than once per week. The book is dark, yet has glimmers of light here and there. And Paul’s performance brings all of that home.
Audio Quality:Good. As mentioned above, Paul recorded this on the barest of equipment. But some deft skills with filters and editing push that to the background quickly.
Narration Performance:Paul has a heavy Scottish accent, which was an issue for the first chapter or two. However, he is speaking English, and my cultural memory took over not long after that. It never was an issue again.
Writing Skills:Considering this book was written as it was being podcast, I’m impressed. This is not a plot driven story, and is instead built on characters who are discovering themselves right along side you.
Overall Rating:Four damned dirty apes. Change your delivery time to once per day and I think you’ll find this story quickly growing on you.
July 2nd, 2006 at 6:54 pm
I actually really enjoyed the narration. The Scottish accent and Paul’s style come across as very dark and noirish. I’d give the story a B+. At times I felt a little lost and at other times it seemed all too predictable, and then at the end it didn’t feel terribly finished.
August 14th, 2006 at 11:36 am
Despite what chapter 13 claims to be, it is NOT chapter 13. It is, in fact, Chapters 25_26.
Can someone straighten this out, please?
-Bear
August 14th, 2006 at 11:46 am
Actually, it says “Episode 13″. Paul’s chapters are short. Episode 13 contains chapters 25 and 26. Episode 12 contains, not surprisingly, contains chapters 23 and 24.
Thinks appear straight on our end.
August 15th, 2006 at 11:32 am
My first audio novel (in the works) “Multiple Choice: Book 1 Quantum Journey” has some small chapters in it, too. And the episodes will not co-respond to chapters. However, with respect to the listeners, the write-up for each episode will indicate which chapters will appear in each episode.
Sorry for my confusion. I got it straightened out. Chapter 13 of “Tom Corven” appears at the beginning of Episode 7.
-Bear
silverbear@gmail.com
June 7th, 2007 at 9:07 am
This book was intriguing all the way through to the end. The accent of the narrator quickly became easy to listen to and in fact added to the aura of the story. But I felt like the ending rushed in from out of nowhere. All the questions being asked were answered with new, more fantastic possibilities, but these possibilities were left unresolved. Is there a sequel planned to carry these forward?
August 16th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
i really wanted to listen to this book, but the variations in volume from the author speaking too softly and then too loudly – i just gave up. to hear the soft parts i had to have my ear pods up too loud.
sorry …