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Zombies,Run!
Jan. 10th, 2015 12:02 pmI just completed my first mission as Runner Five - and it was awesome! Zombies, Run! is an app for your phone, which gives you half hour episodes/missions to listen to while you are out running. It's sort of a radio play with you as the protagonist - you don't actually have to do anything to interact with it (except run) but it feels very immersive.
I ran further than I have in years and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was raining, but I didn't care. Plus, the songs it chose to play were scarily appropriate to the situation and the parts of Enfield I was running through were practically deserted, which added to the atmosphere no end. It started blowing a bit of a gale on my way home, but Jack and Eugene (the townships radio DJs) got me through it! Can't wait to do the next mission.
In other news, I finished listening to Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, one of the books in their Liaden Universe, part of the series they describe as Space Regency. I hesitate to say it, but it is actually a little bit like Austen in space - though not nearly as nuanced. It's a good story, though, with likeable characters, some intrigue and excitement, though the melodrama gets a bit much in places and the misunderstandings are a bit repetitive after a while. I will definitely be listening to more of these - they fit the bill for the commute perfectly - interesting enough to keep me walking, but not so distracting that I don't want to stop!
The next audiobook I tried was The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I heard about this through Empire, as Andy Serkis' new studio is making a film version. It was described on the internet as "a lot like Harry Potter", with Shannon being heralded as "the next J K Rowling", but I wouldn't agree with that summary at all. I found it to be much more like a cross between Divergent and Twilight, and not in a good way. The premise was interesting to begin with, but it soon got very tiresome, and I could just see where it was going with the ancient, creepy but strangely compelling male alien who takes the teenage girl protagonist under his protection... Yeuch! I'm afraid I gave up about halfway through and have no desire to find out what happens in the end.
I ran further than I have in years and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was raining, but I didn't care. Plus, the songs it chose to play were scarily appropriate to the situation and the parts of Enfield I was running through were practically deserted, which added to the atmosphere no end. It started blowing a bit of a gale on my way home, but Jack and Eugene (the townships radio DJs) got me through it! Can't wait to do the next mission.
In other news, I finished listening to Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, one of the books in their Liaden Universe, part of the series they describe as Space Regency. I hesitate to say it, but it is actually a little bit like Austen in space - though not nearly as nuanced. It's a good story, though, with likeable characters, some intrigue and excitement, though the melodrama gets a bit much in places and the misunderstandings are a bit repetitive after a while. I will definitely be listening to more of these - they fit the bill for the commute perfectly - interesting enough to keep me walking, but not so distracting that I don't want to stop!
The next audiobook I tried was The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I heard about this through Empire, as Andy Serkis' new studio is making a film version. It was described on the internet as "a lot like Harry Potter", with Shannon being heralded as "the next J K Rowling", but I wouldn't agree with that summary at all. I found it to be much more like a cross between Divergent and Twilight, and not in a good way. The premise was interesting to begin with, but it soon got very tiresome, and I could just see where it was going with the ancient, creepy but strangely compelling male alien who takes the teenage girl protagonist under his protection... Yeuch! I'm afraid I gave up about halfway through and have no desire to find out what happens in the end.
