Written by: Jake Bible
Review: Larry
This is a review of a podcast novel called "Dead Mech" by Jake Bible. Before I start, I should state that this is only the third zombie book I have read/listened to, and I have never considered myself a fan of the genre. I should probably change that because I LOVED ALL OF THEM!
Dead Mech is a very well thought out and artfully told story of the future a hundred yrs hence. The first episode lays a very plausible and detailed background so the subsequent episodes can go straight to the action. The first episode details the plague's outbreak, the fall of civilization, and the birth of the city-states that follow. It also explains the use of the Mechs, 30 foot tall human-piloted robots, that became mankind's savior and the danger they are when a pilot dies in a mech. The subsequent episodes take place in a forward-operating base on the Wastelands and are ACTION PACKED!
There is one thing that requires an explanation here. The author of this podcast writes this as a "Drabble" novel. A drabble is a story told in 100 words. Not 101 words, not 98 words. 100. The result is a very fast-paced story that goes from scene to scene very quickly. Made me think more of a television episode than a book. Some of the reviews in Itunes are against this style, some are for it. I, personally, liked it. It did take a little getting used to at first, but nothing I had to struggle thru. And, as I stated, it moves the story along at a break-neck pace.
This story is also a good selling point on the value of podcasts as a new media. The author is a fan of "Mech" stories and zombie stories and thought “Why not combine the two?” An author trying to pitch this idea to an editor at a New York publishing house would be laughed out of the building. He would be probably laughed out if he was just trying to pitch just a zombie story or a mech story. Both together? No fucking way! A podcast allows the author to write the story he wants and have a potential audience of millions immediately. There are alot of stories in the world that never make it into print, lost forever due to an editor's lack of balls to publish a story. Podcasts allow a story to be told and allow the author to practice and perfect his storytelling.
What voracious reader hasn't thought at one time or another "I could write a book if I tried"? Now you have the opportunity to not only write/record a story, be it a short story or a novel in length, but to have that story enjoyed by others at no cost to the author.
As I write this in early April, I just finished episode 14 and am in serious withdrawls waiting for the next episode. Would I buy this as a book from Barnes and Noble? Probably not. Would I download it and listen to it non-stop, episode 1 thru 14, driving from Columbus, Ohio to Orlando, Florida? I just did, and it made the ride as enjoyable a trip as I have ever had.
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