Category Archives: Science Fiction

VoK 63: Writer’s Workshop

Posted on February 7, 2014 by vokadmin | 1 comment

Five Vassals sit down to discuss the craft of writing and share some of their own work. Join Steven (SJLee), Michal (inkasrain), Zach (Alias), Duncan (Valkyrist), and Ace (SomeNewGuy), as they share their insights into writing, offer feedback to one another, and discuss their latest projects.

Ace shares an inspired-by-real-life comedy of life overseas in the Peace Corps. Zach and Duncan discuss their early foray into fantasy fiction. Michal’s unique cop drama, set in a world of drug-addicted dragons, captures the interest of her fellow hosts. And Steven describes his post-apocalyptic novel, which is nearing completion. The conversation covers many areas of writing:

1:55 – Part 1: General Discussion on Writing
23:15 – Part 2: Roundtable Conversation on Work [Gardeners vs. Architects; Breaking down the Fantasy Genre; Plot vs. Character; Female Characters and “Unlikeable” Protagonists; World-building; Writing Post-Apocalyptic Fiction; Publishing your Work]
1:58:10 – Part 3: Advice to Fellow Writers [including a defense for Fan Fiction]

Credits:
Edited by SJLee

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Links:
The Anxiety of Writers
Year of the Dragon by inkasrain (extract)
Quincy’s Tale by SomeNewGuy
The Knight of Leafport by Valkyrist (extract)
A Shattered World by SJLee (extract)

1 Comment

Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Alias, inkasrain, SJLee, SomeNewGuy, Valkyrist

VoK 58: Blade Runner [1982] (DVD Commentary)

Posted on January 23, 2014 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

The Vassals dream of electric sheep in this audio commentary for Ridley Scott’s 1982 science-fiction classic Blade Runner (The Final Cut). Join Katie (Lady Griffin), Bina (Bina007), and Duncan (Valkyrist) as they debate whether or not Deckard is a replicant and (maybe) drive off into the mountains for a happy ending.

The movie should be synced from 7:00 to 2:05:00, and the commentary itself will begin exactly 1 minute into the movie, due to minor recording issues.

Credits:
Edited by Katie
Audio clips owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment.

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Posted in DVD Commentary, Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Bina007, Lady Griffin, Valkyrist

VoK 54: The Hunger Games – Catching Fire [2013] (Review)

Posted on January 7, 2014 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

Vassals of Kingsgrave tackle the soon-to-be Highest grossing movie of 2013, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

In this aleged ‘movie’ review show, we spoil the hell out of the next (two) installment(s) ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay’, fawn over Johanna Mason/Jena Malone, discuss the trend of splitting the final installment of a movie to cash in, the ill-fated ‘bitch slap’ from the movie, and that adorable cat (Buttercup).

Dagos_Rivers is joined by two new VOK Hosts: Claudiometer and saad164.

Credits:
Edited by Dagos_Rivers

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Posted in Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Claudiometer, Dagos_Rivers, saad164

VoK 47: Mass Effect series (BioWare)

Posted on December 18, 2013 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

To Discuss Bioware’s Mass Effect Series , Katie (Lady Griffin) is joined by Zach (Alias), Eddie (Teddard), Matt (Eiffel), and Peter (Shellfish).

2:00 Introductions and Icebreakers
11:00 Trilogy Highlights
34:00 Mass Effect 3 Ending
58:00 Multiplayer, Paragon and Renegade, and The Future of Mass Effect
1:08:00 Aftershow – Snakes and Scorpions, Badasses and Dumbasses

Warning: Contains plot spoilers for all Mass Effect games and downloadable content. Minor spoilers for the novel Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn.

Credits:
Edited by Katie
Intro: ‘The Old Machines’ by Rig
32:40: ‘I’m Proud of You’ by Sam Hulick
58:36: ‘Staggered Injection’ (Purgatory Bar Music) by Ekstrak
Outro: 1:09: DJ Harbinger – Surrender Shepard!
All Mass Effect clips belong to Bioware and Electronic Arts, Inc. All fanworks belong to their respective owners.

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Posted in Podcast, Science Fiction, Video Games

Tagged Alias, Eiffel, Lady Griffin, Shellfish, Teddard

VoK 45: Alien [1979] (DVD Commentary)

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Valkyrist | Leave a comment

Have you been dreaming of a Red Christmas? Join vassals Duncan (aka Valkyrist) and Katie (aka Lady Griffin) as they delve into the blood-splattered, chest-bursting masterpiece that is Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). This is the third entry in a potential “Sci-Fi Classics” audio commentary series.

The commentary itself runs from 6:36 to 2:01:26, and the opening production logos will be played at full volume in order for the listener to sync up their copy of the movie correctly. We used the Director’s Cut edition of the movie, released in 2003.

Warning: Contains plot spoilers for Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3.

Credits:
Edited by Valkyrist
Audio Clips owned by 20^th Century Fox

Links:
Alien (1979): All Deleted Scenes
Original 1976 Screenplay (by Dan O’Bannon)
Dan O’Bannon and The Origins of Alien (by David Konow)
Alien and the Monstrous-Feminine (by Barabara Creed)

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Posted in DVD Commentary, Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Lady Griffin, Valkyrist

VoK 40: The Terminator [1984] (DVD Commentary)

Posted on November 21, 2013 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

Join the Vassals for their second in a series of film fan commentary tracks. In this episode hosts Duncan (aka Valkyrist) and Glen (aka Dagos_Rivers) discuss and dissect James Cameron’s 1984 sci-fi classic – The Terminator.

The audio commentary itself runs from 3:30 to 1:51:02, and the opening production logos will be played at full volume in order for the listener to sync up their copy of the movie correctly.

Warning: Contains explicit language and plot spoilers for The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Credits:
Edited by Valkyrist
Audio Clips owned by MGM Studios

Links:
The Terminator (1984): Original Deleted Scenes
Planet of the Apes (audio commentary)

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Posted in DVD Commentary, Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Dagos_Rivers, Valkyrist

VoK 38: Thor – The Dark World [2013] (Review)

Posted on November 17, 2013 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

It’s a super-sized Thor The Dark World review with easttexasdirewolf, Erinyes, fortytwo, inkasrain( Michal), No True Lady, Shellfish, Teddard and Tori. Prepare to hear about a movie that all the hosts claim they enjoyed…yet have massive issues with. Also, there will be fangirling.

Editing Credits: No True lady

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Links:
Skype Chatlog during the recording

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Posted in Comics, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged easttexasdirewolf, Erinyes, fortytwo, inkasrain, No True Lady, Shellfish, Teddard, Tori

VoK 35: Anime Roundtable (Vol.1)

Posted on November 9, 2013 by vokadmin | 4 comments

In this Anime edition of VoK Roundtable, APOIAF’s Amin makes his first VoK appearance along with forum regular MrKorb.
@ 2mins Bill aka MrKorb introduces the crew to “Simoun” a steampunk yuri anime.
@ 14:30 mins Vikram aka Fortytwo talks about his favorite anime “Darker than Black”
@ 24mins Amin talks about some anime he liked, and his plan to do BoK on them.
@ 41:50 mins A Blizzcon distracted Vikram reminisces about world of Warcraft with Bill.

Credits:
Edited by Fortytwo
Music from:
Simoun Opening soundtrack
Howling by Abingdon Boys School and
Tsukiakari no Michishirube from Darker Than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini

Links:
Podcast Awards
Simoun DVD @ Amazon
Darker Than Black @ Hulu
Amin’s Anime BoK todo
MrKorb’s Tumblr
Amin’s Tumblr
Amin’s Twitter

4 Comments

Posted in Anime & Manga, Fandom, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Amin, fortytwo, mrkorb

VoK 33: Gravity [2013] (Review)

Posted on November 3, 2013 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

Join Mission Cmdr Fortytwo and Mission Specilist Dr Bina007 as they discuss Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity. The crew begin by talking about the London Film Festival , flims that did well there and might do well at Oscars too.
@ 12:25 they begin the spoiler free discussion on Gravity, then
@ 23:12 switch to all spoiler discussion.

Credits:
Edited by Fortytwo
Pronunciation for Alfonso Cuarón
Audio Excerpt from Gravity Trailer

Links:
Podcast Awards
Astronaut Chris Hadfield
Jonás Cuarón filmed a short to tell the other half of a Gravity scene

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Posted in Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Bina007, fortytwo

VoK 32: The Last of Us (Naughty Dog)

Posted on October 28, 2013 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

Join the Vassals for their very first video game podcast! Hosts Duncan (aka Valkyrist), Zach (aka Alias), Katie (aka Lady Griffin), and Peter (aka Shellfish) unite for a critical discussion of The Last of Us, for PlayStation 3 And stay tuned for the Aftershow, where they delve into their top 5 games for this console cycle, and ask the question: “Can video games be considered art?”

0:00 – Introduction [lemon cake ratings; favourite moments in the game]
11:36 – Story and Characters [Joel and Ellie’s character arcs; interpreting the ending; narrative and thematic structure; writing quality]
41:59 – Gameplay and Design [combat and inventory mechanics; level design; enemy and ally AI; music and visual presentation; voice acting and character animations; online multiplayer]
1:08:11 – Conclusion [criticisms of the game; recommendations for similar works; DLC predictions]
1:17:13 – Aftershow [top 5 games of this gen; can video games be considered art?]

Warning: Contains explicit language, and plot spoilers for The Last of Us and Game of Thrones.

Credits:
Edited by Valkyrist
Audio clips owned by Sony Computer Entertainment

Links:
The Last of Us: The Kotaku Review
The Last of Us – The Musical (with Orchestra)
Map of Joel’s Progress
The Rootwork Building: Interactive and Thematic Structure in The Last of Us
Two Best Friends Play The Last of Us

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Posted in Podcast, Science Fiction, Video Games

Tagged Alias, Lady Griffin, Shellfish, Valkyrist

VoK 25: Star Wars

Posted on October 9, 2013 by bina007 | 2 comments

Join our ramshackle crew of rebels as they go up against the evil galactic empire and discuss all things Star Wars, rage against special edition edits and the prequels, and show some love for Chewie and Bobba Fett. Naturally, there are spoilers for all Star Wars movies, as well as the expanded universe, and some tangential spoilers for George R R Martin’s A Song Of Ice and Fire.

Running order:

00:00 Introduction

21m: A New Hope

49m: Empire Strikes Back

1hr 10: Return of the Jedi

1hr 30: The Prequels; the new movies; the extended universe

2hrs: Aftershow – One Night, Marry, Frozen In Carbonite; Who’s the biggest badass?; who’s the biggest dumbass?; who do characters resemble in ASOIAF?

Credits: Edited by Bina007 with music taken from the official soundtrack albums of the movies, which are also available on iTunes.

Episode 25:

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‘Star Wars Rebels’ Teaser Trailer Promises The Rise of The Jedi (slashfilm.com)
An open letter to J.J. Abrams (amended) (headlessness.com)
George Lucas Spent a Year Developing ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ Before Lucasfilm Sale (screenrant.com)

2 Comments

Posted in Fandom, Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction, Star Wars

Tagged Alias, Amin, Bina007, easttexasdirewolf, Erinyes, Teddard, TravisoTraviso

VoK 16: Planet of the Apes [1968] (DVD Commentary)

Posted on August 24, 2013 by dagosrivers | 1 comment

Beware of spoilers, the following podcast discusses the original Planet of the Apes movie series in detail.

Dagos_Rivers is joined by easttexasdirewolf to attempt a fan audio commentary of the 1968 cult classic ‘Planet of the Apes’. Also briefly discussed is the recent win for A Podcast of Ice and Fire at the Geekie Awards.

Credits:
Edited by Dagos_Rivers

Episode 16:
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References:
Planet of the Apes Movie Collection
Monkey Planet novel
Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes Comics

1 Comment

Posted in DVD Commentary, Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Dagos_Rivers, easttexasdirewolf

VoK 13: The Wolverine [2013] (Review)

Posted on August 4, 2013 by vokadmin | 1 comment

Beware of spoilers, the following podcast discusses the movie Wolverine in detail. Plus there are tons of Game of thrones references.

Fortytwo is joined by Bina, LordManderblee, EastTexasDirewolf and Teddard to review Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine(2013).

Credits:
Edited by Fortytwo
Music from Wolverine movie soundtrack.

Episode 13:
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Links:
Bina’s 10min spoiler free review
Sean T. Collins’s Wolverine Through the Years

1 Comment

Posted in Comics, Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Bina007, easttexasdirewolf, fortytwo, LordManderBlee, Teddard

VoK 12: Pacific Rim [2013] (Review)

Posted on July 28, 2013 by vokadmin | 6 comments

Fortytwo is joined by LordManderblee and Bina007 to jibber jabber about Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim. Discussion is mostly spoiler free. Beware, somehow they still end up talking about Songs of Ice and Fire.

Credits:
Edited by Fortytwo
Music from Pacific Rim soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi

Episode 12:
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Links:
Opening Clip : Kaiju Remedies
Tumblr on Pacific Rim

6 Comments

Posted in Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Bina007, fortytwo, LordManderBlee

VoK 10: World War Z (by Max Brooks)

Posted on July 15, 2013 by vokadmin | 4 comments

Beware of spoilers: the following podcast discusses Max Brooks’ novels World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide as well as Marc Forster’s film, World War Z.

Bina007 is joined by recovering APOIAF forum addicts LordManderBlee and Dagos_Rivers to discuss Max Brooks’ World War Z. The first part of the podcast critically discusses each chapter of the novel and the second part looks at the challenges of adapting it. We also discover LordManderBlee and Bina007’s shocking lack of knowledge regarding basic world geography.

Editing Credits Bina007

Episode 10:
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Check out Bina’s 10 minute movie podcasts at http://www.bina007.com/ and on iTunes

4 Comments

Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Bina007, Dagos_Rivers, LordManderBlee

VoK 6: Man of Steel [2013] (Review)

Posted on June 24, 2013 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

Beware of Spoilers, the following podcast discusses the new superman movie “Man of Steel” in detail.

Fortytwo is joined by bina007, teddard, easttexasdirewolf and Erinyes to discuss the new superman movie “Man of Steel”.

Editing Credits: fortytwo

Episode 6:
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Posted in Comics, Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Bina007, easttexasdirewolf, Erinyes, fortytwo, Teddard

VoK 2: Star Trek Into Darkness [2013] (Review)

Posted on June 3, 2013 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

Fortytwo and Bina007 review JJ Abram’s Star Trek Into the Darkness, the sequel to the prequel.

Episode 2:
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Posted in Movies, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged Bina007, fortytwo

VoK 1: Tuf Voyaging (by George R. R. Martin)

Posted on June 3, 2013 by vokadmin | 2 comments

FortyTwo joined by Vaarsuvius and LordManderBlee discuss “Beast for Norn”, a short story from George R R Martins Tuf Voyaging stories.

Beware of Spoiler, Only the story Beast for Norn is discussed, all other Tuf stories were kept spoiler free. So be a sport and have a listen, see if you like the Tuf series.

Episode 1:
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2 Comments

Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, Science Fiction

Tagged fortytwo, LordManderBlee, Vaarsuvius